Tuesday’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling allowing a New Mexico congregation to use a hallucinogenic tea in their religious rituals establishes essential precedent in American religious freedom law. (My original post on the issue is here.)According to dpulliam (getreliong.org) Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times grabs the significance in the second paragraph of her report on the ruling:
“With an opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the decision was one of the most significant applications of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 13-year-old federal statute that requires the government to meet a demanding test before it can enforce a law in a way that creates a substantial obstacle to religious 0bservance.”
Moreover, as reported further by dpulliam, the Los Angeles Times places the “victory for religious freedom” theme front and center and goes as far as interviewing K. Hollyn Hollman, the Baptist Joint Committee’s general counsel, who said the decision was “good news for religious freedom and the continuing vitality of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
FYI: A Christianity Today article published this morning interviews several legal types in religious freedom organizations in reaction to this ruling.
Religion & Society 101
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