International Law
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN General
Assembly Declaration) – Art. 18
“Everyone
has the right to freedom of thought conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or
in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.”
Federal Law
First Amendment (Bill of Rights) – Free Exercise
Clause & Establishment Clause
“Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof”
State Law
Fourteenth Amendment – Section 1: Due Process Clause
“nor shall
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law”
Cantwell
v Connecticut (1940) – Due Process Clause protection includes applying the
Free Exercise Clause to states
Everson
v Board of Education (1947) – Due Process Clause protection includes applying
the Establishment Clause to states
Washington Constitution Declaration of Rights – Art.
I Section 11
“Absolute
freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and
worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested
or disturbed in person or property on account of religion; but the liberty of
conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of
licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of
the state. No public money or property
shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise of
instruction, or the support of any religious establishment: PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
That his article shall not be so construed as to forbid the employment by the
state of a chaplain for such of the state custodial, correctional, and mental
institutions, or by a county’s or public hospital district’s hospital, health care
facility, or hospice, as in the discretion of the legislature may seem
justified. No religious qualification
shall be required for any public office or employment, nor shall any person be
incompetent as a witness or juror, in consequence of his opinion on matters of
religion, nor be questioned in any court of justice touching his religious
belief to affect the weight of his testimony.”
[AMENDMENT 88, 1993 House Joint Resolution No. 4200, p 3062. Approved
November 2, 1993.]
Selected Cases
Hosanna-Tabor
Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v EEOC (2012) – Federal
religious discrimination laws do not apply to religious organizations’
selection of religious leaders (unanimous decision).
Newdow v Carey (9th Circuit 2010) - Pledge of Allegiance is not an establishment of religion prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. That Court affirmed that the Founding Father’s political philosophy was that “God granted certain inalienable rights to the people which the government cannot take away.”
Newdow v Carey (9th Circuit 2010) - Pledge of Allegiance is not an establishment of religion prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. That Court affirmed that the Founding Father’s political philosophy was that “God granted certain inalienable rights to the people which the government cannot take away.”
Employment Division
v Smith (1990) – Free Exercise of religion does not allow a
citizen to use religious motivation as a reason not to obey “generally
applicable laws” (e.g. criminal acts) since “[t]o permit this would be to make
the processed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land,
and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.”
Lynch v Donnelly
(1984) – Christmas decorations on town property do not violate the
Establishment Clause. “Nor does the
Constitution require complete separation of Church and State; it affirmatively
mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids
hostility toward any”
Engel v Vitale
(1962) dissent (J. Stewart) –
State-sponsored prayers that are free of compulsion do not violate the Free
Exercise Clause; Spiritual heritage of our Nation includes references to God in
the Supreme Court’s crier’s cry, Senate & House of Representative daily
prayers, Presidential oaths, National Anthem and National Motto (36 U.S.C. §
170), National Currency (31 U.S.C. § 324), Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (36
U.S.C. § 172), National Day of Prayer (36 U.S.C. § 185), and Declaration of
Independence.
Religious Freedom As It Applies to Atheism
United States v
Seeger (1965) – Test of Belief “in a relation to a Supreme
Being” is whether a given belief that is sincere and meaningful occupies a
place in the life of his possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox
belief in God of one who clearly qualifies for the exemption.
Frazee v Illinois
Employment Security Department (1989) – “[t]here is no doubt
that ‘only beliefs rooted in religion are protected by the Free Exercise
Clause.’ Purely secular beliefs do not suffice.”
United States v Ballard (1994) – Judiciary may determine sincerity of the beliefs (not the validity/truthfulness of the beliefs)
United States v Ballard (1994) – Judiciary may determine sincerity of the beliefs (not the validity/truthfulness of the beliefs)
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