Religious Expression Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The freedom of religious beliefs is one of the very few absolute rights in the Bill of Rights. -Linda Monk DISCUSS: Do you agree or disagree with this? Why? The First Amendment in Action #1 REYNOLDS V. UNITED STATES, (1879) Law: Federal prohibits polygamy. Belief: Mormon church promoted polygamy. Question: Should the Mormons living in Utah be able to exercise (practice) their religious belief of having many wives? Reasons/Issues in Support or Mormons Reasons/Issues Against the Mormons #2 SHERBERT v. VERNER, (1963) Law: Employees of private companies may be asked to work on Saturday. Belief: Seventh Day Adventist refuse to work on their Sabbath, Saturday. Question: Should someone who become a Seventh Day Adventist and is fired for not working Reasons/Issues in Support of the Seventh Day Adventist on Saturday receive unemployment benefits? Reasons/Issues Against the Seventh Day Adventist #3 GILLETTE v. US, (1971) Law: US government requires all men age 18 to register and be eligible for the draft to military service. Belief: Quakers and other religions are opposed to war. Question: Should all men, including Quakers, be required to register for the draft? Reasons/Issues in Support of the Quakers Reasons/Issues Against the Quakers
#4 WISCONSIN v. YODER, (1972) Law: State of Wisconsin requires all children to attend school to at least the age of 16. Belief: Amish believe that they should remove themselves from modernity so students should attend school after the 8 th grade. Question: Should the government force the Amish to attend school until the age of 16? Reasons/Issues in Support of the Amish Reasons/Issues Against the Amish #5 GOLDMAN v GOLDBERGER, (1986) Law: US servicemen must wear a uniform. Belief: Orthodox Jewish men must wear a yarmulke on their head. Question: Should the US military force a Jewish solider to remove his yarmulke? Reasons/Issues in Support of the Jewish men Reasons/Issues Against the Jewish men #6 CHURCH OF LUKUMI v. CITY OF HIALEAH, (1993) Law: Florida law prohibits specific animals from being killed. Belief: African tribal religions use those specific animals in religious sacrifice. Question: Should the Santerians be allowed to use the animals in religious sacrifice? Reasons/Issues in Support of the Santerians Reasons/Issues Against the Santerians
Court rejects Satanist s discrimination appeal Posted on October 4, 2010 By Kate Shellnutt Does religion have a place in the courtroom? For example, if a convicted murderer is a Satanist, is that relevant? Last week, a Texas court ruled yes. An appellate court in El Paso upheld its ruling for an inmate who argued that revealing his affiliation with the Church of Satan prejudiced the jury who sentenced him to death row, the blog Religion Clause reported. Last week, the court issued an opinion saying the evidence of defendant Irving Davis Satanism was relevant to the case and did not violate his Constitutional freedoms. In this situation, his religion was indicative of his character, and its value in the trial outweighed the risk of unfair prejudice. Davis was convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old. He began to identify as a Satanist/Vampirist while in prison. During his trial, Davis was asked to show the pentagram tattoo on his chest, and the state displayed his religious books, handwritten pledges to the church and violent sketches, all taken from his prison cell. An expert witness discussed Satanic beliefs and quoted a passage from The Satanic Bible regarding human sacrifice: The only time a Satanist would perform a human sacrifice would be if it were to serve a twofold purpose; that being to release the magician s wrath in the throwing of a curse, and more important, to dispose of a totally obnoxious and deserving individual. The jury considered his Satanism to be a factor that could lead future violent activity. They gave him the death sentence. Davis lawyer argued that the evidence against him was not presented in a neutral way and was used against him. How can you say you re protected (in) practicing your religion if someone can turn around and say, OK, because you practice this religion, we re going to use that as a reason to kill you? he told the Austin- American Statesman when they filed the appeal in July. Should the defendant s religion be used against him in the murder trial? Is the defendant being discriminated against because of his religion?
Reynolds v. United States Facts of the Case: George Reynolds, secretary to Mormon Church leader Brigham Young, challenged the federal antipolygamy statute. Reynolds was convicted in a Utah territorial district court. His conviction was affirmed by the Utah territorial Supreme Court. Question: Does the federal anti-polygamy statute violate the First Amendment's free exercise clause because plural marriage (polygamy) is part of religious practice?
Sherbert v. Verner Facts of the Case: Adeil Sherbert, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was fired from her job after she refused to work on Saturday, the Sabbath Day of her faith. The South Carolina Employment Security Commission denied her benefits, finding unacceptable her religious justification for refusing Saturday work. Question: Did the denial of unemployment compensation violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
Gillette v. United States Facts of the Case This case involved the issue of whether a person could be exempted from military service because of his objecting to a particular war rather than war in general. Gillette refused to report for induction but claimed that he would participate in wars of national defense or United Nations peacekeeping wars. His reasons for believing the Vietnam War was unjust were based on his "humanist approach to religion" and his deeply held views concerning the nature of human existence. The petitioners state that their freedom to exercise their religions have been crippled because some religions object only to particular wars.
Wisconsin v. Yoder Facts of the Case: Three Amish families sued the state of Wisconsin over its requirement that children be enrolled in school until the age of sixteen. The parents refused to comply by removing their children from school after they completed the eighth grade and were convicted of violating the law. The families claimed that their rights to freely exercising their religion were not being respected. The Wisconsin Supreme Court found in favor of the Amish parents. Question: Did Wisconsin's requirement that all parents send their children to school at least until age 16 violate the First Amendment by criminalizing the conduct of parents who refused to send their children to school for religious reasons?
Goldman v. Weinberger Facts of the Case: Goldman was a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, an Orthodox Jew, and an ordained rabbi. He was not allowed to wear his yarmulke while on duty and in Air Force uniform. An Air Force regulation mandated that indoors, headgear could not be worn "except by armed security police in the performance of their duties. Question: Did the Air Force Regulation violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment?
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah Facts of the Case: The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye practiced the Afro-Caribbean-based religion of Santeria. Santeria used animal sacrifice as a form of worship in which an animal's carotid arteries would be cut and, except during healing and death rights, the animal would be eaten. Shortly after the announcement of the establishment of a Santeria church in Hialeah, Florida, the city council adopted several ordinances addressing religious sacrifice. The ordinances prohibited possession of animals for sacrifice or slaughter, with specific exemptions for state-licensed activities. Question: Did the city of Hialeah's ordinance, prohibiting ritual animal sacrifices, violate the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause?