The Incredible Shrinking Free Exercise Clause
…applied to both religiously motivated and non-religiously motivated peyote use, the free exercise clause, in Scalia’s opinion, simply does not apply. The Smith opinion faced two hurdles. First, as in the instance of the sacramental use of wine during Prohibition, government has often exempted generally applicable laws based on their effect on religious practices. It had always been assumed, as Justice Brennan stated, that at least on occasion such…
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