Free Exercise Clause: Part of the First Amendment requiring government to show compelling interest and narrow tailoring before denying rights related to religious exercise.
Sherbert Test: Established criteria to evaluate if government actions burden religious exercise, requiring compelling interest and narrowly tailored laws.
Strict Scrutiny: Legal standard requiring that a law must be justified by a compelling governmental interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.
Case Background
Adele Sherbert: A Seventh-day Adventist, lost her job for refusing to work on Saturdays due to religious beliefs and was denied unemployment compensation.
Conflict: The denial was challenged as unconstitutional under the Free Exercise Clause.
Supreme Court Decision
Majority Opinion (7-2): Denial of Sherbert's claim was a substantial burden on her religious exercise.
Stated that conditioning benefits on violating religious beliefs penalizes free exercise of religion.
Douglas: Focused on government action denying benefits based on beliefs.
Stewart: Identified a conflict between Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.
Dissenting Opinion
Harlan: Argued that the denial was not discriminatory since it applied equally to secular claimants.
Sherbert Test Components
Burden Assessment: Does the government action burden the individual's free exercise of religion?
Compelling Interest: Does the government have a compelling interest that justifies the burden?
Narrow Tailoring: Is there no alternative that could achieve the same purpose with less infringement?
Limitation and Response
Employment Division v. Smith (1990): Limited the Sherbert Test, holding that exemptions are not required from generally applicable laws.
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993): Reinstated the Sherbert Test as a statutory right for free exercise cases.
Struck down in "City of Bourne v. Flores" as unconstitutional for state laws.
Re-enacted for federal laws in 2000, alongside the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Notable Applications
Gonzalez v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal: Reaffirmed RFRA's application to federal laws, using the statutory Sherbert test.
Further Reading
Explore more on the Free Exercise Clause, Strict Scrutiny, and other related legal analyses in "The Constitution and Religion, Leading Supreme Court Cases on Church and State" by Robert S. Ali.