Also known as: exercising a right · exercised a right · exercises a right · exercise rights · exercising rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Utilization or assertion of a legal entitlement or privilege granted by law or contract. The phrase identifies conduct that invokes an established right and determines whether that conduct receives protection or triggers duties such as good faith or retreat.
Elise Everly and her husband keep their fourteen-year-old daughter at home after eighth grade for religious instruction and farm work. State officials threaten truancy charges under the compulsory attendance statute. The parents assert their right to direct religious upbringing and obtain an exemption because their practices satisfy the state's interests without formal secondary education.
Ethan Evans stands his ground inside his kitchen when an intruder advances. He could safely exit through the back door yet chooses to remain and defend the premises. Because he knows retreat is possible, the privilege to use force in defense of his right to occupy the home is unavailable.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Eclipse Manufacturing refuses to provide certain contraceptives in its employee health plan on religious grounds. Federal regulators threaten penalties under the contraceptive mandate. The company asserts its right to religious exercise and obtains relief because the mandate substantially burdens that exercise without satisfying strict scrutiny.
Eugene Ellsworth, a deputy sheriff, declines to join the sheriff's political party. The sheriff fires him for lack of political allegiance. Ellsworth asserts his right to political association and prevails because the dismissal penalizes protected First Amendment conduct without adequate justification.
Eduardo Enriquez, a public-school football coach, kneels and offers a brief personal prayer after games. The district suspends him under a policy banning visible religious expression by staff. He asserts his right to free exercise and the policy fails because it targets religious conduct rather than applying neutrally.
Everlasting Insurance sponsors a World War I memorial cross on public land. A humanist group sues to remove it as an establishment violation. The sponsor asserts its right to religious expression in a longstanding monument and the display is upheld because it reflects historical tradition rather than coercive endorsement.
A limited partner breaches the obligation when the exercise of an expressly granted right is used to advance personal interests at the partnership's expense without disclosure or justification under the agreement. Courts examine whether the conduct deprives other partners of the fruits of the bargain or exploits discretionary power for self-dealing.
Supporting sources
No. The Free Exercise Clause does not require exemptions from neutral laws of general applicability that only incidentally burden religion. Strict scrutiny applies only when the law targets religious exercise or lacks general applicability.
Supporting sources
The defendant is not privileged to use force if retreat is possible or if retreat can be accomplished by relinquishing a right or privilege that it is reasonable to require the defendant to give up under the circumstances.
Supporting sources
Discharge is actionable when the employee exercises a right afforded by state law that relates to employment status and the employer retaliates for that exercise. The right must be one the employee enjoys because of employment rather than general citizenship.
Supporting sources
…The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed that determination, holding that the denial of benefits violated respondents’ free exercise rights under the First Amendment. On appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court, petitioner argued that the denial of benefits was permissible because respondents’ consumption of peyote was a crime under…