Also known as: Free Exercise Clause · Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional provision prohibiting government from enacting laws that prohibit the free exercise of religion. Laws burdening religious practice receive strict scrutiny when they are not neutral or generally applicable or when they target religious conduct for disfavored treatment. Neutral and generally applicable laws that only incidentally burden religion are subject to rational basis review.
The city council enacts an ordinance that bans the precise animal-slaughter method used in Santeria ceremonies while leaving other animal-killing practices untouched. Practitioners sue, claiming the ordinance singles out their faith. The court applies strict scrutiny because the law is neither neutral nor generally applicable and strikes the ordinance down.
State law criminalizes peyote possession and denies unemployment benefits to workers fired for violating that prohibition. Fabian Flynn is dismissed after using peyote during a religious ceremony. The court upholds the denial because the criminal prohibition is neutral and generally applicable.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A city policy bars foster agencies from declining same-sex couples but permits the director to grant individualized exemptions for secular reasons. Freya Freeman's religiously affiliated agency requests an exemption based on faith and is denied. The court applies strict scrutiny because the discretionary exemption system renders the policy not generally applicable.
State law requires children to attend school until age sixteen. Frank Fisher, an Amish parent, withdraws his children after eighth grade for religious reasons and provides alternative vocational training within the community. The court grants an exemption because the compulsory-attendance law substantially burdens sincere religious exercise and the state's interests are met by the alternative practices.
A state statute grants grandparents visitation rights over a fit parent's objection. Flora Ford refuses visitation on religious grounds tied to her child-rearing beliefs. The court evaluates whether the statute, as applied, burdens protected parental and religious interests without adequate justification.
A school district requires daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Felipe Figueroa, a student whose faith prohibits affirming a nation under God, seeks an exemption. The court considers whether the requirement burdens sincere religious exercise and whether any resulting policy is neutral and generally applicable.
Strict scrutiny applies when a law is not neutral or generally applicable or when it targets religious practice for disfavored treatment. Discretionary exemption systems that allow officials to grant secular but not religious relief also trigger strict scrutiny.
No. Neutral and generally applicable laws that incidentally burden religious practice are subject only to rational basis review and do not require religious exemptions.
Selective enforcement that singles out religious practice while permitting comparable secular conduct demonstrates that a law is not neutral or generally applicable and therefore triggers strict scrutiny.
A policy that reserves discretionary authority to grant exemptions is not generally applicable. Denying a religious exemption while granting secular ones under the same discretionary system requires strict scrutiny.
…and Justice Marshall joined. Majority opinion Opinion of Justice Scalia This case requires us to decide whether the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment permits the State of Oregon to include religiously inspired peyote use within the reach of its general criminal prohibition on use of that drug, and thus permits the State to deny…