Federal / State Docket // Archival Dispatch
Free Exercise Rights Are Expanding — and the Establishment Clause Is Cracking
The 1990 Smith decision curtailed religious liberty claims, but later rulings have expanded the Free Exercise Clause beyond its original scope
When the Supreme Court decided Employment Division v. Smith in 1990, it marked one of the sharpest contractions of the Free Exercise Clause in American history. Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia hel…
Employment Division v. Smith
494 U.S. 872 (1990)
Cited as context
Holding: Religious liberty claims are subject to neutral laws of general applicability without strict scrutiny review.