Religious Freedom Restoration Act - Challenges and Weaknesses

Challenges and Weaknesses

In 1997, part of this act was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in City of Boerne v. Flores, because it overstepped Congress's power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio wanted to enlarge a church in Boerne, Texas. But a Boerne ordinance protected the building as a historic landmark and did not permit it to be torn down. The church sued, citing RFRA, and in the resulting case, City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), the Supreme Court struck down the RFRA, stating that Congress had stepped beyond their power of enforcement provided in the Fourteenth Amendment. In response to the Boerne ruling, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000, which grants special privileges to religious land owners.

Thus the RFRA was ruled unconstitutional for state and local applicability; however, it still applies to the federal government. The Act was amended in 2003 to only include the federal government and its entities, such as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A number of states have passed so-called mini-RFRAs, applying the rule to the laws of their own state, but the Smith case remains the authority in these matters in many states.

The constitutionality of RFRA as applied to the federal government was confirmed on February 21, 2006, as the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the government in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006), which involved the use of an otherwise illegal substance in a religious ceremony, decisively stating that the federal government must show a compelling state interest in restricting religious freedom.

Other weaknesses still exist in the fact that, despite congressional resolution, unofficial religious antagonism still exists today through adverse legislation and judicial and executive decisions. Also, even with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, many members of the Native American Church still had issues using peyote in their ceremonies because of the Smith case. This led to the Religious Freedom Act Amendments in 1994, which states, "the use, possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide traditional ceremony purposes in connection with the practice of a traditional Indian religion is lawful, and shall not be prohibited by the United States or any state. No Indian shall be penalized or discriminated against on the basis of such use, possession or transportation."