The UDV drink hoasca tea, which is composed in part of ayahuasca and contains DMT, a banned substance under the Controlled Substances Act. The UDV is a small Christian Spiritist religious group, whose roots are in Brazil, where there are actually many religious groups who use ayahuasca as part of their ceremonies. In 2006, in its first and only RFRA decision on the merits to date, the Supreme Court was asked to interpret RFRA to determine whether the O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) could overcome the federal Controlled Substances Act. The 2006 RFRA Decision Holding That a Small Religious Group Has Rights to Use an Otherwise Illegal Drug We also have recent evidence that when the courts apply RFRA to federal laws, all hell can break loose. For example, after RFRA was in place from 1993-1997, and landlords invoked it to keep unmarried couples out of their apartment buildings, we learned that high on many of the religious entities’ RFRA agenda was overcoming the civil rights laws. RFRA’s application over the years does give us important clues, though. In their defense, it is not easy, because RFRA is a black box, as I discuss here. At the oral arguments in the Hobby Lobby case, the Supreme Court Justices struggled to figure out how to apply the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the Affordable Care Act in the contraception mandate cases.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |