Law Commons^™

Church Of The Lukumi Babalu Aye V. City Of Hialeah, Paul Bader

Faculty Articles and Papers

In Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah,1 a Florida district court has gone further than any other federal court in proscribing a church's right to exercise its religious beliefs. The district court found that the city's interests in public health, child welfare, and animal welfare were sufficient to override the protection provided under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.2 After the Eleventh Circuit Court of Ap- peals affirmed in an unpublished opinion the Supreme Court granted cer- tiorari to decide whether the First Amendment3 protects a religion's prac- tice of animal sacrifice. The Supreme …