Employment Division, Department of H.R. of Oregon v. Smith Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith | 494 U.S. 872 (1990)

The Native American Church combines traditional Native American beliefs with Christianity. The use of peyote in worship is among the traditional Native American beliefs the church follows. The federal government and many states exempted sacramental peyote use from applicable drug laws. Oregon did not. In Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon versus Smith, the United States Supreme Court considered whether making sacramental peyote use illegal violated the Free Exercise Clause.

Alfred Smith and Galen Black were fired from their jobs because, as members of the Native American Church, they had used peyote as part of a sacramental worship rite. The state employment division denied both men unemployment compensation because they were fired for work-related misconduct. The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the agency decision as a violation of Smith and Black’s free-exercise rights. The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed, and the state appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

In Smith I, the first time the United States Supreme Court considered the case, it determined that if a state could criminalize certain religious conduct without violating the First Amendment, then a state could deny unemployment compensation for the same conduct. Because the Oregon Supreme Court hadn’t decided if sacramental peyote use was illegal under Oregon law, the United States Supreme Court remanded the case. On remand, the Oregon Supreme Court determined that Oregon’s drug laws didn’t exempt religious peyote use but then held that Oregon’s failure to make such an exemption violated the Free Exercise Clause.

The United States Supreme Court granted cert to again consider the case.

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