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Hialeah Case

Decent Essays

When making the constitution Religious rights were very much one of the leading concerns coming over from previous mother country, England. In fact it was so important it was part of the very 1st amendment, including freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. Since then it has been a struggle to determine whether or not certain instances would qualify as hindering the 1st’s claim to the right of Religion. An important case where that occurred is the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye V.S. City of Hialeah (1993). In the case the city of Hialeah is targeting a specific group based on their religious views. On the other side of the fence the church group argues that the state laws are going against the first amendment right to religion. …show more content…

the city has a “interest in protecting the public health” and “preventing cruelty to animals.” For example the religious church members would sacrifice an animal like a goat or sheep, for rituals like marriage or a death. They execute the kill of the animal by slitting its neck arteries. Due to the actualy killing of the animal, blood and other pathogens that the animal might have been carrying are now leaking out into the open, and if not properly disposed of could cause potential harm to; other citizens, and other plants and animals around the area. The state instead of creating law prohibiting the ritualistic killing of an animal for religious purposes simply could have released new law to govern how the sacrifice of the animal was executed. Example laws the state could have passed; Sacrifice of a specific limited number of animals is prohibited, as long as; a) The sacrifice does not fall under the animal cruelty laws. b) The sacrifice be done in the appropriate predetermined location. c) The animal's body and remains be properly disposed of and area cleansed. This way if the members of the church follow all the guidelines regarding such example rules the city would be out of half of its bases for creating laws making sacrifice

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