“Pew Forum: Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita”
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life offers resources for covering the UDV case.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life offers resources for covering the UDV case.
Read the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the 1990 peyote case, Employment Division, Oregon Department of Human Resources v. Smith 494 U.S. 872.
Read about the legal status of peyote, including the 1993 federal statute that allowed members of the Native American Church to ingest peyote as part of religious ceremonies and state laws granting exemptions for Native Americans’ ceremonial use of peyote. The information is posted by the Peyote Foundation.
Read the First Amendment Center’s article on the free exercise clause, which includes a discussion of how Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 peyote case, changed the legal precedent for religious groups whose practices conflict with state law.
Read the First Amendment Center’s resource page on Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal. It includes amicus briefs filed for both sides of the case.
The UDV religion in the United States has a website with resources for covering the case, including a FAQ and background links.
A 2000 poll from People for the American Way found that 66 percent of respondents say the issue of whether to teach evolution in public schools is too important to leave to individual localities to decide and say they favor a national approach.
Read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on the ruling against ‘intelligent design’ in science class.
Read a New York Times story on the federal judge’s ruling of ‘intelligent design’ as “unconstitutional” to be taught in high school science classes due to it’s connection to “a particular version of christianity.”