See an Oct. 31, 2005, Christian Science Monitor story about 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.

Dr. McLoughlin is a senior lecturer in religion, anthropology and Islam at the University of Leeds.  He researches theology, religion and the Middle East.

Dr. Sara Silvestri is an interdisciplinary social scientist fascinated by the role of faith in society and in international relations and its implications for the governance of an increasingly diverse Europe.  Specifically, she specializes in Islam and Muslim political mobilization in Europe; Islamism; religion, politics and public policy; governance of religious pluralism, faith-based movements and lobbies, […]