In a 1990 decision, Employment Division v. Smith, the Supreme Court disagreed. Even a sincere religious motivation, in the absence of some special circumstance like proof of government animus, does not merit exemption from a “valid and neutral law of general applicability,” the court held. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion, which was joined by, among others, the notoriously left wing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
– Via Whose Conscience?” — Linda Greenhouse’s Opinionator piece in the New York Times online.
Which leaves me wondering whether contraceptive access is considered non-neutral or invalid.
