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Constitutional Law Keyed to Maggs
City of Boerne v. Flores
Citation:
521 U.S. 507 (1997)Facts
The Archbishop of San Antonio applied for a building permit for construction to enlarge a church in the parish. City authorities, relying on a historical-preservation ordinance, denied the application. The Archbishop brought suit, relying on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The City contended that the Act exceeded the scope of Congress’s power under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress enacted RFRA in direct response to the Court’s decision, which held that neutral, generally applicable laws may be applied to religious practices even when not supported by a compelling government interest. The RFRA prohibits government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability unless the government can demonstrate that burden is in furtherance of a compelling government interest; and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
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