They wanted to say it's OK to worship but not to feed the poor. That's a theological issue the city has no business deciding. Besides protecting soup kitchens and collection plates, the embattled law has been used to defend more unusual practices, like the ritual use of marijuana by Rastafarians or the carrying of ceremonial knives by Sikh schoolchildren. The law's most controversial uses involve prisoners. Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery, in a brief joined by 15 other states, says it has produced a deluge of frivolous inmate demands, from special diets of chateaubriand and wine to the use of illicit drugs for religious rituals.
Supporters concede the law has been abused.
But they argue that procedures are in place for identifying frivolous complaints and that throwing out the law would be an extreme solution. The Boerne case could have repercussions far beyond the practice of religion. Predicting the outcome, which may not be clear until summer, is chancy because four justices who took part in the 1990 peyote ruling have retired. But whether states' rights or religion ends up looming larger, the Boerne case could bring new legal twists that will take Congress and the courts years to sort out. Inc. All rights reserved.