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Page Number: 66

44 

FULTON v. PHILADELPHIA 

ALITO, J., concurring in judgment
ALITO, J., concurring in judgment 

protect  against  government  actions  taken  “for”  or  “on  ac-
count of ” religion, they do not stop there.  Instead, they go
on to provide broader protection for religious liberty.  See, 
e.g., Maryland Act Concerning Religion (1649), in Cogan 17
(guaranteeing residents not be “troubled . . . in the free ex-
ercise [of religion]”); New York Constitution (1777), in id., 
at 26 (guaranteeing “the free Exercise and Enjoyment of re-
ligious Profession and Worship”). 

2 

Another argument advanced by Smith’s defenders relies 
on the paucity of early cases “refusing to enforce a generally
applicable statute because of its failure to make accommo-
dation,” City of Boerne, 521 U. S., at 542 (opinion of Scalia, 
J.).    If  exemptions  were  thought  to  be  constitutionally  re-
quired, they contend, we would see many such cases. 

There might be something to this argument if there were
a great many cases denying exemptions and few granting 
them, but the fact is that diligent research has found only a
handful of cases going either way.  Commentators have dis-
cussed the dearth of cases, and as they note, there are many
possible explanations.59  Early 19th century legislation im-
posed only limited restrictions on private conduct, and this
minimized the chances of conflict between generally appli-
cable laws and religious practices.  The principal conflicts
that arose—involving oaths, conscription, and taxes to sup-
port an established church—were largely resolved by state
constitutional  provisions  and  laws  granting  exemptions.
And the religious demographics of the time decreased the
likelihood of conflicts.  The population was overwhelmingly 

—————— 

59 See  Barclay,  The  Historical  Origins  of  Judicial  Religious  Exemp-
tions, 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 55, 69–73 (2020); McConnell, Free Exercise 
Revisionism 1118; Campbell, A New Approach 978, 987; Lombardi, Free
Exercise 385; Campbell, Religious Neutrality in the Early Republic, 24
Regent U. L. Rev. 311, 314–315, n. 20 (2012).