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2 

FULTON v. PHILADELPHIA 

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

would  have  prevented  the  celebration  of  a  Catholic  Mass 
anywhere in the United States.1  Or suppose that a State, 
following the example of several European countries, made
it unlawful to slaughter an animal that had not first been
rendered  unconscious.2    That  law  would  be  fine  under 
Smith  even  though  it  would  outlaw  kosher  and  halal
slaughter.3  Or suppose that a jurisdiction in this country,
following  the  recommendations  of  medical  associations  in 
Europe, banned the circumcision of infants.4  A San Fran-
cisco ballot initiative in 2010 proposed just that.5  A cate-
gorical ban would be allowed by Smith even though it would 
prohibit an ancient and important Jewish and Muslim prac-
tice.6  Or suppose that this Court or some other court en-
forced a rigid rule prohibiting attorneys from wearing any 
—————— 

1 Code of Canon Law, Canon §924 (Eng. transl. 1998). 
2 See  Law  Library  of  Congress,  Global  Legal  Research  Center,  Legal 
Restrictions on Religious Slaughter in Europe (Mar. 2018), www.loc.gov/ 
law/help/religious-slaughter/religious-slaughter-europe.pdf. 

3 Id., at 1–2. 
4 See Frisch et al., Cultural Bias in the AAP’s 2012 Technical Report
and  Policy  Statement  on  Male  Circumcision,  131  Pediatrics  796,  799 
(2013) (representatives of pediatric medical associations in 16 European
countries and Canada recommending against circumcision because the 
practice “has no compelling health benefits, causes postoperative pain, 
can have serious long-term consequences, constitutes a violation of the 
United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and conflicts with
the Hippocratic oath”). 

5 See Initiative Measure To Be Submitted Directly to the Voters: Gen-
ital  Cutting  of  Male  Minors  (Oct.  13,  2010)  (online  source  archived  at 
www.supremecourt.gov); see also Jewish Community Relations Council 
of San Francisco v. Arntz, 2012 WL 11891474, *1 (Super. Ct. San Fran-
cisco  Cty.,  Cal.,  Apr.  6,  2012)  (ordering  that  the  proposed  initiative  be 
removed from the ballot because it was preempted by California law). 

6 See 4 Encyclopaedia Judaica 730 (2d ed. 2007) (“Jewish circumcision 
originated, according to the biblical account, with Abraham”); The Shen-
gold Jewish Encyclopedia 62 (3d ed. 2003) (“[Circumcision] has become a
basic law among Jews.  In times of persecution, Jews risked their lives