Opinion ID: 431913
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Burden on Quaring's Religion.

Text: 23 Having examined the religious nature and sincerity of Quaring's beliefs, we next turn to the question whether Nebraska's photograph requirement infringes upon those beliefs. Although the Nebraska officials correctly point out that the photograph requirement in no way compels Quaring to act in violation of her conscience, the Supreme Court has noted that this is only the beginning, not the end, of our inquiry. See Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 403-04, 83 S.Ct. 1790, 1793-94, 10 L.Ed.2d 965 (1963). Under the proper analysis, a burden upon religion exists when the state conditions receipt of an important benefit upon conduct proscribed by a religious faith,    thereby putting substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs. Thomas v. Review Board, supra, 450 U.S. at 717-18, 101 S.Ct. at 1431-32. 24 Clearly, a burden upon Quaring's free exercise of her religion exists in this case. The state refuses to issue Quaring a driver's license unless she agrees to allow her photograph to appear on the license, a condition that would violate a fundamental precept of her religion. Moreover, in refusing to issue Quaring a driver's license, the state withholds from her an important benefit. Quaring needs to drive a car for numerous daily activities, which include managing a herd of dairy and beef cattle, helping her husband manage a thousand-acre farming and livestock operation, and working as a bookkeeper in a community ten miles from home. By requiring Quaring to comply with the photograph requirement, the state places an unmistakable burden upon her exercise of her religious beliefs. 25 The burden on Quaring is indistinguishable from the burden placed upon a Sabbatarian by the state in Sherbert v. Verner, supra. In that case, the Supreme Court held that in denying unemployment benefits to a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church who refused to work on Saturdays, the Sabbath of her faith, the state violated her right to the free exercise of religion. 374 U.S. at 402, 83 S.Ct. at 1792. Assessing the burden of the denial of benefits on the Sabbatarian's exercise of her religion, the Court commented, 26 The [denial] forces her to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting benefits, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion [not working on Saturdays] in order to accept work, on the other hand. 27 Id. at 404, 83 S.Ct. at 1794. Similarly, Nebraska's photograph requirement puts Quaring to the choice of following an important precept of her religion or forgoing the important privilege of driving a car. 28