More Court Case Fun
In my Freshman year, I wrote a research paper that was a legal argument for the legalization of same-sex marriage (which, to my surprise and great joy, was ruled in favor of by the Supreme Court just over a year later). That was the first time I read a full court case, and it fascinated me. What I loved most was reading the information and reasoning and finding problems with it myself. I felt like I had a real understanding of what happened, and the ability to pick apart the arguments on my own felt incredibly empowering. I knew for myself what was going on and why I disagreed, all from my own brain. That joy and passion are the same that I have felt during this project. The analytical part of me has the opportunity to really look at what is going on in the court decisions for me, and the passionate part of me can’t help but become invested and develop my own thoughts on each case.
My Honors Language teacher, who guided me through my research paper, and I at the end of Freshman year
This week, I got to read two of the most important cases for Native American religious freedoms, Lyng and Smith as they are popularly referred to as, because of the huge consequences they both had. So far this is some of the most frustration I have faced. The majority opinions of both astounded me. Let me tell you why, shall I?
Lyng v Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association is the first case that had huge effects. In the case, the Forest Service wanted to connect two roads by building by Chimney Rock, and the environmental impact statement study found that this would harm the practices of the Yoruk, Karok, and Tolowa tribes, and the Forest Service ignored the report and moved forward with it. There is much too much to fully explain in one paragraph, so let me talk about the biggest problem I found within the case. The majority opinion for Lyng reads the First Amendment so narrowly and disregards that the decision could lead to the severe harm or destruction of religious practices. The Court never even discussed the burden and balancing interest, it just said the First Amendment could not protect Native Americans in this. However, I practically fell in love while reading the dissenting opinion. The dissent pointed out all the same reasoning flaws that I had taken issue with, and it eloquently refuted the majority opinion. The best part was that the dissent called out the box mentality of the Court (of course, without using my terminology).
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith is the second case that really had an impact. In this case, 2 men who were part of the Native American Church were fired from their jobs at a private drug rehab because they smoked peyote (used for sacramental purposes in the Native American Church) and were then denied unemployment benefits. Again, this case has a lot of importance and a lot to explain, so I’ll reduce it down to the most important takeaway as well. Smith in effect got rid of the precedent of needing the balancing interest test, which has been the primary way to examine governmental actions with regards to restricting free exercise. It also said that opening the government up to reviewing issues that religion take with general laws will open up Pandora’s Box, so we cannot subject the law to that kind of review, ignoring the indirect effects a general law may have. The concurring opinion called the majority opinion out that it is exactly cases like this that the First Amendment is intended to protect, the minority religious practices that aren’t understood by the majority.
I realize that this is a lot of me writing at you all about legal things that may not make much sense or seem very interesting. To take a step back, let me say why I care so much about these decisions. Both of them, to me, show a very closed mind of the Supreme Court, stuck in box mentality and incredibly disrespectful to Native American religion/spirituality. I have seem small improvements from the cases in the early 1980’s, however there is still so much farther to go. I still have hope that it will get better the more I read, however I am definitely noticing a theme that hasn’t gone away.