Do Discretionary Religious Exemptions Violate the Establishment Clause

Authors

Carl H. Esbeck, University of Missouri School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

The Establishment Clause is not violated when government enacts regulatory or tax legislation but provides, concerning these burdens, an exemption for those holding conflicting religious beliefs and practices. Such accommodations are at the discretion of a legislature and have as their purpose to ameliorate hardships borne by religious minorities and other dissenters who find themselves out of step with the prevailing social or legal culture. Statutory religious exemptions are commonplace in this nation where there is a long and venerable tradition of religious tolerance toward our neighbors, as well as those who have made their way to America to escape persecution.

Recommended Citation

Carl H. Esbeck, Do Discretionary Religious Exemptions Violate the Establishment Clause, 106 Kentucky Law Journal 603 (2018).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/713