In this self-styled non-precedential opinion, the atheistic plaintiff, for
whatever reason, based her constitutional claim *only* on rational basis
review under the Equal Protection Clause (with Amos being dispositive of
the standard of equal protection review to apply to the religious
exemption). She did not make an Establishment challenge, and thus the
discussion below is from the court's not[ing] of it in dictum in a
footnote.
David B. Cruz
Professor of Law
University of Southern California Law School
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071
U.S.A.
On Tue, 15 Feb 2005, Volokh, Eugene wrote:
The Third Circuit just denied an atheist's challenge to a
religion-only exemption to a school uniform policy, relying on
Corporation of Presiding Bishop v. Amos. Wilkins v. Penns Grove-Carneys
Point Regional School Dist., 2005 WL 348363 (3rd Cir. Feb. 14). The
court notes the ongoing debate on this issue under the First Amendment.
Amos and other Supreme Court decisions approve of statutory religious
exemptions as an appropriate accommodation of free exercise. See Michael
W. McConnell, The Problem of Singling Out Religion, 50 DePaul L.Rev. 1,
5 (2000) (The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that religious
accommodations are constitutionally permissible.). But cf. William
Marshall, In Defense of Smith and Free Exercise Revisionism, 58 U. Chi.
L.Rev. 308, 320 (1991) (arguing religious exemptions are problematic
under the Establishment Clause). It considers Amos dispositive,
though.
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