Re: "Agenda" and persecution of Mormons

[Paul Finkelman]

Is "membership" in an organization -- ie:  subscribing to the belief in polygamy -- a "conduct" or a "belief."  It seems to me it is a belief, since the defendant here had never had more than one wife.  

--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Tulsa College of Law
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Tulsa, OK   74104-3189

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Marci Hamilton wrote:

Actually, it was for membership in a polygamous organization.  The Court has been distinguishing belief and conduct in both the speech and free exercise cases for a very long time.  It is a distinction that has intuitive, common sense appeal, so I would defend it, though it is not always a perfectly bright line in every case, a fault that does not doom a doctrinal distinction in my view.

Marci