“Pew Forum: Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita”
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life offers resources for covering the UDV case.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life offers resources for covering the UDV case.
Read the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the 1990 peyote case, Employment Division, Oregon Department of Human Resources v. Smith 494 U.S. 872.
Read about the legal status of peyote, including the 1993 federal statute that allowed members of the Native American Church to ingest peyote as part of religious ceremonies and state laws granting exemptions for Native Americans’ ceremonial use of peyote. The information is posted by the Peyote Foundation.
Read the First Amendment Center’s article on the free exercise clause, which includes a discussion of how Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 peyote case, changed the legal precedent for religious groups whose practices conflict with state law.
Read the First Amendment Center’s resource page on Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal. It includes amicus briefs filed for both sides of the case.
The UDV religion in the United States has a website with resources for covering the case, including a FAQ and background links.
Tim Cain is an elder at Kaleo Church in San Diego. The church emphasizes the intersection of religion with pop culture in many of its services and events. The church’s website contains a section on culture, including movie, music and book reviews.
The American Ghost Society is a national network of ghost hunters, authors, ghost enthusiasts and psychical researchers who conduct investigations into the paranormal. They maintain a list of members and ghost hunters by state.