Books in Brief

To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial, by Garrett Epps (St. Martin’s, 289 pp, $24.95)

WAS it lawful for the State of Oregon to deny unemployment compensation to an Indian American named Al Smith, an alcoholism counselor who (quite literally) religiously popped peyote? Yes, according to the Supreme Court in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, a 1990 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia. Smith in large part overturned Justice William Brennan’s earlier decision (in Sherbert v. Verner), which established the “compelling governmental interest” test as the standard to be applied in certain free-exercise cases. Scalia argued that as long as the law in question treats all parties neutrally, it is constitutional.

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To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial, by Garrett Epps (St. Martin’s, 289 pp, $24.95)

WAS it lawful for the State of Oregon to deny unemployment compensation to an Indian American named Al Smith, an alcoholism counselor who (quite literally) religiously popped peyote? Yes, according to the Supreme Court in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, a 1990 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia. Smith in large part overturned Justice William Brennan’s earlier decision (in Sherbert v. Verner), which established the “compelling governmental interest” test as the standard to be applied in certain free-exercise cases. Scalia argued that as long as the law in question treats all parties neutrally, it is constitutional.