Elegy for a Hero of Religious Freedom
Al Smith's stand against the power of the state eventually led to new laws protecting an ancient Indian faith.
A Native American peyote rattle from the late 19th or early 20th century (The Brooklyn Museum/Wikimedia)
Garrett Epps
Dec 9 2014, 4:22 PM ET
If the American media had a better sense of history, youd have read by now that Alfred Leo Smith died last month. His life powerfully shaped the American law of religious freedom.
Heres an announcement from his family:
On November 19, 2014, 13 days after his 95th Birthday Celebration in Eugene, Oregon, Al Smith crossed over and began his journey back to the Creator. As a loving husband, friend, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and fearless Warrior, he will be missed and remembered for generations to come.
Smith was the lead plaintiff in a Supreme Court called Employment Division v. Smith, decided in 1990. The issue in Smith was whether the First Amendments Free Exercise Clause protected participants in peyote religious ceremonies from the disapproving arm of the state.
The Court held that it does not. The backlash caused by that opinion led to the enactment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was the subject of last terms Hobby Lobby decision. The Smith opinion evoked widespread disgust, and led Congress to enact not one but two statutes to repudiate it. All told, it was a struggle that changed history. And the case came down as it did because Al Smith refused to accede to what he considered injustice.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/elegy-for-an-american-hero-al-smith-smith-employment-division-supreme-court/383582/
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/494/872/case.html
http://klamathtribes.org/