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Patrick Murphy was in jail and was about to serve his death sentence. Since he was a Buddhist, he requested that his spiritual advisor be in the room with him just like Christians got ministers while they were being executed. He was denied the right to have his spiritual advisor with him so he eventually brought the case up to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of Murphy and said that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was violating his religious rights by not letting his Buddhist chaplain in the execution chamber. Kavanaugh said that the TDCJ either has to let all inmates have a religious advisor of their faith in the room with them, or none of them can.

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Three cases in our history shows how this amendment has been interpreted over time. These cases include Reynolds v. United States (1879), Sherbert v. Verner (1963), and Lemon vs. Kurtzman (1971). See the details on these cases on the right. ------>

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In Colonial America, religion was a source of a lot of conflict. The French Huguenots first came to America, and they were slaughtered by the Spanish Catholics. Then the Puritans came and they excluded all the other religions. In 1635, Roger Williams, created the colony of Rhode Island, which was the first colony that granted religious freedom to everyone. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson fought for religious freedom for everyone, but the bill he tried to pass failed. In 1785, James Madison argued for religious freedom for all and later went on to drafting the First Amendment which was adopted in 1791.

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"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble"

This means that there can be no law made that establishes any one religion. It also means that each person has the right to believe as they wish.

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This case was held to decide if religious duty or belief is a defense to a criminal charge.  The result of this case was unanimous in favor of the United States. They said that the government could not prohibit the beliefs of a religion but they could outlaw the practice of their belief (in this case polygamy) if it was against federal law.

This an important change because it establishes when religion can be used as an excuse and when the law must be enforced.

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In 1971 Lemon vs. Kurtzman resulted in something known as the "Lemon Test" which states that in order to be constitutional the policy change must meet the following criteria.

1. Have a non-religious purpose;
2.Not end up promoting or favoring any set of religious beliefs;
3.Not overly involve the government with religion.

This is an important change because  now we have guidelines that allow the government to support religion to some extent but also stay separate from the government.

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In this case Sherbert refused to work on Saturday because her religion claims that that day is the Sabbath day. Sherbert was then fired from her job because they said that she did not have a good cause to accept available work. For this reason Sherbert was denied her unemployment compensation. In a 7-2 decision the court decided that there must be no law that denies unemployment benefits from those who can't work because they would not be able to participate in key religious principles.

This is important because it shows how people must be treated equally and their religious beliefs must be compensated for.

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Modern Issues: Masterpiece Cake Shop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission

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Modern Issues: Masterpiece Cake Shop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission

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Jack Phillips the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop denied service to a gay couple because of his religious beliefs. The case went to the Supreme Court, and they sided in favor of Phillips in a 7-2 decision. They argued that religious views are protected views even though same-sex marriages are given civil rights protections under the laws.

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"Sherbert v. Verner." Oyez, 10 Apr. 2019, www.oyez.org/cases/1962/526.

"Reynolds v. United States." Oyez, 10 Apr. 2019, www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/98us145.

“Religious Liberty: Landmark Supreme Court Cases.” Bill of Rights Institute, billofrightsinstitute.org/cases/.

“Your Right to Religious Freedom.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom.

LII Staff. “First Amendment.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, 10 Oct. 2017, www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment.

"Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission." Oyez, 10 Apr. 2019, www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-111.