State courts and current challenges to the free exercise of religion

Editors' note: The following article, by Deborah Sussman Steckler, is excerpted from the New York Law School Law Review. The article, titled "A trend toward declining rigor in applying free exercise principles: the example of state courts' consideration of Christian Science treatment for children," analyzes two specific court cases.

Since the time that this article was originally written, the conviction in one of those two cases has been overturned at the State Supreme Court level. A similar but separate case in another state was also overturned. One other case is pending an appeal.

The issues raised in the following article continue to demand alertness by all who are concerned about religious rights and the freedom to exercise one's deepest religious convictions. The excerpt from Mrs. Steckler's article begins with her analysis of the background of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and its healing practice.

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