High Court Questions Reach of Law on Religious Liberty

Robert Marquand

The Christian Science Monitor

On February 19, 1997, in a hearing packed with meaning for millions of religious Americans, US Supreme Court justices focused on whether Congress could pass a special law protecting the free exercise of religion. ...

The case is likely to be a landmark no matter how it is decided. It arose out of a simple disagreement between the City of Boerne, Texas, and a local Roman Catholic church. The church was denied a permit to expand its overcrowded edifice, which was partly in a preservation zone.

But yesterday's argument rarely mentioned the specifics of the case. Rather, the justices honed in on whether Congress could pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was enacted to bypass a 1990 Supreme Court ruling restricting religious exercise.

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