EMPLOYMENT DIVISION V SMITHI

RESPONDENTS

• Alfred Leo Smith
• Galen Black
• Private drug counselors
• Fired for peyote use
• Denied unemployment benefits because firing was for "misconduct"

Untitled Slide

HISTORY OF THE CASE

• Smith and Black win in state appeals court, Oregon Supreme Court
• Supreme Court remands case to O.S.C. to determine legality of peyote
• O.S.C. finds peyote is legal

Can a state deny unemployment benefits to a worker fired for using illegal drugs for religious purposes?

ATTORNEYS

• David Frohnmayer, Oregon Attorney General
• Craig Dorsay, specialist in Indian law

RELEVANT CASES

• Cantwell v Connecticut
• Wisconsin v Yoder
• Sherbert v Verner

OPINIONS

• Majority: Scalia joined by Rehnquist, White, Stevens, and Kennedy
• Dissent: Blackmun joined by Marshall, Brennan
• O'Connor sides with majority for different reason

AFTER THE DECISION

• Religious Freedom Restoration Act
• Amendments to American Indian Religious Freedom Act
• Peyote Way Church of God loses claim in district court