Excerpted from The Arizona Republic, Thursday June 26, 1997 AP story by Richard Carelli, with contributions by Clay Thompson of the AZ Republic.
WASHINGTON - In a landmark decision that rebuked Congress and enraged religious groups, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a law that made it harder for government to interfere with how Americans practice their faith.
The court voted 6-3 to invalidate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, making important statements on religious freedom and the competeing powers of Congress, federal courts and the states.
Surprisingly, one Arizona man whose use of peyote for religious purposes brought him into conflict with authorities, said he had mixed feelings about the high court's rejection of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Leo Mercado, a self-employed potter and a former clergyman of the tiny Peyote Way Church of God, said he felt the law was "reactionary and redundant in some cases" because it duplicated religious-freedom protections in the First Amendment. "I am suspicious of something that claims the First Amendment is not effective," he said. However, Mercado also said the nation will have to "wait and see how religious rights of individuals are eroded" without the law's protection. Last October, a Pinal County narcotics force raided Mercado's isolated ranch near Kearny and seized about 1000 hallucinogenic cactuses. In January, prosecutors dropped their case against Mercado, saying the odds for conviction were poor.
To visit the site of an organization working for religious rights,
click here- The Rutherford Institute