priority for a number of Jew-
ish groups and religious and
civil liberties organizations.
RFRA was buried in the
flood of last-minute ap-
propriations bills. More im-
portantly, it was stymied by
Catholic activists' all-out
assault against it. They had
argued that it would pro-
mote abortion and jeopar-
dize the church's tax-exempt
status.
The bill seeks to reverse a
1990 Supreme Court deci-
sion popularly known as the
"Peyote case" because of
the defendant's claim that
his Native American reli-
gious practices included the
use of the hallucinogenic
drug.
Until the court's ruling, a
state which restricted or
outlawed a religious practice
had to prove a "compelling
state interest" for such ac-
tion. The unusually broad
Supreme Court decision re-
moved that requirement and
opened the door to restric-
tive legislation by states.
"Basically, Congress just
caved in to the Catholics,"
said a Jewish activist, who
spent months working on
the bill. "With all of Con-
gress' other problems, it ap-
parently saw the religious
freedom bill as just another
potential political liability.
Members didn't think about
the consequences for reli-
gious people."
That is particularly dan-
gerous, said Judy Golub, the
American Jewish Commit-
tee's legislative director,
since the Smith decision
"narrowed the Bill of
Rights. How sad that free-
dom of religion is held to a
lower standard than any of
our other basic freedoms."
Promoters of the bill will
have to start over again in
January —without the bill's
primary sponsor, Rep.
Stephen Solarz D-N.Y., who
was defeated in a reelec-
tion bid last month. The
new Congress will also have
a record number of newcom-
ers, most of whom will have
to be educated about the
bill's importance.
Congress' failure to act
could have immediate reper-
cussions for the Jewish
community, said Rabbi
David Saperstein, director
of the Religious Action Cen-
ter of Reform Judaism.
"Already," he said, "we
have seen a number of lower
court decisions, based on the
Smith decision, in which re-
ligious freedom has been
limited. The fact that Con-
gress did not act means that
we will have a minimum of
six months of disastrous
court decisions."
Less visible, but still grat-

/MIRROR t1AXX

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