Smith and Neutrality

[Doug Laycock]

        Using the approach below, at least one court has held "No churches
may locate in a commercial zone" to be neutral and generally applicable.  It
had secular reasons and was not done with bad motive.  This moves the
question of justification from the compelling interest phase to the general
applicability phase.  Every law applies to whatever it applies to; that is
completely circular.


At 04:35 PM 1/20/98 -0500, you wrote:
>A statute is, under common meaning and, I think, under the Smith meaning,
>generally applicable and "neutral" if the real purpose of the law is
>secular and secular aims (as the term secular is generally understood -
>though it too is not without problems) and effects are the purpose of it
>and the predominant effects of it.


Douglas Laycock
University of Texas Law School
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX  78705
        512-471-3275 (voice)
        512-471-6988 (fax)
        dlaycock at mail.law.utexas.edu