Mark of the beast lawsuit by Amish

[Douglas Laycock]

It isn't clear from the story whether this is something Michigan did wholly on its own, or whether it is a condition of some federal grant although not formally mandated.  If it's a conditional spending program, I would treat the feds as responsible. 

Michigan appears to have interpreted its own free exercise clause to mean something like Sherbert-Yoder instead of Smith, although the cases are far from perfectly clear. 

Quoting "Michael R. Masinter" <masinter at nova.edu>:

> In the post Smith world, it's not obvious why the free exercise clause
> would forbid Michigan from requiring the use of RFID chips even if
> members of a particular faith think the chips constitute the mark of
> the beast.  In the post Bell Atlantic v. Twombly world, the argument
> that RFRA applies because Michigan is acting as a puppet of USDA even
> though USDA regs explicitly make participation in any federal
> identification program optional seems at first glance to be a stretch.
>
> Michael R. Masinter                      3305 College Avenue
> Professor of Law                         Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
> Nova Southeastern University             954.262.6151 (voice)
> masinter at nova.edu                        954.262.3835 (fax)
>
> Visiting Professor of Law (2008-2009)    305.284.3626 (voice)
> University of Miami Law School           mmasinter at law.miami.edu
> 1311 Miller Drive
> Coral Gables, FL 33146
>
>
> Quoting Jean Dudley <jean.dudley at gmail.com>:
>
>> http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/bush-administra.html[1]
>>
>>  From the Wired article:  "The Amish farmers claim  Michigan
>> regulations requiring them to use radio frequency identification
>> devices on their cattle "constitutes some form of a 'mark of the
>> beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over
>> cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental
>> religious beliefs," according to the farmers' lawsuit filed in
>> September in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia."
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Jean
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>
>
>
> Michael R. Masinter                      3305 College Avenue
> Professor of Law                         Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
> Nova Southeastern University             954.262.6151 (voice)
> masinter at nova.edu                        954.262.3835 (fax)
>
> Visiting Professor of Law (2008-2009)    305.284.3626 (voice)
> University of Miami Law School           mmasinter at law.miami.edu
> 1311 Miller Drive
> Coral Gables, FL 33146
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713

Links:
------
[1] http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/bush-administra.html
[2] http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
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