Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
| Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah | |
|---|---|
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| Argued November 4, 1992 Decided June 11, 1993 |
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| Full case name | Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. and Ernesto Pichardo v. City of Hialeah |
| Citations | 508 U.S. 520 (more)
113 S. Ct. 2217, 124 L. Ed. 2d 472 (1993).
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| Prior history | dismissing individuals, 688 F.Supp. 1522 (S.D. Fla. 1988), summary judgment for defendant, 723 F. Supp. 1467 (S.D. Fla. 1989), aff'd, 936 F.2d 586 (11th Cir. 1991). |
| Holding | |
| The states cannot restrict religiously-mandated ritual slaughter of animals, regardless of the purpose of the slaughter. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Kennedy (Parts I, III, IV), joined by Rehnquist, White, Stevens, Scalia, Souter, Thomas |
| Majority | Kennedy (II-B), joined by Rehnquist, White, Stevens, Scalia, Thomas |
| Majority | Kennedy (Parts II-A-1, II-A-3), joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, Scalia, Thomas |
| Concurrence | Kennedy (Part II-A-2), joined by Stevens |
| Concurrence | Scalia (in part and judgment), joined by Rehnquist, Souter |
| Concurrence | Blackmun (in judgment), joined by O'Connor |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Free Exercise Clause, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, City of Hialeah Ordinances 87-52, 87-71, 87-72 | |
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that an ordinance passed in Hialeah, Florida, forbidding the "unnecessar[y]" killing of "an animal in a public or private ritual or ceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption", was unconstitutional.
Santería is an Afro-American religion developed as a syncretism of Roman Catholicism and Yoruba religion by Yoruba people brought as slaves from Yorubaland to Cuba by the Atlantic slave trade. Adherents believe they can fulfill their destiny through the aid of beings known as orishas, who subsist off blood from animal sacrifice. Animals, usually chickens, killed during ritual slaughter are then cooked and eaten by the celebrants, except during death and healing rituals, where sick energy is believed to have passed into the sacrifice. Santeria has been subject to widespread persecution in Cuba, so it is traditionally practiced in secret, employing saint symbolism.
The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc., is a Florida nonprofit organized in 1973 by Ernesto Pichardo, who was an Italero-level priest in the Santeria faith. The Lucumí language is used in the Santeria liturgy and Babalú-Ayé is the spirit of wrath and disease. In April 1987, the Church leased a property at 173 W. 5th Street, Hialeah, in Miami-Dade County, Florida and announced its intention to use the site to openly practice the faith.
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