Federal Judge Owen Panner rules in favor of the Santo Daime Church!
| -----------------------------
| ". . .I conclude that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 42 U.S.C. § §
| 2000bb to 2000bb-4, requires that plaintiffs be allowed to import and drink
| Daime tea for their religious ceremonies, subject to reasonable
| restrictions. I will enter a judgment and permanent injunction. These are my
| findings of fact and conclusions of law after
| the court trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 52 (a). . ."
| ". . .Plaintiffs have established their prima facie claim by more than a
| preponderance of the evidence. Plaintiffs have established that they are
| sincere in their religious beliefs, and that the ceremonial use of the Daime
| tea is essential to their religion.  It is obvious that prohibiting the use
| of Daime tea would substantially burden the exercise of plaintiffs'
| religion. . ."
| ". . .The government has failed to show that outright prohibition of the
| Daime tea is the least restrictive means of furthering its interests. . ."
| And finally:
| ". . .Plaintiffs are entitled to relief under RFRA. Judgment will be entered
| for plaintiffs in accordance with this opinion."
| IT IS SO ORDERED.
| DATED this 18 day of March, 2009
| Owen M. Panner
| US District Judge


_______________________________________________
Theharderstuff mailing list
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://mail.psychedelic-library.org/mailman/listinfo/theharderstuff