Religious Freedom and Indian Rights: The Case of Oregon v. Smith

The Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Oregon v. Smith sharply departed from previous expansive readings of the First Amendment’s religious freedom clause and ignited a firestorm of protest from legal scholars, religious groups, legislators, and Native Americans. Carolyn Long provides the first book-length analysis of Smith and shows why it continues to resonate so deeply in the American psyche.

In 1983, Klamath Indian Alfred Smith and his co-worker Galen Black were fired as counselor...