Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita etc
O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal (UDV), a Christian organization with beliefs indigenous to South America, sought to prevent the U.S. Attorney General from interfering with the group’s use of hoasca, a tea used in religious ceremonies containing a drug prohibited by Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). UDV alleged that any interference with its use of hoasca violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA prohibits the government from imposing a substantial burden on the exercise of religion in the absence of a compelling government interest.
The district court granted UDV’s motion for a preliminary injunction and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The Attorney General had argued that the government has a compelling interest in protecting the health and safety of UDV members, preventing hoasca from entering the hands of recreational users, and complying with the 1971 United Nations Convention. The Tenth Circuit stated that the government failed to prove that hoasca poses a significant health risk to UDV members and that, due to the small market for hoasca, the risk of recreational use is minimal. With respect to the U.N. Convention, the court declined to decide whether compliance with the Convention constitutes a compelling government interest, but stated that the Attorney General failed to show that the government used the least restrictive means necessary to meet its interest in complying with the Convention.
The court reheard the case en banc to decide whether the three-judge panel applied the correct standard for reviewing a motion for a preliminary injunction. The court affirmed the panel’s decision, holding that the correct standard had been applied and the preliminary injunction was properly granted under this standard.
Question Presented:
Whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq., requires the government to permit the importation, distribution,
possession, and use of a Schedule I hallucinogenic controlled substance, where Congress has found that the substance has a high potential for abuse, it is unsafe for use even under medical
supervision, and its importation and distribution would violate an international treaty.
