The Sherbert Test consists of four criteria that are used to determine if an individual’s right to religious free exercise has been violated by the government. The test is as follows:
* whether the person has a claim involving a sincere religious belief, and
* whether the government action is a substantial burden on the person’s ability to act on that belief.
If these two elements are established, then the government must prove
* that it is acting in furtherance of a “compelling state interest,” and
* that it has pursued that interest in the manner least restrictive, or least burdensome, to religion.
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Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment required that government demonstrate a compelling government interest before denying unemployment compensation to someone who was fired because her job conflicted with her religion.
The case established the Sherbert Test, requiring demonstration of such a compelling interest in Free Exercise cases. This test was eventually all-but-eliminated in Employment Division v. Smith 292 U.S. 872 (1990). However it was resurrected by Congress in the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993, but the Court in City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) and Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao doVegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006), limited its application to federal laws only.
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