Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security 489 U.S. 829 (1989)

• Author: Leonard W. Levy
• Pages: 1105

Page 1105

This case expanded the protection of the free-exercise clause of the FIRST AMENDMENT by allowing a Christian to refuse work on the Sabbath without being denied unemployment benefits. Earlier, the Court had held that such benefits may not be denied to persons whose religious beliefs obligated them to refuse work on the Sabbath, but in all the PRECEDENTS, such as SHERBERT V VERNER (1963), the claimant had belonged to a religious sect or particular church. Frazee was not a member of either and did not rely on a specific religious tenet. The Illinois courts therefore upheld the denial to him of unemployment compensation.

Unanimously, the Supreme Court sustained Frazee's free-exercise right. He had asserted that he was a Christian, and no authority had challenged his sincerity. As a Christian, he felt that working on...