Religious freedom restoration laws.

• Author: Griffin, Jon
• Position: STATESTATS

Religious freedom restoration laws caught the country's attention this spring after Indiana legislators passed a controversial bill some claimed was aimed at allowing discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Laws protecting religious freedom are not new, however, and Indiana was not exactly a pioneer in passing one. Twenty-one states have enacted their own versions of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as of April 15, 2015.

These laws developed in response to several U.S. Supreme Court rulings over the last 50 years. In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that "governments should not substantially burden religious exercise" without proving a "compelling state interest."

Times change, and less than 30 years later, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia warned that allowing religious exceptions to laws could result in "exemptions of almost every conceivable kind." In that case, the Supreme Court ruled against two Native American drug abuse counselors who were penalized for using peyote during a religious ceremony.

The ruling angered many and swelled bipartisan support for the federal law, which Congress passed easily in 1993 with the intention of it applying to all levels of government.

But once again, a Supreme Court ruling spurred more states into...