City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507, 60 (1997)

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566

CITY OF BOERNE v. FLORES

Breyer, J., dissenting

law remains marked by an "intolerable tension," id., at 574, and the constitutionality of the Act of Congress to enforce the free-exercise right cannot now be soundly decided. I would therefore dismiss the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted, and I accordingly dissent from the Court's disposition of this case.

Justice Breyer, dissenting.

I agree with Justice O’Connor that the Court should direct the parties to brief the question whether Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872 (1990), was correctly decided, and set this case for re-argument. I do not, however, find it necessary to consider the question whether, assuming Smith is correct, § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment would authorize Congress to enact the legislation before us. Thus, while I agree with some of the views expressed in the first paragraph of Part I of Justice O’Connor's dissent, I do not necessarily agree with all of them. I therefore join Justice O’Connor's dissent, with the exception of the first paragraph of Part I.

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