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Carlito
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Reged: 03/05/05
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Bump in road for peyote case [UT]
12/17/06 08:43 AM
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http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/202892/3/
Bump in road for peyote case
James Warren "Flaming Eagle" Mooney's quest for justice suffered a setback this week.
U.S. District Judge David Sam threw out the Native American Church leader's lawsuit that accused the federal government, Utah and Utah County of violating his religious rights by prosecuting him for using peyote in religious services.
Sam found that the federal and state government could not be sued because of immunity laws, while Mooney, the judge said, failed to offer evidence that Utah County, as a matter of policy, infringed on his right to conduct peyote ceremonies.
Mooney plans to appeal. He may get a friendlier hearing from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
Mooney and his wife, Linda, were prosecuted on drug charges for allowing non-Indians to participate in peyote ceremonies at their church, Oklevueha EarthWalks Native American Church. The Utah County Attorney's office, under Kay Bryson, made the absurd claim that the church was a front for drug distribution and confiscated 12,000 peyote buttons from the Mooneys several years ago.
When the Utah Supreme Court ruled that state drug laws do not prohibit non-Indians from peyote ceremonies, prosecutors turned to the federal system, which does. But the federal drug charges against Mooney were dismissed last year.
Unfortunately, the racial test for spiritual experience is still on the federal books, trampling religious liberty by limiting peyote ceremonies exclusively to Native Americans. If ever a law could be called unconstitutional, this is it. Spiritual experiences know no racial boundary, and the government's attempts to suppress religious practice on the basis of race are a disgrace.
Of course, federal and state government immunity laws are reasonable, and Judge Sam ruled properly on that matter. We are hard pressed, however, to understand how Sam could say that, to qualify for his courtroom, an intrusion on religious freedom must be rooted in "policy." While Utah County's repeated harassment of Mooney may not be labeled policy, it was wrong nonetheless.
By prosecuting Mooney, Bryson's office attempted to dictate doctrine to an established church. If the First Amendment means anything, it means that the federal government must keep its hands off religion. It is up to spiritual leaders, not bureaucrats or prosecutors, to decide who is worthy to participate in rituals.
All the prosecutorial angst displayed over peyote is unnecessary and should be set aside. Peyote is simply not a recreational drug, and there is no evidence whatsoever to support the claim that Mooney was a drug pusher. Just the opposite, as a matter of fact. The entire accusation was a farce from the very beginning.
Bryson leaves office at the end of the year. We hope that his successor, Jeff Buhman, takes a more circumspect approach in this matter.
And for heaven's sake, somebody needs to give Mooney back his seized peyote.
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