Argument of Speaker
Mr. Speaker: The opinion of the court in Nos. 86-946, 86-947, Employment Division Department of Human Resources of Oregon versus Smith and another case will be announced by Justice Stevens.
Argument of Justice Stevens
Mr. Stevens: These two cases raised constitutional question that we have decided not to decide without further guidance from the Oregon Supreme Court.
They come to us on certiorari to review a judgment of that court granting unemployment compensation benefits to the two respondents.
They are members of the native American Church ,that church occasionally holds ceremonies that which peyote, a hallucinogenic drug of the mescaline family is ingested as a sacrament.
Respondents were discharged from their jobs as drug and alcohol abuse counselors after they ingested a small amount of peyote during such a religious ceremony.
Petitioner ruled that respondents were inillegible for unemployment compensation, but the Oregon Supreme Court disagreed, holding that under the precedents of this Court the denial of benefits violated respondents' First Amendment rights since they have been discharged for engaging in religiously motivated conduct.
In so holding the State Court attached no significance to whether respondents' act violated Oregon Law.
Even though the precedents it relied on involved only clearly lawful religious conduct.
We find that whether respondents' conduct was lawful is relevant to the constitutional analysis, since the First Amendment does not protect the right to engage in unlawful conduct even it is religiously motivated.
Because the record before us does not clearly reveal whether respondents' conduct was prohibited under Oregon Law, we remand these cases to the Oregon Supreme Court in order that that court may analyze the constitutional questions raised in light of its determination of whether respondents' conduct was in violation of state law.
Justice Brennan has filed a dissenting opinion in which Justice Marshall and Justice Blackmun have joined.
Justice Kennedy did not participate in the consideration of decision of the case.
