Download
1 / 11
110 likes | 224 Views
Preview. Do you believe that ones religious beliefs can allow them to break the law? Why or why not?. Reynolds V United States. Hany AbdulHameed. Background Lesson.
E N D
Preview • Do you believe that ones religious beliefs can allow them to break the law? Why or why not?
Reynolds V United States HanyAbdulHameed
Background Lesson • Reynolds v. United States (1878) was a Supreme Court Case that stated that religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment. • George Reynolds was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), who was charged with bigamy under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, because he married Amelia Jane Schofield while he was still married to Mary Ann Tuddenham.
Background Lesson • At that time, Mormons believed that the law unconstitutionally deprived them of their First Amendment right to freely practice their religion, and chose to ignore the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. Eventually, amid the efforts to indict The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for bigamy, the First Presidency agreed to furnish a defendant in a test case to be brought before the United States Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the anti-bigamy law. • Reynolds, who was a secretary in the office of the President of the Church, agreed to serve as the defendant. He provided the attorney numerous witnesses who could testify that he was infact married to two wives. In 1875, Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to two years hard labor in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars. In 1876 the Utah Territorial Supreme Court upheld the sentence. • U.S. Attorney William Carey had promised to stop his attempts to indict general authorities during the test case. However when Carey failed to keep his promise and arrested George Q. Cannon, the Mormon Church leaders decided that they would no longer cooperate with him. And the court case, Reynolds v. United States, was appealed.
Reynolds v United States • The Chief Justice was Morrison Waite, and he upheld the conviction of George Reynolds. • The Majority Vote 8:1
Majority Opinion • In this case, the Court held that the First Amendment was not intended to, and therefore does not protect the right to practice bigamy, even if such a practice is rooted in one's religious beliefs. • The court looked back through history to understand the full scope of the First Amendment as used in this case. They considered a statement made by Thomas Jefferson which stated that "Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive to good order." The court acknowledged that bigamy has at all times in the history of the United States and the colonies before them been considered an offense against society. The Court held that marriage is a civil contract regulated by law and is itself a building stone of society. With this argument, the Court reasoned that from marriage "spring social relations and social obligations and duties, with which the government is necessarily required to deal." It was held therefore, that "it is within the legitimate scope of the power of every civil government to determine whether bigamy or monogamy shall be the law of social life under its dominion." • Through this evidence, they concluded that bigamy is unconstitutional, therefore they are not taking away the First Amendment Rights of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Dissenting Opinion • The dissenting opinion was written by Justice Field. He agreed with the decision of the court on all counts, but disagreed on the admission of evidence by Amelia Schofield (the second woman that George Reynolds is held to have married). • This is the only information I could find on the dissenting opinion.
Quiz • What year did this court case take place? • What religion was George Reynolds? • What crime was George Reynolds breaking? • What were the names of his two wives? • What was the name of the Chief Justice? • What was the majority vote? • What is the actual name of the Mormon religion? • What was the name of the Justice that wrote the dissenting opinion?
