The Constitutionality of Sabbatarian Exemptions

Date

1963

Authors

Loewy, Arnold H.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Boston University Law Review

Abstract

On May 29, 1961, the Supreme Court in Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market, and three companion cases, sustained the constitutionality of the Massachusetts Sunday Closing Laws. In so doing, it rejected the claim that the laws unreasonably prohibited the free exercise of religion by not containing a blanket Sabbatarian exemption. Subsequent to Gallagher, several bills have been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives which would exempt Sabbatarians from all of the Sunday prohibitions embodied in Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. Ch. 136, ยง 5. It is the purpose of this note to consider the constitutionality of such an exemption.

Description

Keywords

First Amendment, Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, Equal protection, Separation of church and state, Constitutional law

Citation

43 B.U. L. Rev. 386