Abstract
This comment examines the historically uncertain balance between an individual's right to freely exercise his religious beliefs and the state's countervailing interest to protect the welfare of its youngest and most vulnerable citizens. By detailing the history of this fragile relationship through its statutory and judicial renderings, this comment will illustrate that spiritual exemptions to child protection statutes violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and conflict directly with multiple landmark Supreme Court decisions.
Recommended Citation
Scott St. Amand,
Protecting Neglect: The Constitutionality of Spiritual Healing Exemptions to Child Protection Statutes,
12
Rich. J. L. & Pub. Int.
139
(2009).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/pilr/vol12/iss2/5