Five states have passed their own versions of the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act and a dozen more are reportedly
considering such legislation. The bills exempt religious groups
and believers from government interference without a "compelling
interest," or a good reason such as protection of public health
and safety. They replace a national law, the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act of 1993, which the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997
declared was unconstitutional when applied to local and state
governments. The court allowed states to pass laws of their own.
...Texas is one of the states considering passage of the act. A
50-member coalition of religious leaders from various faiths
helped draft the bill. "We've had open persecution in the past in
the United States and there's no reason to believe we won't have
it again in the future," Douglas Laycock, professor of
constitutional law at the University of Texas at Austin, told The
Dallas Morning News

Reprinted with permission from Religion Today, http://www.ReligionToday.com." 
              
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