I recently learned about [1993 Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Lukumi_Babalu_Aye_v._City_of_Hialeah), which overturned a Florida ban on ritual animal sacrifice.
In [2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_v._Bremerton_School_District), SCOTUS ruled that the state may not suppress a person’s religious observance, such as a public school official leading a prayer on the 50-yard-line before every football game.
Am I reading this right? Could I sacrifice a live goat on the 50-yard-line before every little league game? And there is nothing the state can do to stop me?
24 comments
Show me a little league game with a 50 yard line and then we can talk about it.
You might be violating some health regulations if the blood is getting all over the dirt that the kids will be playing in.
It would greatly depend on the length of the current losing streak.
Little league is baseball. You’ll have to sacrifice it on the pitcher’s mound.
It figures that the person asking this would know nothing about sports.
Ehhh i believe you would get your ass kicked tbh
Depends on the jurisdiction likely. What faith do you follow that includes the sacrifice of animals?
Neil Gorsuch wrote that decision, which in practice means it only protects the expression of Evangelical Christianity, because that guy’s a total fraud and ideologue.
Little league doesn’t have a 50 yard line. It’s also weird that you’d want to kill an animal in front of little kids.
Well, Little League is baseball. Football has a 50-yard line. So what you’re proposing is technically impossible.
Depends on the law you were getting in trouble with.
Lukumi was a pretty narrow opinion because it was pretty clear the ban on animal sacrifice by Hialeah was written specifically to persecute one single religious organization and not written in a neutral way.
You could easily have a law banning animal sacrifice at child sporting events for public health and welfare that wasn’t targeted at a specific religion. Even with First Amendment and federal legislative protection, ritualistic animal sacrifice at a child sporting event is going to be a tough sell.
Now, riddle me this, what religion are you practicing that requires public animal sacrifice at kid sporting events? Because the court isn’t going to go for “the one I just made up yesterday.”
No, only sheep can be sacrificed and only in Little League end zones.
Setting aside that baseball vs. football issue, you could still potentially be arrested for trespassing – possibly felony armed trespassing since you’d be carrying a butcher knife.
Can you demonstrate that animal sacrifice is part of your sincerely-held religious belief system? If so, maybe.
But courts have also held that freedom of religious practice is not absolute when it runs against compelling governmental interest, nor is it a defense to criminal indictment. One could easily argue that a public animal sacrifice constitutes a health hazard and/or likely to cause a disturbance of peace. It’s one thing to sacrifice an animal in a private ceremony among fellow believers, it’s another to do so at a public sporting event.
I mean, little league doesn’t have 50 yard lines
I guess if you have approval from the league, you could, but there might be a court case (which you could challenge and win)
Why are you asking when you already have the answer?
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/s/J7SdLJEdeV
I don’t think it’s the state you’d have to worry about. There’s probably more than one parent who’d take issue with this and hand your ass to you
Sure, why not. Summoning Beelzebub to the game couldn’t be any worse than listening to the screeching Little League Mamas every time their kid strikes out.
Probably not. First, there’s a huge difference between sacrificing a goat and praying. Second, courts have struck down cases like this on the basis of “this isn’t really a religious belief” so presuming you’re not a long time satanist it’s not your religious belief.
Only if you’re making a hail mary from outside the three point line during a penalty shootout.
This is America, our goats are armed. They could sacrifice you.
There are too many legal variables to unpack and it’s never going to be so cut and dry/black and white as how you think. You’d be better off asking experts than a random assortment of americans. Like r/legaladviceofftopic or something.
Sure, Little League baseball games don’t use yardage markers so I’m assuming you created a new sport where the sacrifice is integral to the rules.
Firstly, you would not be allowed out on the field as some rando, which is what you are in this context. Even though the field is public property, it is not a public square for anyone’s legal use at any hour for any reason.
What is your purpose anyhow? To make fun of religion? To offend people just because? Because you don’t like “sportsball” and want to screw with people who do? To denigrate the ruling and get it reversed? It seems like the sole purpose is shit-stirring solely for the stake of getting your jollies.