Deputies Can't Stop Animal Sacrifices Inside Waterford Lakes Home - News Story - WFTV Orlando: "Inside the rented house, deputies told Jade Forest homeowners they interrupted a goat sacrifice on Friday as part of a Santeria ceremony. 'I don't like any kind of odd thing happening. I mean, I don't know? Maybe that's where they start and then go further with dogs and cats,' the unidentified neighbor said. It's not likely in the Santeria religion, where only goats and chickens are sacrificed, but neighbors have done research recently. The Internet offers plenty on sacrifice rituals with chickens and goats. In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that humane religious animal sacrifice is protected by the U.S. Constitution. On the porch of the home Monday there were rotting meatballs and watermelon, along with a religious vase. Eyewitness News reporter Steve Barrett tried to ask about the Santeria practices, but was politely turned away."
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Shu Bartholomew sent this. The Supreme Court case is Church of the Lukumi Babalu v. City of Hialeah. The article misstates the ruling. The Hialeah ordinances were invalidated because they were obviously targeted only at the Santeria "religion." If there had been generally applicable ordinances that did not target Santeria, that might have been a different story, especially since Employment Division v. Smith. But in any event, there are some obvious public safety issues here with rotting meat and animal carcasses in a residential neighborhood.
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