Equal protection does not depend on public familiarity.

Landmark case

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah

In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court held that municipal ordinances targeting Santería religious practice violated the Free Exercise Clause. The controlling opinion is the primary source; educational summaries help readers understand the question, record, and decision but do not replace the opinion.

Source architecture

Primary authority and secondary context.

1. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993). Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States.Primary legal source

   The controlling U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that Hialeah ordinances targeting Santería religious practice violated the Free Exercise Clause.

2. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Exercise of Religious Practices and the Rule of Law: Church of the Lukumi-Babalu Aye v. Hialeah.Public institution

   A federal judiciary educational summary and teaching resource for the landmark religious-freedom case.

3. Oyez. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, No. 91-948.Public institution

   Case chronology, question presented, decision summary, and oral-argument materials.

4. Mary Ann Clark. Santería: Correcting the Myths and Uncovering the Realities of a Growing Religion. Praeger, 2007.Scholarly book

   An accessible study centered on correcting recurring public myths and describing the religion on its own terms.

5. David H. Brown. Santería Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion. University of Chicago Press, 2003.Scholarly book

   Ethnohistory, material culture, institutional development, ritual innovation, and continuity in Afro-Cuban Lucumí religion.

6. Library of Congress, American Folklife Center. Collections: Cuba.Museum or archive

   A research guide to folklife collections documenting Cuban expressive culture in Cuba and the United States.

Public learning path

Read law, history, and representation together.