27-33-102. Legislative findings.
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/mt/title-27/chapter-33/part-1/27-33-102·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
27-33-102 . Legislative findings. The legislature finds that:
(1)the framers of the United States constitution, recognizing free exercise of religion as an unalienable right, secured its protection in the first amendment to the United States constitution;
(2)the framers of the Montana constitution, recognizing free exercise of religion as a fundamental right, secured its protection in the Montana constitution;
(3)laws and other state action that are neutral toward religion may burden the exercise of religion as surely as laws intended to interfere with religious exercise;
(4)state action should not burden exercise of religion without compelling justification;
(5)prior to 1990, laws and other state action burdening exercise of religion had to be justified by a compelling governmental interest; and
(6)the compelling governmental interest test set forth in prior federal court rulings and this part is a workable test and strikes a sensible balance between religious liberty and competing governmental interests.