Public Law 103-141

E33470

Public Law 103-141 is the formal designation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a U.S. federal law enacted to protect individuals’ free exercise of religion from substantial government burdens.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Pub. L. 103-141 1

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Religious Freedom Restoration Act
United States federal statute
alsoKnownAs Religious Freedom Restoration Act
surface form: RFRA of 1993
appliesIn federal judiciary of the United States
surface form: United States federal courts
appliesTo federal government actions
citationStyle Religious Freedom Restoration Act
surface form: RFRA
codifiedIn United States Code
codifiedSections 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb–2000bb-4
codifiedTitle Title 42 of the United States Code
country United States of America
surface form: United States
dateEnacted 1993-11-16
dateSigned 1993-11-16
defines exercise of religion broadly
effectiveDate 1993-11-16
enactedBy 103rd United States Congress
hasTitle Religious Freedom Restoration Act
surface form: Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
heldUnconstitutionalAsTo state and local governments (by City of Boerne v. Flores)
influenced later federal religious liberty statutes
introducedInCongress 1993
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: federal government of the United States
language English
legislativeResponseTo Employment Division v. Smith
originallyAppliedTo federal, state, and local governments
partyOfSigningPresident Democratic Party
protects individuals
religious organizations
protectsRight free exercise of religion
publicLawNumber Public Law 103-141 self-linksurface differs
surface form: Pub. L. 103-141
purpose to protect the free exercise of religion
to provide a claim or defense to persons whose religious exercise is substantially burdened by government
to restore the compelling interest test for laws that substantially burden religious exercise
relatedCase City of Boerne v. Flores
surface form: City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)

Employment Division v. Smith
surface form: Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
relatedStatute Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
surface form: Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000
remainsApplicableTo federal government
requires application of strict scrutiny to substantial burdens on religious exercise
requiresShowingOf substantial burden on religious exercise
shortTitle Religious Freedom Restoration Act
signedBy Bill Clinton
signingPresident Bill Clinton
sponsorChamber United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
standardImposedOnGovernment compelling governmental interest
least restrictive means
statutesAtLargeCitation 107 Stat. 1488
subjectMatter civil rights
constitutional law
religious freedom
typeOfLegislation civil rights legislation
yearEnacted 1993

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Public Law 103-141 publicLawNumber Public Law 103-141 self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Pub. L. 103-141