An article from the Fall 2007 symposium issue of the West Virginia Law Review, Volume 110, on “The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century.” The symposium was convened by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and the West Virginia University College of Law on October April 12 and 13, 2007.

As part of the series of papers from the symposium panel “Accommodation of Religion,” Kent Greenawalt, University Professor at Columbia Law School, wrote on “Establishment Clause Limits on Free Exercise Accommodations.” The article, “attempts to synthesize the Supreme Court’s case law concerning the degree to which the Establishment Clause limits discretionary governmental accommodations of religious practice.” Professor Greenawalt “identifies a number of factors that seem critical for determining when government has crossed the line that separates permissible accommodation from forbidden establishment. A valid accommodation must (1) relieve a relevant burden on religious practice, (2) not grant relief far more extensive than the burden to which it responds, (3) not be intrinsically unconstitutional (e.g., because it assigns political authority to a religious group), (4) not impose unacceptable burdens on those who do not benefit from the accommodation, and (5) classify beneficiaries in an appropriate (e.g., denominationally neutral) way. These factors help courts to focus on the proper questions, but often they do not eliminate the need for line-drawing that turns on ‘subtle nuances’ and ‘matters of degree.’” - From Introduction by William P. Marshall, Vivian E. Hamilton and John E. Taylor.