"Federal authorities ought to return peyote that was seized from an American Indian church in Utah County and stop trying to deliver their own brand of justice outside the court system.

James Flaming Eagle Mooney contends that the 15,000 peyote buttons should be returned because his church emerged victorious from a series of court battles. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City disagrees, saying that the peyote is contraband and that Mooney waived his right to use the substance.

That's hardly the point. The fact is that the use of peyote in genuine religious ceremonies is legitimate, and Mooney's rites are genuine. Court rulings at both federal and state levels support this concept. The prosecutors are using technicalities -- perversely, it seems -- to accomplish now by some sort of misguided sophistry what they failed to accomplish in court.

In 2004, the Utah Supreme Court struck down the criminal charges. The court rightly ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of all people to worship as they choose.

The court also ruled that Utah laws incorporated a federal exemption exempting members of the Native American Church from peyote regulations.

Also of importance, the justices said that no one had to be a member of a federally recognized tribe to be a member of that church or any other."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Give back the peyote (The Provo Daily Herald 8/8)

Utah Supreme Court Decision:
State of Utah v. Mooney (June 22, 2004)

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