Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1993, is the primary legal text itself, the Court's unanimous ruling striking down a Florida city's ordinances that banned animal sacrifice as unconstitutionally targeting Santeria religious practice specifically rather than serving a genuine, neutrally applied public health purpose. Its strength is that it is the actual controlling case law on religious animal sacrifice in the United States, so a claim about the legal status of Santeria or similar practices' ritual sacrifice can be checked against the Court's own reasoning and holding rather than a paraphrase. Its limit is that a Supreme Court opinion settles the specific legal question of governmental targeting under the free exercise clause, it does not describe Santeria's own theology or ritual practice in any depth, so a claim about the religious meaning of the sacrifice itself needs a source on Santeria practice, with this case cited for its legal protection.