Merced v. City of Euless

Euless, Texas resident Jose Merced is a priest of the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria.  From 1990 to 2006, he openly performed Santerian rituals in his home involving the humane sacrifices of animals, including goats, turtles, and doves.  Believed by Santerians to be a vital link to the spirit world, sacrificial offerings of animals are an essential component of their religion.

In May 2006 Mr. Merced was visited at his home by local police and told that that the sacrifices he performed were prohibited in Euless.  The city claimed that its ordinances prohibiting slaughterhouses and animal cruelty precluded Mr. Merced from performing his religious rituals.  However, as it became clear that Euless permitted a host of secular exceptions to these ordinances, including veterinary euthanasia and the butchering of deer and large fowl, Mr. Merced filed suit in federal court in December 2006, alleging Euless violated the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and the Texas Religious Freedom Act.

After a truncated bench trial was decided in favor of Euless, Mr. Merced turned to the Becket Fund, which filed an appeal on his behalf in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The appeal has now been fully briefed, and  Becket Fund Litigation Director Eric Rassbach presented the oral argument to the Court on April 1, 2009 in New Orleans.  

On July 31, 2009, The Fifth Circuit Court ruled, citing the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, that the city of Euless, Texas was substantially burdening Merced’s free exercise of religion by keeping him from performing ceremonies essential to his religion. The City of Euless must allow Jose Merced to sacrifice goats in his home, an integral part of the Santeria religion.

“Religious freedom doesn’t mean much if you can’t peacefully worship in your own way in your own home. The Fifth Circuit got that right today,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director of The Becket Fund. “The Becket Fund took on this case not just to vindicate the rights of Mr. Merced, but also to protect the ability of every believer to worship in his own home as his conscience dictates, without undue government interference.”

Resources & Documents

• Merced\'s Opening Brief (PDF, 186.54KB)
• Fifth Circuit Opinion (PDF, 288.98KB)

Articles & News Items

• "Goat sacrifice on trial in TX: Arguments in Fifth Circuit address religious liberty issues," April 1, 2009
• "Wall Street Journal - Why I Defend Goat Sacrifice," August 7, 2009
• "AP - Court won't rehear case on man's animal sacrifices," September 9, 2009
• " Star-Telegram - Court won't rehear Euless animal-sacrifice case," September 10, 2009
• " WFAA - Euless faces $400,000 legal bill over animal sacrifice case," September 30, 2009