Nebraska High Court Rejects Free Exercise Challenge To Newborn Screening Law

In In re Interest of Joel Anaya, (NE Sup. Ct., Dec. 5, 2008), the Nebraska Supreme Court held that the religious freedom clause of the Nebraska Constitution (Art. I, Sec. 4) should be interpreted identically to the federal Free Exercise clause in determining whether a neutral law of general applicability is constitutional. Applying this standard, the court rejected a state constitutional free exercise challenge to a Nebraska statute that requires newborns to have a blood screening test for specified metabolic and genetic disorders. The court pointed to its 2005 decision in which it had reached the same conclusion in a federal free exercise challenge to the law brought by the same family in connection with another of their children. However, the court concluded that the state's enforcement of the newborn screening law by taking temporary custody of the newborn was not justified, since there was not evidence of child neglect. The AP today reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)