City of Boerne v. Flores

City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the scope of Congress's power of enforcement under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case also had a significant impact on historic preservation.

In this case, the Court enjoined enforcement of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), as it applied to the states, stating the statute was an unconstitutional use of Congress's enforcement powers. Legal scholars have criticized this case stating that, "Without RFRA, questions of religious freedom will be decided in different ways in different states, and even for different religious groups." Scholars also stated that, "This places smaller religions at a relative disadvantage- a situation inconsistent with the governing ideal of the Fourteenth Amendment."