Also known as: generally applicable law · generally-applicable laws · generally-applicable law · neutral laws · facially neutral laws
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A law that regulates conduct without reference to religion and applies uniformly to all persons or entities regardless of religious affiliation. Such a law remains enforceable even when compliance incidentally conflicts with a religious practice. The Free Exercise Clause does not require exemptions from these laws absent evidence that the government targeted religion for disfavored treatment.
Gustavo Gutierrez participated in a religious ceremony that involved ingesting a controlled substance prohibited by state criminal law. His employer terminated him for the violation. The state agency denied unemployment benefits under its misconduct rule that applies to every worker who loses a job for criminal conduct. The denial stands because the misconduct rule is neutral and generally applicable.
Giana Greco's congregation sought a building permit to enlarge its worship space in a city historic district. The city denied the permit under an ordinance that bars alterations to protected structures and applies to every property owner. The ordinance remains enforceable against the church because it is neutral and generally applicable.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Gerald Gibson gave information to a newspaper reporter after receiving a promise of confidentiality. The newspaper published his identity anyway. Gibson sued under state promissory estoppel law that binds every citizen who makes an enforceable promise. The claim proceeds because promissory estoppel is a generally applicable law that creates no special press exemption.
Gretchen Graham received a tape of a private conversation recorded without consent. She played the recording on a radio program. The participants sued under a state wiretap statute that prohibits disclosure by any person who knows the recording was illegal. The statute applies because it is generally applicable and does not single out the press.
Gateway Bank owns a cable system that carries only premium channels. A federal regulation requires every cable operator to reserve channels for local broadcast stations. The bank challenges the rule as a burden on its editorial choices. The regulation is valid because it is a generally applicable mandate that applies to all cable systems.
Guillermo Guzman and other members of a religious community petitioned for a separate public school district whose boundaries coincided exactly with their village. The state legislature granted the request. Challengers contend the district law violates the Establishment Clause because it was tailored to one religious group. The arrangement fails because the statute is not generally applicable.
A law qualifies when it regulates conduct without reference to religion and applies across the board to comparable secular and religious conduct. The vaccination requirement in the hospital-employee case was generally applicable because it covered every worker and contained only a medical exemption unrelated to belief. The hours-of-operation rule for retail stores was likewise generally applicable because it reached all businesses without religious targeting.
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No. A narrow medical exemption tied to physical inability to comply does not make a rule non-general. The vaccination rule remained generally applicable despite the medical carveout because the exemption rested on objective health constraints rather than a system of individualized secular exceptions that disfavored religion.
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Rational basis review applies. The state need only show that the rule is rationally related to a legitimate government interest. The consumer-hours rule and the hard-hat safety requirement both satisfied this deferential standard because they advanced public-access and workplace-safety goals.
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…and an unrestricted flow of contending speech — are constitutional norms; what it would produce here — a private right to ignore generally applicable laws — is a constitutional anomaly. Nor is it possible to limit the impact of respondents’ proposal by requiring a “compelling state interest” only when the conduct prohibited is “central” to…