Free Exercise Clause

E1214

constitutional clause legal doctrine

The Free Exercise Clause is a provision of the U.S. Constitution that protects individuals’ rights to practice their religion without undue government interference.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

AI illustration

All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Free Exercise Clause canonical	18
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment	8
First Amendment free exercise of religion	3
First Amendment free exercise cases	1
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution	1
Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution	1
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment is applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.	1
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the State of Wisconsin from compelling Amish parents to send their children to formal high school after the eighth grade.	1
free exercise clause	1
the Free Exercise Clause	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T17004 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Free Exercise Clause
Context triple: [United States Constitution, contains, Free Exercise Clause]

A. Supremacy Clause
The Supremacy Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that establishes federal law and the Constitution as the highest law of the land, overriding conflicting state laws.
B. District of Columbia Home Rule Act
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a U.S. federal law that grants Washington, D.C. limited self-government, including an elected mayor and council, while reserving ultimate authority to Congress.
C. Residence Act
The Residence Act was a 1790 law passed by the U.S. Congress that authorized the establishment of a permanent national capital along the Potomac River, leading to the creation of Washington, D.C.
D. Quakers
The Quakers are the athletic teams representing the University of Pennsylvania in collegiate sports.
E. Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison is the landmark 1803 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, empowering federal courts to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Free Exercise Clause
Target entity description: The Free Exercise Clause is a provision of the U.S. Constitution that protects individuals’ rights to practice their religion without undue government interference.

A. Supremacy Clause
The Supremacy Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that establishes federal law and the Constitution as the highest law of the land, overriding conflicting state laws.
B. District of Columbia Home Rule Act
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a U.S. federal law that grants Washington, D.C. limited self-government, including an elected mayor and council, while reserving ultimate authority to Congress.
C. Residence Act
The Residence Act was a 1790 law passed by the U.S. Congress that authorized the establishment of a permanent national capital along the Potomac River, leading to the creation of Washington, D.C.
D. Quakers
The Quakers are the athletic teams representing the University of Pennsylvania in collegiate sports.
E. In God We Trust
"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States, prominently featured on its currency and widely used in governmental and civic contexts.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	constitutional clause ⓘ legal doctrine ⓘ
adoptedOn	1791 ⓘ
allows	neutral laws of general applicability to burden religion in some circumstances ⓘ
appliesTo	corporations in some contexts ⓘ federal government of the United States ⓘ linked to: United States government individuals ⓘ religious organizations ⓘ state governments of the United States ⓘ
basisForDoctrine	ministerial exception ⓘ
category	First Amendment rights ⓘ linked to: First Amendment to the United States Constitution civil liberties ⓘ freedom of religion ⓘ
contrastedWith	Establishment Clause ⓘ
draftedBy	First United States Congress ⓘ
enforcedBy	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
extendedToStatesBy	Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ linked to: Fourteenth Amendment
foundInDocument	Bill of Rights ⓘ United States Constitution ⓘ
historicalContext	response to concerns about religious persecution ⓘ
incorporatedThrough	Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ linked to: Due Process Clause
influencedBy	James Madison ⓘ Virginia Declaration of Rights ⓘ
interpretedInCase	Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. ⓘ Cantwell v. Connecticut ⓘ Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah ⓘ Employment Division v. Smith ⓘ Fulton v. City of Philadelphia ⓘ Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission ⓘ Reynolds v. United States ⓘ Sherbert v. Verner ⓘ Wisconsin v. Yoder ⓘ
languageAppliesTo	Congress ⓘ linked to: United States Congress
legalStandardHistoricallyAssociatedWith	compelling interest test ⓘ strict scrutiny ⓘ
limits	government ability to burden religious exercise ⓘ
locatedInJurisdiction	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
partOf	First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
prohibits	government discrimination based on religion ⓘ government interference with religious exercise ⓘ laws targeting specific religions ⓘ
protects	free exercise of religion ⓘ religious belief ⓘ religious practice ⓘ
protectsAgainst	undue government interference with religious practice ⓘ
relatedLegislation	Religious Freedom Restoration Act ⓘ Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ⓘ
relatedTo	religious liberty in the United States ⓘ
text	"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (36)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States Constitution → contains → Free Exercise Clause ⓘ

First Amendment to the United States Constitution → containsClause → Free Exercise Clause ⓘ

Establishment Clause → relatedTo → Free Exercise Clause ⓘ

Reynolds v. United States → constitutionalProvisionInterpreted → Free Exercise Clause ⓘ

Wisconsin v. Yoder → constitutionalProvision → Free Exercise Clause ⓘ

Wisconsin v. Yoder → holding → The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the State of Wisconsin from compelling Amish parents to send their children to formal high school after the eighth grade. ⓘ