A priest of Santeria—an Afro-Caribbean religion that requires animal sacrifice—can claim his arrest on animal cruelty charges violates the federal constitution, federal judge has ruled in a case of first impression in the Third Circuit.
Ruling on a motion to dismiss a civil rights suit, U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton upheld claims of violation of free exercise of religion, as well as of illegal search and seizure, and found that an animal-protection officer who investigated the sacrifices is not entitled to immunity.
