Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General, et al. v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal et al.

Decided February 21, 2006. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 04-1084 · 546 U.S. 418 (2006) · Cited 713 times

Holding

The courts below did not err in determining that the Government failed to demonstrate, at the preliminary injunction stage, a compelling interest in barring the UDV’s sacramental use of hoasca.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Gonzales v. Raich · 545 U.S. 1 (2005)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Mazurek v. Armstrong · 520 U.S. 968 (1997)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Doran v. Salem Inn, Inc. · 422 U.S. 922 (1975)
• Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Touby v. United States · 500 U.S. 160 (1991)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Munaf v. Geren · 553 U.S. 674 (2008)
• Ramirez v. Collier · 595 U.S. 411 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).