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U.S. Court decisions:
Some court decisions which have recognized Wicca are:
An important ruling of a state Supreme Court was in Georgia: Roberts v.
Ravenwood Church of Wicca, (249 Ga. 348) in 1982. It was similar to
Dettmer v Landon, below.
The District Court of Virginia declared in 1985 (Dettmer v Landon, 617 F Suup 592 [E.
Dst. Va.]) that Wicca is "clearly a religion for First Amendment purposes....Members of
the Church sincerely adhere to a fairly complex set of doctrines relating to the spiritual
aspect of their lives, and in doing so they have 'ultimate concerns' in much the same way
as followers of more accepted religions. Their ceremonies and leadership structure, their
rather elaborate set of articulated doctrine, their belief in the concept of another world,
and their broad concern for improving the quality of life for others gives them at least
some facial similarity to other more widely recognized religions." 1 This was a landmark
case.
Judge J. Butzner of the Fourth Circuit Federal Appeals Court confirmed the Dettmer v
Landon decision (799F 2nd 929) in 1986. He said: "We agree with the District Court that
the doctrine taught by the Church of Wicca is a religion." Butzner J. 1986 Fourth Circuit.
A case was brought in 1983 in the U.S. District Court in Michigan. The court found that
3 employees of a prison had restricted an inmate in the performance of his Wiccan
rituals. This "deprived him of his First Amendment right to freely exercise his religion
and his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection of the laws."
A case Wheeler v Condom was argued before a U.S. Postal Service Administrative Judge
regarding who had the right to pick up mail addressed to The Church of Y Tylwyth Teg
(a.k.a. Y Tylwyth Teg), and The Association of Cymmry Wicca and delivered to a
Georgia post office box. The 1989 decision recognized both groups as valid religious
organizations. 2 Many other cases are listed in the Welsh Witchcraft web site. 3
Wicca has never been considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, that court once
ruled on the Santeria religion. The case was: Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. and
Ernesto Pichardo v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993). This case involved the legality
of animal sacrifices which are not a practice of Wiccans. However, the ruling did
recognize the rights of a religion which is very different from Christianity and many
other organized religions in America. If the legality and status of Wicca were ever to be
challenged in court, the Santeria ruling would likely be considered a precedent for the
court to follow.
Government recognition
Wiccan and other Neopagan groups have been recognized by governments in the US and
Canada and given tax exempt status. Wiccan priests and priestesses have been given
access to penitentiaries in both countries, and the privilege of performing
handfastings/marriages. On 2001-MAR-15, the list of religious preferences in the U.S.
Air Force Personnel Data System (MilMod) was augmented to include: Dianic Wicca,
Druidism, Gardnerian Wicca, Pagan, Seax Wicca, Shamanism, and Wicca. 4
Some documents
The Alternative Religions Educational Network (AREN) maintains a list of documents
designed to help the Neopagan community fight for equal rights. 5 Included are:
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