City of Boerne v. Flores

E39104

United States Supreme Court case federal courts case landmark constitutional law case

City of Boerne v. Flores is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court case that curtailed Congress’s power under the Fourteenth Amendment and held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act could not be applied to the states.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
City of Boerne v. Flores canonical	14
City of Boerne v. Flores congruence and proportionality test	1
City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)	1
City of Boerne, Petitioner v. P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio, and United States	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T253217 — 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: City of Boerne v. Flores
Context triple: [Religious Freedom Restoration Act, limitedByCourtCase, City of Boerne v. Flores]

A. Van Orden v. Perry
Van Orden v. Perry is a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument on Texas State Capitol grounds against an Establishment Clause challenge.
B. Lynch v. Donnelly
Lynch v. Donnelly is a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display and helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion.
C. DeBoer v. Snyder
DeBoer v. Snyder was a federal court case challenging Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban that became one of the key cases consolidated into the landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
D. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
E. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah is a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down city ordinances targeting Santería animal sacrifice and clarified that laws burdening religious practice must be neutral and generally applicable under the Free Exercise Clause.
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: City of Boerne v. Flores
Target entity description: City of Boerne v. Flores is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court case that curtailed Congress’s power under the Fourteenth Amendment and held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act could not be applied to the states.

A. Van Orden v. Perry
Van Orden v. Perry is a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument on Texas State Capitol grounds against an Establishment Clause challenge.
B. Lynch v. Donnelly
Lynch v. Donnelly is a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display and helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion.
C. DeBoer v. Snyder
DeBoer v. Snyder was a federal court case challenging Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban that became one of the key cases consolidated into the landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
D. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
E. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah is a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down city ordinances targeting Santería animal sacrifice and clarified that laws burdening religious practice must be neutral and generally applicable under the Free Exercise Clause.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ federal courts case ⓘ landmark constitutional law case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ federalism ⓘ religious liberty ⓘ
arguedDate	1997-02-19 ⓘ
citation	521 U.S. 507 ⓘ
citedFor	congruence and proportionality standard ⓘ
concurrenceBy	Antonin Scalia ⓘ Clarence Thomas ⓘ John Paul Stevens ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decidedBy	Rehnquist Court ⓘ
decisionDate	1997-06-25 ⓘ
decisionType	majority decision with concurrences and dissents ⓘ
dissentBy	David H. Souter ⓘ Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ Stephen G. Breyer ⓘ
docketNumber	95-2074 ⓘ
effect	limited Congress’s ability to redefine the scope of constitutional rights under Section 5 ⓘ strengthened judicial role in defining the substance of constitutional rights ⓘ
factualBackground	dispute over denial of a building permit to expand a Catholic church in a historic district ⓘ
fullCaseName	City of Boerne v. Flores self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: City of Boerne, Petitioner v. P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio, and United States
holding	Congress exceeded its enforcement powers under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment in applying the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the states ⓘ The Religious Freedom Restoration Act is unconstitutional as applied to state and local governments ⓘ
issue	scope of Congress’s enforcement power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ validity of RFRA as applied to the states ⓘ
joinedMajority	Antonin Scalia ⓘ Clarence Thomas ⓘ John Paul Stevens ⓘ Ruth Bader Ginsburg ⓘ Stephen G. Breyer ⓘ William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
legalPrinciple	congruence and proportionality test for Section 5 legislation ⓘ
locationOfDispute	Boerne, Texas ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ
party	City of Boerne, Texas ⓘ P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio ⓘ
precedentFor	cases evaluating Congress’s Section 5 enforcement power ⓘ
result	Religious Freedom Restoration Act remained applicable to the federal government but not to the states ⓘ
statuteAtIssue	Religious Freedom Restoration Act ⓘ surface form: Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
subsequentDevelopment	led to enactment of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ⓘ
yearDecided	1997 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (17)

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

Religious Freedom Restoration Act → limitedByCourtCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Enforcement Clause → usedInCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Enforcement Clause → standardArticulatedIn → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

this entity surface form: City of Boerne v. Flores congruence and proportionality test

Public Law 103-141 → relatedCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

this entity surface form: City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)

City of Boerne v. Flores → fullCaseName → City of Boerne v. Flores self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: City of Boerne, Petitioner v. P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio, and United States

United States v. Morrison → relatedTo → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment → interpretedByCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Rehnquist Court → landmarkDecision → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

City of Boerne, Texas → roleIn → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

City of Boerne, Texas → jurisdictionOf → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio → notableWork → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

subject surface form: P. F. Flores

P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio → participantIn → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

subject surface form: P. F. Flores

P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio → legalCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

subject surface form: P. F. Flores

Boerne, Texas → associatedCourtCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Tennessee v. Lane → followsCaseLawFrom → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett → precedentReliedOn → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs → relatedCase → City of Boerne v. Flores ⓘ

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (48)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (17)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited