What is Sherbert Test

A three-prong test for courts to use in determining whether the government has violated an individual’s constitutionally protected right to the free exercise of religion. The first prong investigates whether government has burdened the individual's free exercise of religion. If government confronts an individual with a choice that pressures the individual to forego a religious practice, whether by imposing a penalty or withholding a benefit, then the government has burdened the individual's free exercise of religion. However, under this test not all burdens placed on religious exercise are constitutionally prohibited. If the first prong is passed, the government may still constitutionally impose the burden on the individual's free exercise, if the government can show: it possesses some compelling state interest that justifies the infringement (the compelling interest prong); and no alternative form of regulation can avoid the infringement and still achieve the state's end (the narrow-tailoring prong).

Religious Liberty