Free Exercise of Religion

In a small town in Oklahoma, a man named Richard Shaw convinced a group of people that he has seen a vision from God, and that he had instructions for him. The instructions given to them by Shaw were to rebel and attack anyone who works for the government on sight. The ideals of the religion that are formed are extremely anti-governmental and belligerent to leading political officials all the way down to government workers. The religion picked up steam as more and more people join the group, and as word spreads throughout the town, the local police, firemen, mailmen, and others notice a heightened feeling of aggression towards them. One officer eventually hears from a meeting that the leader has been calling for a small town revolt against the local government because it is “God’s will.” The officer takes it to the state and tells them that he thinks they should shut it all down. At this point, no one has been harmed. However, they have marched with torches and burnt copies of the constitution in large bonfires, rallied around the house of the governor screaming pugnacious and crude things at him and his family, and generally shaken the town up. The state of Oklahoma gets involved and eventually takes the officer’s plea and deems it illegal to practice Shaw’s religion. Shaw is outraged and sees it as just another reason god instructed them to strike down the government, and slinks back into practicing it secretly. One of the townsfolk, an extremely objective woman named Sherry Robbins, decides that she doesn't think it’s constitutional for the state to shut down a religious group because they haven't done any harm. The State government says that they were planning on an attack, so it doesn't matter if it has happened or not, they still had the right to shut it down because it protects the general public. Robbins takes it to court and sues the state of Oklahoma. They strike it down, using the same reasoning they did with her informal grievance. She appeals to the supreme court and the court deems the actions of Oklahoma are unconstitutional and that the practice of the religion should be legal again. To the town’s dismay, Shaw and his followers come out of hiding and the town is sent back into the state it was before.