42 U.S.C. § 2000BB
Section 2000bb · Definitions
This is § 5 of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
Amended 2 times on record
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
As used in this chapter—
(1) the term “government” includes a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, and official (or other person acting under color of law) of the United States, or of a covered entity;
(2) the term “covered entity” means the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory and possession of the United States;
(3) the term “demonstrates” means meets the burdens of going forward with the evidence and of persuasion; and
(4) the term “exercise of religion” means religious exercise, as defined in section 2000cc–5 of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2000—Par. (1). Pub. L. 106–274, §7(a)(1), substituted “or of a covered entity” for “a State, or a subdivision of a State”.
Par. (2). Pub. L. 106–274, §7(a)(2), substituted “term ‘covered entity’ means” for “term ‘State’ includes”.
Par. (4). Pub. L. 106–274, §7(a)(3), substituted “religious exercise, as defined in section 2000cc–5 of this title” for “the exercise of religion under the First Amendment to the Constitution”.