The Church of the Celestial Heart is a California nonprofit religious corporation seeks to import and use a sacramental tea. It so happens that this tea, which is also called Daime or ayahuasca, carries trace amounts of a Schedule I chemical. After the government seized some of the Church's tea, the Church sought relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(c), 2000bb(4). The Church of The Celestial Heart v. Garland, 2024 WL 99808 (E.D. Jan. 9, 2024).
The defendants (the U.S. Attorney General, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) argued that the Church could not complain of harm because the Church's tea was seized a month before the Church was incorporated. However, the Church existed before its incorporation as a California unincorporated association. As I discussed in this post, Sections 5121, 7121, and 9121 of the California Nonprofit Corporation Law allow existing unincorporated association to change its status to that of a corporation. Thus, Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone rejected the defendants' argument.
