<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/8c723fdb-4f7a-4a9e-8d29-70d9a9bd0886/BF3EC063-ABD9-4A48-9029-17E64FF9FF1C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices" style="font-size: 11px;">news.yahoo.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices"><P>DALLAS – A <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_0" class="yshortcuts">federal appeals court</SPAN> reversed a lower court's ruling on Friday that barred a Santeria priest from sacrificing goats in his Texas home, saying a city's decision to prohibit the ritual violated the man's <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_1" class="yshortcuts">religious rights</SPAN>.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices"><P>Jose Merced, 46, accuses the city of Euless, Texas, of trampling on his constitutional right to religious exercise. The city claims the sacrifices jeopardize public health and violate its slaughterhouse and <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_2" class="yshortcuts">animal cruelty</SPAN> ordinances.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices"><P>Last year, <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_3" class="yshortcuts">U.S. District Judge John</SPAN> McBryde sided with the Fort Worth suburb and dismissed the Puerto Rico native's claims. <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_4" class="yshortcuts">Merced</SPAN> appealed.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices"><P>In its ruling, the 5th <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_5" class="yshortcuts">U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals</SPAN> in New Orleans said the Euless ordinance placed a substantial burden on Merced's "free exercise of religion without advancing a compelling governmental interest using the least restrictive means."</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_re_us/us_suburban_sacrifices"><P>"It's a great day for religious freedom in <SPAN id="lw_1249085902_6" class="yshortcuts">Texas</SPAN>," said Eric Rassbach, Merced's lawyer, in response to the three-judge panel's ruling.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/BF3EC063-ABD9-4A48-9029-17E64FF9FF1C/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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