Judge dismisses couple's federal peyote suit

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Utah County couple who claimed the government infringed on their constitutional right to use peyote in religious ceremonies.

U.S. District Judge David Sam ruled that James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney and Linda Mooney have no basis to sue Utah County. The judge also threw out the Mooneys' claims against the United States and the state of Utah.

The Mooneys are the leaders of the Oklevueha Earth Walks Native American Church of Utah.

James Mooney said he was repeatedly prosecuted for violating drug laws by providing peyote to worshippers in the church he founded. He and his wife filed the federal lawsuit in May.

The couple pleaded not guilty to charges of distributing the hallucinogen drug and claimed they only used it in American Indian religious services. Federal prosecutors claimed Mooney broke federal laws by fraudulently claiming to be a member of an American Indian tribe.

In February, federal prosecutors dropped charges of illegally distributing peyote that had been filed against the couple last year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the day before in an unrelated case involving a hallucinogenic tea. The ruling said the government cannot hinder religious practices without proof of a "compelling" need to do so.

The federal charges were brought after the Mooneys' convictions in state court were voided. They were charged in 2000 in Utah's 4th District Court for providing peyote to non-Indians visiting the church.

The Mooneys sued last spring, alleging the conduct of state and federal prosecutors interfered with their religious practices.

In a ruling issued this past week, Sam wrote that "there is no fact from which this court could infer or find that Utah County has an official policy that infringes upon plaintiffs' right to use peyote, as that right has been explicitly defined by the Utah Supreme Court."

Sam also ruled that the United States and the state of Utah have sovereign immunity against the lawsuit.