(European) Stars or (American) Stripes: Are the European Court of Human Rights’ Neutrality and the Supreme Court’s Wall of Separation One and the Same?

This Article traces the different approaches to religious freedom that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the United States Supreme Court have adopted. This Article highlights some important doctrinal differences between the Supreme Court and the ECHR. Part I of this Article briefly surveys the dynamic role of the U.S. Constitution and of the European Convention. This Part sets the groundwork for the comparison between the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, which is part of a sovereign country, and the jurisprudence of the ECHR, which was established by a large number of sovereign European states through the international treaty that created the European Convention.