The plaintiff’s 18-year-old son died suddenly at home. His body was taken to the hospital, where the cause of death could not be found without an autopsy. The deputy medical examiner ordered a postmortem examination. The plaintiff was a member of the Jewish Orthodox faith and refused the postmortem examination of his son on the basis that religious conviction prohibited any molestation of the body after death. Is freedom of religion curtailed by a law that has a compelling state interest?
