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Utah County man would like his peyote back |
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Main NEWS Section -
Religious
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Provo, Utah (AP) 8-08
A Utah County man wants federal authorities to give him back his peyote.
James “Flaming Eagle” Mooney fought in court to be able to use the hallucinogenic drug in religious ceremonies.
The Utah Supreme Court threw out a drug conviction against Mooney, and a lawsuit he filed against the county was thrown out of federal court two years ago.
Mooney says the U.S. attorney’s office returned a peyote cactus that can be used in religious ceremonies, but not ingested. He says the federal investigators never returned the 15,000 peyote buttons that were seized from his church.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Salt Lake City says the peyote is contraband and will not be going back to Mooney.
“The case ended with an agreement,” said spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch. “There was nothing in the agreement about us giving them back. We believe it was illegal for him to have them. They’re contraband, and we’re not going to give them back.”
Federal law allows the use of peyote for religious purposes by American Indians.
Mooney’s peyote is being held because of a dispute over whether he is a member of a federally recognized tribe. Mooney said he is a member of the Florida-based Seminole tribe, but the U.S. attorney’s office disagrees.
The agreement that ended Mooney’s federal case includes a stipulation that he and his wife, Linda, will not possess or use peyote. The agreement says that requirement and several others will remain in place until Mooney qualifies as a member of a federally recognized tribe or a court rules that federal drug laws do not preclude the possession, use and distribution of peyote in church ceremonies without regard to tribal membership.
Mooney contends a 1991 U.S. District Court ruling from New Mexico protects the religious use of peyote by members of the Native American Church, regardless of whether the drug is used by a non-Indian member.
In that case, the judge ruled that “permitting Indians’ non-drug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of (a) Native American church, but prohibiting such use by non-Indians, would violate free exercise and equal protection clauses.”
Mooney said he’s appealing to the U.S. Senate with a letter-writing campaign.
“I’m going to use political means,” he said.
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