The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .”  Notwithstanding the First Amendment, Congress passed a law that establishes religions of native American Indians.

In 2002, Samuel Wilgus, a non-Indian, was prosecuted for illegal possession of eagle feathers under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Eagle Act. Wilgus received training in the Native American Church and was given the feathers as a gift. Eagle feathers are an important part of many native religions, but currently, only American Indians have the right to use and posses eagle feathers.  This poses a problem for non-native followers of Indian religions. Should someone like Wilgus have the same right to posses eagle parts as Indian practitioners?

TribStar.com:  See the previous post called “You Commit Three Felonies a Day” about a new book that says the are so many laws now that all of us are constantly violating the law without knowing it.  That’s what happened to a woman who bought sudafed for her family.

When Sally Harpold bought cold medicine for her family back in March, she never dreamed that four months later she would end up in handcuffs.  Now, Harpold is trying to clear her name of criminal charges, and she is speaking out in hopes that a law will change so others won’t endure the same embarrassment she still is facing.  “This is a very traumatic experience,” Harpold said.

Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week’s time.  Those two purchases put her in violation of Indiana law 35-48-4-14.7, which restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or PSE, products to no more than 3.0 grams within any seven-day period.