Unemployment Benefits and the Religion Clauses: A Recurring Conflict

This Casenote examines Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division, in which the Supreme Court of the United States extended unemployment benefits to a claimant who had voluntarily terminated his employment for religious reasons. The author discusses the application of the first amendment religion clauses to cases of this nature, and suggests that the Supreme Court did not properly balance the claimant\u27s right to the free exercise of his religion against the state\u27s interest in maintaining its unemployment compensation system. The author concludes that the Court\u27s decision increases the conflict between the establishment and free exercise clauses of the first amendmen