Tag: Church of Cognizance

Dan and Mary Quaintance in 1991 founded the Church of Cognizance, organized around the principle that marijuana is a deity and a sacrament.

A federal district court in New Mexico found that the couple’s beliefs were not religious and added that they failed to show that those beliefs were sincerely held.

On appeal, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 19 affirmed the denial of the couple’s RFRA defense in United States v. Quaintance.

Last week the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court’s ruling, paving the way for a Santeria priest in Euless, Texas, to resume goat sacrifices as part of religious ceremonies.

His lawyer tells the Wall Street Journal why he choose to represent the priest in court.

The founders of an Arizona church that deifies marijuana have pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and are now each facing up to 20 years in prison.

But Dan and Mary Quaintance , founders of the Church of Cognizance, remain confident that they will not end up behind bars.

Dan Quaintance believes freedom of religion will prevail, and predicts the case could go as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

There is no religious right in Arizona to possess marijuana, the state Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, saying freedom of religion is not the same as freedom of action.

The judges rejected arguments that the First Amendment protections of free exercise of religion entitle an Arizona resident, Daniel Hardesty, to use marijuana as a “sacrament” of his church.

Right now their case is in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and Dan thinks it will go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

What sets Temple 420 apart — and is also the reason Rev. Rubun will be in court Friday – is the use of marijuana as a religious sacrement.

Founders of the Pima-based Church of Cognizance are scheduled to go to trial in January after a federal judge ruled against their assertion that their marijuana usage is tied to religious practices.