Written by Don Byrd
Following up a story from last year, a Tennessee preacher whose church practices snake-handling as part of its religious ceremony will not be charged with violating the state’s wildlife laws. A raid by the Wildlife Resources Agency seized dozens of venomous snakes the law bars from possession. A grand jury, however, after hearing from the pastor himself, declined to hand down indictments.
RNS reports:
“I’m ecstatic,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “All the headlines should read ‘Snake handlers have religious rights in Tennessee.’”
Hambin said he was allowed to address the grand jury for half an hour at the hearing. His defense was simple. The snakes weren’t his, he said. They belonged to the church, and Hamblin said the wildlife officials had no business raiding a church.
The surviving snakes will be cared for at the Knoxville Zoo, not returned to the church, according to the report.
