1999), was a case challenging an internal order of the City of Newark Police Department requiring its officers to be clean-shaven.

[1] The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the order merited strict scrutiny and did not survive exacting review.

The order contained two exceptions, one for undercover police officers and one for medical conditions, such as pseudofolliculitis barbae.

In an opinion written by then Judge Samuel Alito, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling, holding that the internal order merited strict scrutiny and that the denial of an exemption to the plaintiffs violated the Free Exercise Clause.

The Court in Smith did not address whether laws containing exemptions are appropriately considered neutral and generally applicable.