In McDaniel v. Paty et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Tennessee law barring ministers from serving as delegates to the state's constitutional convention was unconstitutional, violating both the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses of the First Amendment. The case began when Paul McDaniel, a Baptist minister, sought to run for delegate but was disqualified due to his religious occupation under an 1870 provision in Tennessee's constitution. The court held that this provision infringed upon McDaniel’s right to freely exercise his religion by imposing special disabilities on him because of his religious status as a clergyman. Furthermore, it violated equal protection principles by excluding him from participation in political life solely based on his religious profession.

In the dissenting opinion for McDaniel v. Paty, Justice William Rehnquist argued that the majority's decision to strike down a Tennessee law barring ministers from serving in public office was incorrect. He contended that this law did not violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because it did not prevent ministers from practicing their religion; rather, it merely restricted them from holding certain secular positions. Furthermore, he believed that such laws were intended to maintain separation between church and state by preventing religious leaders from using political power to promote their own faiths at the expense of others'. Therefore, according to Rehnquist’s perspective, these restrictions served an important purpose in preserving religious freedom for all citizens and should have been upheld.