Towards the end of his statement, Alito suggested that Kennedy had relied primarily on a free-speech claim rather than a freedom-of-religion claim because of “certain decisions of this court.” One of those decisions, Alito said, was Employment Division vs. Smith in which, he said, “the court drastically cut back on the protection provided by the Free Exercise Clause” of the 1st Amendment.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times