snake handling

Snake handling is, in US law, the term for handling, displaying or using venomous or dangerous snakes in a manner that endangers the life or health of others. The concept has two layers in a legal and criminal-law context: it is both a religious practice and a criminal matter when the practice crosses the line into violence or attempted murder.

In certain American Pentecostal and Holiness churches — particularly in the southeastern United States — the handling of venomous snakes forms a ritual element of worship. The practice rests on a literal reading of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 18, which states that believers may take up serpents without suffering harm. The snake functions as a test of faith: surviving a bite is taken as a sign of God's protection.

In criminal cases, snake handling may form the basis of a prosecution where a person deliberately exposes another to a venomous snake with intent to injure or kill. The best-known example is the case against Glenn Summerford, a Pentecostal preacher from Alabama, who in 1992 was convicted of an attempted murder committed in 1991, in which he forced his wife to put her hand into a box of rattlesnakes. The court held that the religious framing did not exempt him from criminal liability.

In the state of Tennessee, snake handling is expressly regulated by statute. It is a misdemeanour to display, exhibit, handle or use a poisonous or dangerous snake or reptile in a manner that endangers the life or health of others. The law covers both the religious practice and any other context in which venomous snakes are used irresponsibly around other people.

The concept illustrates a recurring tension in US law between freedom of religion and the state's right to protect citizens from physical danger. The courts have consistently held that religious freedom confers no right to expose others to mortal danger — regardless of whether the act is motivated by belief.