James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney and Linda Mooney are asking a federal judge to declare that they are entitled to practice their religious beliefs, including using peyote, and that the threat of future prosecution is a denial of their constitutional rights. In addition, they are asking for unspecified monetary damages from the federal government, the state of Utah and Utah County.

The U.S. Attorney's Office was reviewing the suit and had no comment. The state Attorney General's Office and the Utah County Attorney's Office also had no immediate comment.

Although the Mooneys are not enrolled members of a federally recognized tribe - a requirement to be legally allowed to use peyote - they have a genuine belief that they are racially, culturally and spiritually American Indians, according to their suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

Their ancestors never sought enrollment because identifying themselves as Native Americans could subject them to race discrimination, the legal action alleges.

Despite their agreement with federal prosecutors, the Mooneys claim peyote is "a deity" that is central to their religious observances, and that "only through observance of this deity [can they] gain full spiritual completion," according to their suit.

The dispute between the Mooneys and law enforcement started in 2000, when police raided their Oklevueha Earthwalks church in Benjamin and seized 12,000 peyote buttons. James Mooney, who claims membership in a Seminole tribe that is not federally recognized, and Linda, who says she believes she has some Cherokee ancestry, were charged in 4th District Court with a dozen first-degree felony counts.

After prosecutors refused their demand to drop the charges, the two appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. The justices ruled unanimously in 2004 that the Mooneys and other church members, regardless of race, legally can use the hallucinogenic cactus under a federal exemption passed in 1970 that is incorporated into Utah law.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, though, said the Mooneys and the non-Indian members of their church still were prohibited under federal law from possessing or using peyote. The pair were indicted in 2005 on peyote-related charges. In February, they reached an agreement with the feds that led to the charges being dropped.

pmanson@sltrib.com