Religion & Law

South Carolina Supreme Court Invalidates Emergency School Aid Program

Posted on October 08, 2020
 In Adams v. McMaster, (SC Sup. Ct., Oct. 7, 2020), the South Carolina Supreme Court held that South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster's allocation of $32 million in federal emergency education funding to create one-time grants for students to attend private and religious K-12 schools violates the South Carolina Constitution...

Egyptian Court Bans Pilgrimages To Rabbi's Grave

Posted on October 08, 2020
 Al-Monitor reports that on Sept. 26, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower court ruling banning the annual celebration in Damatyuh village near the city of Damanhur in Beheira governorate of the birth of Rabbi Yaqoub bin Masoud, known as Abu Hasira...

USCIRF Issues Fact Sheets On Rohingya Refugees and Ritual Slaughter Laws

Posted on October 08, 2020
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued two Factsheets of interest this week:Factsheet on Rohingya Refugees in Southeast AsiaFactsheet on Ritual Slaughter Laws in Europe

Seminary May Expel Students For Entering Same-Sex Marriages

Posted on October 08, 2020
In Maxon v. Fuller Theological Seminary, (CD CA, Oct. 7, 2020), a California federal district court held that the Religious Organization Exemption in Title IX applies to a seminary controlled by its own board of directors rather than by an outside religious organization...

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New Jersey COVID Limits On Indoor Church Services Are Upheld

Posted on October 07, 2020
In Robinson v. Murphy, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185070 ( NJ, Oct. 2, 2020), a New Jersey federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction in a suit challenging COVID-19 Orders of the governor of New Jersey. The Orders limit the permitted number of worshipers at indoor religious services and require masks at services...

Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Can Move Ahead On Free Speech, But Not Free Exercise, Claims

Posted on October 07, 2020
In Thunderhawk v. County of Morton, North Dakota, (D ND, Sept. 1, 2020), plaintiffs challenged on numerous constitutional grounds North Dakota's closure of Highway 1806 which was used by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and thousands of its supporters to access campsites set up to protest construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline...

Transcript and Audio Are Available of Supreme Court Arguments In RFRA Damages Case

Posted on October 06, 2020
This morning the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Tanzin v. Tanvir. (Transcript of oral arguments) (Audio of oral arguments.)  In the case, a 3-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a plaintiff may sue federal officials in their individual capacities and may recover monetary damages from them...

Court Enjoins NY Ban On Adoption Agencies Discriminating Against Gay Or Unmarried Couples

Posted on October 06, 2020
In New Hope Family Services, Inc. v. Poole, (ND NY, Oct. 5, 2020), a New York federal district court, hearing a case on remand from the Second Circuit (see prior posting), issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of a regulation of New York's Office of Children and Family Services...

Five Cases of Interest Already On Supreme Court's Docket As Term Opens

Posted on October 05, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court's October Term opens today with five religious liberty-related cases already on the docket from grants of review last year. The cases are:Tanzin v. Tanvir: Availability of money damages in suits under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act...

Satanic Temple Sues Ad Agency For Refusing Abortion Billboards

Posted on October 05, 2020
The Satanic Temple ("TST") announced last week that it has filed suit against Lamar Billboard Company for religious discrimination and breach of contract after the company refused to put up billboards promoting The Satanic Temple's "religious abortion ritual...

Cert. Denied In Appeal By Kim Davis Who Refused To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Posted on October 05, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Davis v. Ermold, the case involving former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who refused on religious grounds to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Alito, concurred in the denial of review, but issued a four page statement critical of the Court's same-sex marriage precedent...

Recent Articles of Interest

Posted on October 05, 2020
From SSRN:Paul Horwitz, A Few Grains of Incense: Law, Religion, and Politics from the Perspective of the "Christian" and "Pagan" Dispensations,  (Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, forthcoming).Nabeela Siddiqui, On Crossroads with Constitutional Morality: The (Un)tamed ERP Test, (August 16, 2020)...

9th Circuit Upholds California's COVID Restrictions On Religious Services

Posted on October 04, 2020
 In Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom, (9th Cir., Oct. 1, 2020), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision refused to issue a preliminary injunction against Governor Gavin Newsom?s COVID-19 Orders that restrict in-person worship services...

Two Catholic Dioceses File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganzation

Posted on October 04, 2020
In the face of sex abuse lawsuits filed after states enacted legislation reviving previously time-barred claims, on Oct. 1 two more Catholic dioceses filed for bankruptcy reorganization under Chapter 11. The Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York (covering Long Island) issued a press release and a letter from Bishop John Barres...

Secretary Pompeo Speaks At Vatican Conference On Defending Religious Freedom

Posted on October 02, 2020
Earlier this week (Sept. 30), Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican at the "Holy See Symposium on Advancing and Defending Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy." His speech (full text and video) was titled Moral Witness and Religious Freedom...

Alabama's Voter Registration Oath Is Challenged

Posted on October 02, 2020
Yesterday four Alabama residents filed suit challenging language in Alabama's voter registration form. The oath in the form ends with "so help me God." No secular alternative is available.  The complaint (full text) in Cragun v. Merrill, (ND AL, filed 10/01/2020) contends that the absence of a secular alternative violates the Establishment, Free Exercise, Free Speech and Equal Protection Clauses...

Denial of Church's Sewer Extension Application Did Not Violate RLUIPA or Constitution

Posted on October 02, 2020
 In Canaan Christian Church v. Montgomery County, Maryland, (D MD, Sept. 30, 2020), a Maryland federal district court, in a 54-page opinion, rejected challenges to the county's refusal to extend public sewer lines to a site on which plaintiffs wished to build a 2000-seat church...

No Fault Divorce Does Not Infringe Husband's Free Exercise Rights

Posted on October 02, 2020
 In Melki v. Melki,(MD App., Sept. 29, 2020), the Maryland Court of Special Appeals rejected a husband's claim that granting his wife a no-fault divorce violates his free exercise rights. In addition to rejecting jurisdictional and contract clause challenges, the court said in part:Because the Orthodox faith does not permit divorces absent fault, Husband claims that the dissolution of the marriage on the grounds of a twelve-month separation would unconstitutionally force him to commit a mortal sin according to his religion...

Court Temporarily Halts Enforcement of Tennessee's Mandated Abortion Reversal Disclosures

Posted on October 01, 2020
 In Planned Parenthood of  Tennessee and North Mississippi v. Slatery, (D TN, Sept. 29, 2020), a Tennessee federal district court issued a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of a Tennessee law scheduled to take effect Oct. 1 which requires abortion providers to tell patients that medication abortions, once started, can be reversed...

Vermont's Town Tuition Program Challenged

Posted on September 30, 2020
In Vermont, school districts that do not operate their own high schools must pay tuition costs for students in their district to attend another public high school or an approved private high school. Suit was filed this week in a Vermont federal district court challenging the exclusion of private religious schools from participating in this program, alleging that the exclusion violates free exercise, free speech and equal protection rights...

Preliminary Injunction Denied In Suit Targeting Colorado's COVID-19 Limits On Size of Religious Gatherings

Posted on September 30, 2020
On Monday, a challenge to Colorado's COVID-19 orders was filed.  In a 98-page complaint, a religious conference center and affiliated Bible college claim that Colorado's limitation on the number of persons who can attend in-person religious services violates its 1st and 14th Amendment rights...

Recent Virginia Anti-Discrimination Statutes Challenged

Posted on September 30, 2020
 Two lawsuits filed this week challenge two recently enacted Virginia statutes-- SB 868 prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations and employment, and HB 1429 that prohibits discrimination against transgender individuals in health insurance policies...

Recent Articles of Interest

Posted on September 29, 2020
From SSRN:Yuval Shany, The Road Taken: ICCPR and discriminatory restrictions on religious freedom, (Harvard Human Rights Journal (forthcoming in 2021)).Anthony Aladekomo, Analysis of Intersection between Law and Religion, (July 13, 2020).Audra Savage, The Religion of Race: The Supreme Court as Priests of Racial Politics, (Utah Law Review, Forthcoming)...

Parents' Suit Against Christian High School Dismissed On Ecclesiastical Abstention Grounds

Posted on September 27, 2020
 In In re Prince of Peace School, (TX App., Sept. 23, 2020), a Texas state appellate court dismissed on ecclesiastical abstention grounds a suit by parents whose children were expelled from a Lutheran high school after the parents accused school personnel of harassing and bullying their children in connection with disciplinary issues...

Trump Sends Message To "The Return"

Posted on September 26, 2020
 As reported by CBN News, thousands of Christians gathered on the National Mall today for The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance.  The event was organized by Messianic Jewish pastor Jonathan Cahn and featured numerous Christian speakers, including Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham...

11th Circuit Grants En Banc Review In Case of Religious Statement By Juror

Posted on September 25, 2020
As reported by Florida News Service, yesterday the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted en banc review (full text of order) in United States v. Corrine Brown. In the case, a 3-judge panel, in a 2-1 decision, affirmed the trial court's dismissal of a juror in the fraud case of former Florida representative Corrine Brown...

EEOC Sues On Behalf of Seventh Day Adventist

Posted on September 25, 2020
 The EEOC announced yesterday that it has filed suit in a Texas federal district court against Quest Diagnostics for refusing to accommodate the religious beliefs of a long-time employee. The EEOC said in part:[T]he employee, a phlebotomist, is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist who began working for Quest Diagnostics in 2008...

Trump and Barr Speak At National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Posted on September 24, 2020
Yesterday both President Trump (in a pre-recorded address-- full text) and Attorney General William Barr spoke at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, held online this year (video of entire breakfast). In his remarks, President Trump said in part:Today I am announcing that I will be signing the Born Alive Executive Order to ensure that all precious babies born alive, no matter their circumstances, receive the medical care that they deserve...

Irish Court Focuses On Importance of Witness Oath

Posted on September 24, 2020
 N.D. (Albania) v. International Protection Appeals Tribunal, (High Ct. Ireland, Sept. 22, 2020), was a suit brought by an Albanian woman who is challenging her order of deportation from Ireland. The suit seeks review of a decision of Ireland's International Protection Appeals Tribunal...

Church Challenges D.C.'s COVID-19 Orders

Posted on September 24, 2020
The first suit by a church challenging the District of Columbia's COVID-19 Orders was filed last week by an 850-member evangelical congregation.  The D.C. Orders limit the number of persons who can gather for religious services. The complaint (full text) in Capitol Hill Baptist Church v...

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