Satanic Abortion
A Texas woman who wants to undergo a Satanic abortion ritual claims the state is interfering with her First Amendment rights by requiring women to first get an ultrasound before an abortion.
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Imam Sues Alabama for Not Letting Him Join Muslim Inmates in Execution Room
An imam filed a federal lawsuit against Alabama on Thursday for barring him from accompanying a Muslim death row inmate during his 2019 execution.
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Seventh Circuit Rules Nativity Scene Can Be Placed on Courthouse Grounds
A split Seventh Circuit panel ruled that a holiday nativity scene displayed on the grounds of a county courthouse does not violate the Constitution.
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Forced Adoption Case Against Norway Hits European Rights Court
The European Court of Human Rights heard arguments Wednesday over whether Norway violated the religious rights of a Muslim woman whose child was forcibly adopted by Christians.
Read moreSatanic Prayers
In a suit against the city of Boston’s legislative prayer selection process, The Satanic Temple says it doesn’t have any issue with offensive prayers or the city permitting congregations to “invoke Jesus,” but just wants an “equal opportunity — one guaranteed by the Constitution — invoke Satan.”
Read moreChurch Services
The Ninth Circuit enjoined California from enforcing against Harvest Rock Church, and its member churches, an attendance limit on indoor worship under Tier 2 and 3 of the state’s Covid-19-related “Blueprint for a Safer Economy.” The injunction doesn’t prevent the state from enforcing total prohibitions on indoor worship under Tier 1 or the restrictions on singing and chanting during indoor services.
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Ninth Circuit Denies California Church’s Bid to Overturn Indoor Worship Ban
A Ninth Circuit panel Friday affirmed a federal judge’s denial of a church’s bid to block California’s temporary ban on indoor worship during the Covid-19 pandemic, but said the state could not impose attendance caps in less restrictive tiers of its health order.
Read moreEducation Benefits
The Second Circuit ruled that a lower court improperly rejected a girl’s request for a preliminary injunction to require Vermont’s Agency of Education to allow her to access benefits pending adjudication of her claims alleging the dual enrollment program, which pays for high schoolers to take college courses, violated her rights with its requirement that her private school tuition be “publicly funded.”
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Ninth Circuit Considers if Total Ban on Indoor Worship Is Constitutional
Asked a second time to rule on the constitutionality of California’s pandemic-induced ban on indoor worship in as many weeks, the Ninth Circuit Friday considered whether churches should be treated as “essential services.”
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Panel Urged to Grant Iowa University Officials Immunity in Religious Freedom Case
The University of Iowa asked an Eighth Circuit panel Wednesday to rule that university officials are not individually liable for violating a Christian student group’s First Amendment rights.
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Anti-Vaxxers Challenge Missouri’s Religious Exemption Process in the Eighth Circuit
A group of Missouri parents told an Eighth Circuit panel on Tuesday that the state requires them to go through a forced indoctrination session to religiously opt out of vaccines required for their children to attend school.
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Church Asks Ninth Circuit to Lift California’s Ban on Indoor Worship
A Ninth Circuit judge expressed concern Monday that California’s effort to curb Covid-19 transmission by banning all indoor religious gatherings could extend into the summer months or beyond if the pandemic worsens, further restricting people’s constitutional right to practice their religion.
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Federal Judge Declines to Overturn Contempt of Court Charge for California Church
As expected, a federal court declined to grant a temporary restraining order Friday to a California-based church that has repeatedly flouted local Covid restrictions during an ongoing state case.
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California Church Asks Judge to Lift Pandemic Restrictions on Indoor Services
Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a federal judge’s ruling on Harvest Rock Church’s challenge to California’s indoor gathering restrictions, an attorney for the Christian church said in district court Friday the state unfairly targeted religious gatherings with “harsh treatment.”
Read moreReligious Services
In light of its recent ruling in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts in Colorado and New Jersey must reconsider the states’ Covid-19-related restrictions on indoor religious services.
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Wisconsin Justices Hear Challenge to School Closure Powers
The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a set of lawsuits challenging local health officials’ authority to close schools, including religious ones, for in-person instruction amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Read moreReligious Speech
In a First Amendment dispute, a federal court in Tennessee ruled against three “preachers” moved by officers from the entrance of a park during an LGBTQ festival. The three, who confronted festival-goers and used an amplification system to spout slurs, were moved from the park to a sidewalk because of their actions, not the content of their message, the court ruled.
Read moreNativity Scene
A federal court in Indiana denied a county’s request for a stay pending appeal of a ruling that prohibited it from displaying a nativity scene on courthouse grounds.
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Running Afoul of Philly Law, Catholic Foster Care Agency Seeks High Court Exemption
Backed by the U.S. government, a Catholic foster care agency that won’t work with gay couples told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Philadelphia’s nondiscrimination policies apply to it unfairly.
Read moreDiscrimination Policies
A federal court in Michigan dismissed a civil rights suit brought by parents of school-age children who, citing their Christian faith, claimed the Williamston Community School District Board’s policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identy and expression have a “chilling effect on their children’s freedom of speech and religion.”
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