Why I'm Not (Yet?) Much Worried About the Civil Liberties Restrictions Flowing from the Coronavirus Response
The restrictions are less dangerous precisely because they are so broad and onerous.
Religion
Religion, Law, and Coronavirus
An interesting site, run out of the University of Pisa, covering breaking developments in many countries with many articles in English.
Court Rules Mostly for Catholic Nurse Who Objected to Newly Imposed Birth-Control and Abortion-Referral Duties
The Illinois Appellate Court's decision interprets the Illinois version of the RFRA, and the separate Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act (which bans all discrimination "because of [a] person's conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept, perform, assist, counsel, suggest, recommend, refer or participate in any way in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience").
Muslim Inmate Objects to Strip Search with Transgender Female-to-Male Guard Watching
The prison's actions satisfied the strict scrutiny test, a federal court just held, so the inmate loses.
California Wants To Carve Out Religious Exemptions to Its Insane Housing Laws
State lawmakers want to override local zoning codes to let churches and other nonprofits build affordable housing on their own land.
While Trump Was Praising Modi for Religious Freedom, Modi-Supporting Hindus Slaughtered Muslims in the Streets
Trump's failure to speak out against Modi's reign of lawlessness and terror is an epic abdication of responsibility.
Can a City Refuse To Use a Foster Agency That Discriminates Against Same-Sex Couples?
The Supreme Court is about to tackle the issue.
The Government Says These Men Have No Recourse Against FBI Agents Who Used the 'No Fly' List To Punish Them
The Supreme Court will decide whether three Muslims who refused to be informants can sue for damages under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Modi Cheerleaders Are Abusing a Well-Intentioned American Refugee Law for Anti-Muslim Ends
They want to scrap the citizenship rights of Indian Muslims because America helped Soviet Jews and Christians.
The Tear of Allah
The Chinese Communist Party confiscated a sacred meteorite from Muslim herders. They're suing to get it back.
Trump's Expanded Travel Ban Compounds the Wrongs of Previous Versions
The courts may not strike it down. But it remains both illegal and deeply unjust.
DOJ Intervention Dramatically, Irrationally, and Unconstitutionally Increases the Penalty Faced by a Woman Accused of Slapping Jews
How can prosecuting a black woman for slapping Jews in 2020 be authorized by the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in 1865?
The Montana Blaine Amendment Case and the Need for a Consistent Approach to Discrimination on the Basis of Religion
Conservatives want courts to consider the governments' bigoted motives in enacting anti-Catholic Blaine amendments, but not when it comes to Trump's travel ban. Liberals tend to be inconsistent in the opposite way.
The Supreme Court Weighs School Choice and Religious Liberty
What’s at stake in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Scientology and Arbitration
Prof. Michael Helfand (Pepperdine), a leading expert on religious arbitration, passes this along.
Indian Prime Minister Modi's Lawless Reign of Terror
Narendra Modi relies on private militants allied with his party to crack down on dissent.
Are We Experiencing a Nationwide 'Anti-Semitism Crisis'?
Hate crime data suggest that claim is overblown.
Sex Offender Tries to Change Name to "Better Off Dead"
No, says the trial court, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals agrees.
Espinoza School Choice Case and Discrimination Against Religion
A response to a query of mine, from David Hodges of the Institute for Justice (who are plaintiff's lawyers).
The Likely Outcome of the Methodist Schism
An interesting analysis from Prof. Mark Movsesian (St. John's).
Civil Court Can't Order Wife to Accept an Orthodox Jewish Husband's "Get" (Divorce Document)
"It would be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution for the Court to order the Wife to participate in a religious ritual when she did not agree to do so nor may the Court impose a financial penalty against her."
Thank You, Ram Dass!
The pioneering psychedelic researcher, Timothy Leary collaborator, and New Age seeker exemplified America's postwar turn to individualism.
New York Charged Grafton Thomas With Attempted Murder for Assaulting Jews With a Machete. Why Are the Feds Prosecuting Him for the Same Attack?
A crime in Monsey leads to a redundant prosecution that hinges on the defendant's anti-Semitism.
Indian Prime Minister Modi's Useful Idiots in America Should Now Condemn Him
His brutal response to the protests against his anti-Muslim initiative reveal him as a Hindu nationalist, not a reformer.
Like China, India's Modi Is Engaged in a Massive Faith Cleansing of Its Muslim Minority
He is yanking their rights and building detention camps.
Will These Palestinian Christians Be Reunited With Their Families for Christmas?
The human cost of border enforcement
Trump's Order Aimed at Fighting Anti-Semitism Is Constitutionally Problematic, but It's Not Anti-Semitic
Erroneous reporting set off a bizarre backlash that obscured the real problem.
An LGBT Discrimination Compromise Bill Is Proposed in an Uncompromising Culture
The “Fairness for All Act” would add federal protections against discrimination for gay and trans people. But its exemptions go too far or not far enough, depending on who you ask.
Everyone Is Confused About Trump's Executive Order on Judaism
Plus: the foundations bankrolling bad tech policy, they is the word of the year, and more...
Regulation and 'the Right Ordering of Economic Life'
What libertarians can learn from Catholic social doctrine
Authoritarianism Is Winning on Every Front in India
Instead of its economy becoming more liberal, its polity is growing more illiberal.
Hearing Examiner Recommends Approval of Women-Staffed Volunteer Ambulance Service for Orthodox Jewish Women,
but the New York City Regional Emergency Medical Services Council denied the application, by a 12-7 vote.
N.Y. Prosecution and Lawsuit Over Sending Baptist Anti-Catholic Leaflet + E-Mail
Criminal charges were eventually dropped, and the civil lawsuit has just been thrown out.
Was Church Excluded from Maryland School Choice Program Because of "Problematic" Views on Marriage?
That's the question in a First Amendment lawsuit, which a federal judge has allowed to go forward.
Court Strikes Down Kentucky's Rejection of IM GOD Vanity Plate
Vanity plates are private speech in a nonpublic forum, the court holds; restrictions on such speech must be viewpoint-neutral and reasonable.
Monty Python Meets the Bishop
Friday A/V Club: The 40th anniversary of Life of Brian's British debut—and of a legendary TV debate
Kentucky Printer Wins Fight To Refuse To Print Pro-LGBT Shirts
But the technical nature of the decision might not stop future lawsuits.
The First Amendment and Courts Interpreting Religious Terms
Prof. Michael Broyde (Emory) responds to my post from a few weeks ago.
EEOC: Employers Can't Require a Note from Your Rabbi …
... as a condition of giving you a reasonable religious accommodation; quite right, I think, under Title VII religious accommodation principles.
