Trump Administration Targets Iranian Christians for Deportation
They face severe persecution if deported to Iran.
Religion and the Law
Appeals Court Blocks Louisiana Ten Commandments in Classrooms Law
"If H.B. 71 goes into effect, Students will be subjected to unwelcome displays of the Ten Commandments for the entirety of their public school education. There is no opt-out option," the court's opinion reads.
Utah Passed a Religious Freedom Law. Then Cops Went After This Psychedelic Church.
A religious group using psilocybin mushrooms in ceremonies "put the State of Utah's commitment to religious freedom to the test," a federal judge wrote.
Fighting Antisemitism Should Not Come at the Expense of the First Amendment
The Antisemitism Awareness Act threatens the First Amendment by empowering federal bureaucrats to police political and religious expression.
Female Nude Spa in Washington Can't Bar Transgender Clients With Male Genitalia, Federal Court Rules
Olympus Spa had sued on First Amendment grounds.
A Split Supreme Court Says Oklahoma Can't Have a Religious Charter School
The deadlocked court doesn't provide much clarity to sticky questions about the limits of religious freedom.
School Choice Could Defuse Culture War Fights
A Supreme Court case about religious parents' rights underscores a deeper problem: Without choice, public schools become a culture war battleground with no exit.
Brief from Prof. Justin Driver (Yale) and Me in School Curriculum / Religious Opt-Out Case
"This Court should not announce an opt-out right for religious objectors under the Free Exercise Clause that its precedents would foreclose for students objecting to public-school curricula under the Free Speech Clause."
The Supreme Court Is About To Hear 2 Education Cases. Neither Goes Far Enough.
The Court will weigh religious opt-outs and charter school discrimination. But true educational freedom means funding students, not systems.
Lawsuit Over UC Berkeley's Alleged Toleration of Anti-Semitism …
can go forward in part, a federal trial judge concludes.
A Federal Judge in Utah Orders Local Officials To Return a Religious Group's Psychedelic Sacrament
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jill Parrish emphasizes that religious freedom must protect "unpopular or unfamiliar religious groups" as well as "popular or familiar ones."
Sixth Circuit Rejects Qualified Immunity for Kim Davis for a Third Time
The message that public officials are required to follow the law, even if they disagree with it, does not seem to have gotten through.
SCOTUS to Consider Whether State Bans on "Conversion Therapy" Violate the First Amendment
A highly significant grant of certiorari for next term.
"The Court Shouldn't Bruen-ize the Free Exercise Clause"
Some thoughts from Michael McConnell, Douglas Laycock, Stephanie Barclay, and Mark Storslee.
Anti-American Speech and Spray-Painting "Allah, Muhammad" in Storage Locker Can Be Evidence of Motive …
in prosecution for bomb hoax at church; but spray-painting "the stupid Jew" in the storage locker isn't relevant enough, and thus isn't admissible. (Both the painted items were in defendant's native Kurdish.)
Can a School Require Students to Learn about Sexuality and "Cisnormativity" Over Parents' Religious Objection?
In granting Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider this question.
Challenge to California Policy Limiting Teachers' Disclosure to Parents of Student's Changed Gender Identity …
can proceed (under the First Amendment and under parental constitutional rights law), the court says, though there's no actual decision on whether the plaintiffs (parents and teachers) will prevail.
Supreme Court Adds Two Potentially Significant Cases to OT2024 Docket
December certiorari grants on standing and religion are early holiday gifts for Court watchers.
No Pseudonymity for Israeli Suing Intel Over Layoff Allegedly Prompted by Complaints Over Boss's Allegedly Pro-Hamas Statements
"Plaintiff's allegations are emotionally and politically charged, and ... Plaintiff is a member of certain groups subject to discrimination. That, however, is true of a plethora of cases in the federal courts and has generally not been understood to authorize anonymous pleading."
British Man Convicted of Criminal Charges for Praying Silently Near Abortion Clinic
British law allows local governments to enact absurdly censorious orders limiting "anti-social" behavior.
No Civil Court Claim Over Publicizing Religious Court's Statement That Litigant Refuses to Appear in the Religious Court
Plaintiff had argued that defendants' publicizing the religious court's statement "serves as a form of social pressure, calling on the community to shun or ostracize the individual until they comply with the court's demands."
Title IX's Exemption for Religious Institutions as to Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity Is Constitutionally Permissible
The court concludes that the government may institute such an exemption, though doesn't decide whether it must do so.
Can a Public School Ask Students to State their Religion?
Overzealous school administrators should think about students' privacy rights.
Lawsuit Over Allegedly Discriminatory Denial of Permit to Display Nativity Scene in Park Can Go Forward
Nativity scene was allegedly excluded (ostensibly on COVID grounds) while a menorah lighting was allowed.
