Religious Employment and Title VII: Part 3—Resolving an Enduring Circuit Split
A textualist reading of the Title VII religious employer exemption resolves a long-running circuit split.
Religion and the Law
Religious Employment and Title VII: Part 2—Reading the Exemption Textually
A textualist interpretation of Section 702 shows that the exemption applies when a religious employer confines employment to people who fit the employer's religious observances, practices, and beliefs.
Religious Employment and Title VII: Part 1—Civil Rights Law and the Tensions between Liberty and Equality
Understanding Title VII as a law designed to advance both liberty and equality helps to illuminate the statute's religious employer exemption.
University's Apparent Concealment of Real Reasons for Non-Renewal of Adjunct Professor's Contract Suspended Statute of Limitations
"The [eventually released personnel] records contain no negative performance reviews, but they do contain three anonymous complaints. Those complaints accused Grossenbach of 'creat[ing] a hostile environment for transgender and LGBTQ students' in connection with his SaveCFSD activities [allegedly referring solely to Grossenbach's outside-class political activity -EV], among other things."
Exorcist Files vs. Jesus 911 Libel Suit
"The Defendants intentionally or recklessly invited public critique and scrutiny over Plaintiff's title as an exorcist by repeatedly asserting that the Plaintiff is not an exorcist."
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Case Seeking to Overturn Obergefell
This result is unsurprising, and was predicted by most analysts, including myself.
"When You Soon Return to Allah": "Harmless Islamic Reference[] About Life and Death" or an "'Absolute' and 'Direct' Threat" to Ex-Wife?
"Allah does not forget, however. This is how people earn their final place in the [h]ereafter."
California Public Charter Schools' Independent Study Programs Can Insist on Secular Curricular Materials
"The Supreme Court has recently confirmed that the Free Exercise Clause does not prohibit a state from providing 'a strictly secular education in its public schools'"—and, the court held, that extends to California charter schools and their parental "home-based direct instruction approved by the school and coordinated, evaluated, and supervised by state-certified teachers."
Excluding Religious School That "Forfeited a Girls' Playoff Basketball Game to Avoid Playing a Team with a Transgender Athlete" Violated Free Exercise Clause
So the Second Circuit held today, concluding that the facts surrounding this particular exclusion showed hostility to religion, and not just the neutral application of generally applicable rules.
Prison Guards Forcibly Cut a Rastafarian Inmate's Dreadlocks. SCOTUS Will Decide If They Can Be Sued Over It.
The Supreme Court will hear Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety this fall.
Documenting Denial: A Record of Rejection Faced by Gay Couples
Over the past two decades, scores of business owners across the nation have sought to refuse services for same-sex weddings, an SMU Law School study finds
New Jersey Town Drops Plan to Condemn a Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts
The mayor abandoned the plan after it aroused strong political resistance and threats of litigation.
Egypt's Land Grab Threatens the World's Oldest Christian Monastery
St. Catherine’s Monastery has been continuously inhabited for over 1,500 years. An Egyptian court ruling ended the monastery's longstanding separation from the government.
Court Rejects Oklahoma Education Department's Lawsuit Over Letters from Advocacy Group
"How do Defendant's letters interfere with Plaintiffs' authority or ability to administer Oklahoma's public schools?"
Religious Hiring: What Courts Should Do
Courts don't need to stretch the ministerial exception to cover every case.
Religious Hiring and Expressive Association
Does the First Amendment freedom of expressive association protect religious hiring?
Religious Hiring and Church Autonomy
Does the church-autonomy doctrine extend to hiring decisions outside the ministerial exception?
Religious Hiring and Title VII's Religious Exemption
A textualist solution to controversies over religious hiring.
Religious Hiring Beyond the Ministerial Exception
An important church–state question likely headed to the Supreme Court.
Update on Potential Condemnation of New Jersey Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts
After a public outcry, the scheduled vote on the plan to use eminent domain has been postponed indefinitely. If the Town of Toms River does try to condemn the church, there is likely to be a major legal battle.
Religious Exemption Claim by Nonprofit Providing Supervised Illegal Drug Use Can Go Forward
The Third Circuit held that such organizations may raise religious exemption claims, though it declined to decide (at this stage of the litigation) whether the claim would prevail on the facts of this case.
