Religion and the Law
My NBC News Article on Today's Supreme Court Ruling Barring Discrimination Against Religious Schools in Maine School Choice Program
The decision is an important victory for both the principle of nondiscrimination and parents and students seeking better educational opportunities.
Exclusion of Religious Schooling from Generally Available School Choice Programs Generally Unconstitutional,
except for the training of the clergy, holds the Supreme Court.
No Religious Freedom Problem with Court Approving One Parent's Choice of Religious School,
so long as the court makes the decision for secular reasons.
Teacher Has Free Exercise Clause Right to Tell Parents About Their Children's "Preferred Names and Pronouns,"
despite a school policy that generally bars teachers from doing so. (For my views on the question, see the end of the post.)
Mandatory Employee COVID Tests Don't Violate Religious Freedom Rights or Fourth Amendment
The employee argued that "her faith in God 'will protect her from COVID-19 so there is no reason to take a test.'"
Abortion and the Free Exercise Clause
What if a doctor feels a religious obligation to perform abortions, (e.g., because he believes doing so is necessary for him to be the Good Samaritan, by removing a threat to his patient's mental health)?
Boston Can't Exclude Christian Flag from City Hall Flagpole When It Allows Many Other Groups to Fly Flags
So the Supreme Court held this morning, though it made clear that a city could pick and choose which flags it flies, if it makes clear that the flags are its own speech.
Supreme Court Rules Boston Was Wrong To Bar Christian Flag From City Hall
The justices unanimously agree that the city was not endorsing the flags, and that therefore it couldn’t exclude religious organizations.
The Jurisdiction Problem in the Church Autonomy Cases
Courts are all over the map about jurisdiction, but the label isn't as important as the substance.
A Framework for Analyzing a Church Autonomy Defense
Some doctrinal tools to appropriately limit church autonomy.
Church Autonomy and Church Accountability as Complimentary Principles
Church autonomy coexists with state responsibility, as a matter of history and theory.
Courts Struggle to Articulate the Limits of Church Autonomy
They know there are limits—but what are they?
What Is Church Autonomy?
A primer on a religious liberty issue that went from a backwater to a hot topic in the last decade.
Fraud Prosecution for Specific False Statements About Meat Claimed to Be Halal Allowed,
though laws generally banning mislabeling food as “halal” (or “kosher”) violate the Establishment Clause.
Islamic Prenuptial Agreements in American Courts
The key is that they are agreements, enforceable under American law as non-religious agreements are.
'Grow Up': Yale Law School Students Interrupt Event, Demand Right To Talk Over Speakers
"FedSoc's decision to lend legitimacy to this hate group...profoundly undermined our community's values of equity and inclusivity."
Discrimination Between Muslim Prisoners' Kufis and Jewish Prisoners' Yarmulkes Is Unconstitutional
[UPDATE: Comments now work.]
Can a Web Designer Be Forced To Make Gay Wedding Pages? The Supreme Court Will Decide
Will this follow-up to the famous wedding cake case finally decide if this is mandated speech violating the First Amendment?
Preliminary Injunction Bars Forced Retirement Based on Air Force Officer's Religious Refusal of Vaccination
"Although the Air Force claims to provide a religious accommodation process, it proved to be nothing more than a quixotic quest for Plaintiff because it was 'by all accounts, ... theater.'"
Court Bars Mother from Exposing "Child to an Activity That Violates" "Child's Orthodox Jewish Chasidic Faith";
N.Y. appellate court reverses the order.
Arizona Lawmakers Seek Religious Compromise in LGBT Antidiscrimination Bill
H.B. 2802 would expand discrimination protections but would carve out religious institutions.
OSHA's Vaccine Mandate Illustrates the Perils of Reflexively Deferring to Government Experts
The question for the Supreme Court was not whether the policy was wise but whether it was legal.
Should Kuwaiti Student Challenging Title IX Sexual Misconduct Finding Be Pseudonymous,
in part because he is a citizen of Kuwait, “where ‘sexual activity outside of marriage goes against religious and cultural values’ and ‘sexual relations outside of marriage are illegal"?
