Religious Law

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST

SCOTUS considers whether public tuition program for private schools can exclude religious ones

The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest case about the Constitution’s religion clauses hails from Maine, where the state has paid tuition to send some students to private schools for more than a century but for the last 40 years has limited the choices to “nonsectarian” schools.

Dec 2, 2021 10:15 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: New charges against lawyer accused of staging his shooting; Christian florist settles

Suspended lawyer Alex Murdaugh faces new charges Suspended South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, previously charged in an alleged scheme to have himself killed for insurance money, is facing 27 new charges as the result of five indictments by a South Carolina state grand jury. The indictments allege that Murdaugh stole…

Nov 19, 2021 4:14 PM CST

Supreme Court allows vaccine mandate for health workers that didn’t offer religious exemption

Maine’s vaccine mandate for health care workers, which doesn’t allow religious exemptions, is being enforced after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene Friday.

Nov 1, 2021 9:56 AM CDT

Let them eat cheesecake on Shavuot, 6th Circuit says in Jewish prisoners’ case

The Michigan Department of Corrections violated Jewish prisoners’ religious rights when it failed to provide them with kosher meat and a meal with dairy on the Jewish Sabbath and four Jewish holidays, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Oct 25, 2021 11:09 AM CDT

Supreme Court seems to be ‘reshaping itself in Justice Thomas’ image,’ op-ed says

We may be seeing the emergence of the “Thomas Court,” as the 6-3 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court considers cases involving abortion, religious freedom and gun rights this term, according to a New York Times op-ed.

Oct 20, 2021 2:22 PM CDT

Do worker COVID-19 vaccine mandates have to offer religious exemptions? Courts differ; Breyer declines to act

Updated: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Tuesday refused to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Maine health care workers that did not include an exemption for religious exemptions.

Oct 20, 2021 11:18 AM CDT

CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom had circulated proposed suit seeking to overturn election

The president and CEO of a conservative Christian legal group played a behind-the-scenes role in a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to a report by the New York Times. The lawyer is Michael Ferris of Alliance Defending…

Oct 8, 2021 2:45 PM CDT

6th Circuit rules for student athletes denied religious exemption from vaccine mandate

Sixteen student athletes at Western Michigan University who were denied a religious exemption from a vaccine mandate will likely succeed in their lawsuit, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Oct 8, 2021 10:15 AM CDT

Supreme Court will hear case of Christian group that wanted to fly its flag at Boston City Hall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to decide the case of a Christian group claiming that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused a request to fly a Christian flag temporarily at the Boston City Hall.

Oct 1, 2021 11:51 AM CDT

The Supreme Court is in the building—contentious rulings behind, more major cases ahead

U.S. Supreme Court justices are hanging up their phones after a year and a half of teleconference arguments because of the pandemic and returning to the bench for the new term that begins Monday.

Sep 30, 2021 10:40 AM CDT

SCOTUS stays execution, agrees to hear request for pastor’s hands-on, out-loud prayer in death chamber

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday evening agreed to consider a Texas inmate’s request to have a Baptist pastor lay hands on him and pray out loud during his execution.

Sep 9, 2021 10:09 AM CDT

Mask mandate didn’t violate Catholic school’s religious freedom rights, 6th Circuit says

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a federal judge’s refusal to block a mask mandate in a challenge brought by a Catholic elementary school in Lansing, Michigan.

Aug 24, 2021 10:08 AM CDT

Now that the COVID-19 vaccine has full approval from the FDA, how will employers respond?

There’s a sense that implementing mandatory vaccine policies could be difficult for employers—particularly when employees are not seeking religious or medical accommodations and instead fall into the “I don’t want to” group.

Aug 19, 2021 1:30 PM CDT

Cases challenging expired COVID-19 church restrictions fail in Supreme Court and 8th Circuit

A Maine church and Christian residents of a county in Missouri have failed in their lawsuits challenging COVID-19 restrictions that have since been lifted.

Aug 3, 2021 9:38 AM CDT