Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- Cardinal George Pell was sentenced to six years in prison by an Australian court for the assault of two choirboys in the late 1990s.
- The U.S. Department of Education determined that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act restriction that required equitable services providers to be independent of religious organizations is unconstitutional, as it excluded religious organizations solely on the basis of religious identity, and will no longer enforce it.
- A federal judge denied a request for a temporary injunction that would have allowed 44 unvaccinated children to go back to school; the students’ parents are challenging an order barring unvaccinated children from school on the basis that it discriminates against religion.
- A lawsuit was filed in federal court Friday against Washington state officials who forced churches to pay for elective abortions in their health insurance plans.
- The Utah Senate gave final approval to a new hate crimes law which will increase penalties for a person charged with a bias-motivated crime, receiving support from a broad range of groups including the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
- Connecticut House Majority Leader Matt Ritter announced that the General Assembly will vote in the next twelve months on whether to eliminate religious exemptions for vaccines for schoolchildren.
- The Sixth Circuit upheld an Ohio law that barred state funding for healthcare providers that offer abortions, overturning a decision deeming the law unconstitutional.
- A proposed Florida bill would define anti-Semitism under Florida law and prohibit speech that makes dehumanizing or stereotypical allegations about the Jewish community or compares Israeli policies to Nazi Germany.
- Council members in Jackson, New Jersey voted to hire a special advisor to help the town with its legal challenges involving religious rights.
- Saskatchewan’s Appeal Court heard the appeal of a judge’s ruling that prohibits funding of non-Catholic students attending separate schools.
- A Polish lawmaker is demanding explanations from the parliament speaker about why a right-wing weekly with an anti-Semitic headline was available at the parliament’s hotel.
- The Archdiocese of Detroit said it will re-examine its list of priests accused of abuse that victims allege is incomplete.
- The U.S. State Department said China’s treatment of its Muslim minority is an abuse that has not been seen since the 1930s.