Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- New York declares a public health emergency, requiring vaccinations for those in Williamsburg Brooklyn, after months of fighting a measles outbreak in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities.
- The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism this past Tuesday.
- The Satanic Temple in Missouri is appealing to the 8th Circuit after challenging a state law requiring women seeking an abortion to wait three days, saying it violates the woman’s religious freedom.
- Following up on Monday’s story, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has opened an investigation into Yale Law School’s decision to extend its nondiscrimination policy to summer and postgraduate public interest fellowships.
- The Israeli civil rights organization Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center has negotiated a settlement with Airbnb to rescind its discriminatory policy redlining Jewish-owned properties in Judea and Samaria.
- Legislation strengthening protections for religious attire in the workplace is up for a vote in the New York State Senate.
- Democrats introduced legislation to end President Trump’s ban on travelers to the United States from five Muslim-majority countries known as the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Non-Immigrants (NO BAN) Act.
- The New Jersey attorney general has issued new guidelines for law enforcement in handling complaints, including an expanded definition of bias incidents amid a rise in bias crimes.
- The Australian government has announced a twelve-month inquiry into religious exemptions for anti-discrimination legislation and confirmed that a religious freedom bill will not surface before the election.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the parliamentary elections has continued to divide American Jews.
- The LAPD and the Nation of Islam will provide security at rapper Nipsey Hussle’s funeral at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
- The Chinese city of Guangzhou is offering $1500 to any Chinese citizen that reports illegal religious activities.
- Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s identity as gay and Christian has sparked conversation about the relationship between Christianity and politics after Buttigieg questioned the moral authority of evangelicals like Vice President Mike Pence.
- Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker signed a bill banning conversion therapy for minors, but the bill would not ban non-licensed or faith-based conversion therapy.