Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- Melbourne City Council member Nic Frances Gilley is requesting that all Catholic churches in Victoria, Australia either comply with new mandatory abuse reporting laws or post signs warning parents that the places of worship might pose a danger to children.
- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel requested an emergency stay on a preliminary injunction that prevents the state of Michigan from voiding contracts with faith-based adoption agencies who declined to work with gay couples based on religious beliefs, and she rebutted U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker’s comments claiming that Nessel targeted these agencies because of their religious beliefs.
- The Federal District Court of Arizona ruled that a resident of Flagstaff, Arizona lacked standing to challenge the town’s Hanukkah tradition—The Grand Menorah Lighting at City Hall—because the plaintiff’s only contact with the ceremony was reading about it in newspaper articles.
- Attorney General Bill Barr delivered a speech at the University of Notre Dame Law School on Friday, decrying the attacks on religious values by a new movement of “militant secularism” and other cultural trends.
- The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom launched the Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List that publicly lists those who have been persecuted based on their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the American Association of Christian Counselors on Friday, discussing what it means to be a Christian leader.