Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- The Houston (TX) Police Department has joined a group of law enforcement agencies across the United States to allow officers to wear clothes and other items important to their faith typically prohibited by strict uniform policies.
- A bomb exploded at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan as dozens of people gathered for Friday prayers, killing sixty-two worshippers and wounding thirty-six others.
- Federal attorneys have petitioned the Fourth Circuit to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision allowing survivors and relatives of victims of Dylan Roof’s 2015 attack on Emanuel AME Church in Charleston (SC) to sue the government over faulty background checks.
- The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Kingsport City Schools (TN), claiming the school district’s mentoring program in partnership with Christ Fellowship Church is unconstitutional.
- The EEOC filed a lawsuit against Service Cast Corporation, claiming the caster and wheel company discriminated against and harassed three workers based on their national origin and religion and then retaliated against them for complaining.
- Four women have filed a formal complaint against Rev. Donald “Bud” Heckman, an elder in the United Methodist Church’s West Ohio Conference, alleging sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse.
- A new study from the Pew Research Center found that 65% of American adults identify as Christian, down from 77% in 2009, while 26% identify as religiously unaffiliated, up from 17% in 2009.