Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- The ACLU filed a lawsuit accusing Smith County (TN) school officials of engaging in school-sponsored prayer during assemblies and Bible distribution during classes, in violation of the Establishment Clause.
- The Department of Education has opened an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism and a hostile work environment for Jewish students at New York University.
- Police arrested a sixteen-year-old white girl who planned to launch a knife attack on a historically black church in Gainesville (GA).
- A Detroit-area priest was sentenced to forty-five days’ imprisonment for assaulting a suicidal younger man who sought counseling, while a priest in western Michigan pleaded guilty to binding a teenage with bubble wrap and tape.
- The Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill that would ban abortions based solely on a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome.
- A study conducted by the Becket Fund found that the majority of Americans strongly support religious freedom and remain opposed to government interference in religion.
- Dozens of world leaders will convene in Jerusalem in January 2020 for the fifth World Holocaust Forum in what is expected to be the largest-ever gathering focused on combatting anti-Semitism.