Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • In The Satanic Temple, Inc. v. City of Boston, the 1st Circuit ruled that the Boston City Council did not violate the 1st Amendment by choosing not to invite representatives of the Satanic Temple to deliver invocations at Council meetings. The court found no evidence of religious bias in the selection process as Council members choose speakers based on personal or community ties.
  • In StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Massachusetts district court dismissed a suit against MIT, which alleged that the university showed deliberate indifference to a hostile environment affecting Jewish and Israeli students in violation of Title VI. The court found that MIT took various steps to address the escalating protests and threats, indicating that its response was not clearly unreasonable.
  • A Massachusetts district judge denied Harvard’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by six Jewish students alleging the university failed to address pervasive antisemitism on campus, citing the university’s “deliberate indifference”. The decision is particularly notable as it comes shortly after the same judge dismissed a similar lawsuit against MIT (see above).
  • In Spillane v. Lamont, the Connecticut Supreme Court decided that parents cannot pursue constitutional challenges to the removal of religious exemptions from vaccination requirements because of sovereign immunity. However, the court allowed a statutory claim under the Connecticut Religious Freedom Restoration Act, stating that sovereign immunity does not block this type of claim.
  • Americans United for Separation of Church and State faces internal conflict and allegations of a troubled work culture. A staff union and former board members complain that the group’s leadership prioritizes publicity over the organization’s core mission of protecting the separation of church and state, which has resulted in resignations and accusations of a toxic environment.

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