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

  • In Lewis v. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the 9th Circuit upheld a jury’s verdict against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). The jury found BART failed to show that accommodating employees’ religious objections to the Covid vaccine would have imposed undue hardship on BART. In his concurrence, Judge Nelson took the position that the Supreme Court case Employment Division v. Smith was “demonstrably erroneous” and “is inconsistent with history and tradition.”
  • Last week, Planned Parenthood filed suit in Wisconsin challenging the state’s laws requiring abortions to be performed only by physicians, and not by qualified advance practice clinicians. They are also challenging the state’s 24-hour waiting period after examination and consultation with a physician before an abortion can be performed.
  • The United Kingdom’s passed a new law, the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which requires reporting of child sex abuse. MP Ben Obese-Jecty has made clear that “The Crime and Policing Act 2026 does not provide any exemption from mandatory reporting on the basis of religious practice, or the setting in which information is received.”
  • DOJ announced that it has reached a settlement with Lincoln Memorial University to resolve complaints of discriminatory treatment of Jewish students. As a result of the settlement, “LMU-DCOM will revise its absence policy to allow excused absences for religious reasons on the same basis as non-religious reasons.”
  • A group of Christian doctors in Colorado filed suit last week in federal district court alleging that the state is violating their 1st and 14th Amendment rights by applying to them the Colorado Supreme Court’s interpretation of the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act. They contend, among other things, that the court’s interpretation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act “now forces doctors to medically transition their patients—including children—even when doing so violates their conscience and medical judgment.”
  • A Michigan state appellate court upheld the dismissal on ecclesiastical abstention grounds of defamation, breach of contract, and other related claims filed by an assistant imam against his mosque and its board of trustees.

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

  • The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in urging the Supreme Court to reject a broad application of the “finality” rule that subjects religious liberty plaintiffs to drawn-out proceedings.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by a Catholic mother seeking a religious exemption from New York’s school vaccine mandates.
  • A federal district court in Maryland temporarily barred Montgomery County from enforcing a gun ban against a Jewish synagogue, holding that the synagogue was likely to succeed on its Second Amendment and Free Exercise claims, and that the county had not shown a sufficient historical tradition of banning guns in houses of worship.
  • A federal district court in Oregon dismissed negligence claims against the LDS Church, holding that church membership alone did not create a special relationship imposing a duty to protect a member from abuse occurring outside church supervision.
  • A federal district court in Maine upheld the state’s school vaccine mandate against Free Exercise and Establishment Clause challenges, holding that eliminating all personal belief exemptions did not single out religion and that the mandate does not burden the parents’ right to direct their child’s religious upbringing.
  • The Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments whether the state’s abortion ban violates the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, with plaintiffs arguing that the law burdens sincerely held religious beliefs that require religiously motivated abortions.
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Legal Spirits 082: A Short Take on a Tomb in Sicily and a Never-Ending Contest

The Tomb of Frederick II in Palermo Cathedral

In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Center Director Mark Movsesian reflects on his recent visit to Sicily and the 13th-century tomb of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily, and the famous Stupor Mundi—the “Wonder of the World”—in Palermo Cathedral. Medieval Sicily was a major theater in the long struggle between popes and secular rulers over the boundaries of spiritual and temporal power, a struggle that included disputes over the appointment and authority of bishops. Frederick was deeply involved in that conflict. His burial in the cathedral, after years of bitter conflict with the papacy and repeated excommunications, offers a reminder of the ambiguous line between church and state—and of a contest that never wholly ends. Listen in!

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

  • Florida officials and Catholic schools are at odds over whether schools participating in state scholarship programs must provide religious exemptions from vaccination requirements.
  • Several Catholic religious orders and the Archbishop of Chicago filed a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois requirements that healthcare providers inform and counsel terminally ill patients about physician-assisted suicide, arguing that the requirements violate their religious freedom.
  • Maine’s highest court upheld a ruling allowing a father to prevent his daughter from attending her mother’s church after finding that participation there was psychologically harmful to the child, rejecting the mother’s constitutional claims.
  • A federal bankruptcy court allowed a Jewish religious nonprofit’s lawsuit against the City of Hollywood, Florida, to proceed after the city denied zoning approval for a proposed K-12 Jewish day school, with the nonprofit alleging violations of its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
  • A South Korean court sentenced Unification Church leader Hak Ja Han to two years in prison after convicting her of bribery, violating political finance laws, and embezzling church funds.
  • InterVarsity Christian Fellowship sued SUNY Broome Community College after the school denied the group official recognition because its constitution requires student leaders to affirm a statement of faith, which the college says conflicts with its nondiscrimination policy.
  • Catholic leaders in Maharashtra are considering a legal challenge to a new state law regulating religious conversions, which requires advance notice of conversions and has drawn broader constitutional challenges over religious freedom.
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Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • Parents in Georgia have filed suit challenging requirements of the state’s Promise Scholarship Program, arguing that forcing their children to attend low-performing public schools before receiving funds for Catholic education violates the Free Exercise Clause.
  • A federal court allowed a Title VII religious discrimination suit against the Department of Homeland Security to proceed after Customs and Border Protection withdrew a job offer because of an applicant’s sacramental use of ayahuasca as a member of a Christian Spiritist denomination.
  • The Sixth Circuit rejected a challenge to a Michigan city’s restrictions on which flags may be flown on city-owned flagpoles, while questioning whether the Establishment Clause still requires government action to have a secular purpose after the Supreme Court abandoned the Lemon test.
  • A federal court allowed Establishment Clause claims to proceed against the Philadelphia School District based on allegations that officials created a Muslim prayer room, restricted access to Muslim students, and disciplined non-Muslim students for entering it.
  • A Minneapolis church asked a federal judge to hold DHS in contempt, alleging immigration agents surveilled worshippers despite an injunction restricting immigration enforcement at the church.
  • Iraq’s Court of Cassation ruled that a Christian woman has the right to have her religious identity officially recorded as Christian, overturning her classification as Muslim under Iraqi law.

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

  • The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a preliminary injunction barring the city of Quincy from installing two religious statues on the façade of a new public safety building, finding there is a substantial likelihood that the installation would violate Article III of the Massachusetts Constitution.
  • Plaintiffs in New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America v. Department of Homeland Security filed a motion seeking to hold DHS in contempt for violating an injunction issued in February by a Massachusetts federal district court. The injunction barred immigration officials from enforcing a new policy that allows ICE to conduct arrests, searches, or interrogations in or near churches/other houses of worship at the agents’ own discretion.
  • The Second Circuit upheld the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment for defendants in Belya v. Kapral, finding that the church autonomy doctrine barred a former priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) from suing church leaders/entities for defamation.
  • The FBI released its 2025 Reported Crime Statistics, showing a 7% overall decrease in hate crimes in 2025 as compared to the year before.
  • A joint petition for certiorari was filed with the Supreme Court in Nathan v. Alamo Heights School District and Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District. The petitioners seek review of a Texas law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom.
  • A Maryland Jewish Center is suing Montgomery County, Maryland to enjoin enforcement of imposed Expedited Bill 23-26, which bans even licensed firearm holders from carrying a firearm within 100 yards of houses of worship and other “places of public assembly.”
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Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a restructuring of its Office for Civil Rights that will create separate divisions focused on religious liberty and conscience protections, civil rights enforcement, and health privacy and cybersecurity. HHS said the changes are intended to combat anti-Christian bias and race-based discrimination while strengthening enforcement efficiency.
  • A Virginia appeals court revived a lawsuit against McLean Bible Church over claims that church leaders improperly handled a 2021 elder election and disenfranchised members. The court ruled that limited judicial review of the dispute is not automatically barred by the First Amendment.
  • A new lawsuit in Utah, backed by pro-life advocates with religious and fetal personhood arguments, claims that disposing of unused IVF embryos violates wrongful death laws. The case has raised concerns that similar religion-influenced legal challenges to IVF practices could spread to other states.
  • A Texas jury ordered an insurer to pay more than $7 million to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary after the insurer denied coverage for legal costs related to lawsuits involving former seminary president Paige Patterson and the school’s handling of sexual assault allegations. The case arose from broader controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention over abuse and institutional accountability.
  • Two senators introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at combating antisemitism and increasing security protections for Jewish institutions, including a proposal to expand federal nonprofit security grants to $1 billion annually. The legislation would also address antisemitism on college campuses and require greater transparency from social media companies on moderating antisemitic content.
  • The Vatican’s Synod office released a new document outlining the path toward a global ecclesial assembly in 2028, continuing the Catholic Church’s “Synod on Synodality” process launched under Pope Francis. The plan establishes stages for dioceses, bishops’ conferences, and continental church bodies to evaluate how “synodality” is being implemented in local churches over the next several years.
  • A Catholic nun in Los Angeles runs Francisco Homes, a housing program for formerly incarcerated men, including immigrants facing deportation. Her ministry sits in the context of ongoing debates over immigration enforcement and deportation policy.
  • Archbishop John Ricard, the former archbishop of Baltimore and first leader of the National Black Catholic Congress, has died at age 86. Ricard was a prominent Black Catholic leader known for advancing Black Catholic ministry and advocacy within the Church for decades.

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

  • The Fourth Circuit ruled that Virginia may deny state scholarship funding for students pursuing vocational religious degrees, siding with the state in a challenge brought by a Liberty University student. The court held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Locke v. Davey controlled and permitted states to withhold funding for religious instruction programs. 
  • The Supreme Court allowed access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail to remain in place while litigation continues. The decision pauses a lower court ruling that would have imposed new restrictions on the drug’s distribution. 
  • A group of federal employees sued Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, alleging that religious messages sent through official USDA emails promoted Christianity in the workplace. The lawsuit claims the emails violated the Establishment Clause by amounting to government endorsement of religion. 
  • An Iraqi court ruled in favor of a woman seeking to change her official religious designation from Islam to Christianity, a decision that could have broader implications for religious rights in the country. 
  • France’s Senate rejected an assisted-dying bill this week, as Christian and pro-life groups called on lawmakers to preserve the decision. The debate has drawn continued attention from religious organizations and renewed disputes over end-of-life legislation. 

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

  • Bishop James Massa, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, responded to Vice President Vance’s recent criticism of Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday Homily, emphasizing that “When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”
  • This week, the Justice Department Office of Legal Policy’s Weaponization Working Group published a 37-page report which concluded, in part, that “the Biden DOJ ‘engaged in biased enforcement of the FACE Act’ and ‘pursued more severe charges and significantly harsher sentences for peaceful pro-life defendants than violent pro-abortion defendants.'”
  • In a press release following the final hearing of the President’s Religious Liberty Commission, Chairman Dan Patrick rejected the notion that the First Amendment requires a total separation of church and state.
  • Ohio Attorney General David Yost has filed suit seeking to prevent Hebrew Union College (HUC) from closing its 150-year-old Cincinnati rabbinical school.
  • The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and Rosary Hill Home, a hospice care facility in New York, filed suit in a New York federal district court challenging New York’s requirements for care of transgender patients.
  • On April 14th, a settlement was reached between the Coast Guard and three Coast Guard members who had brought a class action after they were denied religious exemptions from the military’s COVID vaccine mandate. Among other things, the Agreement requires the Coast Guard to remove references in personnel records of service members’ decision to remain unvaccinated.
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Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • Vice President J.D. Vance spoke regarding growing tension between the U.S. military and religious leaders and the pushback against current US military operations in Iran.
  • In Perry v. Marteney, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a law in West Virginia that required vaccinations for public school students without religious exemptions.
  • in Singh v. Second Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, a case regarding the transfer of a Sikh Temple into a trust, the court held that the ‘neutral principles exception’ to the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine can apply outside of church property cases.
  • In Maniar v. Noem, a D.C. District Court dismissed a suit brought by a Pakistani-American couple who claimed that being placed on a Screening List at the airport violated their free exercise rights.
  • In Johnson v. Fleming a Virginia federal district court dismissed Free Exercise claims regarding religious exclusions from a state tuition program.