Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:
- A German news site interviewed Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian about a bill that proposes to protect the US citizenship of the pope.
- In Perez v. City of San Antonio, the 5th Circuit affirmed a trial court’s refusal to enjoin San Antonio’s development plan for a city park, holding that the project did not violate the Free Exercise Clause, inter alia.
- In Schmitt v. Robertus, the 8th Circuit held that Minnesota prison officials likely violated the 1st Amendment when they refused to allow a volunteer to teach a program titled “The Quest for Authentic Manhood” at the Minnesota Correctional Facility, which defines manhood through a biblical lens.
- In Melton v. City of Forrest City, Arkansas, the 8th Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment for the City in a retaliation suit by an Arkansas fireman who was dismissed after making a pro-life social media post.
- Four California mothers have filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit after a U.S. District Court dismissed their claims challenging a 2016 law that eliminates religious exemptions for school vaccinations, arguing the law violates their First Amendment rights.
- In Trakel v. Critchfield, a federal district court in Idaho rejected parents’ claims that they are entitled to reimbursement for religious home-schooling material under the 1st Amendment.
- A federal district court in Pennsylvania blocked a rule from President Trump’s first term that provided religious exemptions to employers who object to the ACA’s contraception mandate. The Little Sisters of the Poor are set to appeal.
- The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice notified George Washington University that the University is in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act due to its lack of response to discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students by other students.
- The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, a religious institute in New Zealand, has lost its appeal to the Vatican to resume public ministry in the Diocese of Christchurch. The local bishop had ordered the ban due to allegations of abuse and unauthorized exorcisms.
- The Vatican issued new regulations on the awarding of public contracts “to streamline steps in the Holy See’s contracting processes while maintaining integrity and transparency.”
