Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Legal Spirits 085: A Short Take on Oral Argument in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy

St. Mary’s Catholic Parish School in Colorado (Becket)

“Why not seek the win/win?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh posed that question to Colorado’s attorney during oral argument last week in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case involving Catholic preschools and the state’s nondiscrimination requirements. With thousands of preschools participating in Colorado’s program, why couldn’t the state accommodate a small number of Catholic schools while protecting the interests of families headed by same-sex couples?

In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Mark Movsesian takes Kavanaugh’s question as a starting point for a broader reflection: Why is compromise so difficult in conflicts between religious freedom and LGBTQ equality? He explores how these disputes implicate deeply held convictions on both sides about identity and dignity—and why even seemingly practical accommodations can prove so elusive. Listen in!

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Around the Web

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

  • Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of Catholic members of the United States armed forces, released a strongly worded statement raising objections to the plan to broadcast the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. He also declared that Catholic members of the US Army must not participate in the firing squad.
  • In Lajara v. McMenamin, a Pennsylvania appeals court vacated a custody order that prohibited either parent from influencing, restricting or limiting their child’s participation in religious services, events or activities.
  • Last week, the United Kingdom’s Home Office released the Official Statistics on Hate Crimes in England and Wales for the Year Ending March 2026, which indicated that religion-based hate crimes increased 13% from the prior year.
  • In Domanic v. Christian Brothers Automative Corporation, the 5th Circuit held that a Texas religion-based franchisor did not violate federal civil rights laws by requiring that its franchisees be professing Christians.
  • A Christian evangelist filed suit earlier this month in an Arizona federal district court challenging Tucson’s decision to exclude religious, political, and issue-based leafleting at an annual holiday display. The complain alleges this exclusion violates plaintiff’s free speech, free exercise and due process rights.
  • Christian Counselors in Lincoln Nebraska filed suit last week in federal district court to enjoin enforcement of city ordinances that prohibit conversion therapy for minors, alleging that the challenged rules are almost identical to the Colorado statute that the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional on free speech grounds in Chiles v. Salazar.

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Around the Web

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

  • The Ninth Circuit rejected an effort to remove a nearly century-old cross and longstanding nativity display at the historic El Pueblo monument in Los Angeles. 
  • In a speech to sick people and caregivers, the Pope Leo denounced France’s recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Catholic Church has continued to push against assisted suicide laws in the U.S. 
  • A federal district court in Oklahoma ruled the state may not single out religious schools for exclusion from public charter funding on the basis of religion.
  • A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed most of the claims against Southern Baptist Convention leaders in a lawsuit filed by a former SBC seminary professor David Sills, who lost his job due to sexual misconduct allegations.
  • The Muslim Center of New Jersey is suing the Marlboro Township, New Jersey zoning board, council, mayor and others, alleging religious discrimination and violations of the community’s right to worship after a five-year application process to build a mosque ended in a denial.
  • The Chicago Immigration Court ruled that the U.S. can deport the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque on the grounds that he is a threat to national security.

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Around the Web

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

  • A federal judge ruled that Oklahoma cannot exclude a Jewish charter school from the state’s charter school program because of its religious character. 
  • The Eighth Circuit heard arguments over Arkansas’s law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom. 
  • An Oregon mother sued a public school district for refusing to reimburse her for Christian homeschooling materials while providing reimbursements for secular materials. 
  • A dispute over access to a Jewish rabbinical court reached the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. 
  • Two Christian student organizations sued Virginia State University, alleging that the public university discriminated against them in access to campus recognition and benefits because of their religious requirements for student leaders. 

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Around the Web

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.
Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Legal Spirits 081: Who Chooses the Bishops? Armenia’s Church-State Crisis

Catholicos Karekin II (OC Media)

In this episode of Legal Spirits, Center Director Mark Movsesian speaks with Professor Arman Tatoyan of the American University of Armenia about a controversy involving the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The dispute centers on a civil-court order requiring the Church to allow a bishop to continue serving as diocesan Primate while he challenged his removal. After the Church defrocked the bishop, authorities brought criminal charges against Catholicos Karekin II and other senior clerics for allegedly defying the order. We discuss the case under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the principle of church autonomy, and ask whether even a temporary court order—and the threat of criminal enforcement—can become a serious burden on religious freedom. We also compare the European approach with U.S. church-autonomy doctrine and consider why the controversy matters well beyond Armenia. Listen in!

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Around the Web

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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Around the Web

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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Around the Web

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. 

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Legal Spirits 076: A Short Take on Chiles v. Salazar

Therapist Kaley Chiles at the Supreme Court (CSPAN)

In this short take, Mark Movsesian looks at the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision this week in Chiles v. Salazar, involving a Christian therapist who challenged Colorado’s ban on so-called conversion therapy for minors. Formally, Chiles is not a free exercise case. But religion is clearly in the background—a reminder that law-and-religion controversies are often worked out through the First Amendment’s speech protections. Listen in!

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