European Court Says Ban on Halal and Kosher Slaughter Does Not Violate Human...
In Affaire Executife van de Moslims van Belgie et Autres c. Belgique, (ECHR, Feb. 13, 2024) [full opinion available only in French], the European Court of Human Rights, in a Chamber Judgment, held...
View ArticleFormer Editor of Yiddish Children's Magazine Sues Rabbinical Courts and...
Suit was filed last month in a New York federal bankruptcy court against several rabbinical courts, rabbis, and other defendants charging Sherman Act and RICO violations. Plaintiff was the co-owner of...
View ArticleWisconsin Legislature Passes Parental Bill of Rights; Governor Promises Veto
On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Senate gave final legislative passage to AB 510 (full text), known as the Parental Bill of Rights. The bill gives 16 different rights to parents and guardians of school...
View ArticleHawaii Chabad Rabbi Sues Over Zoning Law
Suit was filed this week in a Hawaii federal district court by a Chabad rabbi contending that Hawaii County's residential zoning Code violates the First Amendment, the Hawaii Constitution and RLUIPA....
View ArticleHouse Members Protest Invited Guest Chaplain
Yesterday, 26 members of the U.S. House of Representatives Freethought Caucus sent a letter (full text) to House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Chaplain questioning why California-based pastor Jack...
View ArticleRecission of Covid Mandate Did Not Totally Moot Navy SEALs' RFRA Challenge
In U.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Austin, (ND TX, Feb. 14, 2024), a Texas federal district court held preliminarily that the rescission of the military's Covid vaccine mandate only partially mooted a suit...
View ArticleGreek Parliament Approves Same-Sex Marriage
The Guardian reports that Greece's Parliament on Thursday, by a vote of 176- 76, legalized same-sex marriage, making Greece the first Christian Orthodox country to do so. The bill has been strongly...
View ArticleRecent Articles of Interest
From SSRN:Kevin C. Walsh, Judicial Power and Potential Unconstitutionality: A Scholastic Perspective, (Catholic University Law Review, Forthcoming).Adrian Vermeule, Enriching Legal Theory: Response to...
View ArticleAlabama Supreme Court: Wrongful Death Law Covers Destruction of Frozen Embryos
In LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., (AL Sup. Ct., Feb. 16, 2024), the Alabama Supreme Court held, by a vote of 7-2, that Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act covers the negligent...
View ArticleTitle VII Challenge to Denial of Vaccine Exemption Survives Motion to Dismiss
In Prodan v. Legacy Health, (D OR, Feb. 12, 2024), an Oregon federal district court refused to dismiss a Title VII religious discrimination claim brought by two former employees of Legacy Health who...
View Article9th Circuit: On Supervised Release, Must Have Secular Alternative To 12-Step...
In United States v. Rourke, (9th Cir., Feb. 15, 2024), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that it was "plain error" for a district court to impose as a condition of supervised release, without...
View ArticleNew Report on Antisemitism in America Released
Last week, the American Jewish Committee released its report The State of Antisemitism in America 2023. The Report includes a Survey of American Jews, a Survey of the General Public, a Comparison of...
View ArticleCertiorari Denied in Case of Jurors Disqualified Because of Religious Beliefs
Today the Supreme Court denied review in Missouri Department of Corrections v. Finney, (certiorari denied, 2/20/2024). In the case a Missouri state appellate court (full text of state court opinion)...
View ArticleTexas AG Seeks to Liquidate Catholic Agency Providing Services to Migrants
A legal battle is underway between Annunciation House, a Catholic agency serving migrants and refugees in El Paso, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who accuses the agency of sheltering migrants...
View ArticleTennessee Governor Signs Law Allowing Potential Officiants to Refuse to...
Yesterday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law HB 878 (full text) which adds to the Tennessee Code section which lists who may solemnize marriages (clergy as well as various current and former...
View ArticleState Constitutional Challenge to Abortion Restrictions Filed in Wisconsin...
Last year in Kaul v. Urmanski, (WI Cir. Ct., Dec. 5, 2023), a Wisconsin state trial court held that Wisconsin Statute §940.04 which prohibits destroying the life of an unborn child applies only to...
View ArticleUtah Legislature Passses Religious Freedom Bill
The Utah legislature yesterday gave final passage to S.B. 150: Exercise of Religion Amendments (full text). The bill is similar, though not identical to, Religious Freedom Restoration Acts passed in 35...
View ArticlePakistan Supreme Court Defends Free Exercise Rights of Ahmadis; Protests Follow
Earlier this month, a 2-judge panel of the Pakistani Supreme Court in Mubarak Ahmad Sani v. The State, (Pakistan Sup. Ct., Feb. 6, 2024) (full text in Urdu), ordered the release on personal bond of a...
View ArticleRecent Articles of Interest
From SSRN:Charles A. Sullivan, After Groff, (January 20, 2024).Richard Schragger, Micah Schwartzman & Nelson Tebbe, Reestablishing Religion, (91 U. Chi. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2024)).Amal Sethi, The...
View ArticleCivil Conspiracy Claims Against Religious Organization Survive 1st Amendment...
In re Gothard, (TX App., Feb. 22, 2024), is a mandamus action that is essentially an appeal of a trial court's refusal to dismiss civil conspiracy claims against Institute in Basic Life Principles and...
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