Religious Use Law in South Florida
Supreme Court Decides Freedom of Speech Trumps Public Accommodations Law In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, No. 21-476 (June 30, 2023), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed 6-3 the lower courts' denial of the injunction the plaintiff...more
Donors State Claims for Misuse of Their Funds, But Not as a Class Action - In Carrier v. Ravi Zacharias Int'l Ministries, Inc. No. 1:21-CV-3161-TWT, 2022 WL 1540206 (N.D. Ga. May 13, 2022) and Carrier v. Ravi Zacharias...more
Religious Exemption to States' Mandatory Vaccination Statute Not Necessary In Does 1-6 v. Mills, No. 1:21-cv-00242, 2021 WL 4783626 (D. Me. Oct. 13, 2021), the court denied injunctive relief to plaintiff healthcare workers...more
On December 10, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced that any person entering an indoor public place in New York State must wear a face covering, unless the public place has a vaccine requirement. The announcement was in response...more
Morals Clause Ruled Not Within Title VII Religious Exemptions Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful "to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any...more
Ministerial Exception Doctrine Bars Minister-on-Minister Hostile Work Environment Claim In Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City, No. 19-2142, 2021 WL 2880232 (7th Cir. July 9, 2021), the U.S. Court of...more
In our latest client alert, West Palm Beach partner Matthew Chait discusses SB 72, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on March 29, 2021. The new law is expected to be a bulwark against certain COVID-19...more
Attendance Limitations on Houses of Worship Enjoined In Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo, 983 F. 3d 620 (2d Cir. 2020), the court of appeals reversed two district courts and ruled that an executive order that limited...more
In Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y. v. Cuomo, No. 20A87, 2020 WL 6948354 (U.S. Nov. 25, 2020) (per curiam), the U.S. Supreme Court enjoined enforcement of the 10- and 25-person occupancy limits on churches in New York...more
On November 24, 2020, in connection with the statewide public health emergency that he declared on March 11, 2020, and noting that (1) “the State of Louisiana moved into Phase 1 of recovery on…May 15, 2020”, (2) “the State of...more
In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, California on Aug. 31 released the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, with revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on business, health and recreational activities at...more
This 29th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, covers some of the hottest topics in these developing areas of law: governments' authority to implement mass gathering restrictions, face...more
In Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, 140 S.Ct. 203 (2020), the U.S. Supreme Court declined to enjoin Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak's emergency order capping in-person services at 50 people regardless of facility size while...more
This 26th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees us returning to now-familiar topics involving liability protection for businesses, wrongful death lawsuits (particularly those...more
At a press conference on September 29, Governor Steve Sisolak revealed the details of Directive 033, the latest order issued pursuant to his pandemic-related Emergency Declaration. Citing the lower rate of new COVID-19 cases...more
This 25th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees yet more litigation over government restrictions on business and mass-gatherings. Several of these cases have seemingly been prompted...more
Several recent cases concern challenges to executive orders relating to COVID-19 limiting the ability of churches to assemble and imposing other limitations. Beginning with appellate decisions, these cases are summarized in...more
Statewide Restrictions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the closure of certain indoor businesses across the entire state of California. He has also placed additional restrictions on 30 counties, including Orange, Los...more
ethikos 34, no. 7 (July 2020) - As nations around the world prepare to reopen businesses and other services after months of social distancing, scientists, economists, and ethicists are concerning themselves with the steps...more
On June 3, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the state may begin the final phase of its three-phase reopening plan. In conjunction with phase 3, the governor issued Executive Order GA-26 (GA-26), which supersedes his...more
Across the nation, religious institutions are challenging COVID-19-related restrictions on religious worship. There are too many cases to note. We recently posted about the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision denying an...more
This eighth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, follows what we hope was a restful and meaningful Memorial Day weekend. For the third week in a row, shutdown challenges, workers'...more
Last week, a federal court in North Carolina issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the assembly of religious worship provisions in Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 138 (EO-138). The court found that EO-138 was...more
The Small Business Administration (SBA) violated federal law by imposing conditions for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that were not enacted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, H.R....more
As of April 27, the infection rates are down over the last two weeks and patient discharges are steady—creating significant capacity. Overall, 290,517 tests have been administered in Texas, with 25,297 individuals testing...more