News & Analysis as of September 24, 2024

First Amendment › Religious Institutions

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The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech... more +

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -

Eleventh Circuit Finds City of Mobile Violated Religious Freedom Laws

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/17/2024

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently considered a long-running religious land use dispute involving the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama (TMAA) and the city of Mobile, Alabama. The...more

New Jersey Supreme Court limits the LAD's reach as to religious institutions, but will it last?

Goldberg Segalla on 9/8/2023

Key Takeaways - The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) contained an express exception for religious organizations that make employment decisions based on employment criteria...more

Religious Institutions Update: July 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on 7/27/2023

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

Religious Institutions: Update June 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/22/2023

In Ratliff v. Wycliffe Assoc., Inc., No. 6:22-cv-1185-PGB-RMN, 2023 WL 3688082 (M.D. Fla. May 26, 2023), the plaintiff, a software developer, sued the defendant, a Bible translation ministry, for sex discrimination under...more

Fourth Circuit: Church Seeking to Operate as Brewery or Farm Winery Did Not State RLUIPA Claim

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 5/26/2023

The Fourth Circuit has ruled against the Alive Church of the Nazarene’s claims that Prince William County, Virginia, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLIUPA) by denying the Church the...more

Religious Institutions Update: March 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on 3/31/2023

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 Institutions Update: January 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on 1/10/2023

Vaccination Mandate Conforms with First Amendment In Kane v. De Blasio, No. 21 Civ. 7863, 21 Civ. 8773, 2022 WL 3701183 (S.D. N.Y. Aug. 26, 2022), the district court ruled that New York City Department of Education employees...more

Court Rules Meriden, CT’s Zoning Regulations Discriminatory

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 1/6/2023

A district court has ruled that the City of Meriden, Connecticut (the City) discriminated against Omar Islamic Center Inc. following the City’s denial of the Islamic Center’s application to move its mosque to another...more

Are Religious Corporations Constitutional?

Allen Matkins on 8/31/2022

Like Gaul, the California Nonprofit Corporation Law has three major parts ("Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres'). These three parts govern the formation and operation of three different types of nonprofit corporations:...more

CMS Guidance on EMTALA and Abortion Raises New Issues for Hospital Emergency Services

ArentFox Schiff on 7/28/2022

According to guidance published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 11, 2022, EMTALA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, requires hospitals to provide abortion services when...more

Religious Institutions Update: July 2022

Holland & Knight LLP on 7/21/2022

Maine Scholarship Program Excluding Sectarian Schools Unconstitutional. In Carson v. Makin, 142 S.Ct. 1987 (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court struck a tuition assistance program that requires school districts to transmit payment...more

Religious Institutions Update: February 2022

Holland & Knight LLP on 2/4/2022

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

Ministerial Exception Covers Catholic School Guidance Counselor

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 8/17/2021

In Starkey v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, No. 1:19-cv-03153 (S.D. Ind. August 11, 2021), a federal court rejected a Catholic school guidance counselor’s employment discrimination suit, ruling her claims were...more

Seventh Circuit Holds That Ministerial Exception Bars Hostile Work Environment Claims

Husch Blackwell LLP on 7/28/2021

On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit sitting en banc overturned a split panel decision in the case, Sandor Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish et al., and issued a 6-3 opinion holding that...more

Religious Institutions Update: July 2021

Holland & Knight LLP on 7/23/2021

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

Supreme Court’s LGBTQ Foster Care Decision Offers Little Clarity For Religious Employers

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 6/28/2021

In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, No. 19-123 (June 17, 2021), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Catholic Social Services (CSS), holding that the “City of Brotherly Love” unconstitutionally excluded CSS from the...more

Making the Roster: Conflicting Title IX Interpretations Present Challenges for Transgendered Athlete Participation

Goulston & Storrs PC on 6/25/2021

Nationwide, college athletic programs are facing a dilemma: can they roster transgendered athletes on teams that conform with their gender identity? The answer is: it depends on where the team is located....more

SCOTUS Rules in Unanimous Favor of Catholic Government Contractor That Refuses to Work With Same-Sex Couples

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 6/23/2021

Seyfarth Synopsis: The narrow but unanimous ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia does little to clarify for employers the tensions between religious liberties and LGBTQIA anti-discrimination rights....more

OFCCP Week In Review: June 2021 #4

DirectEmployers Association on 6/21/2021

The DE OFCCP Week in Review (WIR) is a simple, fast and direct summary of relevant happenings in the OFCCP regulatory environment, authored by experts John C. Fox, Candee Chambers and Jennifer Polcer. In today’s edition, they...more

Supreme Court Decides Fulton v. Philadelphia

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 6/18/2021

On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Fulton v. Philadelphia, unanimously holding, with multiple concurring opinions, that Philadelphia violated a Catholic organization’s religious rights when it excluded that...more

Supreme Court: Philadelphia Ordinance Unconstitutionally Burdened Religious Exercise

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/18/2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has found that Philadelphia’s ordinance requiring a private foster care agency to certify same-sex couples as foster parents burdened the agency’s religious exercise in violation of the Free Exercise...more

Federal Court Dismisses RLUIPA Challenge to Missouri Emergency Public Health Orders

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 6/3/2021

An interesting decision regarding RLUIPA and COVID-19 emergency public health orders was recently issued by a federal court in Missouri. Recall that in the land use context, RLUIPA applies only to “land use regulations.”...more

Ministerial Exception Doesn’t Cover Christian College Professors, But Does Cover Catholic School Principals?

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on 3/12/2021

Even after the Supreme Court’s recent decision that the so-called “ministerial exception” barred employment discrimination claims brought by a pair of Catholic school teachers, lower courts continue to wrestle with the scope...more

St. Pete Beach, Florida Enjoined from Prohibiting Church’s Beach Parking Lot Evangelism

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 2/10/2021

A federal court in Florida recently ruled that Pass-A-Grille Beach Community Church, Inc. (Church) was likely to prevail on its RLUIPA substantial burden claim challenging the City of St. Pete Beach’s enforcement of parking...more

OWN’s Greenleaf Presents Ministerial Exception Issue

FordHarrison on 2/10/2021

Based on praise from various friends and colleagues, the lovely Mrs. Reed and I recently began watching Greenleaf, a series on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) that ran from 2016 to 2020....more

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