Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
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In Belya v. Kapral , (2d Cir., Aug. 18, 2026), a defrocked priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) sued church leaders and church entities for defamation. He claimed that defendants wrongly accused him of forging three letters from church leaders. The letters stated that Belya had been elected Bishop of Miami. Defendants say that no such election took place. The court said…
In Goff v. Rode , (9th Cir., Aug. 18, 2026), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision held that an inmate presented sufficient evidence to create a dispute that should go to trial over whether confiscation of his Wiccan religious items constituted a substantial burden on his religious exercise. The majority said in part: ... [A] jury could reasonably conclude that the deprivation of…
In Hope Prison Ministries v. City of Fort Worth, Texas , (ND TX, Aug. 14, 2026), a Christian ministry that operates transitional housing for former inmates, including sex offenders, challenged a Fort Worth Ordinance that bars registered child sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of any premises where children regularly gather. Apparently, this restriction makes it difficult for HPM to…
In Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security , (4th Cir., Aug. 18, 2026), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Maryland federal district court's preliminary injunction that rejected DHS's 2025 rescission of a long-standing policy that severely limited immigration enforcement actions at or near houses of worship. The suit was…
Last week, the FBI released its 2025 Reported Crime Statistics. In a summary of the data , the FBI said that "hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 2,703 single-bias offenses reported by law enforcement." 62.3% of the religiously motivated hate crime offenses were anti-Jewish. 9.6% were anti-Muslim. 7% were anti-Sikh. 3% were anti-Catholic. The remaining 18% were spread among 10…
A joint petition for certiorari ( full text ) was filed yesterday with the Supreme Court in Nathan v. Alamo Heights School District and Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, (Sup. Ct., cert. filed 8/17/2026). In Nathan, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, upheld the constitutionality of the Texas law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every…
In Conwell v. City of Benson, Minnesota , (D MN, Aug. 14, 2026), a Minnesota federal district court denied a motion for a temporary restraining order filed by an anti-abortion preacher who was cited for trespass by police after he insisted on evangelizing at a privately-run farmer's market held on city property without registering as a vendor and paying a vendor's fee. The court held that there…
In Ellis v. The Brooke Charter Schools , (D MA, Aug. 13, 2026), a Massachusetts federal district court rejected claims by a public charter high school teacher that her free-speech rights were infringed when she was dismissed for refusing on religious grounds to comply with the school's requirement that teachers use students' preferred names and pronouns. While the firing was triggered by the…
Suit was filed last week in a New York federal district court against the presiding bishop of the Georgian Orthodox Church in North America by three Georgian Orthodox monasteries-- two in Maryland and one in Oklahoma. The abbots who head the monasteries are also plaintiffs. They contend that the bishop (Bishop Saba) engaged in a series of actions, including defamation of two abbots, designed to…
From SSRN: Wenfu Zheng, The Dynamics of Redemption: From Sovereign Decree, Intercession, Compassion, Justice, Calling, Leading, and the Centripetal Rest of Grace-A Chiastic Exegetical and Doctrinal Study of Genesis 18:20-19:38 , (August 05, 2026). Jennifer S. Bard, A Dangerous Can of Worms: Viewpoint-Based Exemptions from Professional Standards of Care After Chiles v. Salazar , (August 06, 2026).…