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Churches First Amendment Free Speech

Stinson LLP

IRS Permits Politics from the Pulpit

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In a joint motion filed on July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that religious organizations may speak about political campaigns and candidates to...more

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak

IRS Enters into Consent Decree Limiting Application of Johnson Amendment; New Position Allows Churches to Endorse Candidates in...

On July 7, 2025, in National Religious Broadcasters, et al. v. Billy Long, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Services, et al., Docket no: 6:24-cv-00311-JCB (E.D. Texas) (“NRB”), the IRS entered into a consent decree in...more

McGlinchey Stafford

IRS Agrees That Political Speech Is Permitted in Houses of Worship

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The Internal Revenue Service has reached a settlement, subject to court approval, that would permit political speech in houses of worship. Background - Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code defines an organization...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Churches Can Now Endorse Political Candidates Without Losing Tax-Exempt Status

On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) overturned  an over 70-year-old interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code via a federal court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which now...more

Roetzel & Andress

Is the After School Satan Club Coming to Your School District?

Roetzel & Andress on

The decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Satanic Temple, Inc. v. Saucon Valley School District, ___ F.Supp.3d ___, 2023 WL 3182934, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75001 (May 1, 2023) is a...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2023

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2022

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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

Best Best & Krieger LLP

An Extraordinary Smackdown of an Ordinary Sign Ordinance

Court Invalidates Common Sign Ordinance on First Amendment Grounds - A federal appeals court cited the First Amendment in invalidating some portions of the City of Troy, Mich.’s sign ordinance that are very common to many...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Islamic Community Center Denied Variance Needed to Operate Mosque; Files Lawsuit Against Michigan City

Earlier this month, an Islamic community center filed suit against the City of Troy, Michigan (“City”) after the City denied the group’s application for a variance needed to operate a mosque at the property it owns in the...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Coffee Shop Church’s Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss, City Amends Code to Permit Use

A federal court in Maryland has denied the City of Laurel, Maryland’s (“City”) motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Redemption Community Church (“Church”). ...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: June 2018 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

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Since 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court has expressly construed a neutral law of general applicability as consistent with the free exercise clause. Deeming Colorado's public accommodations law just such a law, the Colorado Court...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Religious Land Use Controversy Brewing in Laurel, Maryland: Can a Church Worship in a Coffee Shop?

Redemption Community Church (the “Church”) has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Laurel, Maryland (the “City”), after the City issued a cease and desist order prohibiting the Church from offering religious services...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: November 2017 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

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Timely Topics - Serious data breaches have become routine in the United States, yet a recent survey shows that the majority of religious institutions do not have a full-time IT professional, have no system to detect a...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: August 2016

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When was the last time your organization reviewed your insurance policies? Not all policies are equal. Many religious organizations are underinsured. Most should have general liability, property, professional liability,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions: September 2015

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Respondeat superior (literally, "let the master answer" in Latin) is a doctrine that applies when an employer or principal has the ability and authority to direct and control the pertinent acts of the employee. Put otherwise,...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Arizona Town's Content-Based Sign Rules Struck Down by U.S. Supreme Court

Local agencies urged to review sign codes in favor of content-neutral rules - The United States Supreme Court recently struck down portions of an Arizona town’s sign code that subjected ideological, political and...more

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