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First Amendment › Churches

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 -
Lathrop GPM

Understanding the Proposed IRS Settlement Regarding the Johnson Amendment and Churches’ Political Speech Rights

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To settle a case challenging the Johnson Amendment, the IRS has proposed to allow at least two churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit. This proposal has received widespread attention, but many questions remain...more

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...

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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

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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?

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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: March 2023

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: January 2023

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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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

North Carolina Supreme Court Reluctant to Intervene in Church Dispute

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​​​​​​​U.S. courts have traditionally been reluctant to become involved in internal disputes within a religious organization. These concerns are based on First Amendment prohibitions against interfering with a church’s or...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

North Carolina Supreme Court Reluctant to Intervene in Church Dispute

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​​​​​​​U.S. courts have traditionally been reluctant to become involved in internal disputes within a religious organization. These concerns are based on First Amendment prohibitions against interfering with a church’s or...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

Fox Rothschild LLP

A Business Court Finds There is Little “Neutral” Ground in Disputes Over Church Business

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An intra-congregational dispute over control of church bank accounts led the Wakefield Missionary Baptist Church to a schism that forced out a senior pastor, saw church doors locked, and resulted in competing factions...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: February 2022

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: July 2021

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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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

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

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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

Best Best & Krieger LLP

An Extraordinary Smackdown of an Ordinary Sign Ordinance

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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

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Unprecedented: COVID-19 Litigation Trends, Issue 8

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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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Federal Court: “There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution of the United States or the Free Exercise Clause of the First...

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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

Holland & Knight LLP

COVID-19 Guidance for Faith-Based Institutions

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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely affecting faith-based institutions across the world. Mass gatherings of any kind are now temporarily circumscribed or prohibited in the United States and elsewhere. This...more

Bilzin Sumberg

Religious Use Law in South Florida

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Land use and zoning attorneys, Jennifer Fine and Stanley Price, discuss the approval process, standards of proof, RLUIPA, and how the first amendment relates to Religious Use Law....more

Fisher Phillips

Are Your Teachers Ministers?

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Religious schools should be aware of the ministerial exception, its potential application to certain employment decisions, and the fact that courts across the country may interpret and apply it very differently. The United...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: January 2019 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

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Courts continue to grapple with the scope and meaning of the ministerial exception doctrine. In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that a...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

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

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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

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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

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