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First Amendment › Free Exercise Clause

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 -
Shipman & Goodwin LLP

Supreme Court Addresses Religious Opt-Outs for LGBTQ-Inclusive Curricular Materials in Elementary Schools

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The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor has raised new considerations for districts faced with requests from parents to excuse students from instruction they believe is at odds with their religious beliefs. ...more

Sands Anderson PC

What Now? Recent SCOTUS Decision Leaves School Divisions With More Questions Than Answers

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a school division’s use of LGBTQ+-inclusive storybooks without allowing parental opt-outs unconstitutionally burdened religious freedom. This decision raises significant questions...more

Pullman & Comley - School Law

U.S. Supreme Court Announces New Legal Standard for First Amendment Free Exercise Challenges to Curriculum and Instruction

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In a 6-3 decision with the justices split along familiar ideological lines, the United States Supreme Court held on Friday, June 27, in Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) (Case No. 24-297)...more

Miller Canfield

SCOTUS Rules Mandatory LGBTQ+ Curriculum Without Opt-Out Burdens Religious Freedom

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Can a public school require students to engage with materials that conflict with their parents’ religious beliefs without offering an opt-out? In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the U.S. Supreme Court enjoined the Montgomery County public...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Upholds Parental Right to Opt Out of Certain School Curriculum on Religious Grounds

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday, June 27, that a Maryland school district’s decision to mandate instruction using LGBTQ+-inclusive storybooks, without offering notice or opt-outs to parents, violated the First...more

Cozen O'Connor

Facial Hair, Firefighters, and Free Exercise

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A single exception can now unravel your entire workplace safety policy. The Third Circuit's decision on May 30, 2025, in Smith v. Atlantic City, underscores how even minor exceptions to grooming or masking rules can expose...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Religious Charter Schools Continue to be Impermissible…for Now

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The State of Oklahoma has a charter school law similar in many respects to New York’s Charter Schools Act. Like in New York, Oklahoma charter schools are authorized by a state board via charter agreements between the state...more

Baker Donelson

The Supreme Court Declines to Require Religious Charter Schools

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In a one-sentence, 4-to-4 per curiam decision, the Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's ruling that approval of a religious school's participation in the state's charter school program would violate the...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - May 23, 2025

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On Thursday, May 22, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions: Kousisis v. United States, No. 23-909: This case addresses the elements of the federal wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343....more

Rumberger | Kirk

Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Nation’s First Religious Charter School

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On January 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court granted two petitions for certiorari in the cases of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond,...more

Adams & Reese

2024 Title IX Final Rule Enjoined in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho

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Last Thursday, a United States District Court in Louisiana enjoined implementation of the amended Title IX regulations (2024 Final Rule), the first decision in one of several cases challenging the 2024 Final Rule. The new...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Eleventh Circuit Finds City of Mobile Violated Religious Freedom Laws

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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

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

New York State Appellate Division Upholds Agency Determination, Defers on a Question of Unsettled Constitutional Law

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On an issue of unsettled constitutional law involving the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department held that the New York State Division of Human Rights (SDHR) did not act arbitrarily...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions: Update June 2023

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

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

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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

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Smucker’s Vax Mandate Stands, Federal Court of Appeals Hands Broad Win to Federal Contractors

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Private companies doing business with the federal government won a major COVID-19-related victory recently when the Sixth Circuit held in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker’s Co. that government contractors are not subject to...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Smucker’s Out of a Jam: Sixth Circuit Says Being a Federal Contractor Does Not Make You a State Actor

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If you take on a federal contract, does that make you a state actor? No, according to a unanimous Sixth Circuit panel in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker Company. During World War II, the Army included Smucker’s apple butter in its...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

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Court Rules Meriden, CT’s Zoning Regulations Discriminatory

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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

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Left Coast Appeals

This Week At The Ninth: Deceptive Financial Advisory Services and Religious Speech

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This week, the Court addresses the definition of “financial advisory services” under the Consumer Financial Protection Act and whether a plaintiff’s allegations of First Amendment violations plausibly stated a claim under...more

Rumberger | Kirk

First Amendment Wheel Doesn’t Stop Spinning: What Risk Managers Need to Know for the New School Year

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As the school year begins, a heightened focus has been placed on schools both nationally and at the local level. Schools are becoming the battlefield where some of the most high-profile cultural clashes occur, which means...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

High School Football Coach’s Mid-Field, Post-Game Prayer Ruled Protected Speech

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​​​​​​​Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. __ (2022) (The United States Supreme Court concludes that a coach praying at mid-field following a high school football game was engaged in private religious expression...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

SCOTUS Term Includes Back-to-School Guidance on Balancing Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses

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Employers Should Reevaluate Policies on Religious Expression at Work in Light of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Carson v. Makin - With the commencement of school, public youth programs and 2022-23 budget cycles,...more

Rumberger | Kirk

U.S. Supreme Court Okays Religious School Tuition Vouchers: Gives Official “Thumbs Up” to Florida’s School Choice Laws

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Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court found that Maine’s tuition assistance program violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. In order to fulfill the Maine Constitution’s guarantee that every child...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Three Point Shot - July 2022

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Welcome to Three Point Shot, a newsletter brought to you by the Sports Law Group at Proskauer. Three Point Shot brings you the latest in sports law-related news and provides you with links to related materials. In this double...more

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