News & Analysis as of

Religious Discrimination State and Local Government First Amendment

Adams & Reese

Split U.S. Supreme Court Decision Leaves Religious Charter School Ban Intact

Adams & Reese on

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, resulting in a 4-4 split due to the recusal of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The Court’s split decision...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission (Trump EO Tracker)

Establishes Religious Liberty Commission (Commission) with the stated intent of protecting the free exercise of religion. The Commission shall be composed of up to 14 members appointed by the President and shall include...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Supreme Court Appears Split on Whether to Approve Religious Charter School

Rumberger | Kirk on

On April 30, 2025, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the consolidated cases of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. If the...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Church Ministering to Homeless/Needy Can Proceed with Most of its Religious Discrimination Claims

A United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee recently ruled that Layman Lessons Church and Welcome Baptist Church, Inc. (“Layman Lessons”) can move forward with most, but not all, of its religious...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Court Denies Summary Judgment in “Integral Yoga” RLUIPA Dispute in Hawaii

Back in 2015, we first reported about a RLUIPA case pitting the County of Maui, Hawaii against practitioners of “Integral Yoga”....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Court Admonishes Village for Adopting Laws with a Discriminatory Purpose

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Local governments in New York may regulate land use within their borders directly through their zoning codes and indirectly by adopting a variety of other statutes and regulations. ...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Satanists Sue Scottsdale, AZ Over Legislative Prayer Policy

The Satanic Temple and one of its members, Michelle Shortt, are suing the city of Scottsdale, Arizona and individual municipal officials in federal court, alleging that a Satanist was denied the opportunity to open a City...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Allenhurst, NJ Sued Under RLUIPA One Day and Settles the Next

The Borough of Allenhurst, New Jersey has settled a lawsuit against an Orthodox Jewish group just one day after the group filed suit in federal court alleging violations of RLUIPA’s unreasonable limits and exclusions and...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Mahwah Eruv Update

In an update to our previous post about an eruv dispute in New Jersey, the Mahwah Township Council has voted to withdraw two ordinances at the center of a religious discrimination lawsuit involving the construction of an...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

Additional Eruv Disputes in New Jersey

We recently posted about a lawsuit filed by Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, Inc. (“BREA”) against the Township of Mahwah, New Jersey, regarding a dispute over the expansion of an eruv. Since then, eruv disputes have evoked...more

Hogan Lovells

U.S. Supreme Court Forbids Exclusion of Churches from State Grant Program

Hogan Lovells on

On June 26, 2017, in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, the U.S. Supreme Court held unconstitutional under the Free Exercise Clause Missouri’s refusal to award a playground resurfacing grant to a church. The...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court: Public Benefit Programs Cannot Exclude Churches Solely Because They Are Religious

Holland & Knight LLP on

In Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, No. 15-577 (June 26, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that excluding a church from a public benefit program for which it is otherwise qualified violates the Free...more

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense

City of Bayonne, New Jersey Sued Over Denial of Application to Build a Mosque

Last month, Bayonne Muslims, a New Jersey not-for-profit religious congregation, sued the City of Bayonne, New Jersey (the “City”), challenging the City’s denial of certain variances needed to construct a mosque. ...more

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