As previously reported, a Texas federal district, citing the Tax Anti-Injunction Act, refused to enter a consent judgment in a suit by religious groups challenging the constitutionality of the Johnson Amendment. In the appeal of that case to the Fifth
Religion Clause
The Religion Clause blog, published by Howard M. Friedman, focuses on legal developments related to church-state relations and religious liberty in the United States. It covers court decisions and regulatory actions involving the First Amendment's religion clauses, including cases on zoning permits for religious institutions, religious exemptions in healthcare and education, and controversies over religious content in public school curricula. The blog also addresses issues such as the ministerial exception in employment law, challenges to government designations affecting religious organizations, and the intersection of religious freedom with other constitutional rights like free speech. Posts often include analysis of statutes like RLUIPA and explore the impact of federal and state policies on religious exercise and expression.
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Oklahoma Cannot Require State-Funded Charter Schools to Be Secular
In National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation v. Shellem, (WD OK, Sept. 24, 2026), an Oklahoma federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Oklahoma from enforcing a provision in its Charter Schools Act that requires a…
Dispute Over Access to A Rabbinical Court Lands on Supreme Court’s Shadow Docket
Last week, an Emergency Application (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay pending appellate review in Strulovich v. Bain, (Sup. Ct., filed 9/17/2026). The case involves a dispute between business associates over whether their…
Homeschooling Parent Sues Over Discrimination Against Religious Homeschooling Materials
Oregon’s Hillsboro School District has a Homeschooling Partnership program that, among other things, reimburses homeschooling parents for educational materials. However, the district will not reimburse parents for curricular materials that are embedded with a religious perspective. A homeschooling parent filed…
Injunction Pending Appeal Denied in Challenge to Maine’s Vaccination Requirement for School Children
As previously reported, earlier this month a Maine federal district court rejected free exercise and Establishment Clause challenges to Maine’s compulsory vaccination law for school children (20-A M.R.S. § 6355). The next day, plaintiffs filed a motion asking…
Whose Rule Governs Clergy-Communicant Privilege When the Communication Was Made in Another State?
In Campbell v. State of Texas, (TX Ct. Cr. App., Sept. 17, 2026), the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the state’s highest court for criminal cases) refused to grant review in a case posing the question of which state’s…
8th Circuit Hears Arguments on Posting of 10 Commandments in Classrooms
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday heard oral arguments (audio of full oral arguments) in Samantha Stinson v. State of Arkansas, (Docket No. 26-1722, argued 9/22/2026). In the case, an Arkansas federal district court, finding both…
Trump Urged to Press Xi on Religious Freedom Issues at Tomorrow’s Summit
Tomorrow President Trump meets with China’s leader President Xi Jinping who arrives today on a state visit to Washington. Last week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release that reads in part:The U.S. Commission on International Religious…
EEOC Sues Frozen Snack Manufacturer Over Firing of Jewish Employee
The EEOC announced yesterday that it has filed suit against the Texas-based Bell Creameries, Inc. charging it with religious discrimination against a Jewish employee who was a body shop technician. The EEOC’s press release announcing the lawsuit said in part:According…
President Trump Sends Yom Kippur Greetings
Yom Kippur begins at sundown this evening. Today the White House posted a” Presidential Message on Yom Kippur” (full text) which reads:On the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, I send my best wishes to the entire Jewish…