Today, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to review a decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court denying the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist the right to build a modest shrine for quiet prayer and reflection on their own property.
Several New York Amish individuals and schools asked the Supreme Court of the United States to reverse a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that permits the State of New York to compel Amish schoolchildren—who attend private Amish-only schools in rural Amish communities removed from the modern world—to receive vaccinations in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs in order to attend Amish community schools.
Today, a criminal conviction regarding the fire code violations against Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place in Bryan, Ohio was vacated by Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals. The court concluded that the trial court failed to rule on Pastor Avell’s constitutional defenses that the city was violating his rights under both the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions and remanded the case to the trial court to consider the constitutional defenses in the first instance. Earlier this year the Court of Common Pleas of Williams County issued a final order dismissing with prejudice a lawsuit brought by city officials in Bryan, Ohio, seeking to shut down the religious activities of Dad’s Place and Pastor Chris Avell based on the same fire code violations.
First Liberty Institute announced a favorable settlement for former Arrow Electronics employee, Maria Govea, who was fired for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine due to her religious beliefs despite that she was a remote worker.
Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board from enforcing a state law that mandates the Board reject religious charter school applicants.
First Liberty Institute and the law firm McGuireWoods sent a letter demanding the City of Troy, North Carolina withdraw its cease-and-desist letter and warning citation that prohibit True Worship Ministries, a local church, from renting temporary event space the same as any other organization or group simply because the church’s gatherings are religious.
