First Liberty Institute and the law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Holtzman Vogel PLLC filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction against the City of Tucson, AZ on behalf of David Hoffman, a local resident who was threatened with arrest and forced into a confined, remote zone for sharing his faith at the Winterhaven Festival of Lights.
The Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit finding that the Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue (“SRFR”) can refuse religious accommodation to eight firefighters known as the Snohomish Eight.
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.
