Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • In Garrick v. Moody Bible Institute, the Seventh Circuit permitted a sex discrimination lawsuit against the Moody Bible Institute to proceed, rejecting the institution’s argument for dismissal based on the religious autonomy doctrine. The court reasoned that while religious autonomy is important, it does not provide immunity in cases of non-ministerial employee discrimination.
  • In The Satanic Temple v. The City of Chicago, an Illinois district court allowed the Satanic Temple’s claim that the city violated the Establishment Clause by consistently delaying a request for a Satanic clergyman to deliver an invocation at a City Council meeting to proceed, stating that the city must treat the Satanic clergy member equally with those of other religions.
  • Iowa enacted a state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects individuals’ religious exercise from government interference unless the government proves a compelling interest and uses the least restrictive means.
  • In Omid v. Ahmadi, a Connecticut trial court declined to enforce an Islamic mahr agreement in a divorce case. The court found the agreement’s terms ambiguous and intertwined with Islamic law and therefore deemed the agreement unenforceable due to difficulty in separating secular from religious considerations.
  • In Ramirez v. World Mission Society, Church of God, a plaintiff sued a church and its pastor for fraud, emotional distress, and negligence. The plaintiff alleges she was pressured into joining the church through concealment of its leader’s identity and coerced into donating money based on a misrepresented charitable use of funds.
  • Six inmates at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in New York filed a lawsuit against a statewide prison lockdown preventing them from viewing the solar eclipse. The inmates are arguing they hold sincerely-held religious belief that this eclipse is important to the practice of their religion.

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