U.S. Supreme Court – Law Meets Gospel

What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations

Today the United States Supreme Court held on a 5–4 vote that the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act (RFRA) prohibits the federal government from forcing a closely
held corporation to provide contraception to which the company’s owners object
based on their sincerely held religious beliefs. This will likely mean that the Obama administration will extend the accommodations made to religious nonprofits under the Affordable Care Act (A.C.A.) will also apply to closely held corporations that have religious objections to some or all types of contraception. While the decision did not involve religious organizations, they can take this decision as providing more room to use nontraditional structures for purposes churches don’t typically pursue. Continue reading “What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations” →

U.S. Supreme Court Denies German Homeschoolers’ Appeal

This post is being published on both Law Meets Gospel and Indiana Education Law Blog.

The United States Supreme Court has rejected a petition filed by a German family seeking asylum based on what they characterize as religious persecution in their home country. The Romeike family began homeschooling their children because they feared the public school’s curriculum would influence their children in a way that contradicted their Christian values. This violated a 1938 compulsory-attendance law in Germany that the Romeikes argued was originally driven by animus toward faith-based homeschoolers. Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court Denies German Homeschoolers’ Appeal” →

Cert. Denied in Indiana Church Property Dispute

The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari in a dispute between the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and a congregation that decided to leave the denomination. The Indiana Supreme Court had returned the case to the trial court for facts to be determined at trial rather than by summary judgment. Access the Supreme Court list of today’s orders here, the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision here, and the vacated Indiana Court of Appeals decision here. Find audio and video of oral arguments at the Indiana Supreme Court here and at the Court of Appeals here.

The Indiana Lawyer reported the case here. It had previously reported on the Indiana Supreme Court’s grant of transfer here and its decision here. It had reported on the Court of Appeals decision here.

The case will now return to the Vanderburgh Circuit Court for further proceedings.

Have a question about legal issues affecting religious organizations? Let me know at questions@lawmeetsgospel.com or @LawMeetsGospel.