7th Circuit: Plaintiff Must Allege More Than Conclusory Statements of #Religious #Belief to Get #ReligiousExemption

In Troogstad v. City of #Chicago, (7th Cir., Dec. 9, 2025), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of #freeexercise claims by a #ChicagoFireDepartment employee who was denied a religious #exemption from the city's #Covid19 #vaccinemandate.

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/12/7th-circuit-plaintiff-must-allege-more.html

#Camping Ordinance Does Not Violate #FreeExercise Rights of #Homeless Resident

In Hebbe v. City of Folsom, (ED CA, Dec. 3, 2025), plaintiff who is an #unhoused resident of #FolsomCalifornia, challenges on numerous grounds a Folsom Ordinance that prohibits #publiccamping between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. One of his claims-- rejected by the decision of a California federal magistrate judge-- is that the public camping ban violates his #1stAmendment #freeexercise rights.

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/12/camping-ordinance-does-not-violate-free.html

7th Circuit: #Chicago's Reporting Requirement for #Employees During #CovidPandemic Were #Constitutional

In Kondilis v. City of Chicago, (7th Cir., Dec. 2, 2025), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by City of Chicago employees who had been granted #religiousexemptions from the #Covidvaccinemandate that, nevertheless, the reporting requirements imposed on them violated their #freeexercise and #equalprotection rights.

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/12/7th-circuit-chicagos-reporting.html

In Clayman v. Bessant, (SD FL, Nov. 24, 2025), a #Florida federal district court rejected plaintiff's #RFRA, #FreeExercise, #EstablishmentClause, Takings Clause and other challenges to the phrase #InGodWeTrust on #US. #coins and #currency.

#Jewish #religious #Hasmonean #Maccabean #religioustraditions #God #secular #SOCAS #separationofchurchandstate

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/11/in-god-we-trust-on-currency-does-not.html

#11thCircuit: #Government Can Insist on #Secular Presenters in Intervention Program for #DomesticAbusers

In #NussbaumervSecretary, #Florida Department of #Children and #Families, (11th Cir., Sept. 4, 2025), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected #freespeech and #freeexercise challenges to Florida's requirements for becoming certified as a provider in the state's batterers' intervention program.

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/09/11th-circuit-government-can-insist-on.html

6th Circuit: #Transgender #Bathroom Rule Did Not Violate Objecting #Parents' or #Students' #FreeExercise Rights

https://religionclause.blogspot.com/2025/09/6th-circuit-transgender-bathroom-rule.html

The NLRB has concluded that it cannot force religious universities to recognize unions, and Marquette refuses to do so. But how can Marquette have a religious objection to unions when other Catholic universities voluntarily permit them?

#law #contracts #unions #labor #NLRB #religion #universities #FreeExercise

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/01/contracts-and-the-first-amendment-union-edition.html

Post today on @MAHelfand's treatment of contractual and Free Exercise interests in cases governed by religious law or religious arbitral bodies. The key commonality is voluntarism.

#law #contracts #FreeExercise #religion #arbitration #scholarship #academia

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2024/09/michael-helfand-on-contracts-and-the-right-to-change-religions.html

#Homophobic #Maryland #Parents ask #SupremeCourt to hear case on #schools making #kids read #LGBTQ #affirming #books.

They claim their #freeexercise of #religion is violated without an option to opt out of learning #LGBTQ #relationships are equally #valid

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Maryland #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #Hategroups #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Genocide #Discrimination #Transphobia #ThePartyOfHate #EmptyThePews

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/sep/13/parents-ask-supreme-court-to-hear-case-of-schools-/