Weekly roundup for August 23, 2014

Here are the posts from this week to the Law Meets Gospel feeds on Twitter, Facebook, and blog.

Posts to the blog

• You shouldn't make decisions as a body by e-mail, even if your bylaws allow electronic meetings.
  

 Stories from around the Internet posted to the feeds

• Indianapolis Episcopal Christ Church Cathedral sues JP Morgan for $13 million in lost investments from alleged mishandling trust investments. Story: http://t.co/o1ubS6KZAc Complaint here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237002121/Christ-Church-v-JP-Morgan=

• United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana rules a Southern Baptist college is not required to self-certify its objections under the Affordable Care Act's mandate for employers to cover contraceptives. Story:  http://t.co/LW5Ef3szlP Opinion here: http://www.adfmedia.org/files/LaCollegeDecision.pdf

• Trial court in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, rules Amish families must comply with new ruling on building and sanitary permits or be forced out of their homes. Story: http://t.co/aP29tErBds

• Ninth Circuit: California may require healthcare workers of Catholic residential facility to accompany residents to non-Catholic worship services without infringing on the workers' or the facilities' free exercise. Story: http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2014/08/9th-circuit-state-can-require-care.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Opinion here: http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/08/19/caretakers.pdf

• Oklahoma City Archbishop sues, then settles, for the return of consecrated host set for use in black mass taken from Turkish priest without knowledge of its purpose Story:   http://t.co/6iIvUnN8va Complaint here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237388798/Coakley-v-Daniels Settlement covered here: https://news.vice.com/article/catholic-archbishop-drops-lawsuit-over-oklahoma-city-satanic-black-mass

• Fifth Circuit held that a challenge to protections of the bald eagle based on the First Amendment and the Restoration of Religious Freedom Act filed by a church and others should be able to proceed, stating the government hadn't met its burden. Story: https://t.co/x2HtnpN6Fl Opinion here: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/13/13-40326-CV0.pdf

• South Carolina Supreme Court dismissed a dispute between a suspended bishop of the Methodist Union Episcopal Church and the church's General Officers. Story: http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2014/08/dispute-over-suspension-of-methodist.html?spref=tw Opinion here: http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/opinions//unpublishedopinions/HTMLFiles/SC/2014-MO-034.pdf

•  21 former Mars Hill pastors file complaint against prominent evangelical leader Mark Driscoll Story here: http://www.religionnews.com/2014/08/22/mark-driscoll-charged-allegations-21-former-mars-hill-pastors/

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

Make decisions in live meetings, which doesn't mean in person

The modern age seems to have brought us two things: more meetings and more ways to meet. But what are the limits of how we can or should use technology to help us make decisions more efficiently? Deciding that means thinking about why we meet and what we give up when using technology to make decisions. The short answer is that teleconferences and Skype are acceptable means to make a decision, e-mail and chat rooms are not. And none of these is permitted unless your organization's governing documents expressly allow for electronic meetings.

Don't vote on minutes—It's a waste of time!

Every religious organization I've ever been a part of has meetings. And inevitably there are minutes for those meetings. And for some reason we feel like we should vote on them, which means we ask for a motion, and a second, and then the vote. It turns out that this not only feels like a waste of time, it is a waste of time.

What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations

© Wikimedia Commons user CyberXRef

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.

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.

Indiana Supreme Court considering homeschoolers’ appeal

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

On February  3, the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments in Fishers Adolescent Catholic Enrichment Society, Inc. v. Bridgewater. (See earlier coverage here and here.) The case involves an organization formed by homeschooling Roman Catholic parents. The group’s purposes include providing students with Catholic educational, spiritual, and social enrichment. The Court will decide whether the group’s decisions about accommodating a student’s dietary needs and later expelling her for filing a complaint fall within state antidiscrimination laws and First Amendment protections for religious organizations.

Sotomayor Rings in New Year with Obamacare Stay: What Religious Groups Should Know

Justice Sonia Sotomayor made sure she was part of the number one story to start off 2014. In case anyone doubted leading New York City’s countdown to 2014 in Times Square would put Sotomayor on the front page, a few hours before midnight she temporarily blocked the federal government from requiring certain religiously affiliated organizations to provide insurance coverage that includes birth control.