What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations

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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.

How to Get Arrested for Marrying Same-Sex Couples

There has been a lot of hubbub going around news outlets, blogs, and social media about how Republicans have changed the law in Indiana (my beloved home state) to make it a crime for same-sex couples to apply for  marriage licenses and “for clergy to conduct weddings for gay couples.” (Emphasis from Americablog.)

Nothing New Here

As several sources have pointed out (again, blog and news outlet alike), these accounts are off target. The laws are not new, and they do not explicitly target same-sex couples. The only thing that is new is the name Indiana gives to the category of crime committed.

Master Meeting Minutes (free article for a limited time from Church and Tax Law)

Free for a limited time, some helpful tips for creating great minutes for church meetings: http://bit.ly/15Q3HOx . (http://churchlawandtax.com )

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

National Day of Prayer

It's National Day of Prayer. Pray for all who protect our freedoms and for those without those freedoms. http://wh.gov/zxwf