At issue in this case is a private religious school’s Free Exercise clause challenge to a State of Michigan COVID-19 order requiring all persons who are at least five years old to wear face masks whenever they are in a shared space with someone outside their household, including both public and private schools. The brief asserts that in the context of a national pandemic that has taken the lives of 543,000 Americans, including more than 16,900 Michigan residents, the order is fully…
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March 12, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard was fined $50,000, suspended from the team's facilities and banned from team activities after he uttered an antisemitic slur while playing video games. Israeli society is increasingly divided, with 81 percent of Israelis stating that they believe that their society is increasingly divided, a 12 percent increase since 2017, according to a new ADL. survey. A panel of South Carolina lawmakers stripped explicit protections…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a broad exemption from California coronavirus public-health orders that restrict indoor religious gatherings to the same extent or more favorably than similarly situated secular gatherings. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL explains that the history of the Free Exercise Clause demonstrates it was never intended to require religious exemptions from laws that protect public health or safety. Rather,…
At issue in this case is a church and member of the clergy invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a broad exemption from California coronavirus public-health orders that restrict indoor religious gatherings to the same extent or more favorably than similarly situated secular gatherings. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL explains that the history of the Free Exercise Clause demonstrates it was never intended to require religious exemptions from laws that protect public…
At issue in this case is clergy and congregants from several churches invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from California coronavirus public-health orders that restrict indoor religious gatherings to the same extent or more favorably than similarly situated secular gatherings. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL explains that the history of the Free Exercise Clause demonstrates it was never intended to require religious exemptions from laws that protect…
At issue in this case is a business invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a religious exemption from a state anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding photography services to LGBTQ couples. In opposing this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that such an exemption is not authorized by the Free Exercise Clause and prohibited by the Establishment Clause. Furthermore, the sought exemption would undermine the state law’s prohibitions on religious discrimination…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a New Mexico coronavirus public-health order. The order limits indoor religious services to twenty-five percent of building capacity, which is similar to or less restrictive than limitations on comparable nonreligious activities. In opposing the church’s claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the public health order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a Colorado coronavirus public-health order. The order limits indoor religious services to the lesser of fifty people (one hundred for large houses of worship) or fifty-percent capacity per room, which is similar to or less restrictive than limitations on comparable nonreligious activities. In opposing the church’s claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the public health order is…
This case involves a second appeal by a public high school football coach who filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination under the Free Exercise Clause and employment discrimination laws after he was fired for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer at the football field's 50-yard line immediately following every game. This practice started after the school district directed him to stop leading his team in pre- and post-game prayer, which the Coach had done for eight years prior. The Court…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause and Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act (ILRFRA) to seek a full exemption from a State coronavirus public-health order that equally limits similarly situated religious and secular communal gatherings to 10 people or less. In rejecting these claims, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards and does not violate the ILRFRA because it is the best way to…
New York, NY, August 20, 2020 ... ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to reject a taxpayer-funded foster care agency’s claim that its religious beliefs entitle the agency to violate a local anti-discrimination law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, religion, and other protected characteristics. The brief in the case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, was joined by a diverse coalition of religious, civil…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause to seek a full exemption from a Maine coronavirus public-health order that equally limits religious and secular communal gatherings to 50 people or less. In rejecting this claim, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards. Furthermore, the sought exemption is not a permissible religious accommodation. It would violate the Establishment Clause by favoring the…
July 20, 2020 Incumbent President Andrzej Duda defeated Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 51%-49%, for a second five-year term. While the presidency is supposed to be non-partisan, the contest clearly pitted the nationalist populist Law and Justice party, which supported Duda, against the pro-European liberal supporters of Trzaskowski. Duda was the early favorite, but the race tightened as election day neared. In response, Duda’s campaign turned negative, including the…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses to seek a full exemption from a Maryland coronavirus stay-at-home order equally limiting religious and secular communal gatherings to 50% of facility capacity. In rejecting these claims, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards. Furthermore, the sought exemption is not a permissible religious accommodation. It would violate the…
June 19, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
ADL convened a coalition of civil rights groups encouraging corporate advertisers to pull spending from Facebook during the month of July to protest the company’s failure to make its platform a less-hostile place. The Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender workers from discrimination. School textbooks used in institutions controlled by the terror group Hezbollah are teaching children “egregious…
At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses to seek a full exemption from a Louisiana coronavirus stay-at-home order equally limiting religious and secular communal gatherings to 50% of facility capacity. In rejecting these claims, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise standards. Furthermore, the sought exemption is not a permissible religious accommodation. It would violate the Establishment…
At issue in this case is a business that seeks a religious exemption from a state anti-discrimination law for the purpose of denying wedding-related services to LGBTQ couples. It, however, does not currently sell such services and there is no allegation that the business violated the law. ADL joined a legal brief filed by religious and civil rights organizations asserting that the business’ lawsuit is premature. Even if it was not, the requested exemption is not required by the Free…
New York, NY, July 3, 2019 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today joined a broad coalition of 59 civil rights organizations in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify that a key provision of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA), Title VII protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination in the workplace. The amicus brief, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, highlights that LGBTQ…
New York, NY, June 13, 2019… ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today welcomed the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upholding the constitutionality of the landmark federal hate crime legislation, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act (HCPA), as applied in the case of an Amazon worker who was targeted because of his perceived sexual orientation.
"Today represents an important victory in the ongoing fight against bias and hate…
June 11, 2019 On Saturday, June 8, ten neo-Nazis associated with the National Socialist Movement protested Detroit’s Motor City Pride Festival, carrying guns and shouting homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs.
NSM leader Burt Colucci and Aric Lemieux, NSM’s South Michigan chapter leader, headed up the protest, which included participants from Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Michigan. Lemieux expressed his intention to protest the festival months ago, and other group…