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U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Special Counsel for Religious DiscriminationRELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN FOCUS
To subscribe to Religious Freedom in Focus, please send an e-mail with your name and organization (if applicable) to firstfreedom@usdoj.gov
Volume 34 (July/August 2008)
- Former State Department Employee Receives Prison Sentence for Threats Against Arab-American Institute Employees
- State May Not Discriminate Against Religious Universities in Scholarship Program, Appeals Court Rules
- Revised Decision Issued in San Diego Boy Scout Case; Second Rehearing Petition Filed
Volume 33 (May/June 2008)
- Guilty Plea in Anti-Christian Arson Case
- Boston Man Indicted for Threat Against Iranian Woman
- DOJ Closes RLUIPA Investigation After City Amends Zoning Code and Allows Church to Meet in Former Moose Lodge
Volume 32 (March/April 2008)
- Civil Rights Charges Brought in Tennessee Mosque Arson Case
- School Board Unlawfully Discriminated Against Church’s Speech, Brief Argues
- DOJ Closes RLUIPA Investigation After Illinois Village Allows Mosque Expansion
- Final First Freedom Project Regional Seminar for 2008 Slated for Boston
Volume 31 (January/February 2008)
- Three Men Charged in Tennessee Mosque Burning
- Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI in Jewish Bias Attack Case
- Justice Department Settles Muslim Corrections Officer Religious Liberty Case
- Consent Decree Entered Requiring Equal Treatment of Religious Institutions
- Religious Freedom Seminar to be Held in Atlanta
Volume 30 (December 2007)
- DOJ Closes RLUIPA Investigation After County Allows Church’s Adult Education Classes to Continue
- West Virginia to Allow Scholarship Deferment for Student Missionary
- Third Circuit Clarifies RLUIPA’s “Equal Terms” Provision
- First Freedom Seminar to be Held in Washington, D.C. on January 30
Volume 29 (November 2007)
- Oregon White Supremacist Sentenced for Rock Attack on Synagogue
- Sentencing in Philadelphia Workplace Threat Case
- Seventh Circuit Rules Church Must Be Permitted to Locate in Commercial Zone on Same Basis As Secular Assemblies
- New York Village Ban on Shabbos House Violates RLUIPA, DOJ Argues
- Upcoming First Freedom Project Seminars
Volume 28 (October 2007)
- Second Circuit Finds Jewish School’s Rights Were Violated in Zoning Permit Denial, Upholds Constitutionality of RLUIPA
- Federal Court Rules Taking of Mosque’s Land May Violate RLUIPA
- "Pervasively Sectarian" Scholarship Ban Conflicts with Constitution, Brief Argues
- Religious Freedom Seminar Slated for Los Angeles
Volume 27 (August/September 2007)
- Consent Decree Entered in Florida Sabbath Accommodation Case
- Mormon Scholarship Recipient Denied Equal Treatment, Brief Argues
- Zoning Authorities Cannot Bar Church From Zone Where Secular Assemblies Are Permitted, United States Argues to Seventh Circuit
- Registration Still Open for September 19 Religious Freedom Seminar in Chicago
Volume 26 (June/July 2007)
- Philadelphia Woman Pleads Guilty to Sending Threat to Muslim Supervisor
- Township’s Taking of Mosque’s Property Implicates RLUIPA, United States Argues
- Second Circuit Sends Bronx Household of Faith Back to Lower Court
- First Freedom Project Seminar to be Held in Chicago
Volume 25 (May 2007)
- Civil Rights Division Settles Muslim Student Prayer Case
- Settlement Reached in Wisconsin Student Fees Case
- Criminal Charges Filed Over Workplace Threat Targeting Muslim-American Woman
- Next First Freedom Project Seminars Announced
Volume 24 (April 2007)
- Oregon White Supremacist Sentenced to 11 Years in Synagogue Attack
- Indianapolis Must Give Equal Treatment to Churches in Commercial District, Civil Rights Division Argues
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Challenge to Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill
- Tampa Seminar Draws Diverse Audience
Volume 23 (March/April 2007)
- DOJ Sues New York Corrections Department Over Refusal to Make Religious Accommodations
- Assistant Attorney General Kim Argues For Expansive Reading of RLUIPA’s Anti-Discrimination Protections
- Inaugural First Freedom Project Regional Seminar Held in Kansas City
- DOJ Closes RLUIPA Investigation After Church Obtains Zoning Approval
Volume 22 (January/February 2007)
- Attorney General Announces New DOJ Initiative: The First Freedom Project
- California School District Modifies Policies to Permit Excused Absences for Religious Holidays
- Ninth Circuit Certifies Boy Scouts Case to California Supreme Court, But Petition for En Banc Rehearing is Pending
Volume 21 (November/December 2006)
- Censoring Religious Song at School Talent Show Unconstitutional, Federal Court Rules
- Settlement Reached in Church Eminent Domain Case
- United States Brief Argues That Village Interfered with Orthodox Jews’ Religious Obligation to Visit the Sick
- United States Files Brief to Protect Florida Zoning Discrimination Settlement
Volume 20 (October 2006)
- United States Files Civil Rights Suit Over Village Barring of Orthodox Jewish Shabbos House
- Michigan Court Finds that School Discriminated Against Student’s Religious Speech
- Appeals Court Rules that Public Library May Exclude Religious Group Seeking Equal Access to Community Room
Volume 19 (August/September 2006)