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In Wirtz v. City of South Bend, (7th Cir., Feb. 7, 2012), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed as untimely and moot an appeal by the city of South Bend, Indiana of two orders by the trial court in litigation over the city’s transfer of property to a Catholic high school for an athletic [...]

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals today, in a 2-1 decision struck down California’s Proposition 8 that eliminated the right– previously created by the California Supreme Court’s interpretation of the state constitution– for same-sex couples to marry. In Perry v. Brown, (9th Cir., Feb. 7, 2012), [opinion on alternate website in case of traffic overload] [...]

In Phelps-Roper v. Troutman, (8th Cir., Oct. 20, 2011), a 3-judge panel of the 8th Circuit held that the district court should have granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the Nebraska Funeral Picketing Law against members of the Westboro Baptist Church– a group that pickets military funerals, among other places, protesting tolerance of homosexuality in [...]

Yesterday, in a complicated series of eight opinions from 16 judges spanning 100 pages, a majority of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, held that Plano, Texas school principals had qualified immunity in a lawsuit charging them with restricting elementary school students’ distribution of religious literature because the law was not [...]

In United States v. Rubashkin, (8th Cir., Sept. 16, 2011), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a motion for a new trial and a challenge to the length of the sentence imposed on Sholom Rubashkin, the Orthodox Jewish former vice president of the kosher meat processing firm, Agriprocesors, in Postville, Iowa. Rubashkin was convicted [...]

In Joyner v. Forsyth County, North Carolina, (4th Cir., July 29, 2011), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision held that  the prayer policy of a county commission violated the Establishment Clause even though the policy was neutral on its face. All congregations in the community were invited to send a religious [...]

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals now has posted online a recording of the oral arguments in Joyner v. Forsyth County, North Carolina. In the case, a federal district court ruled that the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ invocation policy, as implemented, violates the Establishment Clause because they advance one particular faith and have [...]

In an en banc opinion in Alcazar v. Rosas, (9th Cir., Dec. 10, 2010), the full 9th Circuit vacated the portion of the 3-judge panel’s decision that adopted a new definition for who is a minister for purposes of the “ministerial exception” doctrine. (See prior posting.) At issue is a challenge by a Catholic seminarian who alleged [...]

In a wrongful arrest claim brought on behalf of a 58 year old Albuquerque woman, the Kennedy Law Firm prevailed on an appeal of a jury verdict in favor of the defendant police officer.  The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the jury verdict with instruction to the district court to enter judgment in favor [...]

          Law enforcement likes consent to search a home.  With consent to search a home, law enforcement does not need to apply for a search warrant.  The law prefers search warrants, but allows consent when "freely given".           In USA v. Fox, 2010 U.S. App. Lexis 5804, the Tenth [...]