Serious sex offenders who attend church on a property that also houses an educational institution would be restricted in the amount of time they can spend at that church through a bill that passed an Indiana Senate committee Tuesday.
Indiana Senate Bill 101, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, was signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence on March 26, 2015. An amendment was then signed the following month. Since, RFRA has been cited in a few unexpected ways.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has asked a court to rule in the state’s favor against what he calls “a small group of marijuana enthusiasts operating in Indianapolis under the name ‘First Church of Cannabis.’” An attorney for the church said he was thrilled at Hill’s response to its lawsuit on religious freedom grounds.
Three convicted Boone County sex offenders can return to their church congregations after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that churches are not considered “school property,” so state statute cannot prohibit the offenders from going to church, even when children are present.
Prominent chefs, bakers and restaurant owners want the Supreme Court to rule against a Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding.
Three Boone County men convicted of serious sex offenses are looking to the Indiana Court of Appeals to determine if they can return to their churches as the court considers whether a ruling that the men cannot attend church when children’s programming is in session violates their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The Indiana Supreme Court won't take up a case involving an Indianapolis man who tried to use the state's religious objections law as a defense for not paying his state taxes.
A Hamilton County judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of human rights ordinances in four Indiana cities can continue, despite the cities’ arguments that there was no legal standing to bring the suit in court.
Attorneys for an Indianapolis man have argued before a state appellate court that Indiana's religious freedom law protects him from paying taxes.
After a nearly 4½-hour hearing during which they argued the constitutionality of their local human rights ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, four Indiana cities are waiting to learn if a Hamilton Superior Court judge will dismiss a suit challenging the ordinances.
During a nearly 4 ½-hour hearing in Hamilton Superior Court Wednesday, attorneys for the cities of Carmel, Indianapolis, Bloomington and Columbus argued before Judge Steven Nation that the lawsuit brought against their human rights ordinances should be dismissed because the case is not ripe for judgment and because the plaintiffs have no legal standing to bring the action.
A federal judge has ruled strip searches prior to non-contact visits are a violation of the religious rights of Yahya (John Walker) Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban” who’s housed in the federal prison at Terre Haute. The judge also chided federal authorities who ignored Supreme Court precedent that was on point in the case.
The attorney for a woman charged with child abuse for allegedly beating her son with a coat hanger says Indiana's religious objections law gives her the right to discipline her children according to her evangelical Christian beliefs.
A Muslim inmate is using Indiana's religious freedom statute in part to sue a central Indiana sheriff for denying him a diet that follows Islamic dietary laws.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory met with gay-rights advocates bearing a letter signed by more than 100 corporate executives urging him to repeal the nation’s first state law limiting the bathroom options for transgender people. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections and blocks municipalities from adopting their own anti-discrimination and living wage rules.
Legislation creating the state’s first hate-crime law to help victims targeted because of their race, sexual identity, religion or other specified characteristic is expected to die because it won’t get a committee hearing in the House, leaving lawmakers few options to address civil rights this year.
The “RFRA fix” passed in April to quell discrimination fears about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is now being challenged as unconstitutional by two organizations that were the most vocal proponents of the original legislation.
A split 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld its own precedent, finding a contraception provision does not violate religious freedom. But the ruling drew a sharp, 35-page dissent from one judge.
The all-Republican city council in Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s hometown has voted unanimously to give initial support for adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinances.
A pot-smoking church sued the city of Indianapolis and state of Indiana on Wednesday, claiming laws against possession and use of marijuana infringe on its religious beliefs.