“Notre Dame to end no-cost contraceptive coverage for employees” The South Bend Tribune reports here.
Category: Indiana
Ind. Ct. App.: Ind. Code doesn’t prohibit sex offenders from attending church
Ind. Ct. App.: Ind. Code doesn’t prohibit sex offenders from attending church. The Indiana Lawyer reports here on Doe v. Boone County Prosecutor, No. 06A01-1612-PL-2741 (Ind. Ct. App. Oct. 24, 2017). The decision interprets a statute that prohibits sex offenders from entering a building that is “school property,” defined as any “nonprofit program or service operated to … benefit children who are at least three years of age and not yet enrolled in kindergarten.” The court decided this did not include churches. The court also mentioned that the state would not prevail under RFRA claims, though it did not analyze those claims.
“Conservative foes of [Ind.] RFRA ‘fix’ ask Supreme Court to overturn LGBT ordinances”
“Conservative foes of [Ind.] RFRA ‘fix’ ask Supreme Court to overturn LGBT ordinances.” The Indianapolis Star has this report about Indiana group’s amicus in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm’n.
Ind. Trial Ct.: Christian camp’s challenge to dairy denied for failing to show burden on religious practice
An Indiana trial court recently denied a church camp’s challenge to a nearby dairy farm’s operations (download order here). In one of the first lawsuits filed under Indiana’s relatively new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Ind. Code §§ 34-13-9-1 to -11), the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a complaint (download here) on behalf of a children’s church camp in eastern Indiana. The complaint alleged that the Rush County Board of Zoning Appeals substantially burdened the House of Prayer Ministries’ exercise of religion by granting a special exception to local zoning ordinances allowing Milco Dairy to construct and operate a concentrated animal feeding operation, known as a CAFO. After the trial court ruled in the dairy’s favor, the Hoosier Environmental Council filed the necessary documents to initiate an appeal. Its first brief will be due in about thirty days. Continue reading “Ind. Trial Ct.: Christian camp’s challenge to dairy denied for failing to show burden on religious practice”
Group challenges schools chartered by religious colleges
A nonprofit organization in Monroe County, Indiana, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana challenging a statute that authorizes religious colleges and universities to sponsor charter K–12 schools. The challenge is based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The suit asserts that permitting a faith-based institution to review a school’s proposed curriculum and decide whether to authorize a charter violates the federal constitutional principle of separation of church and state. Continue reading “Group challenges schools chartered by religious colleges”
Ind. Ct. App: Indiana RFRA doesn’t exempt taxpayers
The Indiana Court of Appeals has held that Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not provide a conscientious exemption to paying taxes. The court reasoned that the state has a compelling interest in a uniform taxation system. The case is Tyms-Bey v. State, No. 49A05-1603-CR-439 (Ind. Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2017). Continue reading “Ind. Ct. App: Indiana RFRA doesn’t exempt taxpayers”