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To subscribe to Religious Freedom in Focus, please send an e-mail with your name and organization (if applicable) to firstfreedom@usdoj.gov

Volume 37 (January/February 2009)

• Civil Rights Division Settles Religious Discrimination Suit Against Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• DOJ Settles Suit Alleging Zoning Discrimination By Nashville Against Faith-Based Substance Abuse Program
• Indictments in Massachusetts Election-Night Church Arson
• United States Says Court Erred in Dismissing Mezuzah Fair Housing Suit

Volume 36 (November 2008)

• Guilty Pleas in Tennessee Mosque Arson
• DOJ Suit Alleging Village’s Discrimination Against Jewish Boarding Schools May Move Forward, Court Rules
• DOJ Files Lawsuit Against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for Religious and Disability Discrimination

Volume 35 (September/October 2008)

• Civil Rights Division Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Civil Rights Division Files Brief Supporting Catholic Prisoner’s Right to Vegetarian Diet
• Guilty Pleas Entered for Interference with Massachusetts Muslim Families’ Housing Rights
• North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Sending for Email Threats To Islamic and Latino Organizations
• Keynote Address Explores Relationship of Religious Liberty and Religious Diversity in America

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)

• Guilty Pleas, Sentencing in Synagogue Attack Case
• Ninth Circuit Rules Sikh Congregation’s Rights Violated by Zoning Action; Upholds Constitutionality of RLUIPA
• Consent Decree Reached in Ohio Religious Accommodation Suit
• DOJ Files RLUIPA Brief in Jewish Day School Case

Volume 18 (June/July 2006)

• Consent Decree Reached in Synagogue Discrimination Case
• DOJ Defends Student’s Right to Sing Religious Song
• DOJ Files Brief Clarifying the Equal Terms Provision of RLUIPA
• DOJ Again Supports Bronx Household of Faith’s Appeal to the Second Circuit

Volume 17 (April/May 2006)

• Appeals Court Reinstates Sabbath Accommodation Suit
• Florida Court Permits Synagogue Discrimination Suit to Go Forward
• Seizing Churches’ Land Through Zoning Plan Can Violate RLUIPA, Brief Argues
• Georgia Church Project Approved; Civil Rights Division Closes Investigation into 3-Acre Restriction for Churches
• Religious Bias Crime Update

Volume 16 (February/March 2006)

• Civil Rights Division Argues Boy Scouts Can Participate in City Lease Program; Acknowledgment of God Does Not Make Scouts a Religious Organization
• Guilty Plea, Sentencings in Bias Crime Cases
• City Reverses Course and Allows Church to Build After DOJ Opens Investigation
• Hearing Held in RLUIPA Case Alleging Discrimination Against Hasidic Jews

Volume 15 (December 2005/January 2006)

• Indiana School District Agrees to Give Students Excused Absences for Religious Holidays
• Guilty Plea in Temple Attack
• Consent Decree Reached in Housing Harassment Case
• Division Supports Equal Access to Library Community Room
• Brief Contends that Higher Education Scholarship Program Unconstitutionally Discriminates Against Religion

Volume 14 (October/November 2005)

• Salvation Army’s Government Contracts Do Not Waive its Religious Freedom Protection, Court Rules
• DOJ Obtains Consent Decree in Bus Driver Religious Accommodation Case
• Federal Court Permanently Bars New York City School Board’s Discrimination Against Religious Speech
• Guilty Pleas in Detroit Mosque Threat Cases
• United States Argues that Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill Does Not Violate Constitution
• United States Urges Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to Uphold Constitutionality of RLUIPA

Volume 13 (August/September 2005)

• Suit Alleges Religious Discrimination in Ohio Union Fee Rules
• Division Defends Student’s Right to Observe Religious Holidays
• Guilty Plea in Washington Cross Burning

Volume 12 (June/July 2005)

• Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of RLUIPA
• Sentencing in Firebomb Attack on Mosque
• DOJ Suit Alleges Township Discriminated Against Jewish School
• Town Changes Ordinance that Discriminated Against Churches in Response to DOJ Investigation
• Brief Filed in Sabbath Accommodation Case
• New Religious Freedom Publications Available from the Department of Justice

Volume 11 (April/May 2005)

• DOJ Asks Court to Permanently Bar New York Public Schools From Religious Discrimination
• Sentencing in Cemetery Desecration Case
• Civil Rights Division Suit Claims Florida City Discriminated Against Synagogue

Volume 10 (March 2005)

• Community College Reverses Ban on The Passion of the Christ After DOJ Intervention
• Civil Rights Division Settles Muslim Student Harassment Case
• Civil Rights Division Defends Michigan Student’s Religious Expression in “Candy-Cane” Case
• Maui to Permit Church Construction; Suit Dismissed at U.S. Request

Volume 9 (January/February 2005)

• Civil Rights Division Supports Boy Scouts' Right to Use Parkland
• Seventh Circuit RLUIPA Victory
• Brief Filed in Florida School Choice Case
• Civil Rights Division Closes Investigation After City Grants Synagogue Permit
• Religious Bias Crimes Update

Volume 8 (November/December 2004)

• Texas City Agrees to Equal Access for Religious Groups
• California Court Holds Religious-Speech Fee Unconstitutional
• Morton Grove, IL, Grants Special Use Permit for School After DOJ Mediation
• Supplemental Brief Filed In Salvation Army Case
• Focus on Religious Bias Crimes

Volume 7 (October 2004)

• Federal Appeals Court Upholds Equal Access for New Jersey Good News Club
• Civil Rights Division Defends California Good News Club's Right to Equal Access
• Civil Rights Division Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against New York MTA
• Follow-Up: Guilty Plea in Mosque E-mail Threat Case

Volume 6 (August/September 2004)

• Civil Rights Division Defends Constitutionality of Salvation Army Programs
• Texas City Council Changes Course and Permits Church Construction After DOJ Investigation
• Civil Rights Division Files Brief in RLUIPA Appeal
• Civil Rights Division Files Title VII Suit Against Los Angeles Transportation Authority for Failure to Accommodate Sabbath

Volume 5 (June/July 2004)

• Court Upholds Right of Good News Clubs to Distribute Flyers and Permission Slips
• Guilty Pleas in Church Desecration Case
• Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Invalidation of Pledge, Sidesteps Constitutionality Question
• Brief Filed in Support of Congregation in Land-Use Dispute
• Morton Grove, IL, Settles Lawsuit with School After DOJ Mediation

Volume 4 (May 2004)

• Court Enters Consent Decree Guaranteeing Muslim Girl's Right to Wear Headscarf to School
• Appeals Court Rules Florida City Discriminated Against Orthodox Jewish Congregations
• USA PATRIOT Act Leads to Arrest in Bias Crime Against El Paso Mosque
• Conviction of Tallahassee Mosque Attacker Upheld

Volume 3 (April 2004)

• Civil Rights Division Intervenes in Suit to Protect Muslim Student's Right to Wear Headscarf to Public School
• Constitutionality of Church-Arson Prevention Act Upheld
• Civil Rights Division Anticipates Decisions in Two Good News Club Cases

Volume 2 (March 2004)

• Civil Rights Division Submits Brief Defending the Boy Scouts' Right to Use City Land in San Diego; Court Refuses to Accept it
• Civil Rights Division Brief Defends Constitutionality of Title VII
• Civil Rights Division Closes Pennsylvania Religious Zoning Discrimination Investigation
• Church Arson Act's Constitutionality Defended
• Supreme Court Reverses Ninth Circuit in Locke v. Davey

Volume 1 (February 2004)

• Title VII's Religious Accommodation Provisions Vindicated
• Seniors May Pray Again at Texas Senior Center
• Division Argues that Town Violated Rights of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
• Focus on RLUIPA

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