HHS Says Illinois Right to Conscience Act Violates Federal Law

On January 21, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights sent a Notice of Violation (full text) to the state of Illinois. The Notice informs the state that HHS has found that the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act violates federal bans on discrimination against pro-life health care entities that do not refer patients elsewhere for abortions. The Illinois law generally provides a shield from liability to health care personnel that refuse on conscience grounds to perform abortions, but only if the objecting provider either refers or transfers the patient elsewhere or at least furnishes the patient written information about other health care providers who likely offer abortion services. In its Notice of Violation, HHS takes the position that discriminating against entities that do not "refer" out for abortions includes denying legal defenses to entities that do not either transfer patients to another provider or give patents written information about alternative providers. ADF issued a press release discussing HHS's action.

Anti-Abortion Sidewalk Counselor Loses Challenge to City's Sign Ordinance

In Hamann v. City of Carbondale, Illinois, (SD IL, Jan. 21, 2026), an Illinois federal district court refused to preliminarily enjoin the city of Carbondale's sign ordinance. The Ordinance prohibits plaintiff, a Christian minister, from temporarily placing his anti-abortion signs in the ground on public property near an abortion clinic while he is attempting to persuade women not to have an abortion. Under the Ordinance, he can carry or wear the signs but cannot place them into the ground. The court rejected plaintiff's claims that the Ordinance is unconstitutionally vague and violates his free speech rights. It concluded that the Ordinance is a permissible time, place and manner regulation of speech in a public forum. The court went on in part:

Hamman’s final argument advances a theory of viewpoint discrimination based on the City’s “policy of inaction” towards signs that share messages other than his.... He submitted photos of three temporary signs he found throughout Carbondale which, he believes, were placed in the public right of way and not removed the way his were. From there, he contends that the City engaged in a “targeted campaign of enforcement” against his signs based on their anti-abortion messages....

Hamman acknowledges that he does not know how long these signs had been in the public right of way when he photographed them. This, then, leaves open the possibility that the City had not had time to remove them—something that, Lenzini explained, can happen from time to time. Surely, if these signs had been placed in the public right of way with the City’s permission, or been left there after the City became aware of them, such evidence would support Hamman’s claim of selective enforcement. But the record reveals no such evidence....

Pope Leo Is Invited to Join Trump's Board of Peace

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has been invited by President Donald Trump to join the Board of Peace for Gaza.  According to Vatican News:

Turning to the topic of the Board of Peace for Gaza, the Cardinal reflected on how President Trump is inviting a number of countries to participate.

“I believe I read in the newspaper this morning that Italy, too, is considering whether or not to join,” he continued, “We also received the invitation to the Board of Peace for Gaza; the Pope has received it, and we are considering what to do.”

He argued, “It is an issue that requires some time to be properly assessed and to provide a response.”

Speaking about the Board of Peace for Gaza, the Cardinal said that the Holy See would not take part financially, noting, “We are not even in a position to do so.”

However, he pointed out that the Vatican is in a different situation from other countries, and therefore the analysis will be different. But, the Cardinal said, “I believe the request will not be for economic participation.”

Samoa's Prime Minister Suggests Restricting Religious Liberty for Non-Christians

 Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported this week that in the Southern Pacific island nation of Samoa, with a population of 220,000, religious liberty is being threatened. According to ABC's report:

... [T]he country's prime minister has thrown the future of its religious minorities into doubt after flagging potential restrictions on non-Christian faiths last month.

Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Fosi Schmidt said he wanted to stop Samoa encountering the same religious divisions as "neighbouring countries", and in the Middle East.

"It may not be happening now, but there will come a time when a large number could gather under a non-Christian religion in Samoa. Then we will face what we do not wish to see," he said....

Laaulialemalietoa has asked the nation's peak Christian body, the Samoa Council of Churches, to advise him on the country's religious freedom laws....

"I am prepared to take the necessary actions on what Samoa decides — perhaps through a referendum or national discussion — to consider amending the constitution regarding the freedom of religion," he said.

The prime minister, who has gained a loyal voting base with his devout Christian public persona, is moving quickly to stamp his religious agenda on other parts of Samoan society since his August election victory.

His government has made weekly fasting and prayer mandatory for public servants. ...

And as the prime minister raised the potential restrictions on non-Christian faiths last month, he announced a ban on construction work on Sundays....

5th Circuit En Banc Hears Challenges To 2 States' Laws Requiring Posting of 10 Commandments in Classrooms

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, sitting en banc, heard oral arguments in two cases raising the question of the constitutionality of state laws requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. (Audio of full oral arguments.)   Roake v. Brumley challenges the Louisiana statute.  In that case a 3-judge panel of the 5th Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of a preliminary injunction, after which the 5th Circuit granted en banc review. In Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, a Texas federal district court issued a preliminary injunction barring 11 Texas school districts from complying with Texas SB 10 that requires posting of a particular version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. On appeal, the 5th Circuit consolidated it for argument with the previously granted en banc hearing on the Louisiana law without a prior 3-judge panel hearing the appeal. NOLA reports on the cases.

Certiorari Denied in Chabad's Suit Against the Russian Federation

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied review in Agudas Chasidei Chabad v. Russian Federation, (Sup. Ct., Docket No. 24-909, certiorari denied 1/20/2026) (Order List). The case is part of the long-running attempt by Chasidei Chabad of the United States to force Russia to return two collections of valuable Jewish religious books and manuscripts which it expropriated decades ago. In 2010, Chabad obtained a default judgment against the Russian Federation. (See prior posting.) In 2013, the D.C. federal district court held the Russian Federation in contempt for failing to comply with the order to return the books and imposed $50,000 per day sanctions on the Russian Federation. (See prior posting.) Those sanctions have now accrued to over $175 million. Most recently, Chabad has attempted to collect these amounts by attaching the property of three companies it claims are owned and controlled by the Russian Federation. In a 2024 opinion (full text), the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Russian Federation had sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act so that the default judgment entered in 2010 was invalid. Without a valid judgement, according to the D.C. Circuit "there is no predicate for Chabad to attach the property of companies the Federation allegedly owns and controls." It is this decision that the Supreme Court today refused to review.

This may not end the case, however, because the D.C. Circuit said that it was not reversing the district court's finding of jurisdiction over the Russian State Library and the Russian State Military Archive which currently hold the book collections. The D.C. Circuit also said that Chabad may be able to sue the Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications.

Media Report U.S. Is Considering Offering Asylum to British Jews

Media in Britain, the U.S. and Israel are reporting that the U.S. State Department is considering offering asylum to British Jews because of antisemitism present in Britain. The reports are based on an interview by The Telegraph with Donald Trump's personal lawyer, British-born Robert Garson. As reported by The Guardian in part::

Discussions are reportedly under way within Donald Trump’s administration about the US possibly granting asylum to Jewish people from the UK, according to the Telegraph, citing the US president’s personal lawyer.

Trump lawyer Robert Garson told the newspaper that he has held conversations with the US state department about offering refuge to British Jews who are leaving the UK citing rising antisemitism....

Garson, 49, said he felt the UK was “no longer a safe place for Jews”. He added that recent events – namely an Islamist attack on a synagogue in Manchester and what he described as widespread antisemitism following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 – had led him to believe that British Jews should be given the option of sanctuary in the US....

Garson said he raised the idea of the US acting as a refuge for British Jews with Trump’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, Yehuda Kaploun....

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• L. Joe Dunman, Religion in the Law: An Open Access Casebook (2d Ed.), (January 04, 2026).
• Richard Yuan, Reverse-Hostage Strategies: Self-Subordination and Elite Politics in Premodern States, (December 01, 2025).
• Caleb Bastian, Sociality in Tribes, (December 25, 2025).
• Melissa Murray & Katherine Shaw, Skrmetti, Trump, and the Coming Sex Equality Realignment,  (Supreme Court Review, forthcoming 2026).
• Vaishnavi Shinde, Casteism and Reservation in Modern India: Rethinking Reservation and Equality (2025), (December 13, 2025).
• Paul Benjamin Linton, Transporting Abortifacients Across State Lines: Prospects for Indictment and Extradition, (December 01, 2025).
• The following are Forthcoming in  Eric Heinze, Natalie Alkiviadou, Tom Herrenberg, Sejal Parmar and Ioanna Tourkochoriti (eds), The Oxford Handbook on Hate Speech (Oxford University Press, 2026)): Eric Heinze, The Multifaceted Regulation of Online Hate Speech;  Eric Heinze & Ashutosh A. Bhaagwat, Do Hate Speech Bans Undermine Liberal Values?;   Eric Heinze, Do Hate Speech Bans Undermine Democratic Values?.

From SSRN (Islamic Law):

• Arafat Rahman Akram, Qisas and International Human Rights Law: An Issue of Justice and Human Dignity, (January 04, 2026).
• Abdullah Muzammil, An Islamic Jurisprudential Inquiry into the Conditional Permissibility of Modern Sports Betting, (December 14, 2025).
• Syed Muhammad Bilal Zaidi, When "Principal" Loses Meaning: Ribā, Fiat Money, and the Ethics of Obligation, (December 30, 2025).
• Zulfa Latifah Hanum, Science (Ontology) in Islamic and Western Perspectives, (December 14, 2025).

From SmartCILP:

• J. Steven Svoboda, Protection of Male and Female Sexed Children from Genital Cutting: Making Sense of Recent Legal Developments.31 Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice 307-358 (2025).
• Mairead Enright, "Up with the Brave": Gender, Transgression and Judges' Use of Catholic Convents in England and Ireland, 1930–1959, 43 Law & History Review 149-174 (2025).
• Jennifer M. Kinsley, Speak Now: A New Paradigm for Assessing Wedding Vendors' First Amendment Objections to Same-Sex Weddings, 52 Northern Kentucky Law Review 89-106 (2025).
• Ryan Thoreson, Obergefell and the Domestication (Or Not) of LGBTQ Intimacy. 52 Northern Kentucky Law Review 107-174 (2025).
• William E. Thro, Pierce and the American Proposition, 50 University of. Dayton Law Review 381-396 (2025).
  
• Isaac Amon, "Forced Worship Stinks in God's Nostrils": The Inquisition, Sepharad, and the American Experiment, 40 Touro Law Review 71 (2025).
• Paul Finkelman & Lance J. Sussman, Defeating Antisemitism in the World's First Democratic Republic: The American Revolution and Jewish Legal and Political Equality, 40 Touro Law Review 121 (2025).
• Marc A. Greendorfer, Trading Places: The Intersection of LGBTQ Rights and Zionist Rights under Federal Civil Rights, 40 Touro Law Review 173 (2025).
• Jonathan Hasson, Odod Mudrikm & Abraham Tennenbaum, Command and Consequence: Reassessing King David's Military Decisions in the Uriah Affair—A Legal and Ethical Analysis in the Context of Modern Legal Theory, 40 Touro Law Review 197 (2025).

2025 Religious Freedom Index Released

Last Friday, Becket released the 7th edition of its Religious Freedom Index reflecting a poll of 1002 respondents surveyed between Sept. 29 and Oct. 7, 2025 (press release, summary, full report). The 121-page report is titled 2025 Religious Freedom Index: American Perspectives on the First Amendment.  According to Becket's press release:

This year’s findings reveal three key trends: increased support for Americans’ freedom to bring their faith into the public square, continued backing for parents’ rights to guide their children’s education, and broad approval of Supreme Court decisions that protect religious freedom.

Today Is National Religious Freedom Day

Today is National Religious Freedom Day, the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Generally, the Day is marked by a Proclamation from the President and sometimes from state Governors. So far this morning, the Proclamation by the Governor of Virginia has been posted online. Links to past Presidential Proclamations for the Day are at this link.

UPDATE: President Trump on January 16 issued the Religious Freedom Day 2026 Proclamation (full text). The Proclamation reads in part:

For 250 years, our Nation and our people have abided by a simple truth:  Every person is born with the God-given right to practice their faith, follow their conscience, and worship their God freely and without fear.  This Religious Freedom Day, we honor America’s distinct place in the halls of history as the only Republic ever founded upon this sacred principle — and we renew our commitment to upholding our proud legacy as one glorious Nation under God....

7th Circuit: Muslim Inmate Loses RLUIPA Challenge to Ramadan Meal Policy

In Smith v. Pugh, (7th Cir., Jan, 15, 2026), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Muslim inmate's rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act were not violated when prison authorities refused to provide him hot meal bags or a way to warm his meal bags during Ramadan. The court said in part:

According to Smith, the temperature of the meal bags provided to accommodate his Ramadan fasts aggravated his symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. He argued that the prison’s refusal to provide hot meal bags burdened his right to freely exercise his religion by pressuring him to break his fast....

... Smith attests that his IBS symptoms coincided with Ramadan fasting. And he contends that after the prison allowed him to warm his meal bags starting in 2019, his symptoms disappeared, suggesting that the meal bags’ temperature caused his symptoms.

As an initial matter, Smith’s medical records undermine his argument: even after he was permitted to warm his meal bags, Smith continued to report IBS symptoms during and after his fasts. Moreover, Smith, who lacks specialized medical or scientific knowledge, cannot rely solely on his own assertions. While his testimony may suggest a correlation between meal temperature and the onset of his symptoms, lay testimony alone cannot establish causation of a medical condition...