According to WXOW News, the Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota which filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2018 has agreed with its creditors' committee to settle clergy sex-abuse claims from 145 claimants for $21.5 million. The diocese also issued an apology to victims. The settlement must still be approved by the court in the final plan of reorganization.
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Minnesota Town Approves Asatru Zoning Request
The Washington Post reported yesterday on a controversial religious zoning battle in the 273-person town of Murdock, Minnesota:
The Murdock City Council voted 3-1 ... to allow the Asatru Folk Assembly to turn the run-down church it purchased in July into its first “hof,” or gathering place, in the Midwest. The looming presence of the obscure Nordic folk religion, widely classified as a White supremacist hate group by extremism and religious experts, promoted months of pushback from concerned residents.
City leaders, meanwhile, were advised that denying the AFA’s permit could leave Murdock vulnerable to a potentially devastating religious discrimination suit.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Churches Challenge Minnesota COVID-19 Limits On Worship Services
Three churches and their pastors filed suit this week in a Minnesota federal district court challenging the state's COVID-19 limits on worship services. The complaint (full text) in Cornerstone Church of Alexandria v. Walz, (D MN, filed 8/13/2020), alleges in part:
The plaintiffs’ religious liberties under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution have been violated by Governor Walz’s Executive Orders 20-74 and 20-81. Although during a pandemic, the ordinary constitutional test of strict scrutiny may not apply to the Governor’s regulation of church activities (although it is still argued here in Count I), the government’s regulations must still be “capable of a reasoned application” as they would be for a non-public forum....
Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Minnesota Amish Must Install Septic Tanks
the district court appropriately concluded that respondents met their burden of demonstrating that appellants’ mulch-basin system does not provide a less-restrictive means of accomplishing the government’s compelling interests of protecting public health and the environment.Rochester Post Bulletin reports on the decision.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Denial of Name Change Did Not Burden Inmate's Free Exercise
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Settlement Approved In Muslim Woman's Suit Over Booking Procedures
Along with the $120,000 payout, the settlement includes having the jail put specific rules in place on how to accommodate inmates with religious headwear during the booking photo process.
The county, while not required by the settlement to admit wrongdoing, further agreed to destroy all hard copies and delete any electronic versions of Al-Kadi’s booking photo. Also, the Sheriff’s Office must train its corrections officers on policies concerning inmates and the religious accommodations they require. County Board Chairman Jim McDonough called the terms “fair and in the best interests of our citizens.”
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Suit Filed Against Pharmacies That Refused To Fill Emergency Contraceptive Prescription
[Anderson] had her doctor send [her prescription] to the McGregor Thrifty White pharmacy. She acted quickly because any delay in obtaining emergency contraception increases the risk of pregnancy. The pharmacist on duty told her that he would be unable to fill her prescription because of his “beliefs.” He also warned her against trying Shopko, another pharmacy in the surrounding area. The pharmacist did not provide Anderson with any information about how she could get her prescription filled.
Anderson next tried a CVS pharmacy in Aitkin, Minnesota, a town roughly 20 miles away. The CVS pharmacist also indicated that she could not fill the prescription. The pharmacist then claimed that she called a pharmacist at the Walgreens in Brainerd Minnesota, who told her that they could not fill the prescription either. Anderson later confirmed with that Walgreens pharmacist that they did speak with a pharmacist from CVS, but that they had told the CVS pharmacist that Walgreens could fill the prescription.
Though Anderson finally found a pharmacy that was willing to fill her prescription, it was over fifty miles from her home. Meanwhile, a massive snowstorm was headed to central Minnesota. Given the increased risk of pregnancy from any delay in taking emergency contraception, Anderson drove over 100 miles round trip in the snowstorm in order to fill her prescription....NBC News reports on the lawsuit. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Prevents Decision On Church Demolition
On the record before us, the decision to remove features of religious significance and demolish the church building is an internal decision that affects the faith and mission of the church. Appellant’s MERA claim cannot be adjudicated without violating the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
8th Circuit Vindicates Wedding Videograhers' 1st Amendment Claims
Minnesota’s interpretation of the MHRA interferes with the Larsens’ speech in two overlapping ways. First, it compels the Larsens to speak favorably about same-sex marriage if they choose to speak favorably about opposite-sex marriage. Second, it operates as a content-based regulation of their speech....
Laws that compel speech or regulate it based on its content are subject to strict scrutiny....
... [R]egulating speech because it is discriminatory or offensive is not a compelling state interest, however hurtful the speech may be.The majority also concluded that because the state's action burdens religiously motivated speech, the hybrid rights doctrine requires strict scrutiny. The majority remanded the case to the district court for it to decide whether the videographers are entitled to a preliminary injunction.
Judge Kelley dissenting, said in part:
... [T]he court tries to recharacterize Minnesota’s law as a content-based regulation of speech, asserting that it forces the Larsens to speak and to convey a message with which they disagree. Neither is true. The Larsens remain free to communicate any message they desire—about same-sex marriage or any other topic—or no message at all. What they cannot do is operate a public accommodation that serves customers of one sexual orientation but not others. And make no mistake, that is what today’s decision affords them license to do.Reuters reports on the decision.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Cert. Filed: Do Parents Have Due Process Rights In Emancipation of Teen?
Whether parents’ Due Process Clause rights apply to local governments and medical providers ending parental rights, responsibilities or duties over their minor children’s welfare, educational, and medical care decisions without a court order of emancipation.As described by the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in its March 25, 2019 decision below (full text):
In May 2015, E.J.K. moved out of Calgaro’s home in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Calgaro never surrendered her parental rights, but E.J.K. obtained a letter from Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid describing E.J.K.’s father and Calgaro as “hav[ing] given up control and custody of their child.” The letter concluded that E.J.K. was therefore “legally emancipated under Minnesota law.”... Based on E.J.K.’s claims of emancipation, St. Louis County provided E.J.K. with funding for medical services and other living expenses, and E.J.K. obtained gender transition care from Park Nicollet Health Services.Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Christian Group Settles Harassment Suit
A local lawyer complained about postcards and emails the group sent to her because she advertises in City Pages. The correspondence informed advertisers that the metro Minneapolis-St. Paul alternative newspaper also promoted the adult sex trade and invited advertisers to reconsider supporting a media outlet that did so.In R. Leigh Frost Law, Ltd. v. Christian Action League of Minnesota, (MN Dist. Ct., July 11, 2019), the court entered a mediated order dismissing the harassment restraining order, but requiring that for the next two years, Christian Action League may not contact petitioner by any means, including e-mail, social media, post cards, regular mail, phone or in person, nor may it encourage others to contact her or her employer.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Minnesota Diocese Settles With Abuse Victims In Bankruptcy Proceeding
Monday, April 29, 2019
Satanic Temple Sues Over Withdrawal Of Permission To Erect Monument
... [I]n 2017 [the city approved a different organization's monument:] a steel silhouette known as “Joe” that depicted a soldier kneeling before a cross. Soon, someone complained that “Joe” violated constitutional separation of church and state.
City leaders, fearing a lawsuit, ordered its removal. That triggered weeks of vehement protests in the city.... So the council designated an area in the park as a “limited public forum,” open to temporary memorials to fallen veterans.
The Satanic Temple... applied to install its own monument.... The city granted a permit, and the temple designed a 23-inch black cube inscribed with inverted pentagrams and topped with an upturned helmet, which it planned to install in July 2017.
That plan prompted more protests. So exasperated city officials decided to shut down the limited public forum, ordering the removal of “Joe” and withdrawing permission for the temple’s monument.[Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]
Friday, February 08, 2019
Settlement Reached In Church's Suit Over Homeless Shelter Restrictions
Thursday, October 18, 2018
8th Circuit Oral Arguments In Wedding Videographers' Refusal To Serve Same-Sex Couples
Monday, October 08, 2018
Pastor Convicted of Sex Assault During Exorcism
Friday, August 10, 2018
Court Refuses To Dismiss Church's Challenge To Zoning Conditions For Homeless Shelter
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Conditions Imposed On Church's Homeless Shelter Violate RUIPA
With respect to the sign-posting requirement, the governmental interest furthered is the help the City needs to enforce trespassing.... Even assuming that aiding the enforcement of trespassing is a compelling governmental interest, entry onto First Lutheran’s property after hours is not trespassing because First Lutheran consents to people being on church property after hours....
With respect to the twenty-person limit, the City claims that the condition furthers the governmental interest in maintaining the residential character of the neighborhood.... The limit purportedly furthers this interest in two ways: by reducing the number of guests and thereby preventing overcrowding of a residential neighborhood, and by reducing petty offenses allegedly committed by guests. But, in practice, the limit is unlikely to further the City’s interest in either way....
First, it is unclear whether or how the limit will reduce overcrowding. As noted, demand is high for First Lutheran’s and Listening House’s services. As news spreads about the twenty-person limit, it is likely that more prospective guests will line up early in hopes of being admitted, which would cause more overcrowding in the morning hours....
Second, the limit is unlikely to reduce petty offenses.... If Listening House closed its doors tomorrow, its guests who are homeless or poor would still be homeless or poor, and the City would continue to experience the effects of homelessness and poverty.The court also found that the sign posting requirement amounts to unconstitutional content-based compelled speech.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Supreme Court Denies Review In Two Church Property Cases
The court also denied certiorari in Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina v. The Episcopal Church, (Docket No. 17-1136, cert. denied 6/11/2018) (Order List). In the case, the 5-member South Carolina Supreme Court in 5 separate opinions resolved a property dispute that arose after a split in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. (See prior posting.)