Each year in December, I attempt to highlight the most important Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments of the past year. Usually I identify the top ten stories. This year however was so full of important developments that I have had to increase my nominations to the Top Dozen. As always, I invite reader feedback on my selections and omissions. Here they are:
1. The Supreme Court's
Hobby Lobby decision allowed closely-held corporations to assert religious exercise rights of their owners.
2. In the wake of the Supreme Court's
Windsor decision, lower courts strike down same-sex marriage barriers in an
increasing number of states. The
6th Circuit is the main dissenter.
3. Religiously-affiliated schools, hospitals and charities
continue to object that administrative accommodations to the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate are insufficient to protect their religious liberty rights. Dozens of cases are in litigation over the issue.
4. In
Town of Greece case, Supreme Court upholds non-coercive sectarian invocations at city council meetings.
5. The increasing strength of ISIS in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere
threatens religious minorities in the Middle East and
revives dream of a Caliphate.
6. State RFRA proposals become
more controversial as they clash with LGBT rights.
7. Challenges to Internal Revenue Code
parsonage allowance and
church filing exemptions survive constitutional attack for plaintiffs' lack of standing.
8. Satanic Temple becomes player in battle to diversify
religious displays on public property, participate in
literature distribution in schools and assert
other religious rights.
9. Courts continue to uphold
New Jersey and
California bans on sexual orientation change therapy for minors.
10. 6th Circuit
requires strict causation to prove religiously motivated hate crimes against Amish.
11.
Series of cases challenging definition of "church plan" under ERISA threatens
legality of several Catholic hospital pension plans.
12. NLRB decision
announces new test for asserting jurisdiction over unionization efforts at religiously-affiliated colleges and universities.
Earlier this month Religion Newswriters Association
released their list of the Top 10 Religion Stories in 2014. (They too selected 12 stories, finding ties in two instances.) UPDATE: Also see the year's top picks from Don Byrd at
Blog From the Capital.