A Westchester County, N.Y., town violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act barring religious discrimination in land use, by putting one obstacle after another in the path of a Pentecostal congregation’s plans to build a new church. Southern District Judge Stephen C.

George H. Russell is not just an advocate for trees; they are part of his religion, according to a federal complaint he filed in Houston. Russell was arrested after interfering with tree trimmers’ work following Hurricane Ike in 2008

An Oklahoma woman who alleged that a Catholic bishop subjected her to “severe and pervasive” gender and age discrimination at work is not entitled to protection by federal employment laws, the 10th Circuit has ruled, making it the latest court to weigh in on the issue of the “ministerial exception.” The circuit concluded that the plaintiff’s duties were not just administrative but also spiritual, therefore granting the church immunity from her suit.

Few recent confrontations have stirred as much emotion and debate as the spate of protests conducted at funerals for U.S. soldiers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a hot-button First Amendment dispute involving members of the Topeka, Kan., Westboro Baptist Church who, seeking to spread the word that God is punishing America for its acceptance of homosexuality, have shown up at funerals with signs carrying messages such as “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “God Hates You.”

A man who hired a detective to trail his wife to a motel where she was having an affair with a local priest was not stalking her, a New York judge has ruled. Forced to resign after her husband turned over a recording of her and the priest to the church where she worked, the wife accused her husband of violating an order of protection requiring him to stay away from her home and place of employment