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...

Parents Seek Emergency Order from SCOTUS Reinstating Trial Court's Voiding of School Policy on Disclosure of Students' Gender Transition

As previously reported, last December in Mirabelli v. Bonta, a California federal district court held unconstitutional the policy of California school boards that bars public school teachers and staff from informing parents about changes in a child’s gender expression unless the child consents. On January 5, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay pending appeal of the district court's injunction. Now plaintiffs in the case have filed an Emergency Application with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to vacate the 9th Circuit's stay. (Mirabelli v. Bonta, (Sup.Ct., filed 1/8/2026). (Full text of 9th Circuit's stay order and Application to Supreme Court).

Education Week reports on these developments.

DHS Eases Requirements for Renewal of Foreign Religious Workers' Visas

The Department of Homeland Security yesterday issued a Release titled Improving Continuity for Religious Organizations and their Employees (full text). The Release announces the adoption of an Interim Final Rule in order to ease the shortage of foreign religious workers in the United States. The Rule, which will become effective upon publication in the Federal Register on January 16, eliminates the requirement that a holder of a 5-year R-1 Religious Worker visa remain outside the country for a full one year after the visa expires before applying for a new R-1 visa. Under the new rule, there is no minimum period of time that the religious worker must remain outside of the United States after his or her visa expires before seeking readmission as an R-1 non-immigrant.

According to a Release by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

This modification gives relief to religious workers and the communities they serve while the religious workers await legal permanent residency (commonly referred to as a “green card”). The wait time for a green card for religious workers has grown to several decades long.

The USCCB Release also urged Congress to pass the Religious Workforce Protection Act. 

EWTN News reports on the new rule.

Trump Appoints State Department Global Religious Freedom Advisor

 As previously reported, last April, President Trump nominated Mark Walker, a former Baptist minister and former congressman, to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. However, the Senate failed to hold a hearing on his nomination. Apparently, his confirmation was blocked by North Carolina Senator Tedd Budd who defeated Walker in the 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. So now, according to a January 8 statement (full text) by Walker, he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the ambassadorship and instead has accepted an appointment by President Trump as Principal Advisor on Global Religious Freedom to the State Department.  This appointment does not require Senate confirmation. In his statement, Walker said in part:

I look forward to working closely with Secretary Rubio, President Trump and the entire Administration to advance America's leadership in confronting religious persecution, exposing human rights violations, and advocating for people of faith around the globe.

Religious freedom remains under assault in far too many corners of the world, and I am committed to supporting the Trump Administration's bold efforts to defend this fundamental right. I thank President Trump, Secretary Rubio and the entire team for their trust and confidence.

JNS reports on these developments.

European Court Protects Journalist Who Wrote Article on Schools That Promote Islamist Teachings

In Tafzi El Hadri and El Idrissi Mouch v. Spain, (ECHR, Jan 8, 2026), the European Court of Human Rights rejected claims by two educators employed by the C.V.  residential center for minors in Barcelona that Spanish courts had failed to protect their right to their reputation protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights when the courts ruled in favor of a journalist who published an article that criticized them. The article in question said in part:

"Many educators, who have been employed solely because they are able to speak a Moroccan dialect, preach non-integration to teenagers.

Some centres for minors that take in many Muslim boys have become hotbeds for training Islamists.... However, [these authorities] are powerless to tackle a problem that feeds into a failure of social integration....

The situation at the [C.V.] centre for minors in Barcelona is also of great concern, as recognised by the centre's management..... Of the 26 Maghrebi minors currently housed in this centre, 24 are from Tangier and many of them have known each other since their childhood because they lived in the same neighbourhood. They communicate with their educators in the Dariya dialect. One of [the educators is] Omar El Idrisi who, according to sources at the centre ..., indoctrinates the pupils in Islamist fundamentalism.... He takes his pupils to pray at the Tariq Ibu Ziyad Mosque, [which is] named after the Berber general who led the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. Another educator at the centre is Khaliltafzi [sic.] El Hadri, a member of Justice and Charity ..., one of the most radical strands of Islam.... When [the minors turn] 18, they are recruited to work in establishments run by Islamists, where they continue their [radicalisation].

The Court said in part: 

97.  ... Although some of the statements in the ABC article could be seen as controversial and the journalist's choice of terms ... was strong, the Court observes that the publication concerned a specific and clearly defined issue: the methods allegedly used in some centres for minors in order to accommodate unaccompanied minor immigrants, particularly staff selection policies and, in the absence of sufficient administrative oversight, the employment of staff who allegedly preached radical Islamism. The article highlighted the vulnerability of the foreign minors concerned, which made them especially susceptible to manipulation and indoctrination. It further exposed the potential risks to the integration of those minors that might lead to their subsequently being recruited into radical Islamism. The Court therefore agrees with the domestic courts that the journalist and the newspaper could clearly rely on their right to freedom of expression....

109.  In sum, the Court sees no reason to depart from the domestic courts' findings that the journalist displayed the required diligence in checking the information concerning the applicants before publishing it.... The Court reiterates that if the national courts apply an overly rigorous approach to the assessment of journalists' professional conduct, journalists could be unduly deterred from discharging their function of keeping the public informed....

114.  In the light of the above, the Court finds that the domestic courts acted within their margin of appreciation when seeking to establish a balance between the applicants' rights under Article 8 and the newspaper's opposing right to freedom of expression under Article 10. The Court considers that the national courts conducted the required balancing exercise between the competing rights at stake.... By dismissing the applicants' claim, the domestic courts did not fail to comply with the positive obligation incumbent on the domestic authorities to protect the applicants' rights under Article 8 of the Convention.

Law & Religion UK reports on the decision.

Australian Prime Minister Creates Commission on Antisemitism

Last week (Jan. 8), Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that in response to the December terrorist attack in Bondi, he is establishing a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. He said in part:

The Royal Commission will cover four key areas, as set out in the Letters Patent.

Tackling antisemitism by investigating the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in institutions and society, and its key drivers in Australia, including ideologically and religiously motivated extremism and radicalisation.

Making recommendations that will assist law enforcement, border control, immigration and security agencies to tackle antisemitism...

Examining the circumstances surrounding the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack....

Making any other recommendations ... for strengthening social cohesion in Australia and countering the spread of ideologically and religiously motivated extremism in Australia....

When Parliament returns the Government will also introduce new laws to criminalise hate speech and hate preachers, as well as deliver tougher gun laws....

The president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement.

Supreme Court Will Hear Oral Arguments Tomorrow In Transgender Athlete Cases

Tomorrow (Tuesday), the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases involving alleged illegal discrimination against transgender women athletes. At issue in Little v. Hecox is whether Idaho's Fairness in Women's Sports Act violates the Equal Protection Clause. The Act prohibits transgender women and girls from participating on women's sports teams in public elementary schools, high schools and public colleges. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction that barred enforcement of Idaho's ban. The SCOTUSblog case page has links to all the pleadings and briefs, as well as to commentary on the case.

In West Virginia v. B.P.J., the question is whether West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held that it does.  The law bans transgender girls and women from participating on girls'/ women's sports teams in public high schools or state colleges where team members are chosen on the basis of competitive skills or in contact sports. The SCOTUSblog case page has links to all the pleadings and briefs, as well as to commentary on the case.

Audio of the oral arguments in the cases will be streamed live by the Court beginning at 10:00 AM at this link. Transcript and recording of the oral arguments will become available later in the day at this link.

1st Circuit Upholds Denial of Religious Exemptions from Covid Vaccine

In Brox v. Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, (1st Cir., Jan. 9, 2026), the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rejected First Amendment free exercise claims by 12 employees of a Massachusetts state government board. Th employees sought religious exemptions from the Authority's vaccination policy. The court agreed with the trial court that the vaccination policy was neutral and generally applicable, so that it is subject only to rational basis review.  Appellants had argued that the policy was not generally applicable because it prohibits religious conduct while permitting comparable secular conduct. The court said in part:

The question is not whether the risks associated with one individual who for religious reasons is unvaccinated are comparable to those associated with an individual who remains unvaccinated due to health concerns.... Rather, the Supreme Court instructs that we consider and compare the risks presented by groups of different sizes in different settings..

... [T]he district court did not err in finding that the two exemptions were not comparable for Free Exercise purposes. 

First, unlike the religious exemption, the medical exemption furthers the Authority's asserted interest in protecting the health and safety of its employees and customers. ...

Second, not only does the medical exemption further the Authority's asserted interests while the religious exemption does not, but also the risks associated with each exemption are not comparable to one another.  We have previously observed that "medical exemptions are likely to be rarer, more time limited, or more geographically diffuse than religious exemptions, such that the two exemptions would not have comparable public health effects."...

Having not persuaded us that the Policy fails rational basis review, the appellants have not established that they are likely to succeed on the merits, and we need not address the remaining preliminary injunction factors....

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• David Eliot Bernstein, Title VI Hostile Environment Law in the Shadow of Antisemitic Violence, (Journal of Free Speech Law, Forthcoming).
• Geoffrey Swenson, Symbolic Rule of Law Promotion, (December 12, 2025). Law & Social Inquiry, First View pp. 1-32 (2025).
• Zachary D. Fasman & Samuel Estreicher, Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism and Title VI: College and University Responsibility for Campus Harassment of Jewish Students, (January 09, 2026).
• Peter K. Yu, Monastic Scribes, Disruptive Technology, Proto-Copyright Regimes, and Their Twenty-First Century Lessons, (Intellectual Property and Religion: Cross-Cultural Intersections of Faith and the Law, Enrico Bonadio, Bryan Khan, and Nicola Lucchi, eds., Hart Publishing, 2026, Forthcoming).
• Ofer Raban, The First Amendment and the Suspension of an Extremist Anti-Zionist Law Professor, (January 05, 2026).

From SSRN (Islamic Law):

• Seyyed Abdol Hojjat Moghadas Nian, Ebrahim Qasemi, Seyyed Mohammad Ali Moghadas Nian, & SeyedMehdi AlizadehMousavi, Pioneering Jurisprudential Convergence: A KPI-Based Framework for Shia-Hanafi Rapprochement in Islamic Law, (April 19, 2025).
• Olivia Abu Danyal, Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Waqf Administration: Policy Options for Nigeria, (November 30, 2025).
• Marroun Bader & Amuda Ghazali, Legal and Regulatory Challenges in Waqf Administration in Nigeria, (November 28, 2025).
• Marroun Bader & Aliyu Islam, The Role of Waqf Institutions in Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria, (November 28, 2025).
• Shahid Mahmood, The Islamic Governance and Secular State (Philosophical Tensions and Practical Possibilities), (November 15, 2025).

From SmartCILP:

• Sarah Ghabrial, Emergency by Design: The "Native Repressive Tribunals" and the Normalization of Exception in Colonial Algeria, 1858–1904. 42 Law & History Review 665-690 (2024).
• Yar Furstenberg, Rabbinic Evidence for the Spread of Roman Legal Education in the Provinces, 42 Law & History Review 713-734 (2024).
• Chagai Schlesinger, Weber in Jerusalem: The Rabbinical Debate over the Establishment of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals, 1918–1921,42 Law & History Review 869-892 (2024).