Pastor’s homestead is protected in bankruptcy
An individual who attended a weekend retreat at Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth in Florida consumed ayahuasca, a regulated hallucinogenic, as part of the Church’s sacraments in 2018 and became ill and died a short time later at the hospital. His personal representative sued the Church and its pastor and was awarded a $15 million judgment, of which $9 million is owed by the pastor.
CA Court orders CFPB to request funding
The federal District Court in Northern California (Edward J. Davila) has ordered Russell Vought, the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to request funding for the Bureau from the Federal Reserve Bank, finding that his effort to “shut down” the agency is an arbitrary and capricious violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.
Remote worker can’t sue employer in home court
A fully remote employee of a nonprofit corporation cannot sue his employer for wrongful termination in the court of the employee’s home state, a federal district Court in Illinois had held. The Court found that the employer did not have sufficient contacts with the state to create personal jurisdiction.
Electioneering Case Dismissed For Lack of Jurisdiction
Court says effort to overturn ‘Johnson Amendment’ for churches is barred by Tax Anti-Injunction Act
The case filed by the National Religious Broadcasters and two churches to invalidate the prohibition against charities’ participation in elections has been dismissed by a Federal District Court in Texas. The case has been dismissed even though the plaintiffs and the Internal Revenue Service had agreed to a consent decree under which the IRS would not enforce the statute against the two churches.
The Court said it had no jurisdiction to decide the case under the Tax Anti-Injunction Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act.
PA real estate tax appeals of business only are void
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (an intermediate appellate court) has held that a School District’s program of appealing real estate tax assessments only on commercial properties and not on residential properties violates the state constitutional requirement of uniform taxation on property of the same class of subjects.
DC Court throws out Pentagon press exclusions
The federal District Court for the District of Columbia (Paul L. Friedman) has thrown out a Department of Defense policy denying press credentials, access to press conferences and access to the Pentagon building unless reporters agreed to publish only information that was approved for public release by the Department. The Court granted summary judgment for the New York Times and other press organizations and vacated the Department’s policy.