Church Law

The firm is proud to announce the publication of the first ever legal treatise on Maryland Church Law, written by Thomas Schetelich and Jocelyn Szymanowski.  The book, entitled Maryland Law of Religious Corporations, is being released in February 2021. The book traces the history of Maryland Church Law from colonial days, showing how it developed the first and the strongest tradition of religious toleration and religious freedom in the nation.  Its laws developed according to its own path, and created a structure unique to itself.  Yet, to date, there has been no text that treats all aspects of this law…

In the evening hours of November 25, 2020 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that changed and clarified the law concerning the authority of State and local governments to restrict religious gatherings.   Churches, synagogues and mosques in Maryland and throughout the United States saw the imposition of State restrictions on gatherings in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis.  Executive actions by governors nationally restricted the right of religious assemblies to meet. Several lawsuits were filed claiming that such orders were a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion.   A body of constitutional law has…

The closely watched “religious exemption” to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act was validated by the Supreme Court in its last term in its decision of Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter & Paul Home v. Pennsylvania. The case was the latest to arise from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), requiring covered employers to offer “a group health plan or group health insurance coverage” that provides “minimum essential coverage.” This coverage, the ACA states, must include “such additional preventive care and screenings … as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the [Department of…

The Supreme Court’s decision in Espinoza vs. Montana Department of Revenue was a significant win for advocates of school choice and those who believe that faith-based schools should be able to more fully participate in government programs. In its landmark 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court was faced with a school choice program the State of Montana sought to eliminate because it had to include religious schools. The Court ruled that Montana had to maintain the program, and its act to eliminate a generally applicable benefit just to avoid participation by religious schools was a violation of the constitutional guarantee of…

Across the nation, State Governors have issued Executive Orders restricting the operation of businesses and the daily activities of individuals. They are doing so in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has swept America and the world. These Orders often include prohibitions on the gathering of 10 or more people in any enclosed space. Churches have not been exempt from these Executive Orders, and religious activities are usually expressly included. The effect has been to close churches for Sunday worship and other ministries, and to likewise restrict services in synagogues and mosques. Churches have generally complied and cooperated with the…

On June 20, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in American Legion v. American Humanist Assn., concerning a large cross on public lands, erected as a war memorial.  The nine justices produced eight different opinions (a majority decision, a plurality decision, five concurring opinions, and a dissent).  In so doing, the Court substantially changed the constitutional tests for defining the “establishment of religion” and continued the Roberts’ Court advancement of religious freedom. The First Amendment of the Constitution forbids the Federal Government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”  Everyone understands that the government cannot formally…