Court weighs practice of Christian prayers at meetings
Legal Exams
A federal appeals court is grappling with the constitutionality of prayers at local council meetings for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar case in 2014.
Oral arguments were held Wednesday before a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in the challenge of a North Carolina county commission's practice of starting meetings with prayers that almost always referred to Christianity.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Rowan County Commission in 2013 on behalf of people who said the prayers were coercive and discriminatory.
The Supreme Court recently upheld Christian prayers at local town council meetings in New York, but the ACLU says the latest case is different.
Related listings
-
Woman charged in slayings of Connecticut couple due in court
Legal Exams 11/02/2015A Connecticut woman accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to kill his parents when they were considering cutting him out of their will is scheduled to make her first court appearance. Jennifer Valiante of Westport is expected to be arraigned Monda...
-
High court won't hear appeal on mortgage ratings
Legal Exams 11/02/2015The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from shareholders who claim the Standard & Poor's ratings firm made false statements about its ratings of risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the financial crisis. The justices on Monday let stand...
-
Ferguson panel recommends police, court reform, transparency
Legal Exams 09/14/2015A reform panel formed after the Ferguson police shooting of Michael Brown is recommending the consolidation of the metro area's police departments and municipal courts, a newspaper reported Monday. Gov. Jay Nixon and others have scheduled an afternoo...
Processing Change for Certain Form I-730 Petitions
USCIS changed the processing location for certain Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, filings. Previously the Service Center Operations Directorate processed these filings. Now, the International Adjudications Support Branch (IASB) in the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate will process the petitions filed by individuals who were admitted to the United States as refugees. Petitioners and/or accredited representatives who file refugee-based Form I-730 petitions will receive further instructions when IASB receives their filings. Form I-730 petitions filed by persons granted asylum will not be affected by this change. The mailing instructions for Form I-730 remain the same. Petitioners should continue to follow the Where to File directions on the Form I-730 page. This policy update is consistent with the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Standard Occupational Classification system. DOL defines economists as people who conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. Economists may collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.