Home : Religion and Belief : Free Exercise of Religion

ACLU Represents Muslim Woman Forced to Remove Hijab
On December 5, 2007, the ACLU of Southern California, ACLU Women's Rights Project, and ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jameelah Medina, a practicing Muslim woman who was forced by local deputies to remove her headscarf (hijab) while she was in custody in San Bernardino County's West Valley Detention Center. Learn More >>

ACLU Secures Religious Freedom For American Indians At Wyoming Prison (07/30/2008)
RAWLINS, WY – Corrections officials at the Wyoming State Penitentiary (WSP) have agreed to allow American Indian prisoners access to eagle feathers for use in their traditional Indian religious practices.

Fourth Circuit Upholds Fredericksburg Prayer Policy (07/23/2008)
Richmond, VA -- A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld Fredericksburg City Council's policy requiring that formal prayers used to open its meetings be nonsectarian. The opinion was written by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who was a guest-member of the panel when it heard oral arguments in March.

ACLU To Fight For Religious Freedom Of American Indian Incarcerated In Wyoming (07/09/2008)
RAWLINS, WY – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Wyoming have agreed to represent a man whose rights to religious freedom are being violated by officials at the Wyoming State Penitentiary (WSP) who are not allowing him to practice his traditional Indian religion.

Ft. Irwin Man Sues for Conscientious Objector Status (10/19/2007)
LOS ANGELES - Attorney Deborah H. Karpatkin and the ACLU of Southern California today filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a 26-year-old Army specialist being kept in the Army against his Buddhist-Taoist beliefs. The suit seeks to have the man, who enlisted only after being promised that military duties would not conflict with his religious beliefs, discharged as a conscientious objector.

ACLU Announces Settlement in Case of Christian Barred from Preaching in Rhode Island Prison (07/30/2007)
PROVIDENCE, RI - The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today announced the favorable settlement of its lawsuit on behalf of a Christian prisoner who has been barred since 2003 from preaching during Christian religious services at the state prison.

Yellow Bear v. Lampert - Consent Decree (07/30/2008)

Egbert v. Nicholson Petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (09/29/2006)
Egbert v. Nicholson Petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

Complaint in ACLU v. North Carolina (07/27/2005)

ACLU Memo in Support of Second Baptist (10/28/2002)

Complaint in Second Baptist v. Mifflin (10/28/2002)

Coalition Sign-On Letter Opposing the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (05/15/2008)

The CARD Coalition Urges the HELP Committee Not to Advance SAMHSA Until Religious Liberty and Civil Rights Concerns Are Addressed (01/29/2008)

Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty Letter Urging Opposition to the "Public Expression of Religion Act" (09/05/2006)

Jewish Council for Public Affairs Letter urging Opposition to the "Public Expression of Religion Act" (09/05/2006)

ACLU Letter to the Senate Urging Opposition of (S. 3696) the Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006 (08/02/2006)

Medina v. County of San Bernardino (12/06/2007)