(RNS) Muslim civil rights activists are headed to court with a suit to end a New York City Police Department program that they say violates their constitutional rights by spying on Muslims based only on their religion. By Omar Sacirbey.

 WASHINGTON (RNS) Attorneys for a Christian wedding photographer say they will appeal a New Mexico court decision that ruled she violated anti-discrimination laws by refusing to photograph a lesbian commitment ceremony. By Chris Lisee.

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) A group of Catholic monks who sued for the right to sell handmade caskets will head back to court this week, this time fending off an appeal from the state funeral industry after a federal judge ruled last year that the monks should be able to sell the caskets. By Ramon Antonio Vargas.

(RNS) A federal appeals court in Boston has ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, setting up a potential showdown over same-sex marriage in the Supreme Court and providing another culture war issue for the already contentious presidential campaign. By David Gibson.

(RNS) Sikh and Muslim transit workers settled a federal lawsuit over a post 9-11 policy that made them work out of public view unless they wore a Metropolitan Transit Authority logo on their religious headdress. By Lauren Markoe.

(RNS) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a bill preventing judges from considering foreign law in their deliberations, a move that Muslim groups say is a direct and unnecessary assault on Shariah, or Islamic law. By Lauren Markoe.

NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Islamic leaders say they are shocked that a review by New Jersey's state Attorney General into the New York Police Department’s secret surveillance operation targeting Muslim businesses and mosques in New Jersey found the NYPD did nothing wrong. By Ted Sherman.

(RNS) Dozens of Catholic universities, dioceses and other institutions filed lawsuits on Monday (May 21) to overturn the Obama administration’s contraception mandate plan, a clear and coordinated effort to oppose the new federal mandate. By David Gibson.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (RNS) After more than an hour of dramatic testimony, a judge on Friday ordered that a troubled church janitor spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole in the priest's murder. By Alexi Friedman.

(RNS) A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a man who alleges he endured anti-Semitic slurs can sue his former supervisors — even though he is not Jewish. Stacy Jones and Ben Horowitz.

(RNS) Is it okay to ask God to do harm to another person? The theology of such “imprecatory prayer” may be a matter of debate, but a Dallas judge has ruled it is legal, at least as long as no one is actually threatened or harmed. By David Gibson.

WASHINGTON (RNS) Behind high walls and barbed wire, the inmates of Muslim and pagan faiths are most likely to have extreme religious views and be the least assisted by religious volunteers, according to a snapshot of how chaplains view religious life behind bars released Thursday (March 22). By Adelle M. Banks.

(RNS) One year ago, more than 20 state legislatures had either passed or were considering bills that prohibited judges from considering Islamic law, known as Shariah, in their decisions. But the anti-Shariah juggernaut has stumbled in recent weeks. By Omar Sacirbey.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) Wading into tricky church-state territory, a judge has upheld an independent-minded Catholic church's ownership of its property and its right to craft bylaws that limit the authority of the Roman Catholic Church over its governance. By Tim Townsend.

MOBILE, Ala. (RNS) With 98 percent of state precincts counted, Roy Moore held on to 51 percent of the vote in his bid to retake his former job as chief justice of the state's supreme court, nearly a decade after he lost the job for refusing to remove a massive Ten Commandments monument. By Debbie M. Lord and Brenda Kirby.