A New Year’s Eve ruling vindicated nine Ohio Christian schools, blocking implementation of a county order that closed all schools for grades 7-11.

Historians looking back at 2020 may key in on a culture upended by pandemic, racial protests, and a particularly fraught election. But a bevy of U.S. Supreme Court decisions strengthening religious liberty—for individuals, churches, and other institutions—could prove the more enduring seismic shift.

The Supreme Court decision that restored freedom of worship to Brooklyn congregations does not apply to California’s COVID-19 restrictions, a federal judge ruled late Monday. U.S. District Judge Jesus G.

The website of the Las Vegas–area church Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley features a new banner: “Church services have resumed.”

A federal appeals court panel last week ruled Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on in-person worship services was unconstitutional, overturning a lower court decision. It’s the latest court ruling to reel in governors’ pandemic restrictions on churches.

A Supreme Court ready for a break punted a religious liberty case on Thursday. The justices denied a Kentucky Christian school’s request to reopen after Gov. Andy Beshear shuttered it.

Federal courts in Colorado and New Jersey must reexamine whether state restrictions on indoor religious services violate the U.S. Constitution. After overturning New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s total ban on indoor services, the Supreme Court on Tuesday in two unsigned orders tossed the lower courts’ decisions upholding Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s health orders and told them to reconsider.

The U.S. Department of Education alongside eight other federal agencies on Monday announced changes to protect the religious liberty of faith-based groups that participate in government-sponsored programs and make sure they don’t face more barriers or burdens than secular groups.