When Hal Shurtleff requested permission to fly his organization’s Christian flag above Boston City Hall in 2017, he had no reason to think the city would deny his request. He was wrong.

Shurtleff’s case highlights the distinction between government speech and private speech in government-regulated forums. Similar questions have surfaced recently concerning Black Lives Matter murals on the streets of U.S. cities.

For California residents Chris and Michelle Ambuul, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive shuttering most private and public schools in the state because of the coronavirus pandemic has serious consequences. None of their six children can attend St. Joseph Academy in San Marcos to receive an education rooted in their Catholic faith.

Democrats wrapped up their first virtual convention on Thursday night, after four days of mostly remote programming in the COVID-19 era. Republicans will follow a similar pattern next week.

Former Vice President Joe Biden accepted his party’s presidential nomination, promising to “overcome this season of darkness” in the country. Other speakers included Sen. Chris Coons, the Democrat who fills the Senate seat Biden once held in Delaware. Coons spoke of Biden’s faith, saying it “isn’t a prop or a political tool.” He said Biden, a Catholic, is “a man of prayer.”

A California judge turned down Los Angeles County’s request to hold Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church in contempt on Thursday.

After several days of legal seesawing, state and local officials and John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church are back where they started, with California and Los Angeles County saying no to indoor services and the congregation gathering for worship anyway.

A business owner in Kentucky received court protection from a law that would force her to take photos at same-sex weddings while she waits for a final decision in her case.

Chelsey Nelson challenged a Louisville, Ky., law that would have forced her to compromise her religious beliefs and photograph a same-sex wedding. Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the Christian photographer, announced on Friday that a federal court temporarily blocked the city from enforcing its law against Nelson. “The city has no right to eliminate the editorial control she has over her own photographs and blogs,” ADF senior counsel Jonathan Scruggs said.