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WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court granted 11 new cases for review Thursday (Oct. 2), agreeing to rule on controversial topics such as religious freedom, child abuse, immigration, housing discrimination, congressional redistricting and campaign fund-raising by judicial candidates.
While they delayed any decision on same-sex marriage, the justices filled out their docket through January and into February with civil rights cases and others likely to command attention.
Here’s a look at what the justices chose from among some 2,000 cases that accumulated through the summer:
- A religious discrimination lawsuit filed by a Muslim girl who claimed she was not hired as a “model” by Abercrombie & Fitch because of her black headscarf. The Ohio-based company won the case in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming it did not discriminate because the job applicant did not specifically say she needed a religious accommodation. But the Obama administration appealed. At issue is how employers must deal with laws that require them to make allowances for a worker’s religious practices.
- An Ohio case that will test to what degree a person accused of child abuse must be confronted by the alleged victim in court.
- A housing discrimination lawsuit filed by civil rights groups in Texas that want tax credits made available for low-income housing in largely white, suburban neighborhoods near Dallas.
- An immigration case testing whether the U.S. can deny a visa to the husband of a naturalized citizen because he worked for Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
- A challenge by a Florida judicial candidate to the state Bar Association’s policy against personally soliciting campaign funds.
- An effort by the Arizona state Legislature to regain the power to draw congressional district lines, now done by an independent commission.
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