A Daily Journal article on February 1, 2018, ‘Religious liberty’ rights get Trump administration backing, reports that U.S. attorney’s offices must designate a “religious liberty point of contact” under a new directive issued by the Department of Justice. According to the DJ, “The new guidelines appear to set the stage for Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his staff to learn quickly about religious liberty claims going through a U.S. attorney’s office, and to give them greater control over any resulting legal action.”
RBGG’s Sandy Rosen provided perspective for the article: “Rosen noted the new rules require an office to ‘obtain the approval’ of the associate attorney general ‘with respect to any affirmative civil suit’ that could implicate religious freedom. In effect, he said, this means the order could have implications even for cases that might appear to have little to do with someone claiming religious freedom rights.”
“It’s instructing U.S. attorney’s offices around the country to be super cautious before they file any kind of affirmative civil lawsuit,” Rosen said. “I don’t know if there is anything comparable to this with respect to any other kind of litigation.”