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On December 14, the Trump administration moved to loosen Obama-era restrictions on religious organizations that receive federal money to provide social services.

In new rules coordinated across nine federal agencies, the administration said it was clearing barriers that make it difficult for religious groups to participate in federal programs.

Chief among the changes is the elimination of a rule requiring faith-based groups to tell clients about their religious affiliation and to refer clients to a different program upon request.

A 66-year-old Jehovah’s Witness in Russia has re­ceived a six-year sentence for practicing his faith, a particularly harsh penalty in a country where rape is punishable with a three- to six-year prison term and kidnapping with a five-year term.

Yuriy Savelyev had already been in pretrial detention for two years before his sentencing on December 16.

Savelyev is the fifth member of the religious group to receive a six-year sentence since the country declared the faith group “extremist” in a 2017 Supreme Court ruling.

On November 26, as coronavirus cases surged again nationwide, the Supreme Court barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus.

The justices split 5–4, with new, conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. The court’s three liberal justices joined Chief Justice John Roberts in dissent.