Welcome to the Napa Legal Podcast, where we discuss religious liberty from the perspective of faith-based nonprofits.

In this week’s episode, Frank DeVito is joined by Alexa Kowalewski, a recent graduate of Notre Dame Law School. They cover three stories. First, a North Carolina town that is using its zoning code to evict a small church from a rented event space where theaters, wedding venues, and bars are all permitted. Second, a lawsuit by two Christian student groups at Virginia State University, which stripped Christian organizations of their independent status, placed them under a single campus minister, and exempted Muslim and other non-Christian groups. Third, an update on California’s lawsuit against Heartbeat International, in which the state is seeking more than $20 million in penalties and a gag order that would bar pro-life pregnancy centers from even telling women about abortion pill reversal.

Chapter markers

0:00 Intro

1:50 A North Carolina town tells a church to stop meeting

3:25 First Liberty responds to the demand letter

4:51 RLUIPA land use fights and the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist case

5:48 Why the ordinance isn’t neutral or generally applicable under Employment Division v. Smith

7:41 RLUIPA’s equal terms problem: only 2 of 14 zoning districts allow churches

8:35 Why local zoning fights must be fought early

9:55 Alexa: describe the same facts without the word “church”

12:41 Virginia State University’s new campus ministry policy

13:38 Christian groups lose their registered student organization status

15:34 The exemption for Muslim and non-Christian groups

17:01 The campus minister’s explanation and the end of Sunday church shuttles

18:08 Frank: campus ministries versus more orthodox outside groups

20:05 Establishment Clause or Free Exercise? Lemon, Kennedy, and the better claim

21:30 Heartbeat International and the Abortion Pill Rescue Network

23:22 New Beginnings: abortion pill reversal in rural Arkansas

25:46 California seeks $20 million and a gag order

27:07 How abortion pill reversal works

28:32 Why consumer protection law doesn’t fit nonprofits

29:28 Progesterone versus mifepristone safety

31:20 The chilling effect on pregnancy centers and the Thomas More Society’s defense

32:53 Alexa: the pro-choice movement’s limits on choice

34:42 Wrap-up

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The Napa Legal Podcast, October 13, 2026

#religiousliberty #prolife #freedomofreligion