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 and Joseph Clement explain new legal and policy updates involving public schools that treat students as the opposite sex while lying to parents, women’s sports at the U.S. Supreme Court, and pro-life legislation.

In this episode, we discuss:

1:43 An emergency appeal in a lawsuit against California's parental exclusion policy that instructs school staff to lie to parents about their interactions with students who struggle with gender dysphoria

17:27 Recent oral arguments in a set of cases before the US Supreme Court over state laws that ban men from competing in women's sports

31:37 Two pro-life laws currently working through the New Hampshire Legislature that protect parental and medical conscience rights

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Topics: Public schools, free exercise, First Amendment, Bonta v. Mirabelli, Little v. Hecox, West Virginia v. BPJ, pro-life.

The Napa Legal Podcast, January 19 2026.

#parentalrights #prolifemovement #legalnews

In this episode of the Napa Legal Podcast, we’re joined by Andrea Picciotti-Bayer to examine religious liberty, the First Amendment, and the role of faith-based nonprofits in American society today. We discuss why religious individuals and organizations must be free from government coercion to carry out their missions, and how protecting religious liberty benefits civil society and the most vulnerable among us.

Key Moments:

• 0:50 Introduction and Andrea's work and background with the Conscience Project
• 7:10 The inclusion of religion in public life and freedom from government coercion today
• 12:08 Inclusion by exclusion: when poor policy hurts the most vulnerable
• 15:40 The importance of stories and using faith to motivate heroism
• 19:26 Originalism, the First Amendment, and the Founders' vision of religious liberty in education
• 26:25 Responding to critics of protecting religious liberty
• 31:05 What to watch for in the coming years

Cases Discussed

- Trinity Lutheran v. Columbia- Carson v. Makin- Fulton v. City of Philadelphia- Kennedy v. Bremerton- Lemon v. Kurtzman- Dier v. Landry

Key Quotation from Andrea: "Faith is not an intruder in public life; it’s a part of our civic DNA."

For more of the Napa Legal Podcast, visit our website here:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/the-napa-legal-podcast

To learn more about Napa Legal and our work, visit us at our website:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org

The Napa Legal Podcast, January 15, 2026

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 and Joseph Clement discuss the following updates:

1:35 The 9th Circuit's novel expansion of the Church Autonomy Doctrine to provide greater protection for religious organizations when making hiring decisions;

19:18 A case currently pending before the Supreme Court that could clarify when/how individuals whose First Amendment rights have been violated by the government can go to court;

29:32 The Wyoming Supreme Court's recent ruling against the state's abortion bans and how it fails both the state's and natural laws.

For more of the Napa Legal Podcast, visit our website here:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/the-napa-legal-podcast

For more about Napa Legal and our work, visit out site here:

https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/

Topics:

- Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses

- Freedom of Religion

- Section 1983

- Abortion and abortion pill bans

- Is Abortion Healthcare?

The Napa Legal Podcast, January 12, 2025