The US Supreme Court on Wednesday added five new cases to be heard this spring.

The consolidated cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel cover the breadth of the “ministerial exemption” doctrine, which was created by the court and deals with employee hiring practices regarding church ministers. These cases deal with teachers whose contracts were not renewed and who claim their employment should not be covered by the doctrine.

Torres v. Madrid is a criminal case that looks to define what “seized” means under the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable seizure. Torres was shot by police officers during a stop because she drove away believing that they were attempting to carjack her. The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit threw out her case against the officers for excessive force declaring that she had not been seized at the time.

City of Chicago v. Fulton references the “automatic stay” imposed by the Bankruptcy code. It involves cars that were impounded by the state for unpaid traffic fines and not returned immediately once bankruptcy was filed. Fulton seeks to define automatic stay as meaning that repossessed property should be returned immediately.

Pereira v. Barr is about a man who was arrested for a “attempted criminal impersonation” and whether this will affect his ability to apply for relief from deportation. The federal government agreed that review should be granted, but they believe that he is should not be allowed relief.

These cases will be part heard as part of the March argument session which will begin on March 23.