The flag and seal of Lehigh County, Pa. (Images via court documents) (Religion News Service) — A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Lehigh County, Pa., seal that contains a cross, citing a recent Supreme Court decision. The unanimous ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of…
Appeals Court: Christian Logo for Lehigh County (PA) Doesn’t Promote Religion
This is disappointing: An Appeals Court has ruled in favor of a Christian logo representing a Pennsylvania county, overturning an earlier ruling that said (fairly obviously) that the symbol was a promotion of religion. The battle began in 2016 when the lawsuit was filed. A judge later declared that the…
Appeals court rules Pennsylvania county can keep cross on its seal
American Legion wins fight to keep peace cross memorial standing on public land The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday a Pennsylvania county’s 70-year-old seal and flag is allowed to remain after being targeted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation . The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third…
‘Going down’ Is a Trade Mark That Causes a Bad Influence on Morality, Says the Beijng High Court in China
Home » Copyright/Intellectual Property » ‘Going down’ Is a Trade Mark That Causes a Bad Influence on Morality, Says the Beijng High Court in China From The IPKat: ‘Going down’ is a common English phrase whose meaning is descending or sinking. But when it tried to be registered as a…
First Amendment Lawsuit Filed Against Sex Offender Rehab Facility for Restricting Residents’ Access to Bible Studies, Services
RICHMOND, Va. — The Rutherford Institute has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against government officials for discriminating against Protestant Christian inmates at a state-run sex offender rehabilitation facility and restricting their access to Bible studies and Protestant communion. In a complaint filed in federal court against the Commonwealth of Virginia…
We Are All Originalists Now, Sort of
During her 2010 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Elena Kagan, fresh off a stint as Barack Obama’s solicitor general, created a minor stir in legal circles by stating, “We are all originalists.” While clearly an exaggeration, this statement spoke to a subtle but increasingly apparent truth: Since the 1980s, constitutional text…
Superintendent defends back-to-school worship service after atheist group complains
Fyffe High School in DeKalb County, Alabama An Alabama school superintendent defended a local high school that hosted a worship rally on Sunday after a complaint was filed by one of the nation’s leading secularist legal groups. DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Jason Barnett told Fox News on Tuesday that he…
Discriminatory Catholic Agency Seeks Supreme Court Review
Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia hopes to takes its case arguing it can discriminate against same-sex couples to the US Supreme Court. A Catholic foster care agency has asked the US Supreme Court to overrule a federal appeals court decision rejecting its claim that it enjoys a religious freedom right…
Terrible city ordinance forces political firms to work for causes they oppose
Two businessmen, Grant Strobl and Jacob Chludzinski own ThinkRight Strategies, a political consulting and marketing firm, in Michigan have filed a lawsuit against the city of Ann Arbor for enforcing a law that is discriminatory. Ann Arbor passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for businesses to discriminate based on…
Dignity Health Poised to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $100 Million
Hospital workers still unsure whether distant religious link exempts retirement plans from federal ERISA compliance San Francisco, CADignity Health has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a proposed class action ERISA lawsuit that accused it of using a undeserved religious exemption to justify underfunding its pension plan by $1.5…
Symposium: The new court and religion
Erwin Chemerinsky is Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Will replacing Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy with Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh make a difference as to how the Supreme Court deals with constitutional issues concerning…
Bladensburg and Pensacola: Is It Time for the Lemon Test to Go?
A 40-foot cross that honors 49 fallen World War I soldiers from Prince George’s County stands at the busy intersection of Bladensberg and Annapolis roads and Baltimore Avenue Feb. 28, 2019, in Bladensburg, Maryland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Legal scholars agree that the Lemon Test has failed to bring…
Justices Uphold Cross on Public Land and Debate Key Test for School Religion Cases
« Justice Dept. Backs Religious School Choice in Case on Maine Tuition Program | Main | Supreme Court Backs Federal Agencies’ Power to Interpret Their Own Rules » Washington The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 94-year-old cross memorializing a Maryland county’s World War I dead, but stopped short…
The Supreme Court’s Giant Cross Compromise Will Erode the Separation of Church and State
Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The separation of church and state survived a close brush with death on Thursday, emerging scathed but alive thanks to a compromise decision that may not hold for long. Seven justices voted to allow a 94-year-old, 40-foot cross to remain on…
Group sues Boston for banning Christian flag, approving 284 others
Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for July 15 The city of Boston, Mass. is being sued for religious discrimination for banning the Christian flag while permitting 284 others, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week. Hal Shurtleff, the director and co-founder of Camp Constitution, asked the city to…
John Sparks: Religious liberty, freedom of speech & gay rights
Among recent actions by the U.S. Supreme Court, a four-sentence order may set the stage for the court to eventually address the collision between free speech and religious freedom on one hand and gay rights on the other. The order voided a judgment by the state of Oregon that had…
Supreme Court allows cross on state land despite challenge over church-state separation
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week on the fate of the "Peace Cross," a World War I memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland that some say violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause. The case could impact memorials nationwide. (Feb. 25) AP WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that…
Federal Court: Let Atheists Lead Gov’t Prayers
You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! MIAMI ( ChurchMilitant.com ) – A federal court ruled Monday that people of all faiths, as well as atheists, must be allowed to give an…
‘We’re Not Allowed to Have Bible Study’: Elderly Couple Heads to Court Over Eviction Threat
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – An elderly Christian couple could be evicted from their Virginia senior living community if they hold a Bible study. But the two are fighting back. They’ve now filed a federal lawsuit, alleging religious discrimination. Ken and Liv Hauge have been married for 64 years. The 87-year-old Ken…
Religious Liberties Legal Group Asks School District to Restore Ten Commandments Plaque to Middle School Wall
NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — A Texas-based religious liberties organization has asked a school district in Ohio to restore a Ten Commandments plaque to a middle school wall after learning that the Decalogue display was removed following a complaint from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). “[I]n light of a…
David Shoebridge: “Under his eye” we need freedom of (and from) religion
Scott Morrison’s “religious freedom” platform has little to do with the right to pray, it has everything to do with the right to discriminate and undo what the country voted for. Do we need the unqualified right to be bigots, the right to openly discriminate against same sex couples and…
Opinion: The lemon is squeezed dry
BARONE There’s something attractive in the party names in the Supreme Court’s decision on the relationship between government and religion: American Legion v. American Humanist Association. Both organizations, the veterans group formed after World War I and the secular humanist group founded the year this nation entered World War II,…
Supreme Court to hear challenge to Montana’s no-aid-to-religion law
Last week, the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue , concerning a Montana state legislative program that allowed individuals to receive up to a $150.00 tax credit for money that they could donate to one of several K-12 scholarship funds.…
The lemon is squeezed dry
There’s something attractive in the party names in the Supreme Court’s decision on the relationship between government and religion: American Legion v. American Humanist Association. Both organizations, the veterans group formed after World War I and the secular humanist group founded the year this nation entered World War II, want…
ACLU Op-ed: ICE Oppressing Immigrant Religion
One pork sandwich every eight hours for six straight days. That’s the only food that Border Patrol provided to Adnan Asif Parveen, a Muslim immigrant who was detained in South Texas in January because his work permit had expired and was pending renewal. Mr. Parveen reportedly informed officials that his…