News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation commends the Chino Valley school district in California for acknowledging a recent First Amendment violation by a board member — and working to correct it. Two concerned Chino Valley USD employees reported to FFRF that school board member James Na distributed Christmas cards with a…
SPOKANE — A one-time deputy in the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is suing his former employer in federal court, alleging that he was harassed and discriminated because he no longer attended the same church as several top officers. Aaron Shepard Former Chelan County Sheriff’s Office deputy Aaron Shepard alleges the…
Freedom-loving liberals are pushing back against the Christian nationalist’s stranglehold on our judicial system. Since the Supreme Court made it clear the basis for their edicts on religious questions is their personal beliefs, protecting the nation from the Supreme Court has become essential to defending democracy. Recent Supreme Court edicts…
The Israeli government should strike a balance between the demands made by the ultra-Orthodox sectors and the needs of Israeli citizens in general. BNEI BRAK: The combination of ultra-Orthodox large families who are unemployed, lack a regular income and the basic education required for knowledge and occupation, has led to…
The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted a case that will shed light on what types of religious accommodations would be considered an excessive burden on employers. The court will hear the case during this term, but a date for oral arguments hasn’t been set yet. Background Under federal law, employers…
COMMENTARY BY Baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, manages his shop in Lakewood, Colo. August 15, 2018. Hyoung Chang / The Denver Post / Getty Images Key Takeaways The Colorado Court of Appeals decided that Jack Phillips violated state law by declining to create a custom cake to celebrate…
Siri & Glimstad’s Allison Lucas and Aaron Siri analyze the role Title VII should play when employers review requests for religious exemption from vaccine boosters. They say employees who demonstrate sincerely held religious beliefs are entitled to accommodation. Employers that mandate a Covid-19 vaccine booster may be hasty to deny…
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo Jan 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by an evangelical Christian former mail carrier in Pennsylvania who accused the U.S. Postal Service of religious bias after…
masterpiece cakeshop antidiscrimination act Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, continue to be the subject of litigation over whether the First Amendment protects their right to refuse certain custom cake requests by LGBTQ customers even though the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) bars such discrimination. Last week, a Colorado…
A citizens committee has filed a lawsuit in Shasta County Superior Court against the Gateway Unified School, asking a judge to force the district’s board of trustees to follow its own policies in hiring a new superintendent. The board voted Jan. 18 to bypass the procedure, known as board policy…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination "because of…religion." The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case that asks whether that law requires the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to accommodate a religious postal employee who refuses to work on Sundays. The case is…
Immediately cease the practice of prayer to open school board meetings, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the Gateway Unified School District Board of Trustees. On Jan. 18, the board made a motion to open meetings with prayer, which passed after a 3-2 vote. The national state/church watchdog, however,…
Colorado baker Jack Phillips refused to make a cake to celebrate a customer’s gender transition. DENVER — The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight,…
masterpiece cakeshop antidiscrimination act Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, continue to be the subject of litigation over whether the First Amendment protects their right to refuse certain custom cake requests by LGBTQ customers even though the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) bars such discrimination. Last week, a Colorado…
New poll finds overturning Roe won’t have significant impact on midterms. In what is certain to be another high-profile addition to its docket this term, the Supreme Court has granted review in Groff v. DeJoy — a case in which the religious rights of employees will take center stage. The…
Immediately cease the practice of prayer to open school board meetings, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the Gateway Unified School District Board of Trustees. On Jan. 18, the board made a motion to open meetings with prayer, which passed after a 3-2 vote. The national state/church watchdog, however,…
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
The Freedom From Religion Foundation today won its case before an appeals court against the Texas governor’s censorship of its Capitol display. After Gov. Greg Abbott and the State Preservation Board blatantly and illegally censored FFRF’s display in the Texas Capitol in 2015, Abbott and the board have fought every…
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, which involved his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
A baker who refused to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding citing his Christian faith has lost a fresh appeal in Colorado court. On Thursday, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop , which was to be…
Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips at work in this March 10, 2014 photo. By Colleen Slevin/AP The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight,…
FILE – Jack Phillips, who’s case was heard by the Supreme Court five years ago after he objected to designing a wedding cake for a gay couple, speaks to supporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court…
As Neal McCluskey explored yesterday, education involves “developing the minds—and for many, the souls— of human beings.” This basic truth has resulted in education being a common battleground since the early days of state involvement. Not surprisingly, most of these battles have been around religion, which is a primary way…