News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a bill into law that he says will ensure that same-sex marriage remains legal but that critics say goes much further than that by also threatening religious liberty. The bill, the Respect for Marriage Act ( H.R. 8404 ), defines marriage as “between 2…
The Michigan Capitol in Lansing is seen Nov. 30, 2021. (CNS photo/Dan Meloy, Detroit Catholic) LANSING, Mich. (CNS) — A Catholic parish in the Diocese of Lansing has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to protect its right to hire parish employees and staff for its grade school who…
Unsplash photo by Element5 Digital. Vermont will now apply its tuition benefit program to families who choose to send their children to religious schools. In 1869, Vermont established its Town Tuition Program to provide vouchers to families so they could attend the school of their choice when living in a…
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill codifying same-sex marriage into federal law, sending the measure to President Joe Biden’s desk. The Respect for Marriage Act passed the Democrat-led House in a 258-169 vote Thursday. The vote comes a week after the U.S. Senate approved the legislation in…
Some religious plaintiffs are winning, but often on narrow grounds. U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (photo: Pixabay) Where is the U.S. Supreme Court going on religious freedom? The court’s current trend is to grant religious-freedom claims. That was true even before Amy Coney Barrett joined the court in October…
The public role of religion in American life, long a challenging issue for the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, commanded nationwide attention in 1984 when a lawsuit was brought against Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for its erection of a nativity scene in the center…
On December 1, Oklahoma attorney general John O’Connor issued an opinion letter concluding that the state’s laws prohibiting religious charter schools are unconstitutional. The prohibitions, he found, run afoul of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Carson v. Makin , which held that Maine’s exclusion of religious schools from a…
The public role of religion in American life, long a challenging issue for the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, commanded nationwide attention in 1984, when a lawsuit was brought against Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for its erection of a nativity scene in the center…
A Catholic church in St. Johns is challenging Michigan’s updated civil rights law in federal court because leaders say the change violates the church’s constitutional rights. In the suit filed Monday, St. Joseph’s parish alleged the state’s redefinition of "sex" in the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act protects others because of…
A Catholic church in St. Johns is challenging Michigan’s updated civil rights law in federal court because leaders say the change violates the church’s constitutional rights. In the suit filed Monday, St. Joseph’s parish alleged the state’s redefinition of "sex" in the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act protects others because of…
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed sympathetic Monday to an evangelical Christian graphic artist from Colorado who does not want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples, despite the state’s protective anti-discrimination law. Hypotheticals about mall Santas who are Black, interracial marriage and "reeducation programs" for those who…
Protesters demonstrate outside the US Supreme Court in Washington on December 5, 2022. The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared ready to rule that a Christian web designer has a right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages in a case the liberal justices said could empower…
Protesters demonstrate outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., December 5, 2022. The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared ready to rule that a Christian web designer has a right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages in a case the liberal justices said could empower…
joe daniel price/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared sympathetic with a wedding website designer challenging Colorado’s anti-discrimination law and its requirement that she provide services for same-sex couples or face a fine. At the same time, the justices seemed wary about the ramifications…
Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that threatens to open the door widely to businesses being allowed to violate anti-discrimination laws. If the court rules that the First Amendment protects the right of business owners to discriminate — based on claims of freedom of speech or…
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday over whether a graphic designer in Colorado has a First Amendment right to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings based on her Christian faith despite a state law that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. The case, a sequel…
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy on Monday toward an evangelical Christian web designer whose business refuses to provide services for same-sex marriages in a major case pitting LGBT rights against a claim that freedom of speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws. The justices were hearing spirited arguments in…
(CNN) — The Supreme Court will revisit the intersection of LGBTQ rights and religious liberty on Monday, when it takes up the case of a graphic designer who seeks to start a website business to celebrate weddings — but does not want to work with same-sex couples. The case comes…
The US Supreme Court is to hear a suit filed by a Christian website designer who declines to provide wedding services to same-sex couples Can a business owner cite her religious convictions in declining to provide service to a same-sex couple? The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court is to examine the…
The case of 303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis is not directly about the free exercise of religion, but the issue will lurk behind any ruling. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that threatens to open the door widely to businesses being allowed to violate…
Lorie Smith is a business owner, who says she puts her Christian faith above financial profit. However, her efforts to manage both have put Smith in conflict with Colorado officials over the limits of workplace speech, an issue the Supreme Court will address in high-profile oral arguments on Monday. At…
It’s just waiting for someone to walk through it. getty The Supreme Court has slowly and steadily busted a hole in the wall between church and state when it comes to education. AG opinion: Statute barring charter school operators from religious affiliation unconstitutional (nondoc.com) In a fifteen-page opinion issued December…
Attorneys for two pastors who filed a lawsuit asking Chancery Court to prevent Delaware’s governor from imposing future restrictions on religious worship are meeting to see what their next step will be after a judge dismissed the case last week. The Rev. Alan Hines, of Townsend Free Will Baptist Church…
Light illuminates part of the Supreme Court building at dusk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) more > The Supreme Court has already ordered Colorado’s civil rights commission to give faith-based artists who object to same-sex marriage a fair hearing when deciding whether to…
Hands on bible. File photo via Shutterstock. more > Officials in Sumner County, Tennessee, are under fire for including a reference to “the Judeo-Christian values inherent in our nation’s founding” in a document outlining “standing rules” for county commissioners. The preamble to the county’s “Standing Rules and Procedures,” amended in…