News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Then-Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz, the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command’s chaplain, delivered a sermon during a Jumu’ah prayer service. Shabazz later was promoted to colonel, the highest rank ever attained by any Muslim chaplain in the U.S. military. (Sgt. 1st Class Claudio R. Tejada/ U.S. Army) A survey…
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is filing a major lawsuit today against South Carolina officials on behalf of four Palmetto State citizens challenging the unconstitutional funding of a private religious school. “An upstate Christian organization that’s raising money to build a $14 million residential school for disadvantaged and at-risk youth…
The Hopkinton Town Library handed out free U.S. Constitution booklets as part of Constitution and Citizenship Day on September 17, 2019. Jack Shields of Penacook is a Granite State representative for the Freedom from Religion Foundation. As we observe the 235th anniversary of Constitution Day on September 17th, public schools…
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 26 that the federal government cannot require health care providers to perform gender-transition procedures or abortions when they have a religious objection to it. In Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra , the court confirmed the federal government cannot penalize or deny…
Kentucky wedding photography A federal judge in Kentucky enjoined enforcement of Louisville’s nondiscrimination law (the “Fairness Ordinance”), which bars businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, against a wedding photographer who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. The city, the court ruled, “cannot compel [plaintiff Chelsey] Nelson…
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” — First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Certain recent Supreme Court decisions have embraced high-priority political objectives of conservative — primarily Christian Right — activists; justifying their opinions on “originalism” and questionable interpretations of…
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed an Orthodox Jewish university in New York to deny official recognition to an LGBTQ student group, the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious rights. Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a brief order granted an emergency request made by…
abortion cases new arguments The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade , holding there is no right to an abortion under the U.S. Constitution, has led abortion-rights activists in multiple states to make religious freedom arguments for abortion. In Florida, multiple religious entities filed a new lawsuit arguing…
The Supreme Court’s latest momentous term delivered major victories for religious freedom. The ability to freely exercise one’s religious beliefs is one of the most essential rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution by our Founding Fathers. It distinguishes America as a free nation. Yet many governmental institutions — from schools…
By Richard Eggers The recent SCOTUS ruling on Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ruled favorably for the “Kneeling Football Coach,” redressing a fundamental misinterpretation of the First Amendment regarding the “separation of church and state” issue that has stood since 1947. Words, indeed, can have mighty consequences. In the case…
By Richard Eggers The recent SCOTUS ruling on Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ruled favorably for the “Kneeling Football Coach,” redressing a fundamental misinterpretation of the First Amendment regarding the “separation of church and state” issue that has stood since 1947. Words, indeed, can have mighty consequences. In the case…
I’m following up on my post on Monday highlighting Yeshiva University’s emergency application to the Supreme Court seeking relief from an injunction that would require it to approve an undergraduate LGBTQ club. The Supreme Court has invited the parties opposing Yeshiva’s application to file their response by the end of…
Illinois court blocks petition to remove Amendment 1 from Nov. 8 ballot An Illinois appellate court cleared the way for Amendment 1 to stay on the Nov. 8 ballot. Regardless of whether the change to the state constitution might violate the U.S. Constitution, the process for putting it on the…
United States Supreme Court building in Washington DC, 2009 Yeshiva University in New York City asked the Supreme Court on Monday in an emergency filing to block a court order forcing the Orthodox Jewish university to officially recognize an LGBTQ club on campus. Renowned attorney Nathan Lewin , who has…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The top court for nine eastern Caribbean nations and territories has struck down a colonial-era law against homosexual conduct in St. Kitts and Nevis, ruling that sexual orientation is covered by the right to privacy. LGBTQ activists celebrated the ruling issued Tuesday by the…
The school says that officially recognizing the club goes against its religious beliefs and violates its First Amendment rights. WASHINGTON (CN) — An Orthodox Jewish university asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a ruling that would force it to officially recognize an LGBTQ club on campus. Yeshiva University…
Notre Dame Law School via AP In the image from video provided by Notre Dame Law School, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Altio speaks at the Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Summit in Rome, on July 21, 2022. Conservative defenders of religious liberty are pushing a new version of an…
The South Florida activist had raised more than $14,000 as of Thursday evening to distribute “In God We Trust” signs to public schools across Texas. The catch? The phrase is in Arabic. The Arabic text is meant to invoke Islam and some Christians’ discomfort with that faith, Stevens said. He’s…
A trio of rulings, far from ‘regressive decision-making,’ promoted equality by liberating the First Amendment’s religious liberty protections. The Supreme Court’s latest momentous term delivered major victories for religious freedom. The ability to freely exercise one’s religious beliefs is one of the most essential rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution…
A former postal worker who has sued the U.S. Postal Service for forcing him to work on Sundays despite his religious beliefs has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. First Liberty Institute, Baker Botts LLP, the Church State Council, and the Independence Law Center filed the appeal Tuesday on behalf…
Gerald Groff appears in an image provided to Law&Crime by his lawyers. A postal worker who asked for a religious accommodation to have every Sunday off is now asking the Supreme Court to review his case. Former postal worker Gerald E. Groff is an Evangelical Christian and Sunday Sabbath observer.…
Students work at their desks at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021. A new law requiring Texas schools to display donated “In God We Trust” posters is the latest move by Republican lawmakers to bring Christianity into taxpayer-funded institutions. Under the law, Senate Bill 797,…
The U.S. Supreme Court must dismiss a manufactured case of a Colorado business so that religious discrimination is thwarted, the Freedom From Religion Foundation insists in an amicus brief . The state/church watchdog has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a free speech case involving a Colorado business owner who says…
This is the logo of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, which is based in Baltimore. A federal judge in Maryland ruled Aug. 3 the agency must offer health care coverage to spouses of gay employees as long as the employees’ jobs are nonreligious in…
court cases to watch Surveying the news over the past week, I see action in a trio of cases working through our federal court system that are worth keeping an eye on from a religious liberty perspective. All three ask courts to apply and interpret relatively recent Supreme Court decisions.…