News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
In a major bipartisan win for religious freedom on Monday, a federal court tossed out the criminal convictions of four volunteers who, due to their religious convictions, risked their lives to leave food and water for illegal immigrants without a permit. The court rightly ruled that prosecuting them would violate…
A file picture of the border wall between the US and Mexico. (RNS) An Arizona federal judge has reversed the convictions of four faith-based volunteers who were fined and put on probation for aiding migrants at the border, saying that the activists were simply exercising their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”…
Fredericksburg retired Lutheran minister Ken Hauge. ON Jan. 16, 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson, which stated that “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested,…
This Oct. 2, 2012, file photo shows U.S. Border Patrol agents patrolling the border fence near Naco, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) (RNS) — An Arizona federal judge has reversed the convictions of four faith-based volunteers who were fined and put on probation for aiding migrants at the border,…
Kendra Espinoza in her Kalispell home Jan. 14, 2020. Espinoza’s family is front and center in the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide whether states like Montana can exclude religious schools from school choice programs. Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments both for and…
John Richard Schrock By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCK School-sponsored prayer is not back, despite some media announcements in mid-January. The First Amendment enacted in 1791 clearly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Thomas Jefferson stated this clause was to…
Arizona Attorney General. (Capitol Media Services/Courtesy, file) PHOENIX — Arizona’s top prosecutor is urging a federal appeals court to allow a Colorado woman and the company she owns to refuse to design a website for a same-sex wedding. In a new legal brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of…
Arizona’s top prosecutor is urging a federal appeals court to allow a Colorado woman and the company she owns to refuse to design a web site for a same-sex wedding. In a new legal brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the rights…
Comments (0) Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding www.ohiocoalition.org The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the…
In a new legal brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the rights of Lorie Smith trump a Colorado law which makes it illegal for businesses open to the public to refuse to offer services because of a customer’s sexual orientation. That same…
The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox. Editor’s note: Montana parent Kendra Espinoza hoped a tax credit would help her pay for a private Christian school for…
Article What just happened? The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in a case that could have significant ramifications for religious liberty. At issue in h is the question of whether it violates the religion clauses or the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution to invalidate a generally…
Los Angeles Times The Supreme Court may be poised to require states to subsidize religious schools if they provide financial support for other private schools, poking another hole in the “wall of separation between church and state” described by Thomas Jefferson as central to the First Amendment. On Wednesday, the…
The main building of United Talmudical Academy of Monsey on Cherry Lane in the Village of Airmont on Thursday, November 29, 2018. (Photo: John Meore/The Journal News) AIRMONT — A federal judge has found sufficient grounds for a trial on discrimination claims against the village concerning the expansion of a…
Justice Elena Kagan noted that states could oppose funding religious schools for reasons that have nothing to do with bigotry. The Supreme Court may be poised to require states to subsidize religious schools if they provide financial support for other private schools, poking another hole in the “wall of separation…
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington. Photo by Duncan Lock/Creative Commons (RNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday (Jan. 22) for a case that may put to rest decades of debate over government funding for private, religious schools. The case, Espinoza…
The Washington Post’s exclusive story on David Nielsen’s whistleblower complaint to the IRS with respect to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “saving its excess surplus donations instead of using them for charitable works” deserves a more technical explanation of the law surrounding tax-exempt organizations. First, let’s establish…
On Jan. 22, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in a landmark case that could widen the door for state voucher programs and seriously damage religious liberty. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue , the court is being asked to hold that the Free Exercise Clause requires…
The battle over school-choice programs and state aid for religious schools returns to the U.S. Supreme Court this week as three mothers from Montana ask the justices to uphold a scholarship program that would help fund Christian education for their children. The case is a major test for the balance…
The Supreme Court takes up the sensitive issue of religion in public life Wednesday, considering whether states violate the Constitution if they prevent religious groups from receiving some state benefits. The justices are asked to strike a balance between the desire of a state to keep government out of religion…
Trump administration’s religious freedom announcements square with Constitution, Supreme Court precedent Government is not permitted to treat people of faith as second-class citizens. But for far too long public schools and many other government institutions have willfully curtailed religious actions by private individuals in government buildings and grounds. President Trump…
Did Oregon officials violate their duty to remain neutral on matters of religion when they ordered Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 for declining to create a custom same-sex wedding cake, a move that crushed the small, family-owned business? That’s the question that the Oregon Court of…
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether the Trump administration may allow employers to limit women’s access to free birth control under the Affordable Care Act. The case returns the court to a key battleground in the culture wars, but one…
A man reading the Bible. | Getty images/stock photo A Virginia couple who were threatened with eviction from their retirement home if they continued to hold Bible study meetings have won the right to hold classes again. Kenneth and Liv Hauge recently reached a settlement with the Evergreens at Smith…
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument earlier this month in yet another funding case that explores the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran . In that case, the Court held that under the First Amendment a church could not be denied access to…