Freedom Forum The Supreme Court, in striking down a unique tuition assistance program in Maine, could foreshadow the future of religious freedom under the First Amendment. THE CASE The very rural state of Maine is not able to provide a local public secondary school in every school district. To fill…
Law School hosts second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame) The world’s leading defenders of religious freedom will gather in Rome July 20-22 for the second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, hosted by the Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative . The summit’s theme is Dignitatis humanae — the…
Do abortion bans violate the establishment clause?
If you ask some Americans, the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling did more than overturn Roe v. Wade. They believe it also shrunk the distance between church and state. These more liberal religious freedom advocates fear the court has cleared the way for lawmakers to privilege conservative religious teachings on when…
OP-ED | Supreme Court Paving the Way for Return of ‘Intelligent Design’
BARTH KECK Intelligent Design . Surely you remember that concept making news years ago, the one claiming “certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.” Well, Intelligent Design is about to make a comeback.…
Opinion/Chaput: Court’s recent church-state rulings relate to past RI cases
Erik J. Chaput teaches in the School of Continuing Education at Providence College. He is the author of "Rhode Island and the Establishment Clause," a digital curriculum guide for teachers hosted on RIHS.org. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to remove a federal…
(Opinion) Terrance Carroll: What Boebert gets wrong about church and state
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, foreground, speaks to supporters at Wearhouse 25 during a party to kick off her re-election bid for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District seat, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Grand Junction, Colo. You can say I came out of the womb a Baptist preacher. In fact, I’m Baptist…
This Supreme Court is crusading against religious discrimination
In its last two weeks of a blockbuster term, the U.S. Supreme Court released two major First Amendment decisions dealing with religious liberty: Carson v. Makin , about whether Maine could refuse to fund religious schools, and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District , about whether a football coach could pray…
. The late Justice Antonin Scalia once compared
In its last two weeks of a blockbuster term, the U.S. Supreme Court released two major First Amendment decisions dealing with religious liberty: Carson v. Makin, about whether Maine could refuse to fund religious schools, and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, about whether a football coach could pray on the…
Supreme Court ruling on prayer undercuts longstanding precedent: Mark R. Brown
Bremerton assistant football coach Joe Kennedy, obscured at center in blue, is surrounded by Centralia High School football players as they kneel and pray with him on the field after their game on Oct. 16, 2015, in Bremerton, Washington. After losing his coaching job for refusing to stop kneeling in…
Is the Supreme Court doing away with the separation of church and state?
The Supreme Court recently ruled , 6-3, along party lines in favor of a public school football coach who lost his job after kneeling and praying on the field. The Bremerton School District, when it learned of the prayers, told former assistant coach Joseph Kennedy to stop as it could…
United States: Employment Law Update, June 29, 2022
Employers Respond to Supreme Court’s Decision Striking Down Roe v. Wade In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade , several large national employers, including Disney and Facebook, stated that they will cover expenses incurred by an employee who must travel out of state for…
Yeshiva University Pride Alliance
On June 14, the New York State Supreme Court, New York County (a trial level court in New York State), ruled that Yeshiva University (YU) and its president must “immediately grant plaintiff YU Pride Alliance the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges afforded to all other student groups…
Subverting the religious freedom of a Jewish school
Erin Hawley | New York aims an attack at Yeshiva University Yeshiva University students study in the school’s library in New York City. You have 4 free articles remaining. Full access isn’t far. We can’t release more of our sound journalism and commentary without a subscription, but we can make…
Opinion: The Supreme Court is bulldozing the separation of church and state
Toobin breaks down what Supreme Court opinion says about the right to religious freedom 01:46 Barbara A. Perry is Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at UVA’s Miller Center. She was a 1994-95 Supreme Court fellow and is the co-author of " Freedom and the Court: Civil…
A Momentous Year for Religious Liberty at the Supreme Court | Opinion
In my 33 years of advocating for religious liberty, I have never seen a year like this at the U.S. Supreme Court . This term, the Supreme Court decided three important religious liberty cases. Each case firmly defended the right of people of faith to be free from anti-religious discrimination…
Local and State Employment Law Update: Various Terms Redefined
Many states have amended their state fair employment practices laws by redefining various key terms that have previously been consistent across the United States. For example, states like Colorado, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia have redefined “employment,” “citizenship status,” “harassment,” “sexual harassment,” and “religion,” among others, to protect a wider…
How is the Supreme Court changing the law of religious liberty in America?
Its conservative majority is expanding the right to religious exercise at the expense of church-state separation AMERICA’S SUPREME COURT has long steered a careful path between the twin religion clauses of the First Amendment: the “free-exercise” clause, which requires a degree of friendliness towards religion and its adherents; and the…
In Allowing Coach to Pray, Supreme Court Says First Amendment Doesn’t Contradict Itself
The Supreme Court unties a knotty issue by ruling that, in firing him, a school district violated coach Joe Kennedy’s constitutional rights. Pictured: Kennedy speaks with reporters April 25 outside the Supreme Court Building after his case was argued. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Thomas Jipping is a senior legal fellow…
SCOTUS Hands Praying High School Football Coach a Major Win Upending Longstanding Tests for Determining Government Endorsement of Religion
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overruled decades of precedent maintaining the separation of church and state in a case about a former high school football coach who was fired for engaging in visible, public prayers at the 50-yard line after every game. United States Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch…
Florida judge to hear arguments on state’s new abortion law
Protesters and a counter protester get into a debate about abortion rights on Friday, June 24, 2022, at North Straub Park in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Supreme Court on Friday stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion, a fundamental and deeply personal change for Americans’ lives after nearly a half-century…
In response to Supreme Court’s decision, some Kansas City faith groups question what’s next
The New Reform Temple sits on the corner of Main Street and West Gregory Boulevard in Kansas City. Rabbi Alan Londy said the Supreme Court’s decision was an affront to religious freedom. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nearly 50-year-old precedent of Roe v. Wade, the response among religious…
Justices rule religious schools must get Maine tuition aid
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Washington. Manuel Balce Ceneta – staff, AP WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to…
The Supreme Court Is Now Forcing Taxpayers to Pay for Anti-Gay Religious Schools
The US Supreme Court is seen behind a fence after overturning Roe v. Wade, in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2022. Yesterday’s shameful Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade was telegraphed months ago. But, during the angst-laden wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe , the court, so…
Justices rule religious schools must get Maine tuition aid
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Washington. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money. The 6-3 outcome could…
Court: Maine religious schools to get tuition aid
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, June 21 that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for private education. (Photo by kallerna, cc-by-sa-4.0, https://bit.ly/39ykpqc) WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Maine can’t exclude religious schools from a program that offers tuition aid for…