News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
The Law at Work The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard argument on the case of a public high school football coach who lost his job for refusing to discontinue his practice of silently praying with willing members of his team and others on the 50-yard line after games, win or…
Lemon test intended to determine when government violates First Amendment Test for determining preference one religion over another remains on the books Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has twice chided government entities in the span of a week for following an oft-criticized ruling intended to ferret out excessive entanglement with…
File photo of Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte with Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) leader Eduardo Manalo during the President’s visit at the INC Central Temple in Commonwealth, Quezon City on December 14, 2018. Photo Credit: Presidential Communications Operations Office, Wikipedia Commons People say that that there are two sides of…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s first major ruling on the meaning of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause was in Everson v. Board of Education, in 1947, when it upheld a state law that provided busing of students to parochial schools. The court’s entry into this constitutional maze foreshadowed the controversy that…
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District . The case is about Joseph Kennedy, a Christian high school football coach in Washington state who regularly prayed before games. Eventually a majority of the players joined in as well, and one player’s parent…
Free speech on campus—and off—has become a flashpoint for U.S. colleges and universities. Students’ ability to post their comments and concerns online, to forward messages to others for whom they may not have been intended, and to record the speech of faculty and staff or other students and post what…
SCOTUS to hear case on football coach’s prayer 00:00 00:0003:10GO LIVE Facebook Twitter Email Embed SpeedNormal Autoplay An op-ed published Monday by NBC News proceeded to sound the alarm over the Supreme Court potentially siding with former high school football coach Joe Kennedy in his lawsuit against the Bremerton, Washington…
It was a remarkable demonstration that the American legal system respects the religious rights of all—rich or poor, virtuous or wicked. By an 8-to-1 vote, the Supreme Court agreed in Ramirez v. Collier that a convicted murderer was legally entitled to have his pastor pray in the death chamber and…
Once again, a United States senator asked a nominee for public office a question about personal religious practice, despite the clear prohibition of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. This time the questioner was Sen. Lindsay Graham, R.-S.C., and the setting was last week’s confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee…
COMMENTARY BY The Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a religious organization claiming it had the right to refuse to hire individuals who did not share its religious beliefs. The case of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission v. Matthew Woods centers on an employment discrimination claim against a religious…
The Supreme Court on Monday issued orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices did not add any new cases to their merits docket for the 2022-23 term. They denied review in a case involving the right of a religious non-profit to decline to hire employees who do…
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Samuel Alito A Seattle-based Christian group that refused to hire a bisexual attorney was denied a Supreme Court hearing on Monday, though two justices on the high court’s right flank were clearly receptive to the religious organization’s position. In a six-page statement , Justice…
WASHINGTON (CN) — A church accused of discriminating against a bisexual lawyer lost its bid for a Supreme Court hearing but still caught the attention of two conservative justices Monday. “To force religious organizations to hire messengers and other personnel who do not share their religious views would undermine not…
Two of the Supreme Court’s conservatives said Monday that religious organizations should be fully exempt from nondiscrimination laws and free to hire only people who share their beliefs. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito made their views known as the court declined to take up a dispute over a Seattle…
(CN) — A federal judge ruled Friday that the state of California did not violate the rights of a church congregation when it instituted new mask rules this past fall, but said Santa Clara County will have to face claims that it interfered with the free exercise of religion by…
The right to non-discrimination and freedom of religion or belief may conflict. International case law has dictated some rules to harmonize them. by PierLuigi Zoccatelli* *A paper presented at the webinar “ Tai Ji Men: 25 Years of Discrimination ,” co-organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on March…
A gavel is displayed. Massachusetts religious college to face teacher’s suit State’s top court found job didn’t make her a ‘minister’ A Massachusetts religious college failed to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review a state court ruling that a former teacher can sue for alleged job bias because she…
A clergyman in Australia is required to pay superannuation withholdation for PAYG dues as soon as he or she reaches retirement age, beginning in July 2000. Those who work as religious practitioners who take PAYG, FBT, ABN and GST as their primary occupation are also considered employees. Payments for stipends…
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new clash involving religion and the rights of LGBTQ people in the case of a Colorado web designer who says her religious beliefs prevent her from offering wedding website designs to gay couples. The high court said Tuesday it would…
From Lasche v. N.J. , decided yesterday by the Third Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Peter Phipps, joined by Judges Thomas Hardiman and Robert Cowen: Two foster parents with religious views against same-sex marriage and homosexual conduct had their foster child removed and their foster license suspended. The foster…
Yes. Australian law treats religious entities as tax exempt. In addition to large and small denominations such as the Anglicans, Catholics and Seventh Day Angels, the Exclusive Bretherens are also included in this group. In the Charities Act 2013, this is expressly stated. Table of contents How Much Tax Does…
A gavel is displayed. Massachusetts religious college to face teacher’s suit State’s top court found job didn’t make her a ‘minister’ A Massachusetts religious college failed to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review a state court ruling that a former teacher can sue for alleged job bias because she…
Anti-abortion activists participate in the 49th annual March for Life as they march past the US Supreme Court on January 21 in Washington, DC. In the past few years, the Supreme Court danced around the question of whether religious conservatives have a constitutional right to violate anti-discrimination laws — and…
California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger is a leading contender to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. Leondra Kruger has been a star in the legal profession for more than a decade. Though some Republicans have railed against President Biden’s pledge to name a Black woman, calling…
Leondra Kruger has been a star in the legal profession for more than a decade. Though some Republicans have railed against President Biden’s pledge to name a Black woman, calling it a "quota," when it comes to qualifications, Kruger has all the bells and whistles if Biden names her to…