News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Colorado’s COVID-19 public health orders that limit the number of people who can attend indoor religious services and require worshippers to wear masks at all times are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Domenico ruled last week that state officials cannot enforce mask-wearing mandates or some…
News – AP-National Religious freedom advocates are pleased and some secular groups alarmed following a Supreme Court ruling that states must give religious schools the same access to public funding that other private schools receive. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta). The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Tuesday, June 30, 2020 in…
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool) WASHINGTON (RNS) — Since the moment Judge Amy Coney Barrett was announced as President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the Supreme…
The jury box in the Loudoun County Courthouse. [Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now] Four religious ministries are suing the state over two new Virginia laws they claim infringe upon their rights to assert their religious beliefs—and to hire, fire and provide health insurance for their employees based on those convictions. On Sept.…
A sign outside of the church encourages people to stop by for a “drive-by” mass at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church on March 15, 2020 in Aurora. Colorado’s COVID-19 public health orders that limit the number of people who can attend indoor religious services and require worshippers to…
0 Colorado’s COVID-19 public health orders that limit the number of people who can attend indoor religious services and require worshippers to wear masks at all times are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Domenico ruled last week that state officials cannot enforce mask-wearing mandates or…
On July 1, the state of Virginia enacted the “Virginia Values Act,” which bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. A companion law requires employers to include coverage for sex reassignment and “gender affirming” surgeries in their health plans. According to the Alliance Defending Freedom ,…
In the pandemic’s early days, the American judiciary largely gave governors wide leeway in issuing unprecedented business-closure and stay-at-home orders in order to dampen the spread of the disease. More recently, some judges, concerned by the scope and duration of those orders, have taken steps to enforce constitutional limits on…
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett indicated in her confirmation hearing that she would fit in comfortably with the conservative majority on the high court that has ruled in recent years for an expansive view of religious liberty. During her last day of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee…
Special to The Times The cesspool of our American culture is not the result of too much God, faith, or religion, but too little. With the pending confirmation hearing of nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, it is appropriate to review what our Constitution says about religion.…
Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. | Wikimedia Commons/Farragutful A federal judge quoted Hebrews 10:25 as he ruled against Mayor Muriel Bowser’s restriction on outdoor church services of more than 100 people, allowing Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., to resume in-person outdoor services. “It is for the…
After months of attempting to persuade D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (shown) to grant them an exception to her draconian virus-inspired restrictions on in-person meetings by churches, the Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) filed suit in September . The church said, “Meeting in-person as one congregation is a deeply-held conviction for…
Meghan Clark, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, St. John’s University Massimo Faggioli, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University David Gibson, Director, Center for Religion and Culture, Fordham University Damon Silvers, Director of Policy and Special Counsel, AFL-CIO Convener: Mark Massa, S.J., Director, The Boisi Center for Religion…
Caption Shaw Media file photos Shaw Media file photos Caption Despite significant legal precedents and a widespread acceptance by historians, educators, public officials and civilians, congressional candidate Rick Laib doesn’t believe there’s a constitutional separation of church and state. The subject arose in a discussion with the Daily Herald after…
Moderated by Attorney & OLLI Instructor Doug Mishkin Wednesday, October 7 at 6pm Eastern Free & online via Zoom: registration required Within 12 days this past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court decided three cases involving the relationship between government and religion: May a state forbid tax-supported scholarships to religious private…
A supporter of same-sex marriage waves a flag outside the U.S. Supreme Court. The Constitution protects religious beliefs. It does not protect a person’s right to discriminate based on religious belief. But on Monday, two Supreme Court justices — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — indicated they see things quite…
Justice Clarence Thomas at a Library of Congress event in 2018. Although I don’t always agree with them — how dull if I did! — I think the nation is generally well-served by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. Thomas is a candid and original thinker…
Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. | Wikimedia Commons/Farragutful The Department of Justice is backing Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., in its lawsuit against Mayor Murriel Bowser for unfairly applying a ban on outdoor church services of more than 100 people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The department…
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (pictured) says he looks forward to defending the law in court. The anti-LGBTQ+ Alliance Defending Freedom has filed two lawsuits on behalf of clients who contend that Virginia’s new, inclusive civil rights law infringes on their religious liberty and freedom of speech. None of the…
Open gallery view U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a law professor at Notre Dame University, poses in an undated photograph obtained from Notre Dame University September 19, 2020 Some notable quotes from Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame law…
Harvest Rock, which has churches across the state, argued that the health order restricting indoor singing violates religious liberty. Harvest Rock, which has churches across the state, argued that the health order restricting indoor singing violates religious liberty. (Shutterstock) LOS ANGELES, CA — A Pasadena-based church lost its bid in…
Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, Friday, June 19, 2015, in Washington. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo By NICK NIEDZWIADEK 10/02/2020 03:24 PM EDT The Department of Justice is wading into the legal fight of a Washington, D.C., church seeking to nix local public health restrictions in order to hold…
Supreme Court Vacancy AP Explains(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Some notable quotes from Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett a former Notre Dame law professor and current judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he was nominating Barrett…
Pastor Che Ahn delivers a sermon via YouTube on Sept. 13, 2020, at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. (Image from YouTube) LOS ANGELES — Pasadena-based Harvest Rock Church lost its bid for an emergency order overturning Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on indoor singing and chanting in places of worship —…
From Melki v. Melki (Md. Ct. Spec. App.), decided Tuesday, in an opinion by Judge Kevin Arthur: In 2009, Husband and Wife were married in Tripoli, Lebanon, at an Orthodox Christian church. Husband is an Orthodox Christian, and Wife is a Catholic. The couple had met a year earlier in…