News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
In 2015, the Montana legislature created a scholarship program that provided a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to private scholarship organizations. Those organizations used the money to fund scholarships for children to attend private schools – which, in Montana, are primarily religious schools. In 2018, the Montana Supreme Court struck…
West facade of the Supreme Court Building in Washington. (Source: U.S. Supreme Court) (AP) – The Supreme Court elated religious freedom advocates and alarmed secular groups with its Tuesday ruling on public funding for religious education, a decision whose long-term effect on the separation of church and state remains to…
The Story: In two rulings released this week, the Supreme Court signaled a pattern of preventing restrictions on both religious liberty and also abortion. The Background: The court issued rulings this week on important cases involving restrictions on abortion and on religious liberty. The abortion case was June Medical Services…
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A major victory for advocates of government funding for religious education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a law in Montana. That state law let students apply for state scholarships, which they could not use at religious schools. The court struck down that exclusion. Joining us now…
The chief justice remains a swing vote. Photo: Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images A day after he dismayed cultural conservatives by writing an opinion for a 5-4 majority that struck down a restrictive abortion law in Louisiana , Chief Justice John Roberts rejoined the Supreme Court’s right wing in a major church-state…
Steven Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy at Willamette University College of Law. He filed an amicus brief on behalf of a number of religious groups in support of the respondents in Espinoza v. Montana Department of…
In its opinion in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue regarding a state tax credit scheme for student scholarships, the majority held that the scheme must be afforded to religious schools so that the Free Exercise Clause was not violated. Recall that the Montana Supreme Court held that the tax…
By Allison Carroll The United State Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County June 15, holding that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex encompasses protection for homosexual and transgender individuals in the workplace. Writing for…
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the sexual revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
The Supreme Court recently ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. What are the ruling’s real-world implications for those who maintain traditional, biblical views about human sexuality? How will…
On June 10, 2020, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision limiting its own jurisdiction over the faculty of self-identified religious educational institutions. The Board’s decision in Bethany College is the latest in a long line of cases reviewing the threshold of when the Board…
Key Points In the June 10, 2020, National Labor Relations Board (Board) decision Bethany College , the Board reversed its own 2014 decision, Pacific Lutheran University , and held that the Board lacks jurisdiction over bona-fide religious educational institutions. The Board clarified how it will determine if the religious educational…
Mattingly_Terry_2006 (SHNS photo) No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the Sexual Revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts…
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the Sexual Revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the sexual revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that "gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
On June 10, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB or the Board) issued a decision that reversed a 2014 Board decision regarding the test for exercising jurisdiction over faculty members at religious institutions. In Bethany College , the Board held that the test for exercising such jurisdiction that…
On June 10, 2020, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision limiting its own jurisdiction over the faculty of self-identified religious educational institutions. The Board’s decision in Bethany College is the latest in a long line of cases reviewing the threshold of when the Board…
Sharonell Fulton, a foster parent in Philadelphia, is pictured with a young woman and children in a May 23, 2018 photo. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic entities have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Philadelphia’s faith-based foster care in a decision expected this June. The…
Alexander Dushku and Shawn Gunnarson are shareholders at Kirton McConkie, where they represent an array of religious institutions on various matters. They were counsel of record on amicus briefs on behalf of religious organizations and religious colleges and universities in support of the employers in Bostock v. Clayton County and…
A lawsuit filed last week by the Thomas Moore Society, a non-profit public interest law firm, charged that the state of Illinois is violating its own laws by requiring all insurance policies offered for sale in the state to pay for abortion services. There is no exemption allowed even by…
RENO — A rural Nevada church is trying to renew its unsuccessful bid to strike down the state’s cap on the size of religious gatherings, arguing failure to enforce social-distancing guidelines in voter lines during Tuesday’s primary election was further proof churches are being singled out in violation of the…
Executive Director Paul Coleman oversees the advocacy and operations of the global alliance-building legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom International. (ADF International) ‘We see more cases year on year, and this is, in part, because Christians are becoming more aware of what’s happening.’ One of the major challenges all governments face…
Roundtable Expert Witnesses Services for Litigators & Legal Professionals – Click her for more info. In a major decision for religious institutions of higher education, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) recently ruled in Bethany College, 369 NLRB No. 98 (June 10, 2020) that it has no jurisdiction over…
Roundtable Expert Witnesses Services for Litigators & Legal Professionals – Click her for more info. On June 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued Bethany College , 369 NLRB No. 98, in which it held that it does not have jurisdiction over matters concerning teachers or faculty…
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A rural Nevada church is trying to renew its unsuccessful bid to strike down the state’s cap on the size of religious gatherings, arguing failure to enforce social-distancing guidelines in voter lines during Tuesday’s primary election was further proof churches are being singled out in violation…