News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
This week, Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in Connecticut challenging unconstitutional policies enacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Until today, PLF has not filed lawsuits challenging shutdown and other emergency orders. As the country has struggled to flatten the curve of infections, our primary strategy has been…
New Africa / Shutterstock.com PETITION: Demand Planned Parenthood return $80M improperly taken from coronavirus emergency fund! Sign the petition here. June 8, 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has upheld most of a law allowing the Empire State to force…
“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 press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — the First Amendment to…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church. (File: KRNV) RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a…
Gov. John Carney gives a briefing. Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
The Supreme Court. (Shutterstock via CNA) In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the U.S. bishops argued that a Catholic agency should not be banned from participation in the Philadelphia foster care system due to its beliefs on marriage. “The Catholic Church serves orphans through adoption and foster care…
Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church. (File: KRNV) RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a…
The extraordinary measures designed to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to cause constitutional clashes. My last post ’s opening hypothetical about members of a congregation being ticketed for attending church services has now become a reality, and the Supreme Court has given its first hint on how it…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
Washington D.C., Jun 4, 2020 / 04:27 pm ( CNA ).- In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the U.S. bishops argued that a Catholic agency should not be banned from participation in the Philadelphia foster care system due to its beliefs on marriage. “The Catholic Church serves orphans…
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church who say it violates their constitutional right to exercise their beliefs. Attorney General Aaron Ford is urging a federal judge…
Washington D.C., Jun 4, 2020 / 04:27 pm MT ( CNA ).- In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, the U.S. bishops argued that a Catholic agency should not be banned from participation in the Philadelphia foster care system due to its beliefs on marriage. “The Catholic Church serves…
The Story: The Supreme Court recently rejected a challenge to a California pandemic policy restricting occupancy in churches to 25 percent of building capacity or no more than 100 attendees. The Background: South Bay United Pentecostal Church and their senior pastor, Bishop Arthur Hodges III, sought an injunction to prevent…
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that could narrow,…
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that could narrow,…
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that could narrow,…
DOVER, Del. — Democratic Gov. John Carney plans to back off restrictions he imposed on church worship to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday. Carney planned to issue new guidance regarding communities of worship either later Tuesday or Wednesday that could narrow, or…
(Image via Getty) “Assuming all of the same precautions are taken, why can someone safely walk down a grocery store aisle but not a pew? And why can someone safely interact with a brave deliverywoman but not with a stoic minister?” asks the 6th Circuit in an opinion quoted by…
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington.(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is set to decide on a religious freedom claim from a south San Diego County church that wants an exemption from California’s COVID-19 rules, which limit large…
Move comes amid lawsuits and possible U.S. Supreme Court review SPRINGFIELD – People in Illinois will be allowed to attend worship services starting this weekend without fear of prosecution as the state enters Phase 3 of Gov. JB Pritzker’s “ Restore Illinois ” reopening plan. Pritzker made the announcement during…
Worshippers gather at South Bay Pentecostal Church in a 2019 photo posted to Facebook. SAN DIEGO, California, May 25, 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Southern California’s South Bay Pentecostal Church has petitioned the United States Supreme Court to intervene and issue an emergency injunction against Governor Gavin Newsom’s shutdown of…
The U.S. Supreme Court (by Joe Ravi via Wikimedia – CC-BY-SA 3.0) Other than the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable government searches, I would argue no other constitutional guarantee is more abused or more intentionally distorted in the modern era than the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause . Before I get…
A Baker County judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to 10 churches, including Elkhorn Baptist in Baker City, who sued the governor. The judge ruled Gov. Kate Brown’s restrictions on religious gatherings “null and void’’ because her emergency order due to the coronavirus pandemic had exceeded its 28-day limit.…