Eric Smith: First Amendment protects work and finances of religious charities

Eric Smith: First Amendment protects work and finances of religious charities

The Washington Post’s exclusive story on David Nielsen’s whistleblower complaint to the IRS with respect to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “saving its excess surplus donations instead of using them for charitable works” deserves a more technical explanation of the law surrounding tax-exempt organizations. First, let’s establish…

Religion and school choice at heart of new Supreme Court battle

Religion and school choice at heart of new Supreme Court battle

The battle over school-choice programs and state aid for religious schools returns to the U.S. Supreme Court this week as three mothers from Montana ask the justices to uphold a scholarship program that would help fund Christian education for their children. The case is a major test for the balance…

Supreme Court takes up church-state separation in Christian schools case

Supreme Court takes up church-state separation in Christian schools case

The Supreme Court takes up the sensitive issue of religion in public life Wednesday, considering whether states violate the Constitution if they prevent religious groups from receiving some state benefits. The justices are asked to strike a balance between the desire of a state to keep government out of religion…

Trump administration’s religious freedom announcements square with Constitution, Supreme Court precedent

Trump administration’s religious freedom announcements square with Constitution, Supreme Court precedent

Trump administration’s religious freedom announcements square with Constitution, Supreme Court precedent Government is not permitted to treat people of faith as second-class citizens. But for far too long public schools and many other government institutions have willfully curtailed religious actions by private individuals in government buildings and grounds. President Trump…

Public scholarships for private religious schools

Public scholarships for private religious schools

More than half ​ of the Notre Dame incoming class in 2019 did not attend public high school. Catholic high schools, specifically, accounted for 37% of that class. This month, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear argument as to whether it is unconstitutional for a state to…

Gov. Whitmer, GOP clash on Michigan ban on public funds for private schools

Gov. Whitmer, GOP clash on Michigan ban on public funds for private schools

Religious and non-public school groups in late December asked the Michigan Supreme Court to strike down the 1970 state constitutional amendment prohibiting taxpayer funding for private schools, arguing it was motivated by anti-Catholic bias and violates the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution. (Shutterstock photo) LANSING – What began…

Families argue in appeal that Maine should pay tuition at religious schools

Families argue in appeal that Maine should pay tuition at religious schools

Three families arguing the state should pay tuition for their children to attend private religious schools because they live in school districts with no high schools made their case before a federal appeals court in Boston on Wednesday. Angela and Troy Nelson pose in August 2018 with their children, Royce,…

Espinoza School Choice Case and Discrimination Against Religion

When I moderated a debate on Espinoza v. Montana Dep’t of Revenue , I had a question for one of the Institute for Justice lawyers who represents Ms. Espinoza (and others, including Linda Greenhouse, had asked the same question as well). Here’s the issue: A Montana school choice programs let…

’Trump judges’ are important for religious freedoms

’Trump judges’ are important for religious freedoms

Evangelicals who minimize the importance of President Donald Trump’s judicial appointments betray a naivete about the perils to religious liberty in the United States, perils that have been growing over the past decade. Many people, outside of the relatively small group of constitutional law professors and Supreme Court and appeals…

Hugh Hewitt: Evangelicals should thank Trump for protecting their religious liberty

Hugh Hewitt: Evangelicals should thank Trump for protecting their religious liberty

Evangelicals who minimize the importance of President Donald Trump’s judicial appointments betray a naivete about the perils to religious liberty in the United States, perils that have been growing over the past decade. Many people, outside of the relatively small group of constitutional law professors and Supreme Court and appeals…

Evangelicals should thank Trump for protecting their religious liberty

Evangelicals should thank Trump for protecting their religious liberty

Demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2017, when it heard the case of a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Evangelicals who minimize the importance of President Trump’s judicial appointments betray a naivete about the perils to religious…

Religion in Schools: A Tree and a Hard Place

Religion in Schools: A Tree and a Hard Place

The United States Constitution rolled up on an American flag with a gavel in the foreground. Room for copy along the top half of the image. ach day, millions of families from diverse religious backgrounds entrust the education of their children to our nation’s public schools. Employees within our public…

Australians back religious freedom for people, not for institutions

Australians back religious freedom for people, not for institutions

Australians support religious freedom protections for individuals but less for institutions such as schools or hospitals run by religious organisations, a new report for the Centre for Independent Studies has found. The findings do not “bode well for the prospect of any robust protection of religious freedom in this country,”…

MAT backs down in legal case on religious assemblies

MAT backs down in legal case on religious assemblies

A Church of England multi-academy trust has settled out of court after being threatened with High Court action over its assemblies, following claims that they breached human rights and were indoctrinating pupils. The Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust was facing a case brought by parents who said primary pupils were made…

Australians back religious freedom for people, not for institutions

Australians support religious freedom protections for individuals but less for institutions such as schools or hospitals run by religious organisations, a new report for the Centre for Independent Studies has found. The findings do not “bode well for the prospect of any robust protection of religious freedom in this country,”…

Thankful for More Educational Freedom (Hopefully) On Its Way

Thankful for More Educational Freedom (Hopefully) On Its Way

If you know your United States history, you know that the Pilgrims came to North America seeking to practice their religion free from the constraints of the Church of England. If you know your U.S. history well , you know that what many call the beginning of public schooling was…