Sarah Parshall Perry is a senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the right of an employee to be granted a religious accommodation by…
Supreme Court Paves Way For More Religious Accommodations At Work With Postal Worker Ruling
Topline The Supreme Court opened the door to more employees being granted accommodations for their religion at work Thursday, throwing out a ruling against a former postal worker who wanted to take off Sundays for religious reasons and clarifying when workplaces can refuse to accommodate workers’ religion—though it didn’t overturn…
U.S. Supreme Court buoys religious employees who seek accommodations at work
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo June 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday bolstered the ability of employees to obtain accommodations at work for their religious practices, reviving a lawsuit by an evangelical Christian former mail carrier…
Appeals Court says Michigan prisons must recognize Christian Identity religion, allow group prayer
Copy This Embed Code: Ad LANSING, Mich. — The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion Monday directing the Michigan prison system to officially identify Christian Identity as a religion. Copy This Embed Code: Ad Their opinion comes after two current inmates sued the Michigan Department of Corrections for…
Texas supreme court to hear case from sanctioned judge who refused same-sex weddings
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (Reuters) – The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments on whether to revive a state judge’s lawsuit against a judicial ethics panel that sanctioned her in 2019 over her refusal to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Dianne Hensley, a…
COLUMN: The religion of the unreligious
Steve Fair On June 5, Oklahoma became the first state in the country to approve a religious charter school. The 3-2 vote will allow St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s application to receive Oklahoma tax dollars. Immediately after the vote, Dr. Robert Franklin, the board chairman, resigned. Franklin…
Opinion: The Supreme Court is making religion an all-purpose excuse for ignoring the law
First it was wedding cakes, and now it’s wedding websites. Conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage are testing the line between religious freedom and unlawful discrimination. Looking for a federal law to be declared unconstitutional? Religion may well be your best bet — and that’s true regardless of how “real” your…
Democrat-run Minnesota quietly agrees to stop enforcing ‘anti-religious’ law in win for Christian schools
Minnesota’s Department of Education agreed to halt enforcement of an anti-religious school law as part of a federal court injunction, which religious liberty advocates say is a win for Christian education. For two Christian colleges in Minnesota who were singled out by the law and sued the state, the Wednesday…
Does the Constitution Protect the Right to Discriminate?
Facebook Email Font Size: Civil rights attorney argues that recent Supreme Court religious liberty cases jeopardize antidiscrimination laws. The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1984 that the First Amendment “gives no one the right to insist that, in pursuit of their own interests, others must conform their conduct to his…
A new Florida law becomes an issue for Cambridge Christian’s pregame prayer fight
A new state law could help short-circuit a legal battle about whether the school was improperly barred from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2016 high-school football championship game. Attorneys are battling over whether a new state law could short-circuit a case about whether a Tampa Christian…
New law becomes issue in Tampa Christian school pregame prayer fight
Football team praying at Cambridge Christian School. TAMPA, Fla. – Attorneys are battling over whether a new state law could short-circuit a case about whether a Tampa Christian school was improperly prevented from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 high-school football championship game. The Florida High…
Teacher at Catholic School Permitted to Bring Age-Bias Claim
Takeaway: A former art teacher and officer administrator at a Los Angeles Catholic school was not barred by the ministerial exception from bringing an age discrimination claim against the school where her job duties were secular in nature. A former art teacher and officer administrator at a Catholic school could…
The Roberts Court takes aim at the Establishment Clause
Texas wants to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Other states want to bring religion back to schools and public spaces. It ought to be a no brainer — they cannot do that. The Supreme Court long ago said all this was unconstitutional. But don’t be surprised if…
Barring humanists from RE committees is discriminatory, court rules
Local advisory committees on religious education may not exclude humanists, the High Court has found. In a landmark ruling on Friday, the High Court determined that Kent County Council acted unlawfully in barring a humanist from joining a Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) as a full member. Judge…
Crawford County Sheriff’s Office asked to stop engaging in religious practices, events
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is asking the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office to stop promotion of religious programs, events and other activities that violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On April 24, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook more than…
Crawford County Sheriff’s Office asked to stop engaging in religious practices, events
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is asking the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office to stop promotion of religious programs, events and other activities that violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On April 24, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook more than…
Thou shalt: the Supreme Court versus the Establishment Clause
FILE – The Supreme Court is seen on April 21, 2023, in Washington. A unanimous Supreme Court has given a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman a new chance to recoup some money after the county kept the entire $40,000 when it sold her condominium over a small unpaid tax bill. The justices…
Don’t have graduations in a church this Friday, FFRF asks Ohio school district
An Ohio school district shouldn’t hold its upcoming graduation ceremony inside a church, insists the Freedom From Religion Foundation . A concerned Groveport Madison Schools alumnus and community member has informed the state/church watchdog that in keeping with a tradition since 2020, this year’s high school graduation ceremony will be…
Key California Employment Law Case Summaries: April 2023
Nickson v. Shemran, Inc. , 90 Cal. App. 5th 121 (2023) Summary A plaintiff maintains standing to pursue a non-individual PAGA claim in state court when his individual PAGA claim is sent to arbitration pursuant to an arbitration agreement. Facts In 2021, Plaintiff Blaine Nickson filed a single-count California Labor…
Editorial: Misguided attempt to put Ten Commandments in school will cost Texas
A copy of the Ten Commandments in stone hangs on a building next to the Pickens County Courthouse in Jasper, Ga., in October. The inspiration for Sen. Phil King’s bill is the 2022 Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Bremerton about a coach’s prayers. Our state senators recently emerged from their…
Two religious freedom lawsuits cost California more than $1 million. Here’s how
Jae C. Hong, Associated Press Supporters of abortion rights protest outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Hollywood, Calif., after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022. The state of California will pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees after losing battles with four…
Arkansas school stirs controversy after sharing photos of students reading the Bible
An Arkansas public school district recently set off a flood of controversy on social media regarding the long debate of separation of church and state. (Photo KATV) PRESCOTT, Ark. (KATV) — An Arkansas public school district recently set off a flood of controversy on social media regarding the long debate…
Conservative legal groups raise concerns over Biden’s new public school prayer guidance
Conservative legal groups have expressed concern over the Biden administration’s recently announced guidance on religious expression in public schools, believing that it might lead to an increase in violations of First Amendment rights for teachers and students. On Monday, the United States Department of Education released the details of a…
State asks judge to dismiss Milford Christian school’s vaccine lawsuit
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Pastor Jim Loomer, right, speaks during news conference in front of Milford Christian Church, in Milford, Conn. March 10, 2023. Loomer is seen here with attorney Brian Festa of We The Patriots USA. MILFORD — The state’s attorney general…
State asks judge to dismiss Milford Christian school’s vaccine lawsuit
Pastor Jim Loomer, right, speaks during news conference in front of Milford Christian Church, in Milford, Conn. March 10, 2023. Loomer is seen here with attorney Brian Festa of We The Patriots USA. MILFORD — The state’s attorney general has asked a federal judge to throw a lawsuit filed by…