News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to rule that religious schools can’t be excluded from a Maine program that offers tuition aid for private education. The court’s six conservative justices seemed largely unpersuaded, after nearly two hours in the courtroom, by Maine’s arguments that the state is willing…
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that could see a major change in the nature of funding for schools that provide religious education across the country. In Carson v. Makin , the nine justices are being asked to decide whether the state of…
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: An exterior view of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (CNN)The Supreme Court will return to the issue of religious liberty Wednesday and consider a Maine school tuition assistance program that parents say violates their religious rights under the First…
Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne called the new laws “a serious overreach by the Victorian Government into the rightful freedoms of faith-based organizations.” Melbourne Parliament House in Victoria, Australia. (photo: Jason Benz Benne / Shutterstock) MELBOURNE — Catholic leaders in Australia expressed concern this week about a new set of…
Parliament House for the state of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. | Stock photo via Shutterstock Catholic leaders in Australia expressed concern this week about a new set of laws passed in the state of Victoria which prevent religious groups and schools from making hiring decisions based on protected attributes such…
After imposing a strict church-state separation for decades, the Supreme Court appears poised to allow — and in some cases even require — more government funding of church-run schools. Legal experts say that could open the door to church-sponsored charter schools operating with public funds in many cities. Previously the…
Photo by Joel Muniz via Unsplash Landmark Religious Freedom Case in Maine Reaches Supreme Court By Movieguide® Staff The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear arguments against a Maine law that bars parents from using state student-aid programs if their children attend faith-based schools. Carson v. Makin will take…
DOVER, Del. — Two Delaware pastors are asking a court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting Democratic Gov. John Carney and his successors from exercising emergency powers that would restrict religious gatherings and practices. In separate Chancery Court lawsuits filed Wednesday, the clerics also seek a declaration that Carney’s previous…
Nine Iranian Christians from Rasht facing national security charges. Currently at least 20 Christians are jailed in Iran because their faith was deemed a threat to the Islamic republic’s national security. Of the more than 100 Iranian believers imprisoned since 2012, all have faced similar charges. Read This Issue More…
With all eyes fixated on the United States Supreme Court this week hearing oral arguments in the Mississippi abortion case, scant attention has been paid to another potentially landmark case before the court next week on taxpayer funding for religious education. The case is Carson v. Makin , and it…
A conservative Christian group challenging the City of Boston before the United States Supreme Court has landed support from two unlikely allies — the American Civil Liberties Union and the Biden administration. At issue is a request by a Christian civic group, Camp Constitution, for the City of Boston to…
Photo by Ed Us/Unsplash/Creative Commons (RNS) — The Ninth District Court of Appeals on Sunday (Nov. 28) temporarily blocked San Diego Unified School District’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate from taking effect, one day before students were required to have their first dose. This move comes after a 16-year-old high school student…
My Faith Votes recently sat down with Brad Dacus to discuss his views on the troubles we currently face in America. Brad is the Founder and President of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a legal defense organization providing representation in matters involving the exercise of religion and other civil liberties.…
Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative filed an amicus brief this week in Shurtleff v. Boston , a case that asks the U.S. Supreme Court to hold that government officials may not exclude religious expression from the public square. In Boston, a city program allows private groups and citizens…
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that protects…
A florist in Washington state who was in an eight-year legal battle that reached the US Supreme Court will retire after settling with the same-sex couple whose wedding job she refused. Read This Issue More Newsletters Barronelle Stutzman of Richland, Washington, announced the settlement Thursday, saying she has paid $5,000…
Visitors sit on pews in the Great Upper Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the campus of Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Religious employers assert ‘church autonomy’ in lawsuits OSHA mandate said to force institutions to violate beliefs Christian schools, churches, and seminaries…
Dr. John A. Sparks Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down…
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that protects…
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that protects…
First Liberty Institute (PRNewsfoto/First Liberty Institute) By First Liberty Institute, Biden Administration and the Department of Defense FT. WORTH, Texas, Nov. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs and other Naval Special Warfare personnel against the Biden…
In a recent decision, Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas recognized that federal law does not require churches and religious employers to hire employees who violate the organization’s religious beliefs concerning sexual conduct. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) must grant exemptions from Title VII…
Photo Illustration by Alex Cochran, Deseret News American law offers strong protections to the country’s national security organizations. But it also aims to shield citizens from being wrongly surveilled. On Monday, the Supreme Court considered a case in which the first of those policy goals seems to threaten the second,…
In early September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 20, a new social media law targeting what Gov. Abbott called “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.” In late September, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued Texas…
American law offers strong protections to the country’s national security organizations. But it also aims to shield citizens from being wrongly surveilled. On Monday, the Supreme Court considered a case in which the first of those policy goals seems to threaten the second, weighing whether the government’s interest in protecting…