News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Three recent precedents have ‘really increased the amount of protection for religious freedom.’ In recent years, the Supreme Court has shown a greater willingness to protect the First Amendment right of free exercise of religion from state and municipal regulation. In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in 2018,…
The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that employers can forbid their staff from wearing visible symbols of religious or political belief, including headscarves, in order to present an image of neutrality. The Court decided on the matter following referrals from the Labour Court of Hamburg and the Federal Labour…
The Eighth Circuit affirmed school administrators are not entitled to qualified immunity for punishing a Christian student group that required its leaders to abide by its beliefs. Macbride Hall at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. (Photo by David Mark from Pixabay via Courthouse News) (CN) — University of…
(Photo : First Liberty Institute) Judge Wayne Mack A federal appeals court reportedly allowed a judge from Texas to resume his chaplain-led prayers while the First Amendment lawsuit against his tradition continues. The Christian Post said Montgomery County Justice of the Peace Judge Wayne Mack was allowed by the United…
Last week, the court reached a favorable settlement for Capitol Hill Baptist Church with the District of Columbia in the case Capitol Hill Baptist Church v. Muriel E. Bowser . “We are grateful for the work of NRB Member First Liberty in helping the faithful, gospel-preaching congregation at Capitol Hill…
Jackson Lewis Law Firm Logo On July 9, 2021, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, issued a 7-3 decision in the closely watched case Sandor Demkovich v. St Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City and the Archdiocese of Chicago . The Seventh Circuit found that…
An appellate court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against a Temperance priest who criticized a teenager’s suicide during his funeral after his parents specifically asked for privacy regarding the circumstances behind the teen’s death. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the Rev. Don LaCuesta, pastor of Our Lady of…
Members of the Texas House stand for a prayer as the House begins a special session, Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) **FILE** more > A justice of the peace in Montgomery County, Texas, can continue opening sessions with prayers from volunteer chaplains while a lawsuit…
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Friday that it will hear a case brought by families from Maine who want to use a state tuition program to send their children to religious schools. At the heart of the case is a Maine Department of Education rule…
July 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took up a challenge by two families with children attending Christian schools to a Maine tuition assistance program that bars taxpayer money from being used to pay for religious educational institutions in a case that could further narrow the separation…
The Maine Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is appalled by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fulton v. Philadelphia that grants religious privilege to Catholic Social Services at the expense of the LGBTQ community. Philadelphia did not renew its contract with CSS because it violated the city’s anti-discrimination…
The District of Columbia and Mayor Muriel Bowser have agreed to pay $220,000 as part of a legal settlement with a local Baptist church that sued the city over in-person worship restrictions during the pandemic. Last September, Capitol Hill Baptist Church sued the district over the government’s ban on outdoor…
Can Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Court — with determinative votes cast by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh — has effectively decided she cannot. “My faith is a part of every aspect of…
Concurrences and dissents leave clues on where a decision might fall if the Wisconsin Supreme Court was deciding the merits of the case. July 7, 2021 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clarify what information can be used to determine…
Can Barronelle Stutzman , a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Cour t—with determinative votes cast by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett , and Justice Brett Kavanaugh —has effectively decided she cannot. “My faith is a part of every aspect of…
Whether a Loudoun Circuit Court judge was correct in ordering the reinstatement of a Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher is now before the state Supreme Court. The school division has appealed Judge James Plowman’s decision to reinstate Tanner Cross to his teaching position after Cross was placed on administrative…
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a challenge to a Maine law that bars students from using public funding for tuition at religious schools. Local school administrative units that do not have their own secondary schools can pay a certain amount in tuition for students to attend outside public…
The U.S. Supreme Court ‘s decision Friday not to hear floral artist Barronelle Stutzman’s case leaves freedom of religion and expression in an uncertain state. But one thing is perfectly clear: activists and their powerful legal and corporate allies were ready and able to take down a humble Christian grandmother…
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is among three justices who turned their backs on a Christian flower shop owner. (Photo by GREG NASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Can Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Court — with determinative votes cast by…
In April 23, 2021, photo, Supreme Court members pose for a group photo. Seated from left: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett. WASHINGTON – If there were any doubts that the U.S. Supreme…
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether Maine may exclude religious schools that offer sectarian education from a state tuition program. The case, Carson v. Makin, No. 20-1088, is broadly similar to one from Montana decided by the court last year. In that case, the court…
Barronelle Stutzman, surrounded by supporters, speaks with the media after appearing for the Washington Supreme Court at Bellevue College on Nov. 15, 2016. | Screenshot: Facebook/Alliance Defending Freedom The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Christian florist from Washington state fined refusing to make a floral arrangement…
The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a petition from a Christian florist who refused to create flower arrangements for a same-sex couple, refusing for now to take another case asking when anti-discrimination laws must give way to religious convictions. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M.…
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would not hear an appeal from a florist in Washington State who said she had a constitutional right to refuse to create a floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding. The move left open a question the court last considered in…
The major U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v. Philadelphia ( .pdf here ) allows a Catholic agency to avoid placing foster-care children with same-sex couples. Importantly, the Catholics will place gay children and will place children with gay singles since there’s no conscience crisis over defying the church’s doctrines…