News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Over at The Washington Post, Radley Balko has been continually updating a piece where he offers evidence that the “criminal justice system is racist.” Here are just a few of the examples Balko provides: A 2010 report by the Equal Justice Initiative documented cases in which courts upheld prosecutors’ dismissal…
Dangerous precedents are being set in a case before the Washington, D.C. Superior Court. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons July 20 (UPI) — Across the United States, a groundswell of alarm is rising among people of faith as judges increasingly disregard their First Amendment rights. Legal challenges to religious expression…
Protesters at the Supreme Court in March 2020, when the justices were hearing arguments in June Medical Services LLC v. Russo. Robin Bravender/States Newsroom I tell my students in Constitutional Law that there are historical eras in which a Supreme Court majority is determined to change an entire area of…
[co-author: Jami Moelis*] On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court gave religious employers wide leeway to hire and fire employees whose duties include religious instruction without having to worry about employment discrimination suits. In a 7-to-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru that…
[co-author: Nathaniel Bernstein] Key Cases Courts Reach Mixed Conclusions on Challenges to COVID-19 Assembly Restrictions Nathan A. Adams IV Several recent cases concern challenges to executive orders relating to COVID-19 limiting the ability of churches to assemble and imposing other limitations. Beginning with appellate decisions, these cases are summarized in…
On July 8, 2020, in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru , the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed its stance on the application of ministerial exception to employment discrimination cases as established in earlier rulings. In doing so, the Court simultaneously raised an unanswered issue under Title VII: does…
While coronavirus infections expand across the country, lawsuits challenging public health restrictions on in-person worship services continue to wind through courts. As I mentioned in an earlier post , even though the U.S. Supreme Court in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom recently upheld an order limiting in-person religious…
The Supreme Court has decided, 7-2, that teachers in Catholic elementary schools are not covered by employment discrimination law. This is a highly important expansion of religious exemptions from government regulation. The Supreme Court had already given religious institutions an exemption for so-called “ministerial” employees. It has now gone substantially…
(Bloomberg Opinion) — The Supreme Court has decided, 7-2, that teachers in Catholic elementary schools are not covered by employment discrimination law. This is a highly important expansion of religious exemptions from government regulation. The Supreme Court had already given religious institutions an exemption for so-called “ministerial” employees. It has…
Tom Alexander holds a cross as he prays prior to rulings outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 8, 2020. The Supreme Court is siding with two Catholic schools in a ruling that underscores that certain employees of religious schools, hospitals and social service centers can’t…
On Wednesday, July 8, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling deciding that teachers at religious schools could not claim protections under anti-discrimination laws. The central issue in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru concerned the scope of the “ministerial exception”—a legal doctrine grounded in the First Amendment…
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif., July 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) has teamed up with Tyler & Bursch, The National Center for Law and Policy (NCLP) and Advocates for Faith & Freedom to file a lawsuit challenging the state of California’s ban on singing and…
In such a moment, the court will rarely grant review in any case that would hinder that goal. I tell my students in Constitutional Law that there are historical eras in which a Supreme Court majority is determined to change an entire area of constitutional doctrine. Bruce Ledewitz (Capital-Star file)…
In a year beset by disappointing decisions from the Supreme Court, a trio of religious liberty cases decided this term provides constitutionalists with some hope. Let’s review: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania The Little Sisters of the Poor is an order of female Catholics that has been serving…
Hide caption Erin Hawley (InsideSources.com) InsideSources.com With its trifecta of religious liberty decisions this term, the Supreme Court may finally be poised to give equal weight to religious liberty. It’s about time. In a year beset by disappointing decisions from the Supreme Court, a trio of religious liberty cases decided…
In a year beset by disappointing decisions from the Supreme Court, a trio of religious liberty cases decided this term provides constitutionalists with some hope. Let’s review: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania The Little Sisters of the Poor need no introduction. This order of female Catholics has been…
Although they have generated controversy in some progressive precincts, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions last week in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania were quite straightforward. Both cases were decided 7-2 on the same day, with the five conservative members of…
Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal Legacy Church, 7201 Central NW, sued the state and Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel in April over a ban on large gatherings. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal) The state has the right to ban large gatherings in houses of worship during a public health crisis, such as the…
Last week, the Supreme Court delivered a major victory for religious schools in two cases, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Agnes Morrissey-Beru , and St James School v. Biel. As we explained here , the two cases involved the important religious liberty principle called “the ministerial exception.” Broader than…
In two decisions rendered at the end of its term, the U.S. Supreme Court has broadened the right of religious employers not to follow federal and state law with respect to job discrimination and to restrict the availability of covered birth control for employees under the Affordable Care Act. Broadening…
By a vote of 7-2, the U.S. Supreme Court held on July 8, 2020, that the “ministerial exception” under the religion clauses of the First Amendment forecloses employment-discrimination claims against religious schools by teachers with religious duties. Prior to the court’s decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru…
(RNS photo by Aaron Schrank) The Supreme Court elated religious free exercise advocates and alarmed secular groups with its June 30 ruling on public funding for religious education, a decision whose long-term effect on the separation of church and state remains to be seen. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of…
The Supreme Court’s opinions this year in a series of religious liberty cases indicate it may deliver a landmark victory for social conservatives in 2021, according to legal experts. The case in question, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia , pits two explosive causes against each other: gay rights and faith-based…
“Religious discrimination.” It’s an accusation we hear with increasing frequency. Indeed, discrimination on the basis of religion is one of the few common concerns our divided society has left. But even here, political polarization has left its mark. As conservatives use it, “religious discrimination” carries a meaning that is largely…
Creative Commons Having been raised Baptist and then Methodist, I understand how important religion, especially Christianity, can be to many people. Furthermore, I have been in the public school system for 14 years, starting in kindergarten and continuing through college. I can absolutely understand why many parents choose to send…