Rejecting long-standing state laws that discriminate against religion, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Montana must allow scholarships it provides to be used by families for tuition at religious schools. The Court’s 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Mont. Dept. of Revenue found that a state constitutional provision restricting aid…
High court sparks new battle over church-state separation
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Tuesday, June 30, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) The Supreme Court elated religious freedom advocates and alarmed secular groups with its Tuesday ruling on public funding for religious education, a decision whose long-term effect on the separation of church and state remains…
Court lays to rest age-old debate with Espinoza decision
After more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court finally has determined that Blaine amendments, which were created in the late 19 th century under a wave of anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic bias, violate the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise clause. “A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State…
High court sparks new battle over church-state separation
This photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court building. (Source: CNN, File) (WJRT) (AP) – The Supreme Court elated religious freedom advocates and alarmed secular groups with its Tuesday ruling on public funding for religious education, a decision whose long-term effect on the separation of church and state remains to be…
Opinion analysis: Court rules that religious schools cannot be excluded from state funding for private schools
In 2015, the Montana legislature created a scholarship program that provided a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to private scholarship organizations. Those organizations used the money to fund scholarships for children to attend private schools – which, in Montana, are primarily religious schools. In 2018, the Montana Supreme Court struck…
High court sparks new battle over church-state separation
West facade of the Supreme Court Building in Washington. (Source: U.S. Supreme Court) (AP) – The Supreme Court elated religious freedom advocates and alarmed secular groups with its Tuesday ruling on public funding for religious education, a decision whose long-term effect on the separation of church and state remains to…
Supreme Court: Religious Liberty Is Winning—and the Pro-Life Cause Is Losing
The Story: In two rulings released this week, the Supreme Court signaled a pattern of preventing restrictions on both religious liberty and also abortion. The Background: The court issued rulings this week on important cases involving restrictions on abortion and on religious liberty. The abortion case was June Medical Services…
Supreme Court Rules Montana Religious Schools Can Receive Funding
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A major victory for advocates of government funding for religious education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a law in Montana. That state law let students apply for state scholarships, which they could not use at religious schools. The court struck down that exclusion. Joining us now…
Roberts Rejoins Supreme Court Conservatives to Expand Rights for Religious Schools
The chief justice remains a swing vote. Photo: Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images A day after he dismayed cultural conservatives by writing an opinion for a 5-4 majority that struck down a restrictive abortion law in Louisiana , Chief Justice John Roberts rejoined the Supreme Court’s right wing in a major church-state…
Symposium: RIP state “Blaine Amendments” – Espinoza and the “no-aid” principle
Steven Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy at Willamette University College of Law. He filed an amicus brief on behalf of a number of religious groups in support of the respondents in Espinoza v. Montana Department of…
SCOTUS Holds Free Exercise Clause Bars Application of State’s No-Aid to Religious Institutions Clause in State Constitution
In its opinion in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue regarding a state tax credit scheme for student scholarships, the majority held that the scheme must be afforded to religious schools so that the Free Exercise Clause was not violated. Recall that the Montana Supreme Court held that the tax…
Commentary: The Supreme Court decision: Fundamental Shift or Preservation of the Status Quo? What religious organizations need to know about hiring
By Allison Carroll The United State Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County June 15, holding that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex encompasses protection for homosexual and transgender individuals in the workplace. Writing for…
Trump Administration Celebrates Supreme Court Ruling on Religious Schools
Source: (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The Trump administration is celebrating Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that deemed the exclusion of religious schools from taxpayer funded scholarships as unconstitutional. As Reagan reported earlier : The Supreme Court sided with a group of families in Montana that challenged a state law which banned scholarship…
Terry Mattingly: ‘Utah compromise’ on gay rights and religious liberty
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the sexual revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
AG responds to ILGOP lawsuit
* Rebecca Anzel at Capitol News Illinois … State regulation of the number of people allowed at gatherings does not violate Illinoisans’ First Amendment rights, the attorney general’s office argued in a court document. A lawsuit filed on June 15 by the state’s Republican Party alleged Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive…
What Does the LGBT-Discrimination Decision Mean For Religious Employers?
The Supreme Court recently ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. What are the ruling’s real-world implications for those who maintain traditional, biblical views about human sexuality? How will…
Feds slap Stafford County with lawsuit over Muslim cemetery
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Stafford County, claiming it blocked the creation of what would have been a Muslim-owned cemetery in the county. The DOJ says the county violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act — RLUIPA — a federal law that protects religious institutions from…
NLRB Severely Limits Jurisdiction Over Religious Schools
On June 10, 2020, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision limiting its own jurisdiction over the faculty of self-identified religious educational institutions. The Board’s decision in Bethany College is the latest in a long line of cases reviewing the threshold of when the Board…
Board Decides Religious Educational Institutions Not Subject To Labor Laws While Supreme Court Grapples With Ministerial Exception
Key Points In the June 10, 2020, National Labor Relations Board (Board) decision Bethany College , the Board reversed its own 2014 decision, Pacific Lutheran University , and held that the Board lacks jurisdiction over bona-fide religious educational institutions. The Board clarified how it will determine if the religious educational…
Department of Justice files suit against Stafford over blocking of Islamic cemetery
Current AMAA cemetery on Brooke Road The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit alleging that Stafford County violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by enacting overly restrictive zoning regulations prohibiting an Islamic organization from developing a religious cemetery on land it had purchased for that purpose. “Honoring…
On religion: ‘Utah compromise’ on religious liberty, gay rights?
Mattingly_Terry_2006 (SHNS photo) No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the Sexual Revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts…
MATTINGLY: ‘Utah Compromise’ on religious liberty, gay rights?
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the Sexual Revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that “gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
Religious liberty, gay rights still at odds with ruling
No doubt about it: Someone will have to negotiate a ceasefire someday between the sexual revolution and traditional religious believers, said Justice Anthony Kennedy just before he left the U.S. Supreme Court. America now recognizes that "gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior…
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Stafford County, Virginia, Over Blocking of Islamic Cemetery
The Justice Department today announced that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Stafford County, Virginia, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by enacting overly restrictive zoning regulations prohibiting an Islamic organization from developing a religious cemetery on land it had purchased for that purpose. That…
National Labor Relations Board Reverses Obama-Era Decision Regarding Standard for Asserting Jurisdiction Over Faculty Members at Religious Institutions
On June 10, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB or the Board) issued a decision that reversed a 2014 Board decision regarding the test for exercising jurisdiction over faculty members at religious institutions. In Bethany College , the Board held that the test for exercising such jurisdiction that…