News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
A Texas judge may get her day in court after she was sanctioned for refusing to perform same-sex marriages. McLennan County Judge Dianne Hensley recused herself from performing same-sex marriages in accordance with her Christian faith. In an affront to religious liberty, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated…
Dianne Hensley, a judge in Waco, Texas, is suing the state agency that gave her a public warning last month for refusing to officiate same-sex weddings while continuing to officiate heterosexual ones. The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s warning violates Hensley’s rights under the Texas…
The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear two California cases on whether teachers at religious schools may sue for alleged discrimination. WASHINGTON — In 2014, Kristen Biel told her principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance that she had breast cancer and would need time off for chemotherapy. The…
The Supreme Court is seen at sunset in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2019. (Scott Applewhite/AP) The Supreme Court has agreed to consider how much protection church schools have from government intervention when it comes to choosing teachers for its religion classes. The top court agreed ( pdf ) on Wednesday…
WACO, Texas — A county judge in Texas has filed a legal challenge after being issued a public warning from the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, which recently concluded that she is “casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially” by declining to officiate same-sex ceremonies and rather providing referrals…
Mr. Greenhill For more than three years, Alfonza H. Greenhill has persisted in battling Virginia prison policies that blocked him from practicing the strict Sufi branch of Islam. While he lost several preliminary rounds, the African-American inmate refused to give up and now has scored a signal victory for religious…
A nativity scene is on display near the Washington Monument on December 23, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) An attorney from a religious liberty law firm said on Thursday that officials from a Delaware town have violated the First Amendment by banning religious displays on public property. Roger…
For a second year running, Florida legislators have filed a bill that would make our state the first in the nation to require all public high schools to offer elective courses on the Old and New Testaments. (John Solie/istock) For a second year running, Florida legislators have filed a bill…
Nicole Russell is a contributor to The Daily Signal. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Review, Politico, The Washington Times, The American Spectator, and Parents Magazine. Officials in the state of Maryland have banned a school from their voucher program due to their faith-based…
A federal lawsuit challenging the exclusion of a religious school from a state-funded voucher program gained a powerful backer last week when the U.S. Department of Justice filed a “ Statement of Interest ” in the case supporting the plaintiff. The DOJ argues that Maryland’s decision to exclude Bethel Christian…
Fox News Flash top headlines for Dec. 7 A federal court in Canada has ruled that the self-titled "Church of Atheism" isn’t a religion and can’t be treated like one for tax purposes. The Court of Appeal upheld the refusal by the minister of national revenue to register the Church…
The United States Constitution rolled up on an American flag with a gavel in the foreground. Room for copy along the top half of the image. ach day, millions of families from diverse religious backgrounds entrust the education of their children to our nation’s public schools. Employees within our public…
Flagler Schools students and staff members participate in the Football Sunday event on Aug. 20, 2019. File photo by Paola Rodriguez The school district has said its involvement in the Football Sunday event is legal because participation is voluntary. The nonprofit says voluntary events can still violate the constitution when…
Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley, of McLennan County. Photo courtesy KXXV-TV, Waco. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday issued a public warning to a Republican judge from Waco who refuses to perform same-sex marriages but still performs them for opposite-sex couples. McLennan County Justice of the Peace…
A Church of England multi-academy trust has settled out of court after being threatened with High Court action over its assemblies, following claims that they breached human rights and were indoctrinating pupils. The Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust was facing a case brought by parents who said primary pupils were made…
If you know your United States history, you know that the Pilgrims came to North America seeking to practice their religion free from the constraints of the Church of England. If you know your U.S. history well , you know that what many call the beginning of public schooling was…
A New York law would force abortion orthodoxy on pro-life employers, including crisis pregnancy centers and churches. The law would undermine the very reason many pro-life centers exist — to prevent abortion and protect the lives of the unborn. Two pregnancy center groups and a church have filed a federal…
Opinion Enlarge Image Shutterstock “You are effectively being compelled to undermine your own reason for being.” It is one thing to disagree with others’ religious beliefs — and another to bend laws and violate the Constitution to ensure they can’t live out their faith in their daily life and work.…
Getty Images For the second time in three years, the Supreme Court will grapple with two seemingly contradictory aspects of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees on religion, and how they apply to education. At issue, once again, are the dueling ideas that government may not establish a religion, but also cannot…
Church/state watchdog groups including the Baptist Joint Committee urged the U.S. Supreme Court to agree that a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that diverts public funds to private Christian schools is unconstitutional in an upcoming case testing the balance between the First Amendment’s two clauses regarding religious liberty. The BJC, a more…
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case in January that clearly reveals the strategy of evangelical Christian activists to gain legal approval to tax-fund primary and secondary religious education in America. St. Wenceslaus Church in Danvers, Montana, was built in 1916 and is now used occasionally…
This photo is for illustrative purposes. It is not connected to University Christian or Cambridge Christian high schools. A federal appeals court has overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit about whether the Florida High School Athletic Association improperly prevented Christian schools, including Jacksonville’s University Christian School, from offering a prayer…
They say anything worth having is also worth waiting for. We should know. We waited over three years for the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that the city of Phoenix cannot use fines and jail time to force us to create custom artwork that violates our beliefs. Issued in mid-September,…
“The two schools asked the FHSAA for permission to conduct a joint prayer over the loudspeaker before kickoff…" Photo via Camping World Stadium website A federal appeals court Wednesday overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit about whether the Florida High School Athletic Association improperly prevented Christian schools from offering a…
Captive audience. (Will C. Fry) Cambridge Christian School of Tampa argues in the lawsuit that the decision blocking the use of the loudspeaker for the prayer violated First Amendment rights. U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell in 2017 dismissed the case, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit…