News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A battle over a Bible on display at New Hampshire’s veterans hospital was the focus of a federal court hearing Wednesday, with lawyers for the government arguing that a lawsuit demanding its removal should be dismissed because the Air Force veteran who filed it hasn’t shown…
An explanation of our separation of Church and State, or lack thereof “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition…
WASHINGTON, DC — Denouncing state laws that claim to advocate for school choice while discriminating against individuals who favor private schools with religious ties, The Rutherford Institute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a provision of Montana’s constitution that prohibits students from using scholarship funds to attend religiously-affiliated…
Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly hold a religious invocation during the Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, assembly meeting in Soldotna. The invocation was held only hours after the Alaska Superior Court ruled the ritual violated the Alaska Constitution. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion) Applications to offer invocations during Kenai…
CONCORD, N.H. — A battle over a Bible on display at New Hampshire’s veterans hospital was the focus of a federal court hearing Wednesday, with lawyers for the government arguing that a lawsuit demanding its removal should be dismissed because the Air Force veteran who filed it hasn’t shown he…
Gov. Scott Walker. Photo from the State of Wisconsin. The News : The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), on behalf of Governor Scott Walker , filed an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Espinoza v. Montana , a critical school choice and religious freedom case…
iStock photo PHOENIX, Ariz. (BP) — The Arizona Supreme Court last week rebuked states and municipalities that overzealously enforce anti-discrimination laws. The state’s highest court said the city of Phoenix cannot apply a nondiscrimination ordinance to the designers of custom wedding invitations. In a 5-3 decision, the court found Joanna…
Business owners win suit over same-sex wedding invitations 01:19 (CNN)A 2013 Phoenix law that adds "sexual orientation, gender identity or expression" to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance violated the freedom of speech and religious beliefs of two business owners, the Arizona Supreme Court said in a 4-3 ruling Monday. Wedding invitation…
Eds: This story was supplied by The Conversation for AP customers. The Associated Press does not guarantee the content. Morgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts Lowell (THE CONVERSATION) A movement for religious rights is transforming the place of religion in American public life. From the 1960s until very recently, liberals successfully…
A longstanding consensus on how to accommodate religious beliefs in government settings is breaking down as the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn longstanding precedent and allow greater role of religion in public life. Those were some of the observations of Nina Totenberg, the longtime legal affairs correspondent for…
Plaintiff Christopher Doyle A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state of Maryland’s law banning licensed practitioners from engaging in conversion therapy treatment with minors. The legislation was signed into law by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in May of 2018. The lawsuit was initially filed by…
FILE – This Jan. 22, 2019 file photo shows Christian artists Joanna Duka, front left, and Breanna Koski, front right, outside the Arizona Supreme Court after justices heard arguments over Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance that bars businesses from refusing service to same-sex couples for religion reasons. Duka and Koski, who operate…
Joanna Duka (left) and Breanna Koski (right), owners of Brush & Nib Studio Last week, the Supreme Court of Arizona issued an important decision in Brush & Nib v. City of Phoenix , another case located squarely at the intersection of religious freedom and the new sexual orthodoxy. The case…
Attorney Jonathan Scruggs, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, speaks following his legal arguments in January at the Supreme Court that the sincerely held religious beliefs of business owners allows them to turn away gay customers. (Capitol Media Services file photos by Howard Fischer) By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services |…
Jeremy Dys is deputy general counsel to First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all. Prayer at legislative gatherings is as old as the United States—perhaps older, if we reach back in time to the Pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock. Legislative prayer is such…
Skip to main content A Pensacola law enforcement officer is suing his state employer over claims he was unlawfully prevented from sharing his Christian beliefs in his workplace. In a federal civil trial that began Wednesday in Tallahassee, Kevin Fiedor claims that the Florida Department of Financial Services violated his…
Capitol Media Services PHOENIX — Anti-discrimination laws do not trump the rights of business owners to refuse to provide certain services to gays, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. In a divided decision, the majority concluded that the owners of Brush & Nib Studios have a constitutional right to refuse…
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times A view of Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean,” in Millennium Park from the 32nd floor of 8 S. Michigan Ave., Thursday, May 30, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times Four Wheaton College students who were repeatedly stopped from open-air preaching and passing out evangelism literature in Millennium Park are…
In what many have dubbed “Masterpiece Cakeshop 2.0,” the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday in a pivotal case regarding freedom of expression. The Arizona high court found that a Phoenix law violated the free speech rights of religious business owners Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib…
Transgender activists rallied at the White House in October to protest the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies. Stating that California’s interest in fighting discrimination against LGBTQ residents outweighs the right to impose religious standards on healthcare, an appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against the Catholic Dignity Health hospital chain for…
CNN image PHOENIX – A 2013 Phoenix law that adds "sexual orientation, gender identity or expression" to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance violated the freedom of speech and religious beliefs of two business owners, the Arizona Supreme Court said in a 4-3 ruling Monday. Wedding invitation designers Joanna Duka and Breanna…
PHOENIX (CNS) — Arizona’s Catholic bishops praised the state Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 decision upholding the refusal by two Christian artists to create custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples based on their religious belief in marriage as being between one man and one woman. “We are grateful that the importance…
WASHINGTON – The Arizona Supreme Court Monday sided with two Phoenix women who said a city law aimed at preventing discrimination would have forced them to violate their Christian faith by creating custom invitations for same-sex weddings. A narrow majority of the court said that the religious convictions of Brush…
Calligraphy is a form of expressive speech, and therefore the city of Phoenix cannot compel a local studio to create wedding invitations for same-sex couples, Arizona’s highest court ruled yesterday. The Arizona Supreme Court determined, 4-3, that any attempt to use Phoenix’s ordinances to punish Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka…
The Arizona Supreme Court sided with two Phoenix business owners who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds, with the court saying such objections “may seem old-fashioned, or even offensive to some,” but they are still covered by the Arizona Constitution’s protection of free speech. (Photo by Amy Teegan/Creative Commons) Breanna…