News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
In a recent decision, Federal District Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas recognized that federal law does not require churches and religious employers to hire employees who violate the organization’s religious beliefs concerning sexual conduct. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) must grant exemptions from Title VII…
Photo Illustration by Alex Cochran, Deseret News American law offers strong protections to the country’s national security organizations. But it also aims to shield citizens from being wrongly surveilled. On Monday, the Supreme Court considered a case in which the first of those policy goals seems to threaten the second,…
In early September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 20, a new social media law targeting what Gov. Abbott called “a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.” In late September, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sued Texas…
American law offers strong protections to the country’s national security organizations. But it also aims to shield citizens from being wrongly surveilled. On Monday, the Supreme Court considered a case in which the first of those policy goals seems to threaten the second, weighing whether the government’s interest in protecting…
It was a narrow escape, but the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave LGBT legal activists a significant sigh of relief in a case involving transgender access to equality in health care. The court also appeared to take some heed of the fact that a Texas abortion ban under scrutiny…
Media eyes are trained on the U.S. Supreme Court’s December 1 argument on Mississippi’s abortion restrictions, preceded by a fast-tracked November 1 hearing about the stricter law in Texas. But don’t neglect the Court’s December 8 hearing and subsequent decision on tax funding of religious schools in the potentially weighty…
Attorney David Betras As I have noted in this space a number of times, private companies and government entities have the power to impose vaccine mandates. The seminal case on the issue, Jacobson v Massachusetts, was decided by the Supreme Court in 1905. In the 116 years since, courts have…
Attorney David Betras Like kids counting the days until Christmas, attorneys, legal scholars and jurisprudence junkies, including me, eagerly anticipate the first Monday in October, the day the Supreme Court of the United States begins its new term each year. We can barely control ourselves as we wait for the…
As the COVID-19 public health emergency continues, vaccine mandates have been imposed in both public and private workplaces. These mandates include federal, state, and local requirements for certain employees to become fully vaccinated or risk termination from employment. This blog discusses the process for handling and accommodating employee requests for…
Free Exercise of Religion on a Slippery Slope – By Howard Sierer – Where do we draw a line limiting the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment ? For those tempted to answer that no limiting line should be drawn, read on. When religious beliefs lead to…
HOUSTON (AP) — Executions in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state face delays amid legal questions over Texas’ refusal to allow spiritual advisers to touch inmates and pray aloud as condemned individuals are being put to death. It’s unclear when Texas may carry out another execution after the U.S. Supreme…
This undated photo provided by The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows John Henry Ramirez, a Texas death row inmate. Executions in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state are likely to face new delays because of legal questions tied to spiritual advisers and what role they play in the death…
FILE – This undated photo provided by The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows John Henry Ramirez, a Texas death row inmate. Executions in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state are likely to face new delays because of legal questions tied to spiritual advisers and what role they play in…
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 25, 2021. Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC The U.S. Supreme Court’s new nine-month term, which begins on…
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S. June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo Oct 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s new nine-month term, which begins on Monday, promises to be among the most momentous in generations. The justices are poised to decide major…
The media are prepping for the U.S. Supreme Court’s December 1 hearing on the strict Mississippi abortion law and the subsequent ruling. In a prior Guy Memo on religious "friend of the court" briefs filed on the pro-life side, I promised a second rundown when pro-abortion-rights activists weighed in with…
A 1982 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard Square restaurant Grendel’s Den could serve as legal precedent to overturn Texas’s recent law banning most abortions. A 1982 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard Square restaurant Grendel’s Den could serve as legal precedent to overturn Texas’s recent law banning most abortions, Harvard emeritus…
U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Catholic Social Services, a foster care agency that refuses to compromise its religious beliefs by placing children with same-sex couples. The High Court’s decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia has a significant impact on every area of the free exercise of…
The fight for school choice has always faced push‐back when it comes to funding religious education. Even though Pell Grants and federal student loans can be used to attend religious universities, people become wary when school‐choice dollars—whether in the form of vouchers, tax credits, or whatever—are given to religious K-12…
Church, Cologne Germany. (Photo: Katy Grimes) The Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi and Cornerstone Church in Fresno just won large lawsuits against Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose statewide COVID shutdown orders included churches. “Although Plaintiffs appreciate the government’s significant interest in and efforts to protect the health and safety of…
Earlier this year I wrote an article arguing that the local church is essential. No matter what the government says, God’s word makes it clear that believers are called to continue gathering together for fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25). The government can tell Christians to stop stepping over the entrance of the…
A group of religious leaders have launched a Federal Court challenge to the NSW and Victorian health orders, arguing they should be allowed the same freedoms as supermarkets and liquor stores. They are seeking exemptions from measures that restrict freedoms in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, which has thrown…
Image: Sebastian Pichler/Unsplash The Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade . When the court finally got around to issuing the reprehensible 5-4 shadow docket decision on Texas’s bounty-hunting, 2-week abortion ban, which had already gone into effect and is spreading to other states , the utter dereliction of duty and…
A federal judge will now decide if a lawsuit challenging UMass Boston and UMass Lowell’s COVID vaccine mandates should be allowed to continue after two students argued the universities’ enforcement of the policy violates their rights. The schools are being sued by Hunter Harris, a UMass Lowell junior from Medway,…
From Resurrection School v. Hertel , decided yesterday by Judge Karen Nelson Moore joined by Judge Bernice Donald: Plaintiffs argue that MDHHS’s Orders violate their sincerely held religious beliefs because they require students in grades K–5 at religious schools to wear a face covering. We do not question the sincerity…