News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Executive Director Paul Coleman oversees the advocacy and operations of the global alliance-building legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom International. (ADF International) ‘We see more cases year on year, and this is, in part, because Christians are becoming more aware of what’s happening.’ One of the major challenges all governments face…
Roundtable Expert Witnesses Services for Litigators & Legal Professionals – Click her for more info. In a major decision for religious institutions of higher education, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) recently ruled in Bethany College, 369 NLRB No. 98 (June 10, 2020) that it has no jurisdiction over…
Roundtable Expert Witnesses Services for Litigators & Legal Professionals – Click her for more info. On June 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued Bethany College , 369 NLRB No. 98, in which it held that it does not have jurisdiction over matters concerning teachers or faculty…
This week, Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit in Connecticut challenging unconstitutional policies enacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Until today, PLF has not filed lawsuits challenging shutdown and other emergency orders. As the country has struggled to flatten the curve of infections, our primary strategy has been…
New Africa / Shutterstock.com PETITION: Demand Planned Parenthood return $80M improperly taken from coronavirus emergency fund! Sign the petition here. June 8, 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has upheld most of a law allowing the Empire State to force…
In a seemingly inconsequential unanimous decision issued on May 7, the Supreme Court rapped the knuckles of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A pithy nine-page opinion authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg harshly condemned the appellate judges because they had abandoned the "principle of party presentation"…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church. (File: KRNV) RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church. (File: KRNV) RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a…
The extraordinary measures designed to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to cause constitutional clashes. My last post ’s opening hypothetical about members of a congregation being ticketed for attending church services has now become a reality, and the Supreme Court has given its first hint on how it…
FILE – In this April 12, 2020, file photo, Norma Urrabazo prays while wearing a face mask before speaking at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas. Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings…
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s lawyers are stepping up their defense of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on religious gatherings in a legal battle with leaders of a rural church who say it violates their constitutional right to exercise their beliefs. Attorney General Aaron Ford is urging a federal judge…
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington.(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is set to decide on a religious freedom claim from a south San Diego County church that wants an exemption from California’s COVID-19 rules, which limit large…
Taipei, May 29 (CNA) Provisions in Taiwan’s laws that treat adultery as a criminal offense have been ruled unconstitutional and declared invalid effective immediately, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) announced Friday. Hsu and the Constitutional Court determined that the laws that punish adultery infringe on the privacy of…
Move comes amid lawsuits and possible U.S. Supreme Court review SPRINGFIELD – People in Illinois will be allowed to attend worship services starting this weekend without fear of prosecution as the state enters Phase 3 of Gov. JB Pritzker’s “ Restore Illinois ” reopening plan. Pritzker made the announcement during…
The U.S. Supreme Court (by Joe Ravi via Wikimedia – CC-BY-SA 3.0) Other than the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable government searches, I would argue no other constitutional guarantee is more abused or more intentionally distorted in the modern era than the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause . Before I get…
A Baker County judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to 10 churches, including Elkhorn Baptist in Baker City, who sued the governor. The judge ruled Gov. Kate Brown’s restrictions on religious gatherings “null and void’’ because her emergency order due to the coronavirus pandemic had exceeded its 28-day limit.…
Whether the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses prevent civil courts from adjudicating employment discrimination claims brought by employees against their religious employer, where the employee carried out important religious functions, is the question presented in two consolidated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court: Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru,…
A Baker County judge on Monday ruled that Gov. Kate Brown’s restrictions on religious gatherings were “null and void” because her emergency order amid the coronavirus pandemic had exceeded its 28-day limit. Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff granted 10 churches that had sued the governor a preliminary injunction, finding they had…
Sinners, immigrants and climate change aren’t to blame for the coronavirus — it’s governments here and abroad, according to most religious Americans. In a new study by the University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Americans who said they believe in God were…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming Mark Klaassen weighed in on the constitutionality of state medical orders related to the COVID-19 crisis. He published an op-ed Friday outlining the U.S. Department of Justice’s position. He said the DOJ is being careful not to…
In Friday’s Spell v. Edwards , Judge Brian A. Jackson (M.D. La.), rejected an argument that Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ shutdown order (which limited indoor church gatherings, among other gatherings, to at most 10 people) violated the Free Exercise Clause. But the court also suggested that an exemption specifically…
The COVID-19 emergency shouldn’t divert the media from getting prepared for an unusual pileup of big “culture war” news that will break at the U.S. Supreme Court during the weeks through early July. Pending decisions the media will need to interpret involve abortion, religious conscience claims, gay and transgender rights,…
Churches ask court to grant an injunction lifting restrictions created by Gov. Kate Brown’s executive orders. VIA GOOGLE MAPS – Calvary Chapel in Southeast Portland has sued Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Ten congregations in the state have filed suit challenging the governor’s lock down on individuals and businesses to curb…