(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Supreme Court justices Thomas R. Lee, Constandinos Himonas, John A. Pearce and Paige Petersen, from left, listen to Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant give the state of the judiciary speech to the legislature in the House chamber on the first day of the…
This Court Ruling Shows Why States Can’t Control Artistic Expression
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. First Amendment advocates are celebrating a ruling that marks the first federal court victory to address the free…
8th Circuit reinstates legal challenge by videographers who won’t make same-sex wedding videos
Tweet reddit Upvote Downvote Photo image from Shutterstock. A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated a challenge to Minnesota’s anti-bias law by videographers who say they can’t be required to make same-sex wedding videos because it would violate their religious beliefs. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…
Ruling in Minnesota Wedding Videographers’ Case Properly Prioritizes First Amendment Rights
Thomas Jipping Thomas Jipping is deputy director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in a case arising from Minnesota strikes the right balance between First Amendment rights and…
Rothschild: Opponents wrong regarding legislative prayer issue
Recent articles supporting the Commissioners’ decision to surrender First Amendment prayer rights contain flawed assumptions. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” In the recent Supreme Court Case, Greece v. Galloway,…
Minnesota Christian Couple Gets a Victory for Religious Liberty
Judge David Stras, a Trump appointee, wrote for the 2-1 majority opinion, where he noted that Minnesota can’t force “free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable.” Alliance Defending Freedom Carl and Angel Larsen are a St. Cloud, Minnesota couple who run a media business called Telescope Media…
Law Professor to Lecture on Contentious Church and State Question
Photo Submitted FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Should Native Americans be allowed to sacramentally ingest peyote with no criminal penalties? Does a crèche belong on the courthouse lawn? And what about the 8-foot-tall bronze statue of the satanic goat monster Baphomet, briefly on view last year at the Arkansas Capitol building? Mark…
Free speech? Or bigotry? Work it out in court
D.J. Tice @StribDJ America has always been an experiment in the limits of diversity. How deeply and in how many ways can a people differ and disagree, and even disapprove of one another’s ways of life, and still remain “a people” — a community with enough shared values to stay…
Minnesota filmmakers’ lawsuit over gay weddings reinstated
A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated a lawsuit filed by two Minnesota filmmakers who want the right to refuse to film same-sex weddings, saying that videos are a form of speech with constitutional protections under the First Amendment Carl and Angel Larsen, who run a Christian business called Telescope…
More Politics Is Not the Solution to a Politicized Judiciary
COMMENTARY BY The idea that lawyers cannot be impartial judges because they are partners in a big law firm or take their religious faith seriously is not simply baffling, it is dangerous. William_Potter/Getty Images The Left today rejects the very idea of an impartial judge. This debate about the role…
Christian couple can sue over Minnesota same-sex marriage video law
(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday revived a lawsuit by a Minnesota couple challenging a state law requiring that their video production company film same-sex weddings, which they say violates their Christian beliefs. FILE PHOTO: A rose is seen on a giant rainbow flag at a pro same-sex…
FAMILY AND MARRIAGE: Separating church and state
Roger Rollins “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” — U.S. Constitution, Amendment 1 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Bible A principal in Long…
Realtor sues real estate board over investigation into Bible verses on webpage
(Photo: Flickr Commons/Joe Gratz) A Christian realtor is suing the Virginia Real Estate Board, saying she felt compelled to resign after being investigated for a fair housing complaint related to sharing her religious beliefs on a business website and email signatures. In the state lawsuit filed in Richmond, Hadassah Hubbard…
A Federal Court Strikes a Powerful Blow for Free Speech and Religious Freedom
Angel and Carl Larsen, owners of Telescope Media Group in St. Cloud, Minn. (Alliance Defending Freedom) Earlier today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutional order , limited the reach of expansive nondiscrimination laws, and protected a Christian couple from having to choose between their business and their…
Ashers bakery customer goes to European court over ‘gay cake’ case
Ashers Baking Company is fighting a discrimination case once again. A gay man is to challenge the UK Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of a Christian bakery after it found that he was not discriminated against when his cake order was refused. The case goes back to 2014 when Gareth…
Religious freedoms vs religious discrimination
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) with faith community leaders. FOLLOWING last year’s Religious Freedom Review conducted by an expert panel headed by Philip Ruddock, and the publication of its report, the Australian government announced its intention to introduce a new law, a Religious Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination on the…
The Trump administration just told the Supreme Court that it’s legal to fire workers for being transgender
The Justice Department outlined, in a Friday court filing , its reasons why transgender discrimination in the workplace is illegal under federal law. The filing is related to an upcoming Supreme Court case involving a transgender funeral worker Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her position after announcing her transition.…
State defends dual enrollment program against religious discrimination claim
The Federal Building in Burlington houses the U.S. District Courthouse and the U.S. Postal Service. Photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDigger Attorneys for the state defended Vermont’s dual enrollment program in federal court Friday, asking U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss to dismiss a lawsuit that argues the program discriminates against students…
Paul Muschick: Lehigh County seal decision a victory for common sense
A federal appeals court ruled the presence of a cross in Lehigh County’s seal is historical in nature and not a government endorsement of a religion. (Contributed Photo / THE MORNING CALL) The Lehigh County seal can remain as is, with its cross. And we can only hope that seals…
Cross in seal of Pa. county ‘plainly constitutional,’ rules appeals court
The flag and seal of Lehigh County, Pa. (Images via court documents) (Religion News Service) — A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Lehigh County, Pa., seal that contains a cross, citing a recent Supreme Court decision. The unanimous ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of…
Appeals Court: Christian Logo for Lehigh County (PA) Doesn’t Promote Religion
This is disappointing: An Appeals Court has ruled in favor of a Christian logo representing a Pennsylvania county, overturning an earlier ruling that said (fairly obviously) that the symbol was a promotion of religion. The battle began in 2016 when the lawsuit was filed. A judge later declared that the…
We Are All Originalists Now, Sort of
During her 2010 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Elena Kagan, fresh off a stint as Barack Obama’s solicitor general, created a minor stir in legal circles by stating, “We are all originalists.” While clearly an exaggeration, this statement spoke to a subtle but increasingly apparent truth: Since the 1980s, constitutional text…
Superintendent defends back-to-school worship service after atheist group complains
Fyffe High School in DeKalb County, Alabama An Alabama school superintendent defended a local high school that hosted a worship rally on Sunday after a complaint was filed by one of the nation’s leading secularist legal groups. DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Jason Barnett told Fox News on Tuesday that he…
Discriminatory Catholic Agency Seeks Supreme Court Review
Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia hopes to takes its case arguing it can discriminate against same-sex couples to the US Supreme Court. A Catholic foster care agency has asked the US Supreme Court to overrule a federal appeals court decision rejecting its claim that it enjoys a religious freedom right…
Terrible city ordinance forces political firms to work for causes they oppose
Two businessmen, Grant Strobl and Jacob Chludzinski own ThinkRight Strategies, a political consulting and marketing firm, in Michigan have filed a lawsuit against the city of Ann Arbor for enforcing a law that is discriminatory. Ann Arbor passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for businesses to discriminate based on…