News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
A new state law could help short-circuit a legal battle about whether the school was improperly barred from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2016 high-school football championship game. Attorneys are battling over whether a new state law could short-circuit a case about whether a Tampa Christian…
Football team praying at Cambridge Christian School. TAMPA, Fla. – Attorneys are battling over whether a new state law could short-circuit a case about whether a Tampa Christian school was improperly prevented from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 high-school football championship game. The Florida High…
​Takeaway: A former art teacher and officer administrator at a Los Angeles Catholic school was not barred by the ministerial exception from bringing an age discrimination claim against the school where her job duties were secular in nature. A former art teacher and officer administrator at a Catholic school could…
Texas wants to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Other states want to bring religion back to schools and public spaces. It ought to be a no brainer — they cannot do that. The Supreme Court long ago said all this was unconstitutional. But don’t be surprised if…
Local advisory committees on religious education may not exclude humanists, the High Court has found. In a landmark ruling on Friday, the High Court determined that Kent County Council acted unlawfully in barring a humanist from joining a Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) as a full member. Judge…
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is asking the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office to stop promotion of religious programs, events and other activities that violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On April 24, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook more than…
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is asking the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office to stop promotion of religious programs, events and other activities that violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On April 24, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook more than…
FILE – The Supreme Court is seen on April 21, 2023, in Washington. A unanimous Supreme Court has given a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman a new chance to recoup some money after the county kept the entire $40,000 when it sold her condominium over a small unpaid tax bill. The justices…
An Ohio school district shouldn’t hold its upcoming graduation ceremony inside a church, insists the Freedom From Religion Foundation . A concerned Groveport Madison Schools alumnus and community member has informed the state/church watchdog that in keeping with a tradition since 2020, this year’s high school graduation ceremony will be…
Nickson v. Shemran, Inc. , 90 Cal. App. 5th 121 (2023) Summary A plaintiff maintains standing to pursue a non-individual PAGA claim in state court when his individual PAGA claim is sent to arbitration pursuant to an arbitration agreement. Facts In 2021, Plaintiff Blaine Nickson filed a single-count California Labor…
A copy of the Ten Commandments in stone hangs on a building next to the Pickens County Courthouse in Jasper, Ga., in October. The inspiration for Sen. Phil King’s bill is the 2022 Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Bremerton about a coach’s prayers. Our state senators recently emerged from their…
Jae C. Hong, Associated Press Supporters of abortion rights protest outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Hollywood, Calif., after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022. The state of California will pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees after losing battles with four…
An Arkansas public school district recently set off a flood of controversy on social media regarding the long debate of separation of church and state. (Photo KATV) PRESCOTT, Ark. (KATV) — An Arkansas public school district recently set off a flood of controversy on social media regarding the long debate…
Conservative legal groups have expressed concern over the Biden administration’s recently announced guidance on religious expression in public schools, believing that it might lead to an increase in violations of First Amendment rights for teachers and students. On Monday, the United States Department of Education released the details of a…
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Pastor Jim Loomer, right, speaks during news conference in front of Milford Christian Church, in Milford, Conn. March 10, 2023. Loomer is seen here with attorney Brian Festa of We The Patriots USA. MILFORD — The state’s attorney general…
Pastor Jim Loomer, right, speaks during news conference in front of Milford Christian Church, in Milford, Conn. March 10, 2023. Loomer is seen here with attorney Brian Festa of We The Patriots USA. MILFORD — The state’s attorney general has asked a federal judge to throw a lawsuit filed by…
Pastor Jim Loomer, right, speaks during news conference in front of Milford Christian Church, in Milford, Conn. March 10, 2023. Loomer is seen here with attorney Brian Festa of We The Patriots USA. MILFORD — The state’s attorney general has asked a federal judge to throw a lawsuit filed by…
SANTA ANA, California – The Justice Department has filed a statement of interest in a federal lawsuit explaining that the act of distributing food and drinks to people who are homeless by Micah’s Way, a faith-based organization in Santa Ana that helps people in need, could be religious exercise under…
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the East Hartford Police Department to immediately disband a chaplaincy program and the city to cease promotion of it on social media outlets. A concerned East Hartford resident reported that on March 8, multiple Christian religious leaders were sworn in as official police…
(ANALYSIS) Last Tuesday marked World Press Freedom Day , and we can be thankful for the great blessings of press freedom. This is true for its own sake but also because such freedom is also intertwined with religious freedom. This connection is often overlooked. For example, I checked what ChatGPT…
(CN) — What they wanted was a quiet waterfront retreat where they could practice meditation and other tenets of Buddhism. Since 2010, the Nimityongskul family has operated the Thai Meditation Center of Alabama out of a small commercial space in a Mobile strip mall along one of the city’s busiest…
King Charles III is the first British monarch who has previously had a civil marriage and a civil divorce. In 1981, Charles, then the Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer in a fairytale wedding watched by 750 million people worldwide. However, the royal couple separated in 1992 and they…
HELLERTOWN, Pa. — A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction today, ordering the Saucon Valley School District (SVSD) to allow the After School Satan Club (ASSC) to meet in district facilities. The emergency injunction comes after the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Dechert LLP filed…
This case law update was written by James P. Garay Heelan , an attorney at the law firm of Shaw Bransford & Roth , where he has practiced federal personnel and employment law since 2012. Mr. Heelan represents federal personnel across the Executive Branch, including career senior executives, law enforcement…
Getty Images/Exkalibur New Jersey-based Mendham Methodist Church and Zion Lutheran Church Long Valley have filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging religious discrimination after the county excluded them from the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund. The legal action , undertaken by First Liberty Institute, Jones Day, and the…