SPOKANE — A one-time deputy in the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is suing his former employer in federal court, alleging that he was harassed and discriminated because he no longer attended the same church as several top officers. Aaron Shepard Former Chelan County Sheriff’s Office deputy Aaron Shepard alleges the…
Tom Waddell: Lovers of religious freedom fight back
Freedom-loving liberals are pushing back against the Christian nationalist’s stranglehold on our judicial system. Since the Supreme Court made it clear the basis for their edicts on religious questions is their personal beliefs, protecting the nation from the Supreme Court has become essential to defending democracy. Recent Supreme Court edicts…
Israel: A Jewish democracy or religious state? – opinion
The Israeli government should strike a balance between the demands made by the ultra-Orthodox sectors and the needs of Israeli citizens in general. BNEI BRAK: The combination of ultra-Orthodox large families who are unemployed, lack a regular income and the basic education required for knowledge and occupation, has led to…
Case Weighs Religious Accommodation for Sunday Sabbath
The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted a case that will shed light on what types of religious accommodations would be considered an excessive burden on employers. The court will hear the case during this term, but a date for oral arguments hasn’t been set yet. Background Under federal law, employers…
Colorado Courts Still Don’t Understand Religious Freedom
COMMENTARY BY Baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, manages his shop in Lakewood, Colo. August 15, 2018. Hyoung Chang / The Denver Post / Getty Images Key Takeaways The Colorado Court of Appeals decided that Jack Phillips violated state law by declining to create a custom cake to celebrate…
Title VII Protects Requests for Religious Exemption From Vaccines
Siri & Glimstad’s Allison Lucas and Aaron Siri analyze the role Title VII should play when employers review requests for religious exemption from vaccine boosters. They say employees who demonstrate sincerely held religious beliefs are entitled to accommodation. Employers that mandate a Covid-19 vaccine booster may be hasty to deny…
U.S. Supreme Court to hear religious bias claim against Postal Service
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo Jan 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by an evangelical Christian former mail carrier in Pennsylvania who accused the U.S. Postal Service of religious bias after…
State appeals court rules against Masterpiece Cakeshop in yet another Colorado anti-discrimination case
masterpiece cakeshop antidiscrimination act Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, continue to be the subject of litigation over whether the First Amendment protects their right to refuse certain custom cake requests by LGBTQ customers even though the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) bars such discrimination. Last week, a Colorado…
Gateway school district sued; group asks judge to stop board from hiring superintendent
A citizens committee has filed a lawsuit in Shasta County Superior Court against the Gateway Unified School, asking a judge to force the district’s board of trustees to follow its own policies in hiring a new superintendent. The board voted Jan. 18 to bypass the procedure, known as board policy…
SCOTUS Will Decide Whether Federal Law Shields a Religious Postal Employee Who Refuses To Work on Sundays
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination "because of…religion." The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case that asks whether that law requires the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to accommodate a religious postal employee who refuses to work on Sundays. The case is…
FFRF demands Calif. school district board end prayer at meetings
Immediately cease the practice of prayer to open school board meetings, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the Gateway Unified School District Board of Trustees. On Jan. 18, the board made a motion to open meetings with prayer, which passed after a 3-2 vote. The national state/church watchdog, however,…
Colorado baker loses appeal over his refusal to make a cake for trans woman
Colorado baker Jack Phillips refused to make a cake to celebrate a customer’s gender transition. DENVER — The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight,…
State appeals court rules against Masterpiece Cakeshop in yet another Colorado anti-discrimination case
masterpiece cakeshop antidiscrimination act Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, continue to be the subject of litigation over whether the First Amendment protects their right to refuse certain custom cake requests by LGBTQ customers even though the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) bars such discrimination. Last week, a Colorado…
Supreme Court grants review in case on employees’ religious rights
New poll finds overturning Roe won’t have significant impact on midterms. In what is certain to be another high-profile addition to its docket this term, the Supreme Court has granted review in Groff v. DeJoy — a case in which the religious rights of employees will take center stage. The…
FFRF demands Calif. school district board end prayer at meetings
Immediately cease the practice of prayer to open school board meetings, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the Gateway Unified School District Board of Trustees. On Jan. 18, the board made a motion to open meetings with prayer, which passed after a 3-2 vote. The national state/church watchdog, however,…
Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake – Associated Press
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
BREAKING! FFRF wins its lawsuit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
The Freedom From Religion Foundation today won its case before an appeals court against the Texas governor’s censorship of its Capitol display. After Gov. Greg Abbott and the State Preservation Board blatantly and illegally censored FFRF’s display in the Texas Capitol in 2015, Abbott and the board have fought every…
Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
Colorado baker loses appeal over his refusal to make a cake for trans woman
The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, which involved his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado…
Colorado baker loses appeal over refusing cake to transgender customer
A baker who refused to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding citing his Christian faith has lost a fresh appeal in Colorado court. On Thursday, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop , which was to be…
Colorado baker loses appeal over birthday cake for gender transition celebration
Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips at work in this March 10, 2014 photo. By Colleen Slevin/AP The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight,…
Colorado baker Jack Phillips loses appeal in transgender case as Supreme Court ruling looms
FILE – Jack Phillips, who’s case was heard by the Supreme Court five years ago after he objected to designing a wedding cake for a gay couple, speaks to supporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court…
School Choice and the Courts
As Neal McCluskey explored yesterday, education involves “developing the minds—and for many, the souls— of human beings.” This basic truth has resulted in education being a common battleground since the early days of state involvement. Not surprisingly, most of these battles have been around religion, which is a primary way…
Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith has lost an appeal in his latest legal fight DENVER — The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to…