Covid-19 has spurred an outbreak of a different kind: litigation. To combat the pandemic, officials imposed extensive community-level mitigation measures using their broad but largely untested emergency powers. In response, more than 1000 suits challenged orders shuttering businesses, banning indoor worship services, restricting travel, and mandating mask wearing. 1 As…
Group wages legal battle to raise Christian flag at Boston City Hall
A lawsuit alleges that a civic association and its director’s constitutional rights of free speech and equal protection under the law were violated by the denial of an application to raise the Christian flag during a celebration at Boston City Hall. Image courtesy of Liberty Counsel Aug. 9 (UPI) —…
Religious liberty and patent validity
This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, the autonomy of faith-based nonprofits to hire only candidates who share their religious beliefs, and Apple’s attempt to shake up the process for contesting patent validity by expanding the jurisdiction of federal courts to…
Denver jail chaplain not liable for First Amendment violation against inmate, appeals court rules
Photo illustration by DNY59, iStock) A 7.5-year-old lawsuit that began when the Denver Sheriff Department’s chaplain denied a kosher diet to a detainee has ended on Monday, after the federal appeals court based in Colorado ruled that the chaplain deserved immunity for any infringement on the man’s free exercise of…
Canton Local school board to discontinue use of prayer during meetings
CANTON TWP. – The Canton Local school board will no longer begin its meetings with a prayer . Board President Scott Hamilton said Tuesday that the board made the decision to discontinue its longstanding practice of invocation after reviewing the laws and court cases surrounding the issue of prayer at…
Freedom From Religion Foundation wants Canton Local to stop praying
A Wisconsin-based nonprofit that promotes the separation of church and state says the Canton Local school board is violating the Constitution by beginning its board meetings with a prayer. In a July 23 letter, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has requested the school board immediately stop scheduling prayers as part…
Christian web designer opposed to creating same-sex wedding websites loses at 10th Circuit
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has ruled that a Christian web designer must create websites that conflict with her religious views. In a 2-1 decision released Monday , the circuit panel ruled against Lorie Smith and her web design company, 303 Creative,…
United States: Religious Institutions Update: July 2021
Key Cases Church Autonomy Ministerial Exception Doctrine Bars Minister-on-Minister Hostile Work Environment Claim In Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City , No. 19-2142, 2021 WL 2880232 (7th Cir. July 9, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled on interlocutory appeal that the ministerial…
U.S. Supreme Court: One right, one wrong | Roegner
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn. Contact bjroegner@comcast.net. Here’s a tale of two United States Supreme Court decisions — one right and one wrong. Despite two clear examples of discrimination, the court ruled differently in each case. The court was correct when it declined for…
U.S. Supreme Court: One right, one wrong | Roegner
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn. Contact bjroegner@comcast.net. Here’s a tale of two United States Supreme Court decisions — one right and one wrong. Despite two clear examples of discrimination, the court ruled differently in each case. The court was correct when it declined for…
U.S. Supreme Court: One right, one wrong | Roegner
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn. Contact bjroegner@comcast.net. Here’s a tale of two United States Supreme Court decisions — one right and one wrong. Despite two clear examples of discrimination, the court ruled differently in each case. The court was correct when it declined for…
Court win for InterVarsity applauded by Southern Baptists
University of Iowa. ST. LOUIS (BP) – Southern Baptist leaders commended the latest court victory for a student faith group that was removed from a state university campus for requiring its leaders to be Christians. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 16 that the University of Iowa violated…
Court win for InterVarsity applauded by Southern Baptists
University of Iowa. ST. LOUIS (BP) – Southern Baptist leaders commended the latest court victory for a student faith group that was removed from a state university campus for requiring its leaders to be Christians. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled July 16 that the University of Iowa violated…
Federal Appeals Court Lets Judge Resume Chaplain-Led Prayers While Lawsuit Against His Tradition Continues
(Photo : First Liberty Institute) Judge Wayne Mack A federal appeals court reportedly allowed a judge from Texas to resume his chaplain-led prayers while the First Amendment lawsuit against his tradition continues. The Christian Post said Montgomery County Justice of the Peace Judge Wayne Mack was allowed by the United…
District of Columbia agrees to pay $220,000 in legal fees to Capitol Hill Baptist Church
Last week, the court reached a favorable settlement for Capitol Hill Baptist Church with the District of Columbia in the case Capitol Hill Baptist Church v. Muriel E. Bowser . “We are grateful for the work of NRB Member First Liberty in helping the faithful, gospel-preaching congregation at Capitol Hill…
Tom Waddell: Supreme Court decisions clear way for discrimination
The Maine Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is appalled by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fulton v. Philadelphia that grants religious privilege to Catholic Social Services at the expense of the LGBTQ community. Philadelphia did not renew its contract with CSS because it violated the city’s anti-discrimination…
Supreme Court Answers Question on Public Funding for Private Schools
Concurrences and dissents leave clues on where a decision might fall if the Wisconsin Supreme Court was deciding the merits of the case. July 7, 2021 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clarify what information can be used to determine…
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Government Aid to Religious Schools
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether Maine may exclude religious schools that offer sectarian education from a state tuition program. The case, Carson v. Makin, No. 20-1088, is broadly similar to one from Montana decided by the court last year. In that case, the court…
Supreme Court Turns Down Appeal in Clash Between Florist and Gay Couple
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would not hear an appeal from a florist in Washington State who said she had a constitutional right to refuse to create a floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding. The move left open a question the court last considered in…
How will this Supreme Court decide, or sidestep, pivotal religious liberty questions?
The major U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v. Philadelphia ( .pdf here ) allows a Catholic agency to avoid placing foster-care children with same-sex couples. Importantly, the Catholics will place gay children and will place children with gay singles since there’s no conscience crisis over defying the church’s doctrines…
WATCH VIDEO | Gallitzin historical marker spotlights 1894 court case on religious expression
A new historical marker unveiled June 23, 2021, at Tunnels Park in Gallitzin commemorates an 1893 court case that gave Catholic nuns the right to wear religious clothing while teaching in public schools. Sister Mary Parks addresses the crowd at dedication ceremonies for new historical marker unveiled June 23, 2021,…
Protecting free exercise under Smith and after Smith
This article is part of a symposium on the court’s decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia . Thomas C. Berg is the James L. Oberstar professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota). Douglas Laycock is the Robert E. Scott distinguished professor of law…
Guest Commentary: Let’s talk discovery, religion and logo
Anticipating the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s pending assessment of its Columbus ship logo, I respond to recent commentary that asserted the logo is “fully fitting” for the district. The commentary is informative for evaluating the logo’s appropriateness, but not in the way its author intended. Consider two…
California churches celebrate win for religious liberty as state agrees to pay $2.1M over lockdown battles
Churches in California are celebrating their victory for religious freedom after a religious freedom legal group secured settlements requiring the state to pay $2.1 million in attorneys’ fees to a Pentecostal church and a Catholic priest and to never again impose discriminatory restrictions on houses of worship. In an injunction…
Federal judge rules against courtroom prayer policy in Montgomery County
A federal judge has ruled against Montgomery County Judge Wayne Mack’s practice of opening his court with a prayer said by a member of a volunteer chaplain program. Southern District of Texas Judge Kenneth Hoyt on Friday deemed the prayers violated the Establishment Clause, which is the Constitutional provision prohibiting…