News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
The end of the Supreme Court’s term brought two rulings unquestionably favorable to religious interests. A U.S. flag flies in front of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City. (photo: mariakray / Shutterstock) According to recent opinion polling, most Americans think the Supreme Court is friendly to…
Michael Maslanka A birthday ending with a “0” is bearing down on me. As with other Baby Boomers, thoughts pivot from temporal concerns toward transcendent ones. So, a very recent trifecta of cases involving religion in the workplace snagged my attention: two from SCOTUS and one from the Fifth Circuit.…
The idea that religion should be isolated from our civil institutions has overwhelmingly captured the American popular imagination . Recently however, the U.S. Supreme Court has been dismantling this “wall of separation” narrative, brick by brick, to allow more freedom for private religious expression and activity. Over the past year,…
Late last month, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a split decision that Colorado can’t force, through its anti-discrimination law, a business owner who provides expressive services like graphic design and website creation to make wedding websites for same-sex couples. To do so, the court found, would violate the…
Photo: Adobe Stock As attorneys focusing their practice on divorce, we are often involved in trying to procure a Jewish divorce, also known as a “Get” for our clients. Why does this issue arise during a civil divorce and what can be done when one spouse refuses to give the…
On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying the standard employers must apply in considering an employee’s religious accommodation request under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In Groff v. DeJoy , the justices unanimously ruled that Title VII requires employers who deny such requests…
(Photo by Celal Gunes / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) In 1943, as the end of World War II was nowhere in sight and when patriotic national unity around the defeat of fascist aggression from Germany and Japan was at its height, the US Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia…
Peoria Unified School District Administration Building Last month the Peoria Unified School District received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation stating grounds of “imposing religion” on those in public attendance and if continued, “could subject the district to unnecessary liability and potential financial strain.” During Thursday’s meeting, Bible…
On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying the standard employers must apply in considering an employee’s religious accommodation request under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In Groff v. DeJoy , the justices unanimously ruled that Title VII requires employers who deny such requests…
The U.S. Supreme Court made a colossally misguided ruling in a case involving a website designer who doesn’t want to serve same-sex clients. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | Has America hit political bottom? The Supreme Court may have demonstrated that there is no bottom to which America can descend,…
On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a significant decision in Groff v. DeJoy , No. 22-174 (June 29, 2023), in which it “clarified” the religious accommodation standard under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Uprooting nearly half a century of precedent, the Court articulated that…
Members of a deeply conservative Amish community in Minnesota don’t need to install septic systems to dispose of their "gray water," the state Court of Appeals ruled Monday in a long-running religious freedom case that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. A three-judge panel ruled that…
Subscribe to Our Mailing List > In Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that religious employers may be exempt from Title VII requirements concerning sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination if those requirements are found to…
In a significant legal milestone for religious liberty, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Groff v. DeJoy , a case litigated with the assistance of NRB member First Liberty Institute, delivered a resounding affirmation of the rights of employees to freely exercise their religious beliefs. The ruling sets a powerful…
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states – Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for…
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is one of three sets of plaintiffs making the case today for removal of a Ten Commandments monolith from the grounds of the Arkansas Capitol in the federal courtroom of Judge Kristine G. Baker. FFRF Legal Counsel Sam Grover and local counsel Gerry Schulze are…
In the final days of its most recent term, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court strengthened religious liberty in the workplace when it decided in favor of Gerald Groff, a former United States Postal Service employee who sought a religious accommodation to honor the Sabbath. This is a landmark victory, not…
On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court (“Court”) issued a unanimous opinion in Groff v. DeJoy, finding that the employer-friendly de minimis standard for determining whether an employer would suffer an undue hardship by granting a religious accommodation to an employee is incompatible with the text of Title…
Key Takeaways: With its decision in Groff v. DeJoy , the Supreme Court has ruled that an employer must demonstrate granting a religious accommodation would result in substantial increased costs to the employer to justify an accommodation denial. The 9-0 decision nullified a line of lower court cases permitting an…
Happy 247th Birthday, America! To what extent are we a “Christian nation” with a “Christian government?” Can we truly celebrate religious diversity? I asked those questions in my March 9, 2020 open forum, over which the DN-R editorial staff placed the headline: “US Was Founded As A Secular Nation.” I…
Major LGBT rights case could weaken anti-discrimination laws nationwide Protesters in December jockey for position before cameras in front of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in a case about a Colorado anti-discrimination law and same-sex wedding websites. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo) The Supreme Court sided Friday with…
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that the First Amendment bars Colorado from "forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees." Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said: "Ms. [Lori] Smith seeks to engage in protected First Amendment…
Conservative justices form 6-3 majority in case Web designer Lorie Smith poses for a portrait at her office in Littleton, Colo., in this photo taken Nov. 28, 2022. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favour of Smith in a dispute over protections for freedom of speech under the…
The US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2023. Christian postal worker protested denial of Sunday off Religious groups wanted Title VII ‘undue hardship’ to mirror ADA The US Supreme Court unanimously created a higher standard for employers to measure the burden a worker’s religious accommodation request would…
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo June 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday bolstered the ability of employees to obtain accommodations at work for their religious practices, reviving a lawsuit by an evangelical Christian former mail carrier…