COLUMN: The religion of the unreligious

COLUMN: The religion of the unreligious

Steve Fair On June 5, Oklahoma became the first state in the country to approve a religious charter school. The 3-2 vote will allow St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s application to receive Oklahoma tax dollars. Immediately after the vote, Dr. Robert Franklin, the board chairman, resigned. Franklin…

Key California Employment Law Case Summaries: April 2023

Key California Employment Law Case Summaries: April 2023

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…

FFRF demands that Conn. police dept. end chaplaincy program

FFRF demands that Conn. police dept. end chaplaincy program

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…

Supreme Court hears arguments over Christians’ right not to work on Sunday

Supreme Court hears arguments over Christians’ right not to work on Sunday

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington March 27, 2023. The court heard arguments in a case April 18 that could have broad implications for employees seeking religious accommodations from their employers. (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters) The U.S. Supreme Court heard April 18 arguments in a case that…

Court protects church that shielded abuser, who’s protecting children?

Court protects church that shielded abuser, who’s protecting children?

The LDS church protected a sexual abuser for a decade in Cochise County. When sued, the church attempted to escape responsibility by scurrying behind robes. A Cochise County judge ordered that the bishops and the clerk had to testify, so the church filed a special action, then Division 2 issued…

Is the Pledge of Allegiance just an empty, performative ritual?

Is the Pledge of Allegiance just an empty, performative ritual?

Los Angeles Times (TNS) Marissa Barnwell failed to show sufficient deference to the Pledge of Allegiance. And for that, she was punished. She was walking quietly down the hall at River Bluff High School in Lexington, South Carolina, where she is in ninth grade. The daily over-the-intercom recitation of the…

Shocking Texas proposal would destroy state/church separation

Shocking Texas proposal would destroy state/church separation

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the tocsin about a proposal in the Texas Legislature that would assault the constitutional wall of separation enshrined in both the state and federal constitutions. The proposal is grandiosely and misleadingly dubbed the “Protection of Religious Liberty from Nativist Jurisprudence Act.” If passed,…

Column: Is the Pledge of Allegiance just an empty, performative ritual?

Column: Is the Pledge of Allegiance just an empty, performative ritual?

Students saying the Pledge of Allegiance at Mount St. Mary’s Academy in Grass Valley, Calif., in 2021. Marissa Barnwell failed to show sufficient deference to the Pledge of Allegiance. And for that, she was punished. She was walking quietly down the hall at River Bluff High School in Lexington, S.C.,…

Tennessee attorney general weighs in on religious liberty cases

Tennessee’s attorney general is jumping into the First Amendment debate over religious liberty in the U.S., joining other states in issuing support for a number of high-profile issues. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a collation of 19 state attorneys general on Tuesday in filing an amicus brief asking the U.S.…

Tennessee attorney general weighs in on religious liberty cases

Tennessee attorney general weighs in on religious liberty cases

Tennessee’s attorney general is jumping into the First Amendment debate over religious liberty in the U.S., joining other states in issuing support for a number of high-profile issues. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a collation of 19 state attorneys general on Tuesday in filing an amicus brief asking the U.S.…

Tennessee attorney general weighs in on religious liberty cases

Tennessee’s attorney general is jumping into the First Amendment debate over religious liberty in the U.S., joining other states in issuing support for a number of high-profile issues. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a collation of 19 state attorneys general on Tuesday in filing an amicus brief asking the U.S.…

FFRF renews call for FEMA to cancel million-dollar-plus Ky. church funding

FFRF renews call for FEMA to cancel million-dollar-plus Ky. church funding

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is renewing its demand that the Federal Emergency Management Agency rescind a proposed $1 million-plus handout for a Kentucky church/tornado shelter. In 2021, a concerned city resident and taxpayer in Versailles, Ky., had alerted FFRF about an official decision to spend public funds to pay…

Cooley on School Prayer Jurisprudence

Amanda Harmon Cooley (South Texas College of Law Houston) has posted Quiet Encroachments on School Prayer Jurisprudence on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Over the last decade, there have been multiple occurrences of religious indoctrination and teacher-led prayer in public schools, despite 75 years of consistent Supreme Court precedent that…

New Oklahoma Legal Opinion Leaves Vote on Catholic Charter School in Limbo

New Oklahoma Legal Opinion Leaves Vote on Catholic Charter School in Limbo

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said he “100%” supports the state approving a Catholic virtual charter school and disagrees with the attorney general, who says it would violate state law. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Oklahoma was poised next month to be the first state to allow a religious charter…

Tom Waddell: Lovers of religious freedom fight back

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…

Colorado Courts Still Don’t Understand Religious Freedom

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…