News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Friday that it will hear a case brought by families from Maine who want to use a state tuition program to send their children to religious schools. At the heart of the case is a Maine Department of Education rule…
July 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took up a challenge by two families with children attending Christian schools to a Maine tuition assistance program that bars taxpayer money from being used to pay for religious educational institutions in a case that could further narrow the separation…
The District of Columbia and Mayor Muriel Bowser have agreed to pay $220,000 as part of a legal settlement with a local Baptist church that sued the city over in-person worship restrictions during the pandemic. Last September, Capitol Hill Baptist Church sued the district over the government’s ban on outdoor…
Can Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Court — with determinative votes cast by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh — has effectively decided she cannot. “My faith is a part of every aspect of…
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…
Can Barronelle Stutzman , a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Cour t—with determinative votes cast by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett , and Justice Brett Kavanaugh —has effectively decided she cannot. “My faith is a part of every aspect of…
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a challenge to a Maine law that bars students from using public funding for tuition at religious schools. Local school administrative units that do not have their own secondary schools can pay a certain amount in tuition for students to attend outside public…
The U.S. Supreme Court ‘s decision Friday not to hear floral artist Barronelle Stutzman’s case leaves freedom of religion and expression in an uncertain state. But one thing is perfectly clear: activists and their powerful legal and corporate allies were ready and able to take down a humble Christian grandmother…
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is among three justices who turned their backs on a Christian flower shop owner. (Photo by GREG NASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Can Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian, run her flower shop in keeping with her faith? The Supreme Court — with determinative votes cast by…
In April 23, 2021, photo, Supreme Court members pose for a group photo. Seated from left: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett. WASHINGTON – If there were any doubts that the U.S. Supreme…
The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a petition from a Christian florist who refused to create flower arrangements for a same-sex couple, refusing for now to take another case asking when anti-discrimination laws must give way to religious convictions. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M.…
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…
David and Amy Carson of Maine, pictured here with their daughter, Olivia, are challenging a 41-year-old policy that that limits to secular schools a state program offering financial assistance to families seeking education choice for their children. David and Amy Carson both graduated from Bangor Christian School s, housed in…
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…
The 2015 Supreme Court decision extending the right to marry to same-sex adult couples contained a ticking time bomb. Six years later, the noise is getting loud. The explosive material has to do with religious freedom. While polls clearly show that a growing majority of Americans support marriage equality, a…
The 2015 Supreme Court decision extending the right to marry to same-sex adult couples contained a ticking time bomb. Six years later, the noise is getting loud. The explosive material has to do with religious freedom. While polls clearly show that a growing majority of Americans support marriage equality, a…
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…
Vermont tuition program Vermont’s Town Tuition Program (“TTP”) requires school districts that lack a public high school to provide for its residents’ high school education by paying private school tuition. Because Vermont’s constitution guarantees that “no person shall be compelled to support a place of worship,” the Vermont Supreme Court,…
People For the American Way “ Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears ” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. Cases in the series can be found by issue and by judge at this link Second Circuit Trump judge Steven Menashi wrote…
Members of the Mount St. Joseph Academy Esports team Destiny Jurado, Jeremy Gillespie and Keith Dishaw Sinclair are pictured at the school in Rutland., Vt., Feb. 25, 2020. (CNS photo/Cori Fugere Urban, Vermont Catholic) A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the state of Vermont cannot refuse to fund…
Ezra Zaid speaks to reporters at the Petaling Shariah Subordinate Court in Shah Alam December 17, 2020. — Picture by Miera Zulyana KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― The High Court today asked both Mohd Ezra Mohd Zaid and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to attempt to settle on the…
Stephen Kiers/Shutterstock A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the state of Vermont cannot refuse to fund tuition for religious institutions that would otherwise qualify for the funding. The June 2 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit changes a state no-aid policy that dates…
Justice Neil Gorsuch declined to grant emergency relief to a pair of Colorado churches. (Art Lien) In the latest battle over restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Justice Neil Gorsuch rejected a request from two Denver-area churches to block the enforcement of Colorado’s disaster law. Denver Bible Church and Community…
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…
Some time ago, the IRS issued an Audit Techniques Guide on the taxation of lawsuits, awards, and settlements. As many tax practitioners can attest, there are a multitude of tax issues involving any one of these issues. In any event, and although the Audit Technique Guide (“Audit Guide”) is somewhat…