News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument earlier this month in yet another funding case that explores the limits of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trinity Lutheran . In that case, the Court held that under the First Amendment a church could not be denied access to…
More than half of the Notre Dame incoming class in 2019 did not attend public high school. Catholic high schools, specifically, accounted for 37% of that class. This month, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear argument as to whether it is unconstitutional for a state to…
Religious and non-public school groups in late December asked the Michigan Supreme Court to strike down the 1970 state constitutional amendment prohibiting taxpayer funding for private schools, arguing it was motivated by anti-Catholic bias and violates the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution. (Shutterstock photo) LANSING – What began…
Three families arguing the state should pay tuition for their children to attend private religious schools because they live in school districts with no high schools made their case before a federal appeals court in Boston on Wednesday. Angela and Troy Nelson pose in August 2018 with their children, Royce,…
When I moderated a debate on Espinoza v. Montana Dep’t of Revenue , I had a question for one of the Institute for Justice lawyers who represents Ms. Espinoza (and others, including Linda Greenhouse, had asked the same question as well). Here’s the issue: A Montana school choice programs let…
In this Dec. 18 photo, President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Mich. Using stark “Us versus Them” language, Trump and his campaign are trying to frame impeachment not as judgment on his conduct but as a culture war referendum on him and his supporters, aiming…
A Texas judge may get her day in court after she was sanctioned for refusing to perform same-sex marriages. McLennan County Judge Dianne Hensley recused herself from performing same-sex marriages in accordance with her Christian faith. In an affront to religious liberty, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated…
Dianne Hensley, a judge in Waco, Texas, is suing the state agency that gave her a public warning last month for refusing to officiate same-sex weddings while continuing to officiate heterosexual ones. The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s warning violates Hensley’s rights under the Texas…
For a second year running, Florida legislators have filed a bill that would make our state the first in the nation to require all public high schools to offer elective courses on the Old and New Testaments. (John Solie/istock) For a second year running, Florida legislators have filed a bill…
The United States Constitution rolled up on an American flag with a gavel in the foreground. Room for copy along the top half of the image. ach day, millions of families from diverse religious backgrounds entrust the education of their children to our nation’s public schools. Employees within our public…
Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley, of McLennan County. Photo courtesy KXXV-TV, Waco. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday issued a public warning to a Republican judge from Waco who refuses to perform same-sex marriages but still performs them for opposite-sex couples. McLennan County Justice of the Peace…
If you know your United States history, you know that the Pilgrims came to North America seeking to practice their religion free from the constraints of the Church of England. If you know your U.S. history well , you know that what many call the beginning of public schooling was…
Opinion Enlarge Image Shutterstock “You are effectively being compelled to undermine your own reason for being.” It is one thing to disagree with others’ religious beliefs — and another to bend laws and violate the Constitution to ensure they can’t live out their faith in their daily life and work.…
Buy Now STAFF PHOTO BY CINDY KUBOVIC Special services Kingdom Life Worsh ip Center will hold services at 10 a.m. Sunday at Harrison-Caver Park, 4181 Augusta Road, Clearwater. All are welcome. For more information, call 803-593-6723. Central Baptist Church , 1652 Wire Road, will hold worship services at 10:30 a.m.…
Getty Images For the second time in three years, the Supreme Court will grapple with two seemingly contradictory aspects of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees on religion, and how they apply to education. At issue, once again, are the dueling ideas that government may not establish a religion, but also cannot…
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case in January that clearly reveals the strategy of evangelical Christian activists to gain legal approval to tax-fund primary and secondary religious education in America. St. Wenceslaus Church in Danvers, Montana, was built in 1916 and is now used occasionally…
This photo is for illustrative purposes. It is not connected to University Christian or Cambridge Christian high schools. A federal appeals court has overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit about whether the Florida High School Athletic Association improperly prevented Christian schools, including Jacksonville’s University Christian School, from offering a prayer…
They say anything worth having is also worth waiting for. We should know. We waited over three years for the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that the city of Phoenix cannot use fines and jail time to force us to create custom artwork that violates our beliefs. Issued in mid-September,…
“The two schools asked the FHSAA for permission to conduct a joint prayer over the loudspeaker before kickoff…" Photo via Camping World Stadium website A federal appeals court Wednesday overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit about whether the Florida High School Athletic Association improperly prevented Christian schools from offering a…
Captive audience. (Will C. Fry) Cambridge Christian School of Tampa argues in the lawsuit that the decision blocking the use of the loudspeaker for the prayer violated First Amendment rights. U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell in 2017 dismissed the case, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit…
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the same organization responsible for its infamous case against Christian baker Jack Phillips that went all the way to the US Supreme Court, is still trying to censor its citizens who voice views in favor of traditional biblical marriage. This time, the commission has set…
BOSTON – A federal appeals court should reaffirm that Maine is not required to fund religious education as part of its tuition payment program, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed today by civil rights groups and religious organizations including the ACLU, ACLU of Maine, Americans United for Separation of Church…
Bushra Ibrahim was employed at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau, Sherriff Street, Dublin, between June 2013 and June 2017. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued High Court proceedings in an employment law case in which it is claiming sovereign immunity. The case involves a woman, Bushra Ibrahim , who…
The Kentucky Supreme Court has dismissed — on a technicality — a lawsuit brought against a shop that refused to print T-shirts for Lexington’s 2012 Pride Festival. “The court sidestepped debates over civil rights and the freedoms of religion and speech by ruling on a legal technicality, that the party…
Modern political candidates spend a lot of time presenting themselves as culturally acceptable to voters. That means a lot of talk about God, faith, and family, and often the winning candidate is the one who looks best driving a well-worn pickup truck. This is nothing new in American politics, but…