News from around the world. Curated by Mark McDowell. Posts do not constitute agreement or endorsement.
Calligraphy is a form of expressive speech, and therefore the city of Phoenix cannot compel a local studio to create wedding invitations for same-sex couples, Arizona’s highest court ruled yesterday. The Arizona Supreme Court determined, 4-3, that any attempt to use Phoenix’s ordinances to punish Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka…
The Arizona Supreme Court sided with two Phoenix business owners who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds, with the court saying such objections “may seem old-fashioned, or even offensive to some,” but they are still covered by the Arizona Constitution’s protection of free speech. (Photo by Amy Teegan/Creative Commons) Breanna…
(CNN) — A 2013 Phoenix law that adds "sexual orientation, gender identity or expression" to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance violated the freedom of speech and religious beliefs of two business owners, the Arizona Supreme Court said in a 4-3 ruling Monday. Wedding invitation designers Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners…
Source: National Archives via AP September 17 th is Constitution Day. One wonders how many Americans will take notice. After all, no one is getting a day off, there aren’t any mattress sales, and nobody ever got insta-famous talking about our founding document. Maybe that needs to change. Ours is…
(Facebook Photo/Brush & Nib Studio) The Arizona Supreme Court issued an eagerly anticipated ruling in Brush & Nib et al. v. City of Phoenix on Monday. It decided that a person’s deeply held religious belief overrides the need to treat all people equally, including those in same-sex marriages, at least…
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Supreme Court justices Thomas R. Lee, Constandinos Himonas, John A. Pearce and Paige Petersen, from left, listen to Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant give the state of the judiciary speech to the legislature in the House chamber on the first day of the…
Thomas Jipping Thomas Jipping is deputy director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in a case arising from Minnesota strikes the right balance between First Amendment rights and…
Recent articles supporting the Commissioners’ decision to surrender First Amendment prayer rights contain flawed assumptions. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” In the recent Supreme Court Case, Greece v. Galloway,…
Judge David Stras, a Trump appointee, wrote for the 2-1 majority opinion, where he noted that Minnesota can’t force “free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable.” Alliance Defending Freedom Carl and Angel Larsen are a St. Cloud, Minnesota couple who run a media business called Telescope Media…
COMMENTARY BY The vast majority of business activities do not affect anyone’s freedom of speech or religion. nathaphat/Getty Images Owners Carl and Angel Larsen want to produce wedding videos, but, based on their religious beliefs, decline requests to do so for same-sex weddings. Courts are increasingly called upon to address…
Photo Submitted FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Should Native Americans be allowed to sacramentally ingest peyote with no criminal penalties? Does a crèche belong on the courthouse lawn? And what about the 8-foot-tall bronze statue of the satanic goat monster Baphomet, briefly on view last year at the Arkansas Capitol building? Mark…
D.J. Tice @StribDJ America has always been an experiment in the limits of diversity. How deeply and in how many ways can a people differ and disagree, and even disapprove of one another’s ways of life, and still remain “a people” — a community with enough shared values to stay…
Extending First Amendment protection against compelling citizens to endorse ideas they find objectionable appears to depend primarily upon whether the idea or objection falls within Christian doctrine. Almost a year ago, I pointed out that modern religious liberty doctrine is grossly unbalanced in a way that favors religion, the Christian…
Blaine Adamson of Hands On Originals A print shop in Lexington, Ky., shouldn’t be forced to produce LGBTQ Pride T-shirts because the message goes against the owner’s religious beliefs, his lawyer told the Kentucky Supreme Court Friday. “The evidence is clear that Hands On Originals serves everyone — and just…
Blaine Adamson FRANKFORT, Ky. (BP) — A Kentucky print shop owner’s decision to not make gay pride T-shirts in 2012 because it went against his religious beliefs was argued before the Kentucky Supreme Court on Friday (Aug. 23). Blaine Adamson, the owner of Hands-On Originals in Lexington, declined to print…
(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday revived a lawsuit by a Minnesota couple challenging a state law requiring that their video production company film same-sex weddings, which they say violates their Christian beliefs. FILE PHOTO: A rose is seen on a giant rainbow flag at a pro same-sex…
Roger Rollins “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” — U.S. Constitution, Amendment 1 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Bible A principal in Long…
(Photo: Flickr Commons/Joe Gratz) A Christian realtor is suing the Virginia Real Estate Board, saying she felt compelled to resign after being investigated for a fair housing complaint related to sharing her religious beliefs on a business website and email signatures. In the state lawsuit filed in Richmond, Hadassah Hubbard…
Angel and Carl Larsen, owners of Telescope Media Group in St. Cloud, Minn. (Alliance Defending Freedom) Earlier today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutional order , limited the reach of expansive nondiscrimination laws, and protected a Christian couple from having to choose between their business and their…
Nicole Russell is a contributor to The Daily Signal. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Review, Politico, The Washington Times, The American Spectator, and Parents Magazine. In a win for the First Amendment, a federal appellate court ruled earlier this month that the seal…
The Government of Uganda has for a while sought to “regulate” religious freedoms under the guise of protecting its citizens. This has essentially taken the form of the controversial Religious and Faith-Based Organizations (RFBOs) Policy whose proponents are majorly officials in the Office of the President and the Directorate of…
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) with faith community leaders. FOLLOWING last year’s Religious Freedom Review conducted by an expert panel headed by Philip Ruddock, and the publication of its report, the Australian government announced its intention to introduce a new law, a Religious Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination on the…
Morgan Bardonstone, 18, of Unity, right, and Ambrose Donth, 19, of Claremont, pass by a large menorah on display as part of the holiday decorations in Broad Street Park in Claremont, N.H., Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. City resident Sam Killay, an atheist, has registered a complaint with the city council…
The Federal Building in Burlington houses the U.S. District Courthouse and the U.S. Postal Service. Photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDigger Attorneys for the state defended Vermont’s dual enrollment program in federal court Friday, asking U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss to dismiss a lawsuit that argues the program discriminates against students…
A federal appeals court ruled the presence of a cross in Lehigh County’s seal is historical in nature and not a government endorsement of a religion. (Contributed Photo / THE MORNING CALL) The Lehigh County seal can remain as is, with its cross. And we can only hope that seals…