The U.S. Supreme Court declined to overrule two lower courts that prohibited Alabama from executing a prisoner using nitrogen gas. The state was set to execute Jeffrey Lee June 11 until a federal appeals court and a U.S. district judge…
How anti-vaxxers and evangelicals found common cause
The COVID-19 outbreak helped unite the nation’s anti-vax movement, with evangelical Christians convinced that vaccine mandates, masking requirements and social distancing violated religious freedoms, religion scholar Kira Ganga Kieffer said. The two communities already shared a distrust of government when…
Republicans push through more unregulated funding for ICE and CBP
Immigrant and civil rights advocates condemned the $70 billion immigration bill President Donald Trump signed into law June 10. The “Secure America Act” passed by Congress a day earlier provides funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol…
Trump admin defying court order on immigration access
The Trump administration continues to deny legal benefits to some immigrants based on national origin and in direct violation of a federal judge’s June 5 ruling to halt the practice. In response, an emergency motion was filed June 10 asking…
Judge bans Alabama’s use of nitrogen gas for executions
A federal judge permanently blocked Alabama from putting inmate Jeffrey Lee to death with nitrogen gas two days before his June 11 execution date. District Judge Emily Marks in Montgomery ruled June 9 that nitrogen hypoxia executions violate the constitutional…
Worldwide, both Israel and Netanyahu are not liked
Most adults in three dozen countries harbor negative attitudes toward Israel, Including the United States, Canada and all of Europe, according to a new study by Pew Research Center. “Views are particularly negative in the Muslim-majority places surveyed, including Bangladesh,…
Lawsuit seeks to protect Stars and Stripes from Hegseth’s control
A lawsuit filed against the Pentagon seeks to reverse its takeover of Stars and Stripes, the news organization that provided independent news coverage for the U.S. military since 1861. Federal regulations governing the publication ensured its ability to provide “a…
LDS Church added back to Pentagon list after outcry
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slashed the number of religious affiliations recognized by the Pentagon from more than 200 to 31 and set off a political firestorm in the process. The loudest reaction came when U.S. Sen. Mike Hill, R-Utah, and…
Court says Trump can’t block immigrants based on country of origin
The Trump administration must resume asylum processing and providing immigration benefits to immigrants regardless of national origin, a federal court ruled June 5. A coalition of labor unions and immigrant service groups sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in March…
Sensitive locations lawsuit amended with more concerns
Open and joyful expressions of faith are being replaced by fear and isolation due to immigrant enforcement raids at American houses of worship, according to an amended lawsuit aimed at the Trump administration. The original action was filed last July…
What you’re not seeing: Tens of thousands of children separated from parents
Tens of thousands of children in the United States have been cut off from parents in the Trump administration’s aggressive detention and deportation campaign, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. From January 2025 to April 2026, an estimated…
RLC elects officers, new board members for BJC
Members of the Religious Liberty Council have elected a full slate of RLC officers in addition to representatives to the board of directors of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. The council is one of many supporting groups for BJC…