The U.S. Supreme issued a 6-3 ruling April 29 severely limiting a key element of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protects minorities from voting discrimination. In a decision split along ideological lines, the court made it more difficult…
Supreme Court hears arugments today on Haitians and Syrians
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments today to determine if 350,000 Haitian and 6,000 Syrian immigrants can remain in the country under Temporary Protected Status. But immigration advocates have warned tens of thousands more people are…
SPLC fights back claiming Blanche lied to grand jury
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed two motions in federal court in response to a federal indictment accusing the civil rights organization of fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice claims the group, which tracks and reports on hate groups, misled…
Study traces anti-Muslim campaign to Greg Abbott
The current surge in anti-Muslim hatred from elected Republicans can be traced to a social media post by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott early last year, according to a new study by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate. Since…
NAE urges church participation in Good Neighbor Day America
A nationally coordinated day of volunteerism next month is an opportunity for congregations to live into their callings to serve others at a time when issues of religion, government and society are hotly debated, said Walter Kim, president of the…
Median US worship attendance rebounding after pandemic
Median in-person worship attendance in U.S. congregations has increased for the first time in a quarter century as post-pandemic church shows signs of rebounding, according to a new study by Hartford Institute for Religion Research. “What we’re seeing is not…
Partisan attack on SPLC is an attack on First Amendment, Tyler warns
The federal government’s move against Southern Poverty Law Center is also an attack on religious pluralism, freedom of conscience and First Amendment safeguards for all American people and religious communities, said Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for…
Another court ruling says Alligator Alcatraz can stay open
A federal appeals court lifted an injunction that ordered Florida to dismantle its “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta ruled against environmentalism groups and the Miccosukee…
Texas Ten Commandments law likely headed to US Supreme Court
Texas’ Ten Commandments law may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court after an appellate court ruled it does not violate church-state separation under the U.S. Constitution. A majority of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans…
She’s not a Muslim, but she’s working to defend them in Oklahoma
Going to work for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma was a natural fit for civil rights attorney Veronica Laizure, despite the fact she isn’t Muslim. “I consider it sort of an adoptive community to myself as a nonreligious…
Most Americans see Trump as ‘not religious’
President Donald Trump is either “not too religious” or “not religious at all,” according to 70% of U.S. adults polled this month by Pew Research Center. “At the same time, many Republicans and white evangelical Protestants say Trump stands up…
Inquiry asked into feds cancelling $11 million grant to Catholic Charities
Democracy Forward wants to know if the Trump administration’s cancellation of an $11 million grant to a Catholic organization resulted from the president’s spat with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war. Critics of the president believe the award was…