The City of Quincy, Mass., may not install two statues of Christian saints in front of its public safety building, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. “The likelihood that these statues of religious figures closely associated with the Catholic…
Federal court urged to uphold ban on religious charter schools in Oklahoma
Seven mostly Jewish Oklahoma taxpayers urged a federal court to uphold the state’s February denial of an application to open a publicly funded Jewish charter school. Attorneys for the citizens argued during an Aug. 5 federal court hearing in Oklahoma…
Heritage Foundation’s new legal group joins Colorado book ban case
The Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint for Trump 2.0, announced its new Legal Action Center July 8. In its first case, the center will help conservative Christian groups defend a Colorado school district that enacted…
‘CatsOnACouch’ influencer sues over First Amendment rights
An online influencer with a penchant for criticizing and lampooning the Trump administration sued the federal government for blocking her from attending a public event where Vice President JD Vance was speaking. Falmouth, Maine, resident Amanda McGonigle’s federal lawsuit accuses…
Supreme Court’s support for birthright citizenship draws partisan reactions
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of birthright citizenship in a June 30 ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to end the historic right. The 6-3 decision affirms the long-held understanding of the 14th Amendment,…
Trump faces barrage of lawsuits, loses hundreds of cases
President Donald Trump says courts are “highly politicized” and judges treat him “so unfairly.” It’s true that no previous president has been the subject of so many lawsuits in the first 18 months of a term, but no previous president…
Trump admin denies hunger strike at immigrant detention center
More than 300 detainees at a Newark, N.J., immigration detention are continuing a hunger strike launched Memorial Day weekend to protest insufficient and spoiled food, lack of sanitation and bond denials, Human Rights Watch reported June 3. Federal officials, meanwhile,…
SPLC asks court to dismiss Trump’s ‘farcical’ charges against it
Fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center are part of a “farcical” and “retributive” White House campaign to silence political opposition, the civil rights group said in a motion to dismiss filed May 26. SPLC, which monitors and reports…
Abbott signs Texas Ten Commandments bill, setting up court fight
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed legislation mandating Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms beginning Sept. 1 despite the threat of litigation from civil liberties groups. Abbott’s office said the governor signed the measure June 21 along with more…
Supreme Court ruling on transgender care called partisan and flawed
The U.S. Supreme Court abandoned science, fairness and common sense in its June 18 decision upholding a state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, civil rights and legal experts said. The 6-3 ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti found Tennessee’s…
Arkansas parents say, ‘Thou shall not’ to Ten Commandments law
A group of Arkansas parents has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a new state law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms. Seven families with students in public schools filed the litigation June 11 in the U.S….
How I’m preparing for No Kings Day
In the long-ago time when cell phones were becoming more ubiquitous, we were encouraged to put the letters ICE with the names of our contacts who should be called In Case of Emergency. Everyone knew if someone was in need…