A federal judge handed down a split decision Aug. 18 in a lawsuit brought by detainees at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.” Plaintiffs in the action filed against the Trump administration and the state of Florida last month claiming their Fifth Amendment…
Get ready for lawsuit, groups warn Abbott over Ten Commandments bill
Texans will sue once Gov. Greg Abbott signs a bill requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms, three national civil liberties groups said May 29. The announcement came a day after state senators voted to approve an amended version…
Split Supreme Court won’t allow public funds for religious charter school
The nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school will not happen, after a tie vote by the U.S. Supreme Court May 22. Justice Amy Coney Barrett abstained in the case OKPLAC Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School, leaving eight justices…
Dr. Phil says states should not be subject to Establishment Clause
Dr. Phil has something to say about religious liberty and public education. The TV therapist made popular by Oprah has taken a very public conservative bent lately, and this week he wrote an op-ed for the New York Post explaining…
Trump officials cite Harvard Divinity as one of university’s ‘schools of concern’
Easily lost in the flurry of news about Harvard University refusing to bend the knee to the Trump administration is that Harvard Divinity School is one of the “programs, schools and centers of concern” cited by the administration as having…
Trump’s persecution of Mahmoud Khalil sets up a First Amendment showdown
Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead protests at Columbia University against civilian casualties in Gaza, was arrested by U.S. immigration officers and sent to a detention center in Louisiana. This activates alarms in my First Amendment-loving mind. A series of unusual…
Georgetown dean fires back at Trump official who demanded curriculum changes
The dean of Georgetown University Law Center has rebuffed a Trump administration official who sought to control the Catholic school’s curriculum. That’s not going to happen, Dean William M. Treanor said, because of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment ……
27 more religious groups sue to stop ICE raids at churches
Fellowship Southwest and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas are among 27 religious bodies that filed suit against the Trump administration Feb. 11 to stop ICE agents from having access to houses of worship for immigration raids. The multiparty lawsuit…
Trump at the National Cathedral: We’ve already fought this war
What did Donald Trump think would happen when he showed up at Washington National Cathedral Tuesday morning for the traditional interfaith prayer service attached to most presidential inaugurations since 1933? Did he think the Episcopal Church would change its theology…
Yes, a free and fair press is under assault by Trump and MAGA
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States can’t stay off the political hot seat. There’s a bill now before the U.S. Senate, known as the PRESS Act — the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act —…
Federal judge blocks DeSantis’ effort to censor TV ads on abortion measure
A federal judge took Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to school on the First Amendment in siding with a nonprofit organization’s right to air a TV ad promoting an abortion rights measure on the Nov. 5 ballot. Chief U.S. District Judge…
The Supreme Court at a crossroads
Every four years, the people who are most politically engaged in American law and politics tend to focus their autumn energy on the upcoming November election. The annual October kickoff of the U.S. Supreme Court term may be overlooked. That…