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…
What Pope Leo’s encyclical demands of Louisiana
On May 25, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” warning about the growing influence of artificial intelligence. He informs us that AI requires an increasing use of “energy and water, significantly influencing carbon dioxide emissions, and place(s)…
Trey’s Law now passed in seven states
This year’s legislative session has marked more victories for Trey’s Law bills across the states. Similar bills, which nullify the use of nondisclosure agreements in child sex abuse, sexual assault and trafficking cases, were signed into law in Alabama (SB-30)…
Jeff Landry’s ‘failed narrative’
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry recently dismissed the idea that racism remains structurally relevant in Louisiana politics, calling it a “failed narrative.” A failed narrative? In Louisiana? A state where African Americans make up nearly one-third of the population, yet political…
Louisiana bill would criminalize homelessness
Legislation moving through the Louisiana Senate would punish unhoused people with fines, incarceration, forced labor and compulsory treatment they would have to pay for themselves. House Bill 211 would “create the crime of unauthorized camping on public property” punishable with…
Louisiana can require Ten Commandments — for now
Louisiana is free to implement its previously blocked law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 20. The full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned a three-member panel of…
Federal appeals court will hear arguments in Texas’ and Louisiana’s Ten Commandments cases in January
A federal appeals court next year will hear Texas’ arguments against a ruling that blocked nearly a dozen school districts from displaying posters of the Ten Commandments.
Entire Fifth Circuit will rehear Louisiana Ten Commandments case
A federal appeals court has tossed out its previous ruling that Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is “plainly unconstitutional” and announced all 17 of its judges will now reconsider the case. The Fifth Circuit U.S. District Court of Appeals in New…
The Ten Commandments and the fallacy of certainty
“So, inerrancy was in essence adapted and used by enslavers?” “Yes.” I was sitting in Stephen Ray’s office working on my Ph.D. at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. I had asked if I could take a directed study on Reformed theology…
Supreme Court will hear case of Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were shaved by Louisiana prison guards
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the appeal of a former Louisiana prison inmate whose dreadlocks were cut off by prison guards in violation of his religious beliefs.
Appeals court stops Louisiana Ten Commandments law
A Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms was ruled unconstitutional by a unanimous federal appeals court June 20. “Parents and students challenge a statute requiring public schools to permanently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom…
Texas Senate passes Ten Commandments bill
Unwilling to be outdone by its neighbor to the East, the Texas Senate has passed a bill that would require the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms. The Louisiana Legislature passed a similar law last year that…