Opinions vary about whether the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be good news or bad news for religious liberty, but one of a handful of church-state cases he has weighed during his 12 years…
Court upholds decision barring pastor/judge from death penalty cases
A three-judge panel of federal appeals court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit testing the boundary between religious liberty and judicial restraint. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that Arkansas Judge Wendell Griffen’s lawsuit challenging his disqualification from…
Baptist Joint Committee head ‘disappointed’ by Supreme Court decision upholding White House travel ban
The head of a Baptist religious liberty watchdog agency voiced disappointment with Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision upholding President Donald Trump’s so-called Muslim ban. “We are deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s refusal to repudiate policy rooted in animus against Muslims,”…
Supreme Court hands partial win to Christian baker who refused gay wedding request
A divided U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a decision about whether the Constitution permits bakers, florists and other business owners with religious objections to same-sex marriage to refuse commercial wedding services to gay couples in a June 4 ruling siding with…
Hear our prayer, O Congress: A neo-establishmentarianism?
Events surrounding the dismissal and rehiring of “Father Pat” are more than a mere legislative kerfuffle. They provide important contemporary lessons in the enduring dynamics of church-state relations — old tensions, new twists.
Faithful cite religious liberty in challenges to Muslim travel ban
A Baptist church/state specialist is among a group of constitutional scholars asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down President Donald Trump’s third attempt to restrict travel from certain Muslim majority nations the administration claims pose a terrorist risk. Holly…
Pastor/judge can sue justices, but not state Supreme Court, judge rules
A federal judge ruled April 12 that an Arkansas judge who also serves as pastor of a Baptist church can sue justices of the state Supreme Court — though not the court itself — for removing him from death penalty cases because of his religious belief that capital punishment is immoral.
Group says Masterpiece Cake case echoes argument made 50 years ago that religious freedom protected racial discrimination
Maurice Bessinger argued unsuccessfully in a 1968 Supreme Court case that the federal law barring discrimination based race, color, religion and national origin violated his freedom of religion under First Amendment “since his religious beliefs compel him to oppose any integration of the races whatever.”
2017’s top religion stories are a doozy
The year 2017 may not have been the biggest ever for religion news in the U.S. or the world, but it has to be close.
Cross is ‘preeminent symbol’ of Christianity and should be removed from public park, say church-state watchdogs
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has joined 13 other religious and civil rights organizations urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling finding a cross erected on public land in Pensacola, Fla., is unconstitutional.
Baptists, others faith groups say religious liberty not a license to discriminate
Baptists were among religious leaders and groups signing on to briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 30 opposing the claims of a Christian baker who for religious reasons refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
Church-state experts voice concern about new religious-liberty guidelines
A church-state specialist says Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ 25-page memorandum outlining the scope of religious liberty protections reflects “a decided tilt” toward concerns about the free exercise of religion while giving short shrift to the First Amendment’s establishment clause.