For decades, political conservatives have been clamoring for “originalist” and “textualist” interpretations of the U.S. Constitution because they want to conserve the frozen-in-time ideals of the Founders. This is why they loved former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was…
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,…
High court says feds can deny reentry to Green Card holders
Green Card holders can be denied reentry into the United States even if border officers have no solid proof they have committed a crime, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 23. The 6-3 ruling in Blanche v. Lau held that…
High court allows Trump to deport Haitians and Syrians
The Trump administration can now end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians who fled to the United States to escape natural disaster and persecution in their home countries, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25. The 6-3 decision along…
US Supreme Court denies Rastafarian damages for illegal haircut
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 23 that inmates cannot seek damages if their religious rights have been abused or denied by prison officials. The 6-3 decision along ideological lines came in the case of Damon Landor, a Rastafarian whose…
US Supreme Court won’t allow Alabama to use nitrogen gas
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to overrule two lower courts that prohibited Alabama from executing a prisoner using nitrogen gas. The state was set to execute Jeffrey Lee June 11 until a federal appeals court and a U.S. district judge…
The Supreme Court is betting on America’s amnesia
The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest voting rights ruling is dangerous not only for what it does legally, but for what it reveals nationally. It reveals how much historical amnesia now exists in the American bloodstream. A nation that still viscerally…
Black Churches Urge Congregants to Mobilize After Supreme Court Ruling
In the hours after the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana congressional map and weakened protections given to minority voters under the Voting Rights Act, a bishop overseeing historically Black African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches in Louisiana wrote a message…
Supreme Court further dilutes Voting Rights Act
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…
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…
There is no need for conversion therapy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” is a harmful setback for LGBTQ Americans. In the 8-1 ruling, the court has failed to recognize the well-documented harm conversion therapy inflicts, especially on vulnerable LGBTQ…
Supreme Court says conversion therapy is protected free speech
Evangelical therapists have a First Amendment right to engage in “conversion therapy” with LGBTQ clients despite solid medical evidence that such treatment is ineffective, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. In an 8-1 ruling March 31, the high court ruled…