Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Friday, February 09, 2018
Former Magistrate Receives Damages In Settlement Over Refusal To Perform Same-Sex Marriages
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Judge Who Refused To Perform Same-Sex Ceremonies Sues Over Reprimand
Friday, December 12, 2008
Evangelical Lobbyist Resigns After Statement Supporting Gay Civil Unions
A statement issued yesterday by the NAE says: "in a December 2, 2008 broadcast interview on National Public Radio, Richard responded to questions and made statements that did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents. Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized and affirmed our values there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesperson among leaders and constituents." Cizik was one of the signers of a New York Times ad earlier this month condemning violence against the LDS Church for its support of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. (See prior posting.)
Monday, April 28, 2014
6th Circuit Stays Tennessee Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Friday, January 31, 2014
Administrative Complaint Charges Catholic School With Discrimination For Terminating Employee In Same-Sex Marriage
The Massachusetts law against discrimination (MGL Title XXI, Ch. 151B, Sec. 1(5)) provides:
[N]othing herein shall be construed to bar any religious or denominational institution or organization, or any organization operated for ... educational purposes, which is operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization, and which limits membership, enrollment, admission, or participation to members of that religion, from... taking any action with respect to matters of employment, discipline, faith, internal organization, or ecclesiastical rule, custom, or law which are calculated by such organization to promote the religious principles for which it is established or maintained.In its press release on the case, GLAD says: "Our laws carefully balance the important values of religious liberty and non-discrimination. When Fontbonne Academy fired Matt from a job that has nothing to do with religion, they came down on the wrong side of the law."
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Supreme Court Lifts Stay On Same-Sex Marriages In Kansas
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
New Jersey Governor Drops Appeal of Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Military Clears Way For Same-Sex Marriage Ceremonies
A second memo (full text) dated Sept. 30 from Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley says that military chaplains "may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation" so long as it is not prohibited by state or local law. However a chaplain is not required to do so if it "would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion or personal beliefs."
Monday, September 12, 2022
Certiorari Petition Filed Again In Bakery's Refusal To Design Wedding Cake For Same-Sex Marriage
Last week, a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, (Sup. Ct., filed 9/7/2022). This is the second time the case has worked its way up to the Supreme Court. (See prior posting.) At issue is a finding by the state Bureau of Labor and Industries that Sweetcakes bakery violated the state's public accommodation law when it refused on religious grounds to design and create a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. In January, the state court of appeals remanded the case to the Bureau of Labor and Industries for it to determine a remedy after finding that the Bureau's first determination of damages was tainted by non-neutrality. (See prior posting.) In August, the Bureau imposed damages of $30,000. First Liberty has additional background.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Mississippi AG Will Not Appeal Injunction Against Conscience Protection Act, Despite Governor's Appeal of Decision [UPDATED]
First, both HB 1523’s critics and supporters acknowledge that the bill did not change state or federal law. For example, there is no state law requiring pastors to marry same-sex couples, and I doubt that the Legislature would ever pass one. Moreover, the Mississippi Legislature has already passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which protects a person’s right to exercise his or her religious beliefs. HB 1523’s critics and supporters also recognize that HB 1523 cannot overturn or preempt federal law. As acknowledged by our Governor, HB 1523 is not a defense to a federal lawsuit.
Simply stated, all HB 1523 has done is tarnish Mississippi’s image while distracting us from the more pressing issues of decaying roads and bridges, underfunding of public education, the plight of the mentally ill and the need to solve our state’s financial mess....
Second, to appeal HB 1523 and fight for an empty bill that dupes one segment of our population into believing it has merit while discriminating against another is just plain wrong. I don’t believe that’s the way to carry out Jesus’ primary directives to protect the least among us and to love thy neighbor....
Misinformation that, without HB 1523, pastors, churches, bakers, wedding planners or other private service providers will be forced to violate their religious beliefs has been used repeatedly to frighten our citizens into supporting the dogmatic politicians who use religion for political gain.Hood added however that depending on the wording of the final order he might appeal a separate federal court decision extending the injunction in an earlier same-sex marriage case to all court clerks who were not parties.(See prior posting.)
UPDATE: It should be noted that Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has already filed a Notice of Appeal in the case, so presumably he will pursue the appeal using counsel other than the Attorney General.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Recent Articles, Forthcoming Books and Movie, of Interest
- Nicole Jones, Did Fortune Tellers See this Coming? Spiritual Counseling, Professional Speech, and the First Amendment, (February 13, 2014).
- Allison G. Morrow, Will Your Religion Allow You…to Live? The Mature Minor Doctrine, Religious Exemptions, and a Look into Louisiana Law, (December 1, 2013).
- Mark L. Movsesian, Defining Religion in American Law: Psychic Sophie and the Rise of the Nones, (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper No. 2014/19 (2014)).
- Ian C. Bartrum, The Curious Case of Legislative Prayer: Town of Greece v. Galloway, (Northwestern University Law Review Online Vol. 108, p. 218, 2014).
- Steven Douglas Smith, Is God Irrelevant?, (Boston University Law Review, Forthcoming).
- Caroline King, The Most Reasonable Standard: Why Justice O'Connor's Endorsement Test Applying the Reasonable Observer Should Be the Preferred Test for Evaluating Establishment Clause Violations, (February 7, 2014).
- James M. Oleske, Interracial and Same-Sex Marriages: Similar Religious Objections, Very Different Responses, (Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (CR-CL), Vol. 50, Forthcoming).
- Priscilla J. Smith, Who Decides Conscience? RFRA's Catch 22, (Brooklyn Journal of Law and Policy, Forthcoming).
- Courtney M. Cahill & Geoffrey Christopher Rapp, Does the Public Care How the Supreme Court Reasons? Empirical Evidence from a National Experiment and Normative Concerns in the Case of Same-Sex Marriage, (93 North Carolina Law Review, 2014, Forthcoming).
- Cary Franklin, Discriminatory Animus, (A Nation of Widening Opportunities? The Civil Rights Act at Fifty (Samuel Bagenstos and Ellen Katz, eds., University of Michigan Press 2014)).
- SpearIt, Muslim Radicalization in Prison: Responding with Sound Penal Policy or the Sound of Alarm?, (Gonzaga Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, 2014).
- Steven Douglas Smith, West and East: the Continuity of Persons, (San Diego Legal Studies Paper No. 14-141 (Feb. 2014)).
- Paula Defensor Knack, Legal Frameworks and Land Issues in Muslim Mindanao, (in Land and Post-conflict Peacebuilding, Jon Unruh & Rhodri Williams (eds.), Earthscan, 2013, pp 451-474).
- Gustavo Ariel Kaufman, Racial Discrimination vs. Religious Freedom in the JFS Decision, (February 19, 2014).
- Ioanna Tourkochoriti, Should Hate Speech Be Protected? Group Defamation, Party Bans, Holocaust Denial and the Divide between (France) Europe and the United States, (45 Columbia Human Rights Law Review (2014), Forthcoming).
- Rick Garnett, Symposium: Accommodations, religious freedom, and the Hobby Lobby case
- Elizabeth Wydra, Symposium: Under a straight-forward reading of constitutional text and history and fundamentals of corporate law, Hobby Lobby’s claims fail
- Mailee Smith, Symposium: In a battle of semantics, the family businesses win with scientific facts
- Ilya Shapiro, Symposium: Mandates make martyrs out of corporate owners
- Mark E. Chopko, Regulating Religious Charity: Current Issues and Future Challenges, 44 Rutgers Law Journal 55-88 (2013).
- Eugene Volokh, Religious Law (Especially Islamic Law) In American Courts, 66 Oklahoma Law Review 431-458 (2014).
- Steven P. Miller, The Age of Evangelicalism: America's Born-Again Years, (Oxford Univ. Press, June 2014).
- Jimmy Carter, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, (Simon & Schuster, March 2014).
- Daniel Lusco, Persecuted, (May 9, 2014) (reviewed by the Christian Post).
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
TRO Denied In Attempt To Stop Same-Sex Marriages In Rhode Island On Religious Freedom Grounds
UPDATE: On Aug. 9, the court also denied a preliminary injunction in the case. (Providence Journal).
Friday, May 31, 2013
Nigerian Parliament Passes Bill To Ban Gay Marriages and Criminalize Gay Advocacy
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Unauthorized Class Action Sought Millions For Denial of Religious Freedom and Right To Marry By Utah and LDS Church
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Catholic Agency Challenges Michigan's Child-Placement Anti-Discrimination Policy
[T]he Michigan Legislature intended to-- and did-- protect the religious exercise of faith-based providers like Catholic Charities.... Defendants have adopted a new policy that forces Catholic charities to choose between violating its religious beliefs about same-sex marriage and shutting down its foster care and adoption ministry. Defendants' new policy misinterprets state law, violates Catholic Charities' rights under the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions, and adopts the anti-religious views and policy preferences of Defendant Attorney General Dana Nessel-- who has previously criticized Michigan's statutory protections for faith-based foster care and adoption providers as "a victory for the hate mongers."ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Christian University Trustees Sued Over LGBTQ Hiring Policy
Suit was filed this week in a Washington state trial court against six members of the Board of Trustees of Seattle-Pacific University challenging the University's policy of refusing to hire LGBTQ faculty or staff if they are in a same-sex marriage or a same-sex relationship. The complaint (full text) in Guillot v. Whitehead, (WA Super. Ct., filed 9/11/2022), brought by a group of students, faculty and staff, alleges breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and interference with contractual relationships. It contends that "rogue" members of the University Board of Trustees have misled other Board members about the vote necessary to eliminate the hiring policy. The University, which was founded by the Free Methodist Church of North America, defines itself as a Christian university. One-third of its board members and its president must be members of the Free Methodist Church. The complaint alleges in part:
1. This case is about six men who act as if they, and the educational institution they are charged to protect, are above the law.
2. They are powerful men who use their positions, as trustees of Seattle Pacific University (“SPU”), to advance the interests of a religious denomination at the expense of the students, alumni, staff, and faculty of the university....
102. SPU is a university in crisis, stemming from the abusive leadership of entrenched interests who usurped control of the BOT to place it in service of sectarian-motivated LGBTQ+ discrimination....
AP reports on the lawsuit.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Kansas Federal District Court Implements Obergefell Holding
In the Court’s view, the prudent course of action is to let defendants finish updating their policies and practices to conform to Obergefell’s new rule of constitutional law. The Court thus defers, for now, the portion of plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion seeking injunctive relief. Should subsequent events reveal that the Court’s hopefulness about Kansas officials’ pledge to comply with Obergefell is misplaced, plaintiffs may supplement their motion for summary judgment on their claims for injunctive relief...SCOTUSblog discusses the opinion.
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Cuba Referendum Approves Family Code Allowing Same-Sex Marriage and More
AP reports that on Sunday, voters in Cuba approved a new Family Law Code that allows same sex couples to marry and to adopt. The over 400-Article Code also allows surrogate pregnancies and expands grandparent rights. Cuba's evangelical movement opposed the new Code. The Code was approved by 66.9% in favor to 33.1% opposed. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
Monday, June 06, 2016
Another Challenge Filed To Mississippi's Freedom of Conscience Law
With the passage and approval of that bill, the Legislature and the Governor breached the separation of church and state, and specifically endorsed certain narrow religious beliefs that condemn same-sex couples who get married, condemn unmarried people who have sexual relations, and condemn transgender people.Last month the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the new law (see prior posting) and plaintiffs in a suit that helped bring down the barriers to same-sex marriage in Mississippi have moved to challenge the law by reopening their lawsuit.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Supreme Court Blocks Broadcast of California Proposition 8 Trial
Technically the court granted a stay of the district court's order pending filing of petitions for a writ of certiorari and mandamus. The decision only related to the proposal to broadcast the trial live to a number of other courthouses around the country. It did not relate to the proposal to post recordings of the trial on YouTube at the end of each day. The 9th Circuit never approved that portion of the district court's poposal because the district court's technical staff encountered difficulties in preparing video that was suitable for online posting. Justice Breyer dissenting, joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg and Sotomayor said:The trial will involve various witnesses, including members of same-sex couples; academics, who apparently will discuss gender issues and gender equality, as well as family structures; and those who participated in the campaign leading to the adoption of Proposition 8. This Court has recognized that witness testimony may be chilled if broadcast.... Some of applicants' witnesses have already said that they will not testify if the trial is broadcast, and they have substantiated their concerns by citing incidents of past harassment....
The District Court attempted to change its rules at the eleventh hour to treat this case differently than other trials in the district. Not only did it ignore the federal statute that establishes the procedures by which its rules may be amended, its express purpose was to broadcast a high-profile trial that would include witness testimony about a contentious issue. If courts are to require that others follow regular procedures, courts must do so as well.
The majority’s action today is unusual. It grants a stay in order to consider a mandamus petition, with a view to intervening in a matter of local court administration that it would not (and should not) consider. It cites no precedent for doing so. It identifies no real harm, let alone “irreparable harm,” to justify its issuance of this stay.The New York Times reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)