Written by Don ByrdThe Baptist Joint Committee’s Brent Walker weighed in today on briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the contraception mandate cases. Writing for ABP, he rejects the argument raised by a lawyer for the Freedom From Religion Foundation that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the law at the heart of the contraception dispute, is unconstitutional. Walker makes the case that RFRA is a perfectly acceptable means of strengthening religious liberty guarantees.
Written by Don ByrdBy a 19-16 margin, the State Senate in Maine today rejected a bill that would have prohibited the state government from placing any burden on religious exercise unless required to achieve a compelling government interest. Similar to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) this bill departs significantly from that law by not requiring the burden on a person’s religious exercise to be “substantial” before triggering this threshold.
Written by Don ByrdInmates in an Alabama prison have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a policy that requires them to wear their hair short in violation of their Native American religious beliefs. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their argument that the Department of Corrections policy runs afoul of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by failing to consider alternate means of achieving their security goals.
Written by Don ByrdChurch-state separation advocates in North Carolina are challenging a high school’s decision not to approve a secular student organization. The Secular Student Alliance is a national organization with chapters in many schools, but Pisgah High School officials in Canton told students the group would not “fit in” at the school, according to a letter sent by the ACLU and FFRF.
Written by Don ByrdReligion News Service reports on an unprecedented meeting between European Union officials and members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to discuss the possibility of cooperative efforts to promote religious liberty around the world.
Written by Don ByrdThe Kansas State House yesterday passed a bill that would allow individuals, businesses and even government employees to refuse to provide services to couples if doing so violated their sincere religious beliefs. The Kansas effort is one of many states currently considering such broad religious exemptions.
