Written by Don ByrdAn editorial in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Badger Herald argues the state’s proposed Religious Freedom Amendment – a state version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act – would disrupt the balance of religious freedom protections already in place. Quoting the Baptist Joint Committee’s Nan Futrell commenting on a state RFRA proposal similar to Wisconsin’s, law student Aaron Loudenslager warns that the Wisconsin threshold for claims under the amendment may be too permissive.
Written by Don ByrdThe government shutdown didn’t stop the U.S. Supreme Court from opening its term yesterday. Among the cases the Court will hear include a challenge to a city council’s practice of opening official meetings with prayer. NPR’s Nina Totenberg looked at the new court session including the prayer case in a piece yesterday. You can listen to it here.
Written by Don ByrdPublic school hallways are no place for administrators to promote their religious beliefs. Students should be able to enter the building and walk from class to class without being proselytized by the same officials we have entrusted to educate them. Those officials should not be able to do in messages or pictures on the wall what they can’t do in person. So it’s unsurprising that a portrait of Christ hanging in the Jackson High School in Jackson, Ohio generated controversy. Five anonymous plaintiffs filed suit challenging the use of the picture as a violation of the separation of church and state.
Written by Don ByrdPBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly takes a look at the upcoming Supreme Court case regarding legislative prayer, Town of Greece v. Galloway. The video is here. As correspondent Tim O’Brien notes in the piece, the actual outcome of the case may not matter as much as the scope of the court’s reasoning.
Written by Don ByrdA federal judge in New Jersey has granted a preliminary injunction barring a zoning decision by the Town of Bridgewater. A Muslim group requested the injunction after the zoning change, which took place after they purchased land, blocked their plan to build a mosque. Relying on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), the judge found the zoning decision would cause the group irreparable harm placing a substantial burden on their religious exercise without the government likely able to demonstrate a compelling interest in the move.
Written by Don ByrdSlate’s Dahlia Lithwick provides a very helpful and interesting bit of background on conscience clause legislation, that is, exemptions from requirements as a matter of conscience or religious belief. She frames the issue as a central question going forward for the scope of religious liberty in America.
