Author: Michael Peabody

Next Tuesday, December 5, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a difficult case that pits the free exercise of religion and free speech rights of a wedding cake maker against the anti-discrimination rights of a same-sex couple. The couple demands the cake; the baker refuses because he thinks he will be sinning. The question is – can the state of Colorado make him bake the cake?

Last Friday a federal judge in Wisconsin issued a ruling that a federal statute that exempts housing for members of the clergy from taxation violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

  [dc]Y[/dc]esterday, by a margin of 211 to 198, the U.S. House of Representatives quietly voted to defund IRS investigations of church political endorsements as part of a massive spending bill. On […]

His passion in the classroom was the minor prophets – particularly the biblical books of Amos and Micah. He spoke of justice, and mercy and humility, and how being “religious” did not mean anything if you didn’t “defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)

States that have constitutional provisions that prohibit public aid to all private schools, regardless of whether or not they are religiously affiliated, might have a substantial argument against school voucher claims under Trinity Lutheran v. Comer.

Supreme Court sends voucher cases back to the lower courts “for further consideration in light of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc., v. Comer.” 

The Supreme Court decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer changes 200 years of Establishment Clause precedent and puts churches at risk of regulation.

  By Michael D. Peabody, Esq.   [dc]I[/dc]n a study released June 11, 2017, researchers from Yale and Harvard concluded that Seventh-day Adventist clergy in the United States are the […]

There are several reasons why the Supreme Court may decide to hear this case when it declined to hear previous religious exception cases.

The pensions of employees of church-affiliated organizations are not subject to federal solvency requirements that apply to secular organizations