Category: Current Events

John Harvey Kellogg’s legacy is often distilled into a cultural anecdote—an eccentric health reformer who introduced the American breakfast staple, cornflakes. While it is true that Kellogg, alongside his brother Will Keith, developed the cereal as part of a vegetarian regimen for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, the full contours of his influence stretch…

Legislative package revives disputes over religion in public schools, timing of vote draws scrutiny On Saturday, May 24, 2025, the Texas House gave preliminary approval to a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom across the state, prompting heated debate both over the legislation itself and the decision to…

Justice Jackson dissents as majority grants emergency injunction in First Amendment challenge In a 7-2 decision issued on May 20, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted emergency relief to Maine State Representative Laurel Libby, temporarily restoring her right to vote in the legislature after she was sanctioned for a social media post opposing transgender participation…

On May 23, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Mountain State Justice filed a lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court challenging Governor Patrick Morrisey’s executive order permitting religious and philosophical exemptions to school vaccination requirements. The exemptions apply to vaccines currently mandated for school attendance in West Virginia, including those for…

Justice Barrett’s recusal and a 4-4 split complicate assumptions about how faith influences judicial behavior

Justice Barrett’s Recusal Leads to 4-4 Split, Upholding State Court’s Ban on Publicly Funded Religious Education On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare 4-4 decision in the case of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, effectively blocking the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have…

Advocacy groups file federal cases targeting student athletics and compelled speech on gender identity In two newly filed federal lawsuits, advocacy groups in Minnesota and Colorado are challenging state policies that they argue violate constitutional and statutory protections related to gender identity. Both cases, filed on May 19, 2025, allege harms to individuals who oppose…

May 15 decision finds federal agency overstepped in interpreting Title VII to require accommodations for transgender employees A federal judge in Texas has sided with the state of Texas and the Heritage Foundation, striking down Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance that directed employers to accommodate transgender workers in accordance with a 2020 Supreme Court…

Ruling clarifies when a “fetal heartbeat” is considered to occur under 2023 state law On May 14, 2025, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed that the state’s 2023 Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act bans most abortions after cardiac activity is detectable by ultrasound, which generally occurs around six weeks of pregnancy. The Court…

The Fifth Circuit’s 2025 decision in Carter v. Southwest Airlines shapes how Title VII religious discrimination claims are litigated—offering a framework for plaintiffs and concrete defenses for emp