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Defense budget bill would roll back Obama's 2014 anti-discrimination order
President Obama threatens to veto defense budget bill if language permitting discrimination on basis of religion or sexual orientation remains.
Religious Institutions
Church sues Iowa for hypothetical gender "law"
To put it succinctly, the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ is suing for protection against a threat that does not exist under current law.
Analysis: Amended version of SB 1146 passes CA Assembly Judiciary
The latest version still faces constitutional hurdles as lawmakers seek to control morals policies of religion-based educational institutions.
Five legal issues raised by California SB 1146
SB 1146 is currently up for consideration in the California State Assembly Judiciary this Thursday having already passed the Senate by a vote of 26-13 on May 26, 2016. The heading of the bill states, "The Equity in Higher Education Act among other things, prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on the basis of specified attributes, including sex, […]
Religious Property Dispute- Katy Perry v. the Nuns v. a Restaurateur v. the Archdiocese
Last year, the Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed to sell a former convent belonging to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary to pop singer Katy Perry for $14.5 million in cash. At the same time, the nuns agreed to sell the property to restaurateur Dana Hollister for $15.5 million. Now it's up to a court to decide which of these sales will go through.
Mississippi legislature passes law to weaponize churches
There are two distinct reactions to gun violence. One is to tighten gun regulations in an effort to get guns off the street. The other is to arm more people so they can kill would-be attackers. The Charleston, South Carolina, shooting at a church last year has provided the Mississippi legislature with a pretext to do the latter.
Legal Analysis: Zubik petitioners may have pushed argument too far
By Jason Hines, PhD, JD – Prior to 1990, the Supreme Court’s standard in determining whether a law violated a citizen’s free exercise of religion was intimately tied to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. An Adventist, Adele Sherbert, sued to receive unemployment benefits after she was fired from her job because she refused to work on the Sabbath. In the case that now bears her name, Sherbert v. Verner, the Court ruled in her favor, establishing the rule that the government could not substantially burden a citizen’s religious freedom unless the government had a compelling interest and had narrowly tailored the measure to minimize infringement.
Supreme Court hears oral arguments in key contraception mandate case
This morning the eight-member United States Supreme Court heard the contraceptive mandate cases that were consolidated under the name Zubik v. Burwell (Docket Number 15-191). (See transcript.) They key issue in all the cases was religious employers who rejected the method of receiving the "religious employer exemption" to the Affordable Care Act (2010) which required group health plans and insurance issues to offer plans that provided "approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity."
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Taxpayers Must Pay for Church Playground Upgrade
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Missouri taxpayers can be compelled to pay for "non-sectarian" church upgrades. Case: Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley
The Theology of the Tax Exemption
By Jason Hines, PhD, JD – Has Christianity in America become so materialistic that we conflate our freedom to worship with our ability to save a dollar?