On September 19, Mary Campos, a Southern California woman, was asked to switch her pre-booked ticketed seat when what she has described as two “Pakistani monks” who were wearing orange robes told United Airlines that their religious beliefs prohibited them from sitting next to her because of her gender.
By Brent Buttler – I hate to say it, but sometimes the church can have striking similarities with the current U.S. Congress. Thankfully, there is a solution to that problem.
Congress has two more days to act to save free speech, but in a year when the Internet has been the biggest thorn in the side of both parties, my guess is that Congress will tragically let control of ICANN slide away. The world deserves the full range of First Amendment protections of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, and other freedoms that only the United States is constitutionally obligated to maintain.
In a stunning report, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Martin Castro attacked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act at both the state and federal level, challenged the terms “religious liberty” and “religious liberty” as code for intolerance, and argued that free exercise rights should yield to other civil rights if they come into conflict.
On August 16, 2016, the Northwest Religious Liberty Association (NRLA) celebrated its 25th anniversary by highlighting key legislative achievements, including the passage of the Idaho Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 2000 and the two-part passage of the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) in 2009 and 2010.
On August 15, 2016, a Federal Court in Maryland upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a 56-year-old injured music teacher at a Seventh-day Adventist school on the basis that, as a “minister,” she had no right to pursue federal claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Yesterday the California Assembly passed SB 1146 (48 to 28 with 7 abstaining), sending the amended higher education anti-discrimination bill back to the Senate for a concurrence vote to take place before August 31.
The California legislature updated SB 1146 yesterday to focus on Title IX-exempt institutions. SB 1146 now includes disclosure and reporting requirements.
By Bill Cork – It will be our fear, the fear we see around us today, that will be our undoing.
The California Assembly will likely vote on a controversial bill designed to pressure religious colleges and universities to abandon faith-based sexual behavior policies by the end of the month.