The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, dismissing a lawsuit by 44 Methodist churches seeking to disaffiliate over doctrinal disputes about human sexuality while retaining their properties. The court’s decision, based on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, underscores the limitations of civil courts in resolving ecclesiastical issues, leaving the churches to navigate the UMC’s internal processes for resolution.
Tag: Establishment Clause
Pepperdine Caruso Law Hosts 2024 Nootbaar Fellows Workshop and Conference on “Charting the Future of Church and State”
Supreme Court to hear challenge to Montana’s no-aid-to-religion law
The United States (U.S.) Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue, concerning a Montana state legislative program that allowed individuals to receive up to a $150.00 tax credit for money that they could donate to one of several K-12 scholarship funds.
Federal Judge rules Pennsylvania county seal violates Establishment Clause
A Federal judge has ruled that a Pennsylvania county seal and flag that prominently feature a cross violates the Establishment Clause.
7th Circuit Rules Challengers to Ministerial Housing Exemption Lacked Standing
On November 13, 2014, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an atheist group challenging a tax-exempt housing benefit only available to clergy lacked standing to bring the suit because members of the atheist group could not demonstrate that they had suffered an injury as a result of the clergy tax-exemption.
States Rights and the Religion Clauses: Examining the North Carolina Resolution
This week, two members of the North Carolina House of Representatives submitted a resolution which would declare that “the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.” In other words, the legislation declared that that the state could make its own laws about religion and the federal government would not be able to stop them. Although the resolution is not likely to be approved, it does deserve some serious examination as it reflects a common argument arising in the religious right that the Establishment Clause does not apply to the states.
Mercer University: Religious Liberty in the Constitution
Gary Simson, Dean of Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law, speaks on religious liberty as established in the constitution and what it means to us. He discusses how the United States was designed to be a country that took religion very seriously but respected the decisions of individuals as to which religion to practice…
VIDEO: President Obama on Church and State
Obama on Church and State Obama explains the importance of church-state separation in a variety of ways. What it comes down to is; In a diverse democratic society, any proposed policy must justify itself via the benefits we ALL see, rather than via arguments that only hold true to people who have one certain religious…
Michael Newdow – Question to Justice Scalia: Does the Establishment Clause Permit the Disregard of Devout Catholics?
Dr. Michael Newdow, an attorney and physician famous for his litigation on church-state issues from an atheist perspective, and and previous article contributor to ReligiousLiberty.TV, has now published an important law review article for the Capital University Law Review that discusses the history of American religious freedom and tolerance and why the majority should carefully consider the…
Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor’s rulings on religious issues
University of Toledo law professor Howard M. Friedman has compiled a list of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s rulings on religion clause issues at his blog, Religion Clause. Sotomayor has served on the Second Circuit since 1998. She served as a federal district court judge in the Southern District of New York from 1992 to 1998.