Latest News
Written by Don Byrd, these updates bring together the latest news impacting the conversation around religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
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SCOTUS hears arguments in pivotal religious liberty case involving the unprecedented creation of religious charter schools
Oklahoma v. Drummond is a critical case, testing whether longheld Establishment Clause principles in the public school context will endure under the current Supreme Court’s trend away from protecting the institutional separation of church and state.
In oral argument, U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with the limits of public school parents’ opt-out rights
In oral argument in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, the U.S. Supreme Court probed the issue of whether and to what extent parents of young schoolchildren enjoy a right under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to opt their students out of curricular activities that conflict with their religious beliefs.
BJC urges U.S. Supreme Court to rule nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school unconstitutional
If the Court holds that states can or even must accept religious schools as charter schools, it would upend decades of Establishment Clause jurisprudence. As BJC's brief says, “The state may not directly fund religious instruction. That line has long preserved both faith and freedom. It should be respected here.”
Kentucky faith leaders urge Gov. Beshear to veto bill erecting Ten Commandments monument at state Capitol
In a letter to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, dozens of faith leaders – including Christian leaders – explained why returning an enormous, permanent Ten Commandments monument to the grounds of the Kentucky Capitol is a bad idea.
Flurry of state legislature activity would promote religion in public schools
State legislatures across the country are back in session and are introducing troubling bills that, if enacted, will harm the cause of religious liberty for all.
New poll: 29% of Americans espouse Christian nationalism, unchanged from 2023
PRRI questioned 22,000 Americans in all 50 states, and it measured support for Christian nationalism views by asking each participant whether and to what extent they agreed or disagreed with five core beliefs tied to Christian nationalism.
Quaker congregations file suit challenging new White House immigration policy
A lawsuit filed by several Quaker congregations challenges the Trump administration's new policy as a violation of religious freedom protections under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the freedom to associate under the First Amendment, and as a violation of various provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear cases involving religious school funding, parent rights to opt out of grade school curriculum
In the last two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a pair of religious liberty cases, one of which is a closely watched case in Oklahoma that may reshape the landscape of church-state law surrounding government funding of religion, and the other involves parents’ challenge to a school district removing their ability to opt out of reading curriculum assignments that they object to on religious grounds.
