Don Byrd, Author at BJC

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.