All week, I've been glued to my best friend C-Span for the Supreme Court confirmation hearings (see my transcript of her remarks on religious liberty here; and liveblogs: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3). Somehow though, the world did not stop. A special thanks to the crack BJC staff (I'm looking at you, Amanda and Cody) for keeping me up to date! Here is a sampling of the church-state developments that slipped past my confirmation hearing obsession. More to come on many of these:
The Baptist Joint Committee and several other advocacy groups in the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination signed a letter to Rep. Jerrold Nadler urging him to hold oversight hearings on "the current status of the Faith-Based Initiative." Howard Friedman has posted the letter here.
Church-state separation has become a lightning-rod issue in the Nevada Senate race between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican challenged Sharon Angle. You may want to follow up on that story with Brent Walker's discussion of the "Top Ten Lies About Church and State." Just sayin.
Plaintiffs are appealing a judge's ruling that Delaware's Indian River School District did not violate the Constitution with prayers opening school board meetings. My post on that earlier decision is here.
The ACLU has filed its response in another case involving opening prayers. Forsyth County (NC) appealed to the 4th Circuit a ruling that their practice was an unconstitutional violation of church-state separation.
