Recent News & Columns
Here are recent columns and news items from the Baptist Joint Committee. Visit our blog and read our monthly magazine, Report from the Capital, to stay current on all religious liberty news. You can also read our press releases online.
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Cherilyn Crowe
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Voices of Native American Faith Freedom – Live conversations on Facebook
Join BJC for conversations on Facebook exploring connections to faith freedom.
House subcommittees hold joint hearing on vaccine mandates and employee accommodations
Watch as several members of Congress raise the difficult issue of how to handle employee requests for religious exemptions to vaccine mandates.
Federal courts reach divergent outcomes in health care worker vaccine disputes while class action challenges federal mandate
As these cases suggest, the controversy over religious objections to COVID-19 vaccine mandates appears sure to continue expanding.
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear bid to fly Christian flag at Boston City Hall
The Supreme Court will hear a case brought by a civic organization challenging Boston’s denial of their request to fly a Christian flag temporarily outside city hall.
BJC joins brief in Supreme Court case involving prisoner’s request for ministerial act during lethal injection
Ramirez v. Collier was brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which bars state and local governments from posing a substantial burden on the religious free exercise of inmates unless that burden is necessary to further a compelling government interest.
NY judge: Muslim women’s suit over forced removal of hijab for booking photo can proceed for money damages
Two Muslim women are challenging the policy of the New York Police Department that requires arrestees to remove religious headwear for their booking photo.
Constitution Day reminds us to safeguard the guarantee of No Religious Test
For those of us who pay special attention to the guarantees of religious freedom in our laws, Constitution Day is an important reminder that the extent of those protections we cherish today was not inevitable at our nation’s founding.
September 11 anniversary spurs reflection, regret on legacy of animus toward American Muslims
As we mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, among the legacies being remembered is the disturbing rise in anti-Muslim hostility here in the United States that followed that tragic day.
U.S. Supreme Court halts execution, will hear death row inmate’s request for ministerial act during moment of lethal injection
The Supreme Court granted a late-night reprieve to a Texas death row inmate and added a new case to its schedule — the first consideration of a request related to the activities of the minister in the execution chamber.
Vaccine exemption roundup: Cases winding through courts address claims for religious exemption from vaccine mandates
Each vaccine mandate dispute is unique, from the beliefs of the plaintiff and the specific language in the mandate or exemption policy in question to the actions of officials and the state laws that govern them.