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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BJC warns against politicizing religious beliefs, sermons of candidates: ‘No religious test means no religious test’
BJC hosted a conversation on the unique religious liberty concerns that can arise when a minister is a candidate for public office. Charles Watson Jr. and Amanda Tyler highlighted recent attack ads aimed at the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is a Baptist minister and a candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia.
SCOTUS declines to intervene after 6th Circuit finds no “hint of hostility toward religion” in Kentucky Governor’s COVID-19 order halting in-person schools
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s latest COVID-19 order, which halted in-person learning in both public and private elementary and secondary schools across the state, will remain in full force after a unanimous federal appeals panel ruled it is likely to withstand a constitutional challenge.
New Supreme Court majority halts enforcement of New York COVID-19 targeted restrictions on houses of worship pending appeal
In a Thanksgiving Eve decision, the U.S. Supreme Court barred the state of New York from enforcing worship service restrictions in areas classified as red and orange zones for their sharp rise in coronavirus infections.
Tennessee lawmakers take aim at COVID-19 vaccination with bill to allow religious and conscience exemption
A bill introduced in the Tennessee legislature would remove provisions that limit the application of religious exemptions from vaccination requirements in the case of an epidemic or where immunization is necessary to protect the health of others.
New York Police Department agrees to policy change allowing religious head coverings in mug shots
Settling a 2018 lawsuit brought by two Muslim women, the NYPD has agreed to no longer require the removal of a person’s religious head covering for mug shots, provided their face is still visible.
Appeals court upholds Maine law barring private school tuition subsidies for “sectarian” education
The ruling in Carson v. Makin concluded that Maine’s tuition program passes constitutional muster, as it utilizes nonsectarian private schools in areas without their own public school.
U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument over whether prospective foster parents can be excluded because of religion, sexual orientation
This week. the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a case involving Catholic Social Services’ (CSS) constitutional challenge to the city’s requirement that organizations screening foster parents must comply with the city’s nondiscrimination law in selecting the pool of parents eligible.
Supreme Court confirmation raises questions about the direction of religious liberty in the U.S.
Amy Coney Barrett became the newest justice of the United States Supreme Court this week, and next week she’ll be considering a religious liberty case: Fulton v. Philadelphia.
Some COVID-related worship restrictions upheld, others halted as disputes continue to move through court system
Courts across the country continue to hear cases at the intersection of public health restrictions and religious gatherings. Here are updates from Colorado, New York, California, and Washington, D.C.
Religious Liberty discussions on day 3 of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing
The third day of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Judge Amy Coney Barrett yielded few religious liberty discussions, and none that made any significant advances over the first day of questioning. Watch two exchanges here.
