In modern day constitutional discussion, there is typically no argument about whether the Constitution protects individuals’ freedom to engage in the practice of religion regardless of which religion it is.  However, the discussion typically focuses on the First Amendment to the Constitution and not the original Articles.  Did the framers discuss religion, and if so, Read More

A 17-year-old student in Arab City, Alabama recently announced plans to pursue legal action against the Arab City School Board after it rejected his request to conduct a school prayer during a home football game. While it remains uncertain how this case will resolve, it provides a good example of the various conflicts involved in Read More

  At the beginning of July 2018, President Trump announced his decision to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to fill the spot left by the retirement of Justice Kennedy, and last month, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in to the Supreme Court. While Justice Kavanaugh previously served on the US Court of Appeals for Read More

Recently in Indiana, a Catholic high school teacher was placed on administrative leave after it was determined that she had had a same-sex marriage. The school responded that workers are expected to support the Catholic Church’s doctrines including that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Later, the teacher communicated through Facebook that Read More

Michigan’s Lake City community is responding after the local high school removed a video depicting a “family circle” from social media. This “family circle” occurred at a football field where coaches, players, and fans held hands to pray for the coach’s daughter, who is in the hospital. Despite the small size of the community, the Read More

A directive was recently issued by the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that allows federal contractors to raise religious freedom as a defense when they are charged with job discrimination. The Federal Contract Compliance Program, which is the government agency tasked with making sure that businesses that contract with the federal Read More

Three families in Maine recently initiated legal action in the United States District Court in Bangor against the commissioner of the Maine Department of Education over a law that prohibits tuition reimbursements for religious schools. For several decades, this law has stated that secondary schools are able to pay tuition for students who attend public Read More

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a California school board is prohibited from including prayers or making reference to Christian scripture at its meetings. This decision comes after the court upheld a 2016 injunction forbidding these practices. This decision sheds some important light on the role of prayer in school meetings. Origins Read More

  In May of 2018, Democratic senators introduced a bill to amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which according to the original sponsors of the law has been misappropriated and used to discriminate against numerous individual including those who identify as LGBTQ. This bill is significant because it has the potential to change a twenty-five-year-old Read More

  New Jersey law requires school children to receive numerous vaccinations when they reach a certain age, but there are exceptions for parents who want to avoid a vaccination for religious reasons. Some physicians have commented that this loophole in current law is too expansive and can seriously harm children. In response to these concerns, Read More