Texas recently became the latest and largest state to prohibit abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Governor Abbott signed the Texas Heartbeat Act into law on May 19 and subsequently enacted a ban on abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, which is when a fetal heart can be detected. Texas joins Read More

The United States Supreme Court recently overruled COVID-19 restrictions established by New York legislators that were designed to combat the coronavirus, finding the restrictions to be unconstitutional. The 5-to-4 vote was the first to address COVID-19 restrictions after the loss of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this fall and the installment of the new Read More

In a recent landmark decision earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court held that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ workers from on-the-job discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The decision was the result of a 6-3 majority that saw Justices Gorsuch and Roberts, who are traditionally viewed Read More

The Supreme Court of the United States recently turned down a request from a California church to block enforcement of state restrictions concerning attendance at religious services. In a 5-4 vote, Chief Justice Roberts joined the four liberals on the court to gain a majority to deny the church’s shutdown challenge. Meanwhile, Justices Thomas, Alito, Read More

A federal judge recently ruled that North Carolina religious leaders should be able to open their doors to their congregations, overruling religious service restrictions instituted by the state’s Governor to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper has since stated that he does not plan to appeal the Read More

Last month, the United States Supreme Court heard several important cases regarding contraceptive coverage guaranteed under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. In 2017, the Trump Administration argued for the right to expand a previous exemption to the contraceptive mandate from entities with a religious objection, such as churches, to any entity with a moral objection. Read More

Two recent cases (Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel) heard by the United States Supreme Court have dealt with the role of religious rights in this country. Both of these cases question if two Catholic school instructors qualify as “ministers,” and whether employment discrimination laws are therefore applicable. Read More

An appeals court in Florida recently struck down Jacksonville’s anti-discrimination law. The law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in areas like public accommodation, employment, and housing. Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals reversed the decision made by a Duval County court to dismiss a challenge to the city’s human-rights Read More

Several prayer videos created by two military chaplains offering Christian messaging during the coronavirus pandemic were recently removed from Facebook following complaints that this content constituted “illicit proselytizing” of Christianity. This situation serves as an interesting example of how interested parties view the role of the establishment clause during the pandemic. How Debate Over the Read More

Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez, an openly gay San Antonio-based judge, was recently forced to remove the rainbow flag and other rainbow materials from her courtroom after defense attorney Flavio Hernandez filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. According to the attorney, the rainbow flag is no different from a swastika or Confederate Read More