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Religion & Law

Blog From The Capital

Blog from the Capital is the weblog of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Baptist church-state separation advocacy group in D.C. for the last 70 years.

Post Frequency: 8.8/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2009 at 16:22:09

Religious Minorities in Iraq Continue to Face Oppression

Posted on December 16, 2008
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued yet another report trying to call attention to the plight of religious minorities in Iraq, and urging the US to act more forcefully on their behalf. The commission wants the U.S....

Florida Voucher Proponents Still At It

Posted on December 16, 2008
A new report from Floridas Office of Program Policy Analysis Government Accountability seems to suggest that voucher programs save the state money, as the public funds saved by not having a child in public school are greater than the...

Weekend Roundup: 2008 in Review, Amish Update, Blair Laments Silence on Faith, and Clinton Urged to Get Religion at State

Posted on December 15, 2008
An editorial Friday in the Dallas Morning-News urged the likely next Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to "close the religion deficit" in the State Department's diplomatic efforts. Via Religion Clause, there's a new sheriff in town in Harris County, Texas,...

Baptist Joint Committee Statement on Supreme Court's Guantanamo Ruling

Posted on December 15, 2008
From a statement by the Baptist Joint Committee on today's order (see earlier post) vacating the dismissal of religious freedom claims made by 4 Guantanamo detainees: BJC General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman stressed the importance of RFRA and said she....

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Supreme Court Revives Guantanamo Religious Freedom Case [UPDATED]

Posted on December 15, 2008
The Supreme Court today ordered the DC Court of Appeals to reconsider their dismissal of a case brought by 4 Guantanamo detainees, alleging violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

Andrew Sullivan Explains

Posted on December 14, 2008
...that the issue is not keeping faith out of our politics; it's keeping faith out of our laws and the requirements we place on the lives of other people. His recipe doesn't solve every church-state dispute of course. We will...

This Land is Not My Land: Richard Finds Lack of Purity in Bush's, Cizik's Views

Posted on December 12, 2008
Now that President Bush - in an interview with Nightline - has expressed some religious beliefs that are not completely popular with the Religious Right, Richard Land is suddenly not so sure a President's religious outlook is important after all....

Christian Fraternity Issue Debated

Posted on December 11, 2008
As a follow-up to the post below, regarding the Christian fraternity that seeks official recognition at the University of Florida, it's worth reading yesterday's thoughts by Professor Volokh, who argues that just because religious groups on campus are allowed to...

11th Circuit Hears Christian Fraternity Recognition Case

Posted on December 11, 2008
Yesterday, the 11th Circuit heard arguments in the case involving a Christian fraternity seeking to be recognized as an official University of Florida organization despite their discriminatory admission policies. Beta Upsilon Chi lawyers told a three-judge panel of the 11th...

Judge Orders Injunction Down SC "I Believe" License Plates

Posted on December 11, 2008
A federal judge in South Carolina has ruled for the plaintiffs in halting the state's "I Believe" license plate program before it begins. Determining that it is "unlikely" that the law creating the specialty plates "satisfies even one" of the...

Will Flagging Economy Impact Faith-Based Funding Policy?

Posted on December 10, 2008
An interesting article in The Jewish Week considers how a weakening economy might affect government funding of faith-based service providers. ?The economy is going to factor into every debate in government,? said [Interfaith Alliance head Welton] Gaddy...

Arizona Supreme Court Debates Vouchers and Religious Neutrality

Posted on December 10, 2008
The Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday over the legality under the state constitution of its school voucher program. AP reports: An attorney for opponents acknowledged that it?s difficult to draw ?a line? but said the voucher programs trample on...

Article 18

Posted on December 10, 2008
I almost let today go by without mentioning it is the 60th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Several of the Declaration's articles makes mention of religion, but most on point, Article 18 says: Everyone has the...

Possible Drug Czar Champion of Faith-Based Earmark

Posted on December 09, 2008
A leading candidate for President-elect Obama's cabinet as drug czar may prove controversial. In addition to other problems, Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad became known for his role in sending a congressional earmark to the religious drug treatment program, Teen Challenge...

Supreme Court Declines Religious Candy Cane Petition

Posted on December 09, 2008
Via Religion Clause, the Supreme Court denied a petition to hear the appeal in the case of a Michigan 5th grader who was prohibited from distributing religious messages as a part of a school project. This leaves in place the...

What if Governments Halted Christmas Displays

Posted on December 08, 2008
Norman Jameson of North Carolina's Biblical Recorder wonders if it might not be a good thing for the state to limit its religious displays and let Christians reclaim Christmas. He may be on to something. What will it mean if...

Protestors Rally Against Solstice Sign

Posted on December 08, 2008
The controversial holiday display at the Washington State capitol drew a protest (and counter-protest) of 500 yesterday. Some of the logic is a bit head-spinning. Not unlike trying to follow the hidden ball in the shell game, see if you...

Televangelist Copeland Denied Local Tax Exemption

Posted on December 07, 2008
A prominent target of Senator Grassley's probe into televangelist finances, Kenneth Copeland, was ordered to pay taxes on his ministry's private jet after he refused to reveal his salary as is required by Tarrant County (TX) property tax law. Jeffrey...

Future of Faith-Based Policy "Largely Political and Regulatory"

Posted on December 05, 2008
In a recent post I glossed over the church-state year in review offered by law professors Ira Lupu and Robert Tuttle. The 112-page document (pdf) deserves more careful attention, and especially so this year as it evaluates not just the...

Foxes Running the Henhouse in Texas School Board

Posted on December 05, 2008
As Kathy Miller - President of the Texas Freedom Network - explains it, "A fire chief wouldn't knowingly hire an arsonist in the department." A member of the Texas School Board has written a new book slamming public education for...

Washington State's Diverse Holiday Display Draws Fire

Posted on December 04, 2008
City and state officials have an understandably tough time balancing the religious liberty interests of their constituents, maybe doubly so in December. Criticized from the free exercise/free speech advocates for any change to the tradition of government-sponsored religious displays, and...

More on Kentucky's God Requirement

Posted on December 04, 2008
ABP's Bob Allen reports on the recent lawsuit challenging Kentucky's statutory requirement of a dependence on God for the Commonwealth's security (earlier post here). AU spokesman Rob Boston described the God requirement as an example of "meaningless civil religion" similar...

Celebrate Baptist Heritage in Your Church

Posted on December 03, 2008
The Baptist History and Heritage Society, together with the Center for Baptist Studies, are providing a year's worth of monthly bulletin inserts, beginning Dec. 15, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of "Baptist beginnings". Get on the mailing list to receive...

Friend of Court Brief in Arizona Voucher Appeal

Posted on December 03, 2008
Americans United has filed an amicus brief in the school voucher case to be heard by the Arizona Supreme Court. Americans United urged the justices to hold that the voucher plans violate explicit provisions of the state constitution that bar...

Capitol Visitor's Center

Posted on December 03, 2008
The visitor's center to the US Capitol is finally open, but of course for some, there's not enough God in it....

The Bush Legacy: Removing Barriers to Religious Funding

Posted on December 03, 2008
Each year, church-state experts Ira Lupu and Robert Tuttle file a "State of the Law" report looking at legal developments around the intersection of government and faith-based organizations. This year, in addition to evaluating 2008, they summarize President Bush's 2...

Kentucky Homeland Security Law Challenged

Posted on December 02, 2008
A little-noticed provision in Kentucky's 2006 Homeland Security statute required that the state acknowledge "dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth." A new lawsuit is challenging it on Establishment Clause grounds...

Protecting Churches, Interfering with Religion?

Posted on December 01, 2008
Yesterday's NYTimes has a story on the number of crumbling church structures and the efforts to preserve them with landmark status. Preservationists argue that too many religious buildings have been lost and more are at risk, even as the New...

Supreme Court Speculations

Posted on December 01, 2008
Scott Sheperd of Cox News lists potential Supreme Court nominees of the next President, should vacancies arise. And AP reports that Justice Stevens, at 88 the oldest member of the Court, is showing no signs of retiring. It's also worth...

The Greatness of America

Posted on December 01, 2008
At Religion Clause, Howard Friedman points to excerpts from a recent interview given by President Bush as part of the StoryCorps initiative. After asserting the importance of faith in his own life, he added: I would advise politicians, however, to...

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