Tag: First Amendment

Congressional Report Details ‘Pervasive Degradation’ of First Amendment Rights on College Campuses

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A congressional report released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday describes the “long-standing and pervasive degradation of First Amendment rights” on college campuses.

The report, titled “Freedom of Speech and Its Protection on College Campuses,” details the committee’s findings on First Amendment violations such as “cancellations” of events to please “one-sided woke faculty and administrators.” The report provided legislation suggestions to protect freedom of speech and prevent a “plague of illiberalism,” including disclosure requirements of free speech policies and mandated neutrality to prevent colleges from commenting on public policy or social issues.

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Commentary: ‘See You at the Pole’ Is Protected by the First Amendment

JC Bowman

Stefi Outlaw, the president of the local NEA affiliate in Clarksville, Tennessee, emailed the chairman of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools chairman Kent Griffy, and Mark Nolan an attorney regarding board member Aron Maberry.  The claim she made was he used his official capacity as a board member to promote a “See You at the Pole“ prayer rally.

This raises a few interesting points. As a public official, using your public account probably provides more transparency to taxpayers. How much public business gets conducted behind the scenes with private emails? The use of private email for public business can be controversial and legally problematic in some cases.

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Elon Musk’s X Sues California over Alleged First Amendment Violations

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Elon Musk’s X Corp. sued California to block a law requiring social media companies to publish their content moderation policies, alleging it violates the First Amendment and coerces censorship.

X, formerly known as Twitter, asserted that California’s Assembly Bill 587 infringes upon its freedom of speech under the First Amendment and California’s state constitution, according to court documents. The law mandates social media companies release reports on how they moderate issues including hate speech, extremism, disinformation and misinformation.

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Arizona State University Joins Kari Lake’s Motion to Dismiss Stephen Richer’s Defamation Complaint Against Her

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a defamation lawsuit in June against Kari Lake on June 22 over her statements alleging election fraud in Maricopa County, and now ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law  First Amendment Clinic is joining Lake in her defense. The clinic co-authored a motion to dismiss with Lake’s attorneys, which was filed on August 21. 

Jennifer Wright, one of Lake’s attorneys who previously served as the Election Integrity Unit civil attorney for the Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement provided to The Arizona Sun Times, “In 2022, the legislature strengthened laws protecting the rights of citizens to speak freely on matters of public concern. Richer’s lawsuit is precisely the kind of abuse of the legal system the law was designed to stop. I have every confidence the court will agree, and dismiss the lawsuit.” 

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Commentary: Trump’s Claims of Election Misconduct Were Never Adjudicated in Georgia

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In a post to his locals.com page Georgia attorney Robert Barnes took subscribers on a little trip down memory lane about the 2020 Georgia election challenges.

As Mr. Barnes explained, detailed affidavits filed by the Trump campaign established the veracity of the claims. Short version: Constitutionally unqualified voters cast Constitutionally unqualified ballots that were Constitutionally unqualified canvassed and counted in far excess of the margin of victory — indeed, more than 10 times the margin of victory. Unlawfully, Fulton County courts blocked the case from ever being heard.

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Concerns Arise over Arizona Supreme Court’s Task Force on Countering Disinformation

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court launched a Task Force on Countering Disinformation in 2019 that is raising concerns. It is the first state court system in the country to establish one. The task force has issued two reports with recommendations since its launch.

The task force members include some partisans, and none of them appear to be conservative.

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College Profs Sue over State Abortion Law, Argue It Criminalizes Classroom Discussion

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Idaho professors and teachers unions are alleging that a state law violates their First Amendment rights by preventing them from teaching pro-abortion viewpoints, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the ACLU.

Idaho passed the No Public Funds for Abortion Act in 2021, which prohibits state contracts with abortion providers and bans public employees from promoting abortion, according to Idaho’s legislative website. Public employees who violate the law can be charged with a felony and fired, and professors argue the law has forced them to alter their course modules by taking out entire sections related to abortion due to fear of repercussions, according to the lawsuit.

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Arizona AG Kris Mayes and Other Democratic AGs File Amicus Brief Supporting Government’s Ability to Pressure Social Media Companies

Rachel Alexander

Congress and First Amendment supporters have condemned the Twitter Files recently after it came out that government agencies colluded with social media companies to censor information on controversial topics that went against the government’s position. A federal judge in July barred the federal government from communicating with social media companies after two Republican attorneys general sued, but now some Democratic attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, are joining the lawsuit in support of the government.

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Judge Allows Utah Law Requiring Age Verification for Porn Sites to Remain in Effect

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A U.S. District Court judge allowed a Utah law requiring age verification for porn websites to remain in effect, dismissing a lawsuit that argued the legislation infringed on the First Amendment and individual privacy, according to a press release.

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) filed a lawsuit on May 3 after a law went into effect in the state of Utah that required porn websites to use age verification screening or face potential civil suits from Utah citizens. Judge Ted Stewart dismissed the lawsuit Tuesday, allowing the law to remain in place, but FSC announced that they plan to appeal the decision, according to a press release.

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Commentary: ‘Free Speech Protection Act’ Takes Center Stage in The Fight for the Soul of America

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Tennessee Star - Constitution Series

“If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.” 

That is what federal judge Terry Doughty wrote in his decision ordering a number of Biden administration officials and agencies from communicating censorship requests to social media companies.

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Catholic Counselor Asks SCOTUS to Reverse Decision Allowing States to Limit Speech Outside Abortion Clinics

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A Catholic sidewalk counselor petitioned the Supreme Court Friday to reverse a prior ruling that permits states to enforce laws targeting pro-life counseling outside abortion clinics.

In response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2020, Westchester County, New York passed a law creating a 100-foot “buffer zone” outside abortion clinics where it is illegal to approach another person to engage in “oral protest, education, or counseling” without consent. The law is similar to one the Supreme Court upheld in its 2000 Hill v. Colorado decision, which sidewalk counselor Debra Vitagliano, backed by Becket Law, now asks the justices to overrule.

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House Judiciary Committee Questions Zuckerberg on Potential Censorship on Threads

Just the News

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg asking questions about possible censorship occurring on Threads, Meta’s latest social media platform.

“Given that Meta has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies’ requests and demands in the past, the Committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform,” Committee chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote in the letter.

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Fired Diversity Official Sues College for ‘De-Centering Whiteness’

The Center Square

Silicon Valley community college officials said “White gays and lesbians” were not welcome in its LGBT center, called Jews “White oppressors” and refused repeated requests to address antisemitism, and forced staff to mouth a “land acknowledgment” that misidentified local indigenous tribes, according to a former diversity official.

The First Amendment lawsuit by Tabia Lee builds on allegations she made against De Anza College, Foothill-De Anza Community College District and officials after they declined to renew her contract this spring, which she called retaliation for challenging its “empty ‘antiracism’ gesture[s]” that reinforce racial stereotypes such as the “noble savage” and for acting like “an ‘uppity’ Black woman.”

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Federal Judge Denies Biden Admin’s Request to Keep Coordinating with Big Tech to Censor Americans

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A federal judge denied the Biden administration’s attempt to pause an injunction that bars federal officials from communicating with social media companies for the purposes of censoring protected speech on Monday.

The Biden administration appealed Western District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty’s July 4 injunction on Wednesday, also requesting an emergency order to pause the injunction while the appeal is pending on Thursday night. Doughty denied the administration’s emergency order Monday, finding that plaintiffs would likely succeed in proving the government colluded with social media companies “to engage in viewpoint-based suppression of protected free speech.”

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Judge Orders Biden Administration to Limit Contact with Social Media Platforms

Just the News

A Louisiana federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Biden administration to limit its contact with social media platforms, determining that the government likely violated the First Amendment by working to censor disfavored political viewpoints online. Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointed U.S. District Court judge, issued a preliminary injunction barring federal officials and agencies from contacting social media firms to seek the removal of protected speech, Politico reported.

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Christian Organizations Celebrate Supreme Court’s Ruling Against Forcing Web Designer to Work for Same-Sex Weddings

Susan Berry, PhD

Christian groups applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that held “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”

Organizations, including the Catholic League, Family Research Council, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, submitted friend of the court (amici) briefs in support of 303 Creative, the custom website design business owned by Lorie Smith.

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YouTube Repeatedly Censors RFK Jr. as Democratic Leaders Demand Reinstatement of 2020 Censorship

Just the News

The disputed 2020 election now appears in the rearview mirror for YouTube, which is now determining what users can see relevant to the next election.

The Alphabet-owned, video-sharing site and Google sibling has censored at least two videos, and may be throttling a third, featuring Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shortly after ending a two-and-a-half-year ban on questioning the “integrity” of the last presidential election, saying it accomplished little relative to the potential harm it caused.

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SCOTUS Holds Law Making It Illegal to ‘Encourage or Induce’ Illegal Immigration Does Not Violate First Amendment

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The Supreme Court upheld a law that makes it a crime to “encourage or induce” illegal immigration, rejecting the argument that it violates the First Amendment.

The case, United States v. Hansen, stems from Helaman Hansen’s 2017 conviction for running a program advertising a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants through “adult adoption,” which earned him more $1.8 million between 2012 and 2016. Though it affirmed Hansen’s convictions on mail and wire fraud charges, the Ninth Circuit held that the law behind his two counts of encouraging or inducing non-citizens to reside in the United States for financial gain was “overbroad and unconstitutional,” covering “a substantial amount of speech protected by the First Amendment.”

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Administration Sued for Discrimination Against Catholic Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

St. Dominic Academy in Auburn, Maine filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the administration of Gov. Janet Mills (D) and the Maine Human Rights Commission that alleges the state has continued to “outmaneuver” the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin by excluding religious schools from its longstanding program whereby students residing in districts without a public school are given the opportunity to attend the public or private school of their family’s choosing.

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FIRE: Street Preacher’s Arrest at Pennsylvania Pride Event and Subsequent Dismissal Is a Free-Speech Lesson

Bradley Vasoli

Charges were dropped this week regarding Christian street preacher Damon Atkins who was arrested for speaking negatively about an LGBTQ pride-flag-raising he attended at Reading, Pennsylvania City Hall on Saturday. 

“After review of the video of the incident, including body-worn cameras, and a review of the case law, we did not believe we could prove a criminal case of disorderly conduct,” Berks County’s District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

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Court Rejects Massachusetts Middle-Schooler’s Free Speech Request to Wear ‘Two Genders’ Shirt at School

Susan Berry, PhD

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston denied 12-year-old Liam Morrison’s request this week for a temporary injunction or restraining order to block his school from prohibiting expression of his view that “there are only two genders” before the court issues its final decision. “MFI [Massachusetts Family Institute] recently filed suit to vindicate the rights of this brave Middleborough 7th-grader to wear a shirt to school that simply stated ‘There Are Only Two Genders,’” the pro-family organization said in a press statement sent to The Star News Network. “After being censored by his school, Liam’s case went viral. MFI has partnered with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to file a federal lawsuit against the school.”

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No Word Yet from Pennsylvania State University on FIRE’s Freedom Concerns

Bradley Vasoli

The Pennsylvania State University has reportedly yet to answer a Philadelphia-based free-speech nonprofit’s request that the school confirms adherence to freedom of association.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) asked Penn State to do so after a brief disagreement this spring between administrators and the College Independents. This student group hosts political discussions featuring “a wide variety of viewpoints.” 

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Commentary: Rally Round the … Flag?

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On June 1, 2023, Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania will raise the Pride Flag. In what sounds like a solemn ceremony, students will speak about the Pride Flag’s personal significance to them. Politicians, civic leaders and religious leaders will also show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.

So Lower Gwynedd Township, one of the oldest townships in Montgomery County wants to celebrate a certain lifestyle. They will permit the LGBTQ community to display a flag that represents the pride a group of people has for their sexual orientation: homosexual, bisexual, transexual and others. So what is sexual orientation? According to the website of Planned Parenthood, sexual orientation is defined as: “who you’re attracted to and want to have relationships with.”

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Analysis: Companies That Ignore First Amendment Rights

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A new database shows that some of Americans’ favorite companies—such as Airbnb, Amazon, and Disney—disregard religious freedom and free speech. 

Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization devoted to protecting religious freedom and other First Amendment rights, joined with Inspire Insight, an investment tool that provides data on the religious values of companies, to produce the second annual Business Index ranking companies by Viewpoint Diversity Score. 

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Massachusetts Middle School Doubles Down on Censoring 12-Year-Old’s ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

Susan Berry, PhD

Massachusetts middle school student Liam Morrison was reportedly told again to remove his shirt Friday, one that said, “There Are Censored Genders,” which he wore to protest his school’s alleged decision to censor his right to free speech.

Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) said it is now preparing to take legal action on behalf of Liam and his parents “to vindicate Liam’s right to speak truth in a culture inundated by lies.”

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Massachusetts Family Institute Defends First Amendment Rights of 12-Year-Old Student Against School That Punished Him for Wearing ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

Susan Berry, PhD

The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) announced Tuesday the public policy organization sent a demand letter to the superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools on behalf of a 12-year-old student who was allegedly punished for wearing a shirt that said, “There are only two genders.”

Liam Morrison defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee on April 13, several weeks after he was reportedly taken out of gym class at Nichols Middle School and informed by school staff that complaints had been made about the shirt he was wearing that said, “There are only two genders.”

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Connecticut State Trooper Wins $260,500 Settlement in Lawsuit Against Police Union and Department Officials

Susan Berry, PhD

A Connecticut State Trooper won a settlement in his federal civil rights lawsuit against officials of the Connecticut State Police Union (CSPU) and Department of Emergency Services (DESPP), in which he charged them with illegally demoting him for his refusal to become a union member and to pay union dues to support CSPU’s political positions.

The trooper, Joseph Mercer, who was represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, settled the lawsuit for $260,500.

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Counseling Ban Promotes Gender Identity as Religion, Censors Science, Diverse Critics Tell SCOTUS

Just the News

First Amendment speech protections may be circumscribed for therapists and medical professionals in the American West, critics warn, unless the Supreme Court scrutinizes a Washington law prohibiting any “regime that seeks to change” a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Christian doctors, pro-life pregnancy centers, pediatricians, gender-critical feminists and a dozen states led by Idaho filed friend-of-the-court briefs last week urging the justices to review the so-called conversion law, warning it prevents providers from sharing research on the harms of hormonal and surgical procedures for gender-confused minors.

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Massachusetts Boy Confronts School Board After Allegedly Being Punished for ‘There Are Only Two Genders’ Shirt: ‘Why Do the Rules Apply to One Yet Not Another?’

Susan Berry, PhD

A 12-year-old Middleborough, Massachusetts school boy recently defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee after allegedly being sent home from school for making others feel unsafe by wearing a shirt that says, “There are only two genders.”

A video of Liam Morrison’s confrontation of his school committee was reported Sunday at the Libs of TikTok Twitter account.

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Catholic Advocacy Group Sues FBI and DOJ for FOIA Documents Related to Government Targeting of Catholics

Susan Berry, PhD

National Catholic advocacy organization CatholicVote filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit with Judicial Watch Thursday against the FBI and DOJ for failing to provide records requested under FOIA regarding the government’s targeting of Catholics.

CatholicVote President Brian Burch spoke to Fox & Friends Thursday about the lawsuit.

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Free Speech Advocates Win Case for Political Expression in Pennsylvania Park

Bradley Vasoli

A federal court on Wednesday ruled that local authorities wrongly forbade political activists from gathering candidate-petition signatures at Fort Hunter Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Last June, the Keystone Party of Pennsylvania’s candidate for state House District 104 Dave Kocur worked alongside party board member Kevin Gaughen in asking park visitors to sign petitions to get Kocur on the ballot. Park security guards directed them to stop. After the activists refused, citing their constitutional right to free expression in a public forum, Dauphin County Parks Director Anthea Stebbins ordered them to desist, explaining that the county disallows any political activity at Fort Hunter. 

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After Heated Debate, House Lawmakers Pass Legislation Shielding Teachers from Civil Liability over ‘Preferred Pronoun’ Use

TC Weber

A law protecting Tennessee teachers from civil liability if they fail to use a student’s preferred pronouns, is heading to the governor’s desk for his signature. The law extends protection to all employees of a public school, as well.

The proposed law comes at a time when discussions around transgender issues have moved to the forefront. Supporters say the bill does nothing but protect the First Amendment rights of teachers. While critics argue that the bill is part of a trio of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the Tennessee legislature this session. The first, regulated public drag shows across the state, while the other banned some gender-related medical procedures for minors. Those same critics often neglect to acknowledge that those procedures and drugs, physiologically alter the young person’s body, often irreversibly.

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Maricopa County Loses First Amendment Lawsuit from The Gateway Pundit, Agrees to Pay $175,000 for Banning Reporter from Elections

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County agreed last week to pay The Gateway Pundit (TGP) and its reporter Jordan Conradson $175,000 to settle their lawsuit over refusing to provide Conradson with a press pass to cover elections. An Obama-appointed trial court judge sided with the county in November, but after an injunction from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals followed by oral arguments that revealed the three-judge panel was likely to fully reverse the lower court, the Maricopa County Supervisors voted to settle. 

The controversy began in September 2022, when the county implemented a press pass regulation blocking journalists from election press conferences if they showed “conflicts of interest” and were not “free of associations that would compromise journalistic integrity or damage credibility.” The county cited Conradson’s attendance at Republican events as a conflict of interest, and told him, “[Y]ou are not a bona fide correspondent of repute in your profession.” 

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Pennsylvania Lawmaker Proposes Forcing Social Media to Police ‘Unwelcome’ Speech

Bradley Vasoli

A Pennsylvania legislator is asking her colleagues cosponsor a measure to police “unwelcome” speech on social-media platforms. 

In a memorandum describing her emerging bill, state Representative Darisha Parker (D-Philadelphia) wrote that her policy “would require social media network companies to establish and maintain effective and transparent complaint procedures for reporting hate speech content.” She further stated the legislation would “mak[e] it clear that hate speech is unwelcome on social media in Pennsylvania.”

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New Revelations of FBI Efforts to Infiltrate Catholic Church Provoke Storm of Protest

Just the News

Revelations this week of FBI efforts to develop intelligence sources inside the Catholic Church elicited howls of protest — from Capitol Hill, the Church and an FBI whistleblower.

Amid the latest revelations of political bias and retaliation by the FBI, Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) is calling for the increasingly polarizing law enforcement agency to be purged of politicized personnel and possibly defunded.

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Catholic Advocacy Group Prepared to Sue FBI for Failure to Comply With FOIA on Targeting of ‘Radical Traditional Catholics’

Susan Berry, PhD

A leading national Catholic advocacy organization says it is prepared to file a lawsuit against the FBI for failing to comply with its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that seeks communications information related to a leaked document that revealed the bureau was targeting so-called “radical traditional Catholics.”

“On March 6th we filed a freedom of information act request with the FBI in Richmond, VA, asking for communications regarding the targeting of traditional Catholics,” stated CatholicVote in a tweet Tuesday. “Norms require the agency to respond within 20 business days, with an additional 10 for ‘unusual circumstances.’ To date we have not received any response.”

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Lawsuit: Oregon State Officials Deny Woman’s Adoption Application Because of Her Christian Religious Beliefs

Susan Berry, PhD

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit last week against the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) on behalf of a woman whose application to adopt siblings from foster care was denied because her Christian faith beliefs do not allow her to agree to support the “sexual orientation, gender identity, [and] gender expression” of children placed in her home.

“Oregon’s policy amounts to an ideological litmus test: people who hold secular or ‘progressive’ views on sexual orientation and gender identity are eligible to participate in child welfare programs, while people of faith with religiously informed views are disqualified because they don’t agree with the state’s orthodoxy,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, who runs the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives.

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FIRE Presents ‘Free Cheesesteaks for Free Speech’ to Philadelphians

Bradley Vasoli

On Wednesday, hundreds stopped by Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) tables on 9th Street in South Philadelphia this weekend for two things Philadelphia has generated lots of over the years: cheesesteaks and liberty. 

FIRE, a Philadelphia-based institution since its founding in 1999, held the “Free Cheesesteaks for Free Speech” event as part of a larger $3.1-million pro-free-expression campaign featuring broadcast ads, billboards and digital promotions. The group, which initially focused on fighting speech restrictions on college campuses and recently broadened its mission to include other forums, hopes the effort will raise awareness of ongoing battles to honor the text and the spirit of the First Amendment. 

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Arizona Considers Bill to Fine Social Media Firms $250,00 Per Day for Banning Candidates

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Social media platforms that choose to suspend or ban candidates for office would face tens of thousands – or hundreds of thousands – of dollars a day in fines under legislation working its way through the Legislature.

The House Commerce Committee on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 1106 along party lines. The bill defines how a social media suspends, bans or reduces the exposure of an account. This is also referred to as “shadowbanning.”

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Politically Diverse Groups Back Free Speech at Pitt After Pennsylvania Lawmakers Urge Event Cancellation

Bradley Vasoli

After two Pennsylvania lawmakers last week called for cancelling upcoming conservative appearances at the University of Pittsburgh, a politically diverse array of voices are responding in favor of free speech. 

Representatives Jessica Benham (D-Carrick) and Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), who co-chair the state House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, denounced the state-related university for permitting the presence of speakers who oppose liberal views of transgenderism. The guests they find objectionable include Cabot Phillips, senior editor of the The Daily Wire news organization, who is scheduled to speak this Friday; Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer and critic of biological males competing in women’s sports, who will appear on March 27; and Michael Knowles, a Daily Wire commentator, who will debate transgender economist Deirdre McCloskey on April 18. All speakers are being sponsored by student-led associations. 

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Catholic Civil Rights Group Condemns State Legislation to Force Priests to Break Seal of Confession

Susan Berry, PhD

Bills in the states of Vermont, Delaware, and Washington would include in mandatory reporting laws information about child sexual abuse a priest learns during the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a move the Catholic League states lacks sound reasoning.

Last week Catholic League President Bill Donohue warned the “seal of confession” is “under fire” in Vermont, noting the Catholic civil rights organization is once again “doing battle with lawmakers who want to violate” the priest-penitent privilege, mostly in legislation concerning the sexual abuse of minors.

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THREATTOSCOTUS2022: FBI Whistleblowers Say Threat Tags Were Used to Target Conservatives

Just the News

What do school parents, Catholic attendees of Latin Mass and pro-life activists have in common? They’ve all been branded by the FBI as potential domestic terrorist threats in what whistleblowers say is a growing trend of using intelligence threat tags to enforce cancel culture.

The latest revelation came this past weekend when House Republicans released testimony from an FBI whistleblower who alleged colleagues in the bureau flipped a terrorist threat tag originally created to flag threats against pro-life Supreme Court justices into a signifier that anti-abortion protesters were somehow a threat.

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Ohio Republican State Senator Reynolds Introduces Bill to Preserve Student’s Religious Expression

Hannah Poling

Even though public schools in Ohio cannot close for all religious holidays, a Republican state senator says that students don’t deserve penalization for observing them and that schools should treat them as legitimate absences.

Senate Bill (SB) 49 known as the “Religious Expression Days” Act sponsored by State Senator Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester) aims to require local boards of education to draft “non-exhaustive” lists of religious holidays and excuse students for up to three days each academic year.

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California Christian Teacher Allegedly Fired for Refusal to Comply with District Gender Policies: ‘The District Cannot Accommodate Your Religious Beliefs’

Susan Berry, PhD

A California Christian physical education teacher was allegedly fired for refusing to lie to parents about their children’s gender identities at school and reject having males in female locker rooms – both policies that violate her faith beliefs, Fox News Digital reported Wednesday.

Jessica Tapias apparently shared with Fox News Digital the notice she received from the office of Jurupa Unified School District Superintendent Trenton Hansen.

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Robert Kiyosaki Responds to Arizona State University Faculty Members Condemning Event Featuring Him, Dennis Prager, and Charlie Kirk

Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College is sponsoring a “Health, Wealth & Happiness” panel discussion on February 8 featuring Rich Dad Poor Dad bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki, conservative leaders Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk, and wellness expert Dr. Radha Gopalan. Most of the faculty at Barrett — 37 of 47 members as of February 2 — denounced Kiyosaki, Prager, and Kirk in a February 1 letter addressed to the dean. Kiyosaki spoke to The Arizona Sun Times about the criticism.

“If they picket me, this won’t be the first time I’ve been received like this,” he said. Kiyosaki served in the Marines as a gunship pilot during the Vietnam War, and when he returned home, protesters targeted him and his fellow Marines and spit on them. Kiyosaki has written over 26 books related to finance, and Rich Dad Poor Dad is the best-selling personal financial book of all time. 

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