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

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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Freedom From Religion Foundation Files Complaint With IRS Against Mesa Church After GOP Candidate Addresses Event

The Wisconsin-based, “freethought” watchdog Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed a complaint with the IRS against the Redeemer Apostolic Church in Mesa after pastor and CD 4 candidate Jerone Davis appeared at a prayer revival event hosted by America’s Revival, which is separate from the church. Davison was endorsed there by the founder of America’s Revival, Pastor Joshua Feuerstein. The FFRF wants the church’s tax-exempt status revoked, asserting that it crossed the line into the type of political activity that nonprofit 501(c)(3)s are prohibited from engaging in.

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Mark Brnovich Applauds SCOTUS for Upholding the First Amendment Rights of a Former Public High School Coach

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) applauded the Supreme Court of the United States for upholding the First Amendment rights of Joseph Kennedy, a former Washington high school football coach.

“This is a great win, strongly affirming our constitutional recognition for freedom of speech, religion, and personal expression for all,” Brnovich said. “The First Amendment is at the core of who we are as Americans, and we must vigorously uphold it not only in court but every day of our lives.”

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Center for Arizona Policy Reacts to SCOTUS Opinion That Upholds Parental and Religious School Rights

Cathi Herrod, policy president of the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), released a statement Tuesday following the Supreme Court’s opinion that said not including religious schools in taxpayer tuition assistance funds was unconstitutional.

“In a victory upholding for parents and private religious schools, the U.S. Supreme Court has, again, stymied attempts to chip away at American’s right to freely practice their religion. The Court affirms that a state cannot offer financial programs to students attending secular schools, while refusing to offer those same programs to students attending religious schools,” Herrod said in a statement.

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Web Designer Forced to Publish Messages Countering Her Religious Faith Asks Supreme Court to Hear Case

Person coding a website

A Colorado web designer asked the Supreme Court to take up her case challenging a state law forcing her to publish websites with messages counter to her religious beliefs.

Lorie Smith filed the petition with the Supreme Court on Friday, arguing a lower court ruling that upheld the Colorado law was wrongly decided, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the firm representing her, announced. The law compelled Smith’s speech in violation of her First Amendment rights by forcing her business 303 Creative to produce content against her beliefs, she said.

“The government shouldn’t weaponize the law to force a web designer to speak messages that violate her belief,” ADF General Counsel Kristen Waggoner said during a press call before filing the petition. “This case involves quintessential free speech and artistic freedom, which the 10th circuit astonishingly and dangerously cast aside here.”

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Supreme Court Sides with Student Whose Christian Beliefs Were Suppressed by Georgia College Campus

In a rare nearly-unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with a Christian college student whose right to freedom of expression and freedom of religion were initially silenced by his college campus in Georgia, as reported by ABC News.

The 8-1 decision was led by Justice Clarence Thomas, with Chief Justice John Roberts being the sole dissenting vote. Writing for the majority, Justice Thomas said that Chike Uzuegbunam, an African-American Evangelical Christian, can seek nominal damages from Georgia Gwinnett College, after officials at the school told him he was not allowed to hand out Christian literature on the campus’s “free speech zone.” This comes even after the school reversed course from its initial restrictions, and after Uzuegbunam ultimately graduated.

“It is undisputed that he experienced a complete violation of his constitutional rights when respondents enforced their speech policies against him,” Thomas wrote. “Because ‘every violation [of a right] imports damage,’ nominal damages can redress Uzuegbunam’s injury even if he cannot or chooses not to qualify that harm in economic terms.”

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Student Sues School for Banning Biblical Shirt While Allowing LGBTQ Speech

A Tennessee high school student has filed a lawsuit against Overton County School District (OCS) for banning her Biblical shirt while allowing other free speech. The shirt read: “HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.” 
OCS claimed that the student’s shirt violated Livingston Academy dress code policy. Although the policy doesn’t define “offensive messages” or “sexual connotations,” Principal Richard Melton determined that the student’s shirt fell under those criteria.

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‘Absolute Monarchy’: Catholic Priests, Jewish Congregants Sue Cuomo, De Blasio Over Double Standards on Worship, Protests

Catholic priests and Jewish congregants have filed a lawsuit against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over double standards on worship and protests.

Two Catholic priests from upstate New York and three Orthodox Jewish congregants from Brooklyn filed lawsuit June 10 against Cuomo, de Blasio, and Attorney General Letitia James in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.

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Fed Court Rules Atlanta Abused Constitution By Sacking Fire Chief

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled Wednesday that Atlanta officials violated the Constitution in 2015 when they terminated then-Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran for not getting the city’s prior permission to write a religious book. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented Cochran, a evangelical Christian, in the case, Cochran v. City of Atlanta. The judge upheld…

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