Tag Archives: supreme court

Supreme Court: Bladensburg Cross Will Stand

A government that roams the land, tearing down monuments with religious symbolism and scrubbing away any reference to the divine will strike many as aggressively hostile to religion. Militantly secular regimes have carried out such projects in the past…
– Justice Samuel Alito

Yesterday the US Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision that the Bladensburg Peace Cross could continue to stand and be maintained by the state — even though it was “undoubtedly a Christian symbol.” (Of note, the case was reversed and remanded “for further proceedings,” not simply dismissed.)

Some reports focused on the multiple opinions published by the justices, though these reports largely seemed to come from critics who believed that emphasizing the “splintered” nature of the ruling would Read more

Supreme Court Stays Injunctions on Transgender Policy

The Supreme Court ruled (5-4) yesterday that injunctions preventing the Department of Defense from implementing a change to President Obama’s transgender policy were stayed while the case worked its way through the courts. This allows the DoD Policy proposed by then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis to take effect.

Previously, lower courts had ruled in both directions on the policy.

While the policy is about medical and mental conditions, critics of the ruling blamed it on religion — that is, Christianity.

Tris Mamone, a member of the awkwardly named LGBTQ Humanist Alliance, is quoted saying [emphasis added]

Today’s ruling is another example of bigotry and Christian nationalism overriding legal protections for all Americans.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein similarly called it a product of the [emphasis added] Read more

Professor Sues University over Required Preferred Pronouns

Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University, has filed a lawsuit against his school because it requires faculty to address students by the students’ “preferred pronoun.” As announced by the ADF, which is representing Meriwether:

In January, during a political philosophy class he was teaching, Meriwether responded to a male student’s question by saying, “Yes, sir.” Meriwether responded in this fashion because he refers to all his students as “sir” or “ma’am” or by a title (Mr. or Miss, for example) followed by their last name to foster an atmosphere of seriousness and mutual respect.

The student’s sensibilities were so offended he shouted vulgarities at the professor and threatened to get him fired.

Ultimately, the school accused him of creating a “hostile” environment and placed a warning in his file — a warning that he must call the students by their chosen pronouns.

Meriwether cannot do so, because he said that would violate his religious beliefs: Read more

Supreme Court to Hear Memorial Cross Case

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal regarding the Bladensburg Peace Cross, which was declared unconstitutional by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals despite widespread support.

Though Justice Kavanaugh has yet to make his mark on the bench, even critics of religious liberty seem pessimistic, thinking religious liberty will prevail of their offense.

The case could be historic, given the amount of hostility toward religious displays in public and how many anti-cross cases there have been:  Read more

Judge Kavanaugh on the Judicial Review of Prayer

In 2010 the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit dismissed a lawsuit by Michael Newdow (the infamous atheist who has filed repeated lawsuits over So help me God/In God we Trust/etc.) seeking to prohibit “so help me God” and prayer from President Obama’s inauguration. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, as the administrator of the Presidential oath, was named as defendant.

The 3-judge panel of the Appeals Court dismissed the case, saying Newdow did not have standing. One of the judges disagreed, saying Newdow did have standing, but he said the case failed on its merits.

That was Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

As noted at the time, Judge Kavanaugh’s explanation Read more

Progressive Religious Groups Had No Effect on Kavanaugh, Mikey Weinstein. Here’s Why.

While some have vaunted (or mocked) the power of the ‘religious bloc’ in American politics, the nomination and confirmation of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the latest insight into when that power appears to be ineffective.

On Wednesday, October 3rd, the National Council of Churches issued a statement calling for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be withdrawn. The NCC said its stance was because

Judge Kavanaugh exhibited extreme partisan bias and disrespect…[and] his testimony before the Judiciary Committee included several misstatements and some outright falsehoods.

Judge Kavanaugh’s [record] is troubling with regard to issues of voting rights, racial and gender justice, health care, the rights of people with disabilities, and environmental protections.

The NCC, according to it own website, has 38 “member communions” that “include more than 45 million people in over 100,000 congregations.” If you do the math, that’s nearly 14% of the entire US population.

Yet, despite this condemnation from Read more

Homosexual War Memorial Stands while Cross Cannot

According to the homosexual website the Advocate, California has become the first state to have a homosexual war memorial [emphasis added]:

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill Monday designating the LGBTQ Veterans Memorial at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City as the state’s official LGBTQ veterans memorial…

It consists of an obelisk of mahogany granite from South Dakota with the logo of the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America (the group is now known as American Veterans for Equal Rights).

So let’s get this straight (no pun intended): Read more

109 Members of Congress File SCOTUS Brief on Bladensburg Cross

More than 100 members of Congress filed an amicus brief supporting the Bladensburg cross, a “Peace Cross” that was erected after World War I to honor local war dead. The memorial was initially found to be permissible, but the Fourth Circuit court of appeals overturned that ruling, declaring it a violation of the US Constitution. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court — which, to date, has not explicitly ruled on the long-running war on war memorials with religious iconography: Read more

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