A federal appeals court has allowed a philosophy professor to sue a public university in Ohio after he faced disciplinary action for declining to use female pronouns for a male student who identified as a transgender woman. The court ruled his legal challenge on grounds of academic freedom, free speech and free exercise of religion…Read More
School districts are slowly beginning to reopen in-person instruction after being closed for nearly a year—or, in many places, for over a year. While this is a wonderful development, it will never erase what parents experienced last year: uncertainty, inconsistency, and, in some cases, ineptitude from public schools. The events of the last year have…Read More
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Friday legislation allowing doctors to decline to perform non-emergency medical procedures that violate their moral or religious beliefs. The law will take effect by August 2021. “I support this right of conscience so long as emergency care is exempted and conscience objection cannot be used to deny…Read More
Tonight the Kentucky Legislature voted to override Governor Beshear’s veto of House Bill 563. The bill will now become law, making Kentucky the 28th state to enact a private school choice program. Statement from John Schilling, President of the American Federation for Children: “Today lawmakers in Kentucky did the right thing by rejecting a veto by their Governor that would have…Read More
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional for university administrators to punish a Christian professor who wouldn’t use a “trans” student’s preferred gender pronouns. Dr. Nicholas Meriwether teaches philosophy at Shawnee State University. “The university punished Meriwether because he declined a male student’s demand to be referred to as a…Read More
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill Friday that prohibits biological males from competing against females in sports. “I signed the bill to preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition,” Lee announced on Twitter. “This legislation responds to damaging federal policies that stand in opposition to the years of progress made under Title IX and…Read More
The State Board of Education has voted to settle a longstanding lawsuit by requiring that public charter schools be funded on an equitable basis with their traditional public-school counterparts. The agreement provides that charter schools will now receive per-pupil funding from local property taxes based on student enrollment, just like all other public schools. Board…Read More
A federal judge ruled against Washington D.C.’s onerous restrictions on churches Thursday, freeing up worshippers considerably just ahead of Holy Week. Judge Trevor McFadden wrote that D.C. lockdown orders “discriminate against houses of worship:” The District’s order states that “houses of worship may admit no more than” the lesser of 25 percent of their capacity…Read More
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Thursday a bill banning transgender female-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports. The new law, meant to preserve the integrity of female sports and protect girls and women from competing against biological males, comes amid a push by state legislatures to enact similar protections. “Today, I have…Read More
Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (March 11), representing the Council for Islamic Schools in North America, Partnership for Inner-City Education, and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The case is an important parental choice case, Carson et al v. Makin, that seeks…Read More