Texas State Ed Board Approves Curriculum That Emphasizes Biblical Teachings
Critics say the curriculum borders on outright proselytization.
Establishment Clause
Federal Judge Blocks Law Mandating Ten Commandments Displays in Louisiana Classrooms
The law "is not neutral toward religion," wrote Judge John W. deGravelles, who ruled that the law was "facially unconstitutional."
Oklahoma Loosens Rules for Mandatory Classroom Bibles
The good news is that schools won't be forced to stock Trump-endorsed Bibles. The bad news is that they're still being forced to supply Bibles.
On Religious Divisiveness and the Judicial Role
Justice Breyer thought the Establishment Clause authorizes judges to improve the tone of political discourse. It does not.
Justice Breyer's Establishment Clause Particularism
Justice Breyer saw church-state controversies as highly and inevitably fact-bound, solvable only through a judicial balancing exercise.
Roy Moore Is (Still) Constitutionally Illiterate
A lesson in how to ensure you lose a case in court.
"Appeasement"? Or, Avoiding Error?
Justice Breyer did not always vote with the Court’s strict-separationist justices. Good for him.
Justice Breyer and the Establishment Clause
Even without writing majority opinions, his contributions were important.
Supreme Court Says High School Coach's Postgame Prayers Are Protected Free Speech
A 6–3 majority sees it as noncoercive and not a violation of the Establishment Clause.
Supreme Court Rules Boston Was Wrong To Bar Christian Flag From City Hall
The justices unanimously agree that the city was not endorsing the flags, and that therefore it couldn’t exclude religious organizations.
Should a Christian Group Be Allowed To Fly a Flag Outside Boston City Hall?
The Supreme Court will soon decide a case that tests the limits of expression on government property and religious toleration.
Court Suggests That Lockdown Exemptions for Religious Institutions Violate the Establishment Clause,
at least when they specifically target religious institutions, and not similar secular entities.
In Giant Cross Case, Justices Struggle to Clean Up a 'Dog's Breakfast' of Confusing Precedents
The alternatives suggested by defenders of the monument do not seem much better.
"Cleaning Up the Lemon Mess"
"What lower courts and local governments desperately need is not guidance on hypothetical cases that have never arisen. They need guidance on the many cases they're wrestling with today. Lemon doesn't provide that guidance. It makes the problem worse."
Can a Giant Christian Cross Be Secular?
The challenge to a World War I memorial in Maryland illustrates the confusion caused by the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause cases.
"The American Legion Briefing: Four Characters in Search of an Establishment Clause Standard"
An analysis of the amicus briefs in the Establishment Clause / cross monument case, from Eric Rassbach at the Becket Fund.
Lesson on Islam Didn't Violate Establishment Clause or Free Speech Clause
The Fourth Circuit rejects a challenge to a history class being shown a slide stating "Most [Muslims'] faith is stronger than the average [Christian's]," and being required to fill in the blanks in "There is no god but __ and Muhammad is the __ of Allah," as part of a worksheet on the "Five Pillars" of Islam.
Constitutional Law Scholars' Amicus Brief in the Travel Ban 3.0 Case Explains Why the Bill of Rights Restricts Federal Power over Immigration
The brief, which I coauthored on behalf of myself and six other legal scholars explains why the Bill of Rights constrains federal power over immigration no less than other types of federal power.
