Justice Anthony Kennedy has decided to step down from the United States Supreme Court. As the announcement rolled across social media, the reactions were animated. Progressives preferred expletive-laden diatribes, while conservatives sang hosannas. The emotional release is testament to the unique influence of Justice Kennedy and to the outsized role the Supreme Court has come […]
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Today the United States Supreme Court handed down an important decision that touches not only First Amendment issues of speech and religion, but it also delves, once again, into the bubbling culture war surrounding same-sex marriage. In a 7-2 decision, which is a large margin in such a politically charged case, the Court ruled that […]
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Churches and Zoning: An Interesting Clash
28 Jul 2017
I read an interesting article that brought together my concerns both about zoning and land use and religious freedom issues. It seems the City of Palo Alto, California, quite a nice place to live it is said, and the home of the elite Stanford University, is “cracking down on churches” that allegedly violate its zoning […]
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Civil Asset Forfeiture: A “Criminal” Action
28 Jul 2017
Civil Asset Forfeiture (CAF) is back in the news as Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced an expanded Federal program just the other day. I was extremely surprised and disappointed in his announcement. Like other Federal forays (and in this case, state), the CAF program has been so abused by law enforcement that it must be […]
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SCOTUS Gets Religious Liberty Right–For Now
26 Jun 2017
The issue seems paltry at first glance. A preschool/daycare affiliated with a church applies for state funding to help with some playground improvements. The goal of the Missouri program is to put recycled tires to good use. Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center’s application for the funding was judged to be fifth out of forty-four […]
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Sharia Law Protests: The Truth About Sharia
10 Jun 2017
It has been reported that today (June 19m 2017) has been set aside for protests around the nation against Sharia law, the legal system used in most Muslim countries to a greater or lesser extent. The principles for Sharia are derived from both the Quran and Hadith, the alleged sayings of Muhammed and have been […]
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Howard Slugh had an interesting article in the National Review Online on April 10, entitled “Obergefell’s Toxic Judicial Legacy.” At the time the case was decided (2015) I wondered whether the language used by Justice Kennedy establishing a right to homosexual marriage might be used to claim other new rights not mentioned in the Constitution […]
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Once again a Federal district court judge has issued a nationwide Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) prohibiting enforcement of the president’s new executive (EO) order temporarily suspending entry into the United States of non-citizens living outside the United States for a period of 90-120 days, with waivers possible for defined exceptions. The EO identified six nations […]
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Executive Order in the Court
04 Feb 2017
A Federal judge in Washington State today issued an injunction preventing the enforcement of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO)halting immigration and entry programs from seven nations for 90 and 120 days respectively. I have already written about my own response to the EO as a policy matter and also said something about a Christian response […]
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Trump Comes Through for Evangelicals
31 Jan 2017
The most important moment of the 2016 presidential campaign happened on February 13, 2016. There were no primaries or caucuses and no one entered or dropped out of the race. Instead, on that day, the world learned of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death on a ranch in Texas. What was an important election against a historic […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach