Satanic Temple wants to erect ‘good taste’ display next to Ten Commandments

The New York-based Satanic Temple wants to donate a “good taste” monument to be placed next to a Ten Commandments display by Oklahoma’s Statehouse. The Satanic Temple sent a letter to Oklahoma’s Capitol Preservation Commission proposing a display that is “an homage to the historic/literary Satan,” the Associated Press reports.…

Dec 10, 2013 12:15 PM CST

Catholic hospitals’ ethics rules caused negligent care for miscarrying woman, says ACLU suit

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal action against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, alleging that its ethical guidelines given to Catholic hospitals resulted in negligent care for a miscarrying woman. According to the Associated Press, the Michigan U.S. District Court action (PDF) maintains Tamesha Means was…

Dec 4, 2013 10:15 PM CST

Prosecutors battle the wall of silence around sex assault in religious communities

Dec 1, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Contraceptive-coverage mandate will be reviewed by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the constitutionality of the health care law’s contraceptive mandate in challenges by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. The court granted cert on Tuesday, report the Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and CNN.com. At issue is whether for-profit companies can be required to…

Nov 26, 2013 5:39 PM CST

Some employers use Facebook to discriminate against job applicants, study suggests

Many employers say they check out job applicants on Facebook or other social media for unprofessional behavior, but online profiles may also harm applicants who appear to be Muslim, a new study has found. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) describes the experiment. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University sent more…

Nov 25, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Contraceptive mandate blocked by 7th Circuit

A federal appeals court based in Chicago has blocked the so-called contraceptive mandate that requires companies to provide contraceptive coverage in group health-care plans for employees. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday on behalf of two closely held companies and their Catholic owners, who claimed the mandate…

Nov 11, 2013 4:26 PM CST

Is Justice Breyer an atheist? Nonbelievers are buoyed by remark at oral arguments

A remark by Justice Stephen G. Breyer during oral arguments in a town prayer case last week has some atheists hoping he will “come out” as a nonbeliever. The Huffington Post has a story on the reaction to a one-sentence comment by Breyer during arguments in the challenge to mostly…

Nov 11, 2013 12:57 PM CST

Scolded for extramarital affair, ‘good Catholic fellow’ gets new sentencing hearing

A Florida judge who opined that Catholics and moral people shouldn’t have affairs may have been improperly swayed by religion during sentencing of a sexual battery defendant, a Florida appeals court has ruled. The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered a new sentencing hearing before a different judge for Percy…

Nov 11, 2013 12:35 PM CST

Psychics convicted in two separate cases; what is the line between fraud and free speech?

Psychics who charged large sums for their services were recently convicted in separate trials in Florida and New York, raising questions about the line between free speech and fraud. The Associated Press reports on the two trials and on state laws aimed at curbing abuses. In one trial, psychic Rose…

Nov 4, 2013 3:34 PM CST

God punishes Adam and Eve, and the Serpent

Nov 1, 2013 10:24 AM CDT

The establishment clause is still a contentious battle among the justices

Nov 1, 2013 7:40 AM CDT

Can biometric hand screening amount to religious bias? Mark-of-the-devil worry leads to EEOC suit

Religious bias complaints are a small percentage of workplace discrimination claims made at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the numbers are increasing. Some conflicts involve working on the Sabbath, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Others protest workplace uniform requirements that don’t allow for religious dress such as…

Oct 29, 2013 10:44 AM CDT

2 rabbis among 10 charged in claimed kidnap-and-torture plot to force religious divorces

For years, there have been stories that men in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City were sometimes kidnapped or beaten to persuade them to provide the required permission for their wives to obtain a religious divorce. More than a decade ago, a Brooklyn rabbi sued another rabbi, claiming that…

Oct 11, 2013 5:20 PM CDT

Lawyer’s fiction mirrors reality; his life fell apart after defending an accused pedophile priest

Former Louisiana lawyer Ray Mouton no longer attends Mass in his newly adopted country of France. Mouton’s life changed after he defended an accused pedophile priest, the Rev. Gilbert Gauthe, the Opelousas, La., Daily World reports in a story published by USA Today. As a result of the case, Mouton…

Oct 10, 2013 10:40 AM CDT

Appeals court rules for Abercrombie in headscarf case

A federal appeals court has vacated a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on its claim that Abercrombie & Fitch failed to provide a reasonable religious accommodation for a prospective employee who wears a hijab, or headscarf, for religious reasons. The…

Oct 4, 2013 9:57 PM CDT