Before going on recess until October, the Supreme Court concluded its session this morning by decisively ruling that religious institutions can receive public funds to be used for secular purposes — such as improving safety standards for a playground. The highly-followed case, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, involved the question of whether […]
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments next term in a landmark religious freedom case: Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights. As The Hill reports: The justices are being asked in the case — known as Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights — whether shop owner Jack Phillips has to make a cake for Charlie […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government cannot silence speech which falls outside of its definition of “politically correct.” The case, Matal v. Tam, involved the US Patent and Trademark Office’s refusal to register a rock band’s name because it might offend some people. The “disparagement clause” of a federal trademark law was […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that faith-based nonprofits can be treated in the same way as churches in regards to exemptions to federal retirement plan requirements. This decision, considered a victory by advocates of religious freedom, shows a noteworthy deference by the justices to religious institutions. The case, Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, […]
Many conservatives who may have been unsure about Donald Trump during the campaign ultimately voted for him because of his promise to nominate a strong pro-life Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The data bear this out: 21 percent of voters said that Supreme Court picks were “the most important factor” […]
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said back in February that he believed there would be another Supreme Court vacancy in 2017. As a former Supreme Court clerk and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cruz is well-connected and highly credible when it comes to SCOTUS rumors. Today, the possibility of another vacancy got a big boost from […]
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for one of the biggest religious freedom cases to date, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer. The case will be one of the first for newly minted Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s and may produce one of the most important decisions of this term. In 2012, Missouri launched an initiative […]
Trinity Lutheran was supposed to be the first big test for newly seated Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch: a religious liberty case which revolves on whether the government may deny grants to otherwise qualifying preschools on the grounds they are Christian preschools. Trinity Lutheran applied to participate in a program giving nonprofit playgrounds recycled tires […]
As is being widely reported, Neil Gorsuch was confirmed today to the Supreme Court by a 54-45 vote. There are a lot of people to thank for the fact that such a distinguished conservative legal scholar and judge is to take Justice Scalia’s seat at the Court, most importantly Jim DeMint and the Heritage Foundation […]
Live by the court, die by the court. For decades now, the Left has been using the courts to force their unpopular, unconstitutional ideas on the American people, who would not accept them through the democratic process. Some of the most egregious examples include Roe v. Wade (abortion), Obergefell v. Hodges (same-sex marriage), and NFIB […]
This is a live blog. Stay tuned for more updates as the day progresses. 11:30 A.M. At approximately 11:00 A.M. today, the U.S. Senate took a vote to limit debate to just 30 more hours on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This motion would set the stage for a confirmation […]
The majority in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has just rewritten the 1964 Civil Rights Act, ruling that the law’s ban on sex discrimination now means sexual orientation discrimination. Judge Richard Posner, a libertarian legal lion first appointed to the court by Ronald Reagan in 1981, was at least quite frank about his legal […]
I listened to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) explain why he was going to vote against cloture and thus force the Senate to change its rule permitting 41 senators to stop a Supreme Court nomination: I am not ready to end debate on this issue, so I will be voting against cloture unless we are able […]
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stated, in no uncertain terms, that the Senate plans to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court this week, whether the Democrats filibuster or not. WALLACE: “You have promised that the Senate will confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court by […]
In case there was any doubt that Senator Bob Casey Jr.’s (D-Pa.) transformation into a hard leftist was real, it’s been confirmed by his announcement this past week that he will vote against confirming Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. So why should Pennsylvanians and non-Pennsylvanians care? First, a little history. Casey is the son of […]
While President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, has managed to hit a grand-slam so far at this week’s confirmation hearings, this hasn’t stopped well-meaning “Never-Trumpers” and principled conservative pundits from picking apart his comments. The double-edged social media platform known as Twitter is great. It has empowered everyday people to have a voice when it […]
Faced with an eminently qualified, reasonable, fair, and brilliant judge, Democrats are flailing — and failing — in their desperate attempt to “bork” Judge Neil Gorsuch. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) hit new lows when she attempted to savage Neil Gorsuch for saying he believes “the intentional taking of a human life by private persons is always […]
Prof. Gerry Bradley of Notre Dame Law School has a column today at National Review repudiating recent arguments that Neil Gorsuch should answer boldly on overturning Roe v. Wade during his Senate confirmation hearings. Prof. Bradley argues: For him to become the first nominee in living memory to reveal his mind about Roe would mark him — […]
Two weeks ago, Planned Parenthood rejected an offer from President Donald Trump which would have continued federal funding to the organization, provided they cease performing abortions. Trump’s offer included the possibility of an increase in federal funding to Planned Parenthood, which appears to have not been enough of an incentive. Now Planned Parenthood has declared […]
By a 2-1 margin, a three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit on Friday rejected a security guard’s claim that legal protections against sex discrimination can be stretched to include sexual orientation discrimination, in a case where the guard claimed a hospital fired her because she was a lesbian. The majority opinion relied on a 1979 ruling that […]