The London police are under fire this week for threatening to arrest a man wearing a kippah near a pro-Palestinian march. Officers inform Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism watchdog, that he was “antagonizing” the protesters by being “openly Jewish” near such a march. He was told that, if he tried to cross the street while being “openly Jewish,” he would be arrested for breach of the peace. Continue reading ““You Are Quite Openly Jewish”: London Police Under Fire for Confrontation With Man Near Anti-Israeli March”
Category: Religion
It often seems like there is nothing left today that is not a battleground over our political and social differences. We can now add Easter. The Biden White House triggered a firestorm by picking Good Friday to announce that Easter Sunday will now be the “Transgender Day of Visibility.” At the same time, families objected to regulations on Easter egg designs, barring children from including any religious imagery or references on this religious holiday. There are even objections to the use of eggs at the annual White House egg roll.
Continue reading “Hopping Mad: Easter Becomes the Latest Flash Point in American Politics”
I am happy to announce the publication of my latest law review article, The Unfinished Masterpiece: Compulsion and the Evolving Jurisprudence Over Free Speech, 83 Md. L. Rev. 145 (2023) The work not only discusses the recent 303 Creative ruling of the Supreme Court, but an important case now pending before the Court for possible review, Porter v. Board of Trustees of North Carolina State University. The Porter decision was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and, in my view, represents a major threat to both free speech and academic freedom. Both cases are also discussed in my forthcoming book, The Indispensable Right.
Continue reading “Turley Publication on the Compulsion of Free Speech is Now Available”
There is a palpable level of panic that seems to have taken hold of Washington this week. Establishment figures are raising the alarm over the rise of dangerous figures as if they are the barbarians at the gate before the sacking of Rome in 410. The threat is coming from both parties in the form of the new Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. They may be the worst type of barbarians because they came to this city with the best of intentions. Continue reading “The New Barbarians: Pundits Raise Alarm Over the Sacking of the Beltway by Good Intentions”
We have previously discussed the denial of religious expression in France for Islamic women who wish to wear abaya, Islamic swimsuits, or burkas. Many of us have lamented about how France, the cradle of so many individual rights in history, has become so inimical to those rights. France has adopted the opposite position to these rights. It has relentlessly attacked free speech (including the criticism of religious beliefs) while denying the expression of religious beliefs. The latest example is the ban announced this weekend on Muslim women wearing the Islamic abaya to school as violations of France’s strict secular laws in education. Continue reading “France to Ban Abayas in Schools”
The Berks County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that it is dropping charges against Damon Atkins after the preacher was arrested citing the Bible in protest of an LGBTQ Pride event in Reading, Pennsylvania. The only reason that the charges were dropped is that a third party videotaped the scene and disproved the account of the arresting officer. Ironically, Atkins was reciting 1 Corinthians 14:33 that begins “For God is not the author of confusion.” That role appears to rest with the Reading police, which processed a wildly exaggerated account of the encounter. Continue reading ““God is Not the Author of Confusion”: Charges Dropped Against Protester Who Read Biblical Passages at Pride Event”
There is an important ruling this month out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ruled against former high school music teacher John Kluge for refusing to comply with the school’s pronoun policy for religious reasons. What is most curious about the ruling is the timing. The Seventh Circuit opinion from April 7th is particularly interesting given the oral argument in the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy only 11 days after the appellate ruling. Groff could gut the underlying standard used by the Seventh Circuit in its ruling for the school district. The opinion also puts the appellate court in conflict with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in its recent Meriweather decision. Continue reading “Seventh Circuit Upholds Termination of High School Teacher Who Objected to Pronoun Policy”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has revealed that there are not three but nine members of the Biden family that may have benefitted from suspected influence peddling efforts. For those of us who have long criticized the corrupt practices of the Biden family, the identity of these other family members is intriguing after the Committee secured new bank and financial records. Democratic members again insisted that there is no need to investigate such influence peddling.
Western Michigan University Music professor Daniel Mattson prides himself on being a “world-class trombonist.” He says that he had a promising and successful academic career when he was a gay faculty member. However, he alleges that changed when he found religion and declared that he was no longer gay. In a new lawsuit, Mattson claims that the university’s president, its College of Fine Arts dean, its School of Music director and a former director became openly hostile to him and ultimately denied the renewal of his contract after a quarter of century.
A Canadian high school student, Josh Alexander, 16, is at the center of a free speech fight in Ontario after he was arrested and criminally charged for attempting to attend class in violation of an exclusion order. Alexander was suspended from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ontario after expressing his religious views on transgender status and rights. Continue reading “Canadian Student Suspended After Speaking Against Transgender Status and Rights”
Today, a trial will begin for a French politician who was charged for criticizing immigration as a public danger. In the meantime, a Christian street preacher was reportedly facing criminal charges in the United Kingdom for declaring that a trans woman was really a “gentleman” and a “man in woman’s clothing.” The counter-terrorism unit arrested David McConnell, a Christian preacher who was already convicted last year for “harassment” in the incident last year. Continue reading “British Minister Faces New Charges Under Counter-Terrorism Laws for Criticizing a Trans Woman”
There is an interesting case out of England this month where a chaplain has sued after he was fired and reported as a threat to young students for questioning LGBTQ activists. What is most alarming is the initial response of the courts in dismissing his free speech rights and effectively ratifying the cancel campaign against Rev. Dr. Bernard Randall, an ordained Church of England minister, after he spoke out against LGBTQ identity policies. Continue reading “Trent College Minister Fired as Threat to Students After Criticizing LGBTQ Values”
The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in a potentially major case on the free exercise of religion. Groff v. DeJoy involves evangelical Christian postal worker, Gerald Groff, who alleges that the the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) forced him out of his job when he refused to work on Sundays due to his faith. The case could either overturn or reaffirm the earlier ruling in TWA v. Hardison, which stated that employers need not offer religious accommodation if doing so would cause an “undue hardship” to the business. Continue reading “Supreme Court Takes Major Religion Case: Postal Worker Asks Court to Toss Long-Standing Test for Religious Accommodation”
Hamline University in Minnesota is under fire this week for reportedly declining to renew the contract of an art history professor who showed two ancient art images of the Prophet Muhammad. The unnamed professor reportedly warned about the imagery before advancing the slides to allow any offended students to leave. However, the professor was publicly rebuked by Hamline President Fayneese Miller and Associate Vice President for Inclusive Excellence David Everett before being effectively fired. We have previously discussed how such contractual or “contingent” faculty often face such non-renewal decisions when they are targeted in cancel campaigns. Continue reading “Hamline University Reportedly Fires Art History Professor Who Showed Images of Muhammad”