The Blaine Game: Controversy Over the Public Funding of Religion
A scholar discusses challenges in Florida to its so-called Blaine Amendments that restrict state aid to religious schools. More than two-thirds of states have similar constitutional provisions.
What Limits Remain on Government Funding of Religion?
A recent case permits executive agencies to fund religious groups and activities without fear of constitutional litigation.
Courts Not Silent on Moments of Silence
An Illinois statute, now on temporary hold by a U.S. District Court, has given rise to the latest in a long line of constitutional cases involving required moments-of-silence in public schools.
The Free Exercise Clause and the Parameters of Religious Liberty
An expert on law and religion discusses concrete examples of protected religious expression – must the sheik remove his turban when boarding a plane?
A Delicate Balance: The Free Exercise Clause and the Supreme Court
More than a century of court decisions in this area have forged a ragged path from one extreme to the other, with permutations in between.
From the Ten Commandments to Christmas Trees: Public Religious Displays and the Courts
As a supplement to a Pew Forum legal backgrounder, Prof. Robert W. Tuttle discusses how current law might apply in circumstances such as a recent religious display controversy in Louisiana.
God at Graduation
Spring is the season for school graduations, and graduation ceremonies play a featured role in the national debate over the place of religion in public education. Is a clergyman’s benediction at a public school event a violation of the separation of church and state? Can students lead a prayer at their school commencement?
Strange Bedfellows: Why Are Some Religious Groups Defending ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’?
A recent Supreme Court case involving the free speech rights of students is producing some very unusual alliances. Christian conservative groups, such as the American Center for Law and Justice and the Christian Legal Society, are defending a student who was punished by his high school principal for holding up a sign that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”
The Christmas Wars: Religion in the American Public Square
Every year as the holiday season gets underway, debates break out across the country over the appropriateness of religious displays in public spaces. But the so-called “Christmas Wars” are only a small part of a much larger debate concerning the proper place of religion in public life, a debate that began at the nation’s founding.
