SCOTUS

A protester waves an LGBTQ rights pride flag as activists gather outside the Supreme Court, where justices were set to hear arguments in a major case pitting LGBTQ rights against a claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws in a dispute involving an evangelical Christian web designer who refuses to provide her services for same-sex marriages, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled sympathy on Monday toward an evangelical Christian web designer whose business refuses to provide services for same-sex marriages in a major case pitting LGBTQ rights against a claim that freedom of speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws

A general view of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2021. REUTERS/Will Dunham

Scholars say the court’s 6-3 conservative majority has shown an eagerness to impact abortion, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and more.

Blake Fox, 19, of Washington, listens to a live broadcast of the Supreme Court arguments in Carson v. Makin, a challenge to a Maine tuition assistance program that bars taxpayer money from being used to pay for religious instruction, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Conservative Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared ready to further expand public funding of religiously based entities, indicating sympathy toward a challenge by two Christian families to a Maine tuition assistance program that excludes private schools that promote religious beliefs.


A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by a Catholic hospital in California to avoid a lawsuit over its refusal to let its facilities be used to perform a hysterectomy on a transgender patient who sought the procedure as a part of gender transition from female to male.

The justices turned away an appeal by Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento-area hospital owned by Dignity Health, and let stand a lower court ruling that revived Evan Minton’s lawsuit accusing it of intentionally discriminating against him in violation of California law because he is transgender.

The justices on Monday also bolstered a Roman Catholic-led challenge to a New York state requirement that health insurance policies provided by employers cover abortion services. The justices told a lower court to reconsider its decision to throw out a bid by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other plaintiffs to widen an existing religious exemption to a 2017 state regulation that requires health insurance policies to cover medically necessary abortions.

David W. Congdon 10-06-2021

Hundreds of New Yorkers rally against vaccine mandates in New York City on September 27, 2021. Photo by Mohamed Krit/Sipa USA

The FDA’s full approval in late August of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, known commercially as Comirnaty, has led to a spate of government and corporate vaccine mandates for employees and patrons — as well as the inevitable backlash. Much of that backlash has been on religious grounds, with some Christians claiming exemption from the mandates using what journalist Mattathias Schwartz describes as the “rhetorical Swiss Army knife” of religious freedom.

The members of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for a group photo in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS

A Reuters analysis of emergency applications over the past 12 months offers a glimpse into the full range of parties seeking urgent relief from the top U.S. judicial body through the shadow docket. The justices have increasingly relied upon this process to make rulings in a wide array of cases without the normal deliberative process involving public oral arguments and extensive written decisions.

The United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that Philadelphia violated Catholic Social Services’ religious freedom by not placing children with the agency after CSS refused to place foster children with married same-sex couples.

“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless CSS agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a narrow decision.

Allie Blosser 7-17-2020

I spent a year collecting ethnographic data in a predominantly white, conservative, Christian K-12 school. It troubled me that my tax dollars were being used to support the kinds of teaching and discriminatory admissions practices I witnessed.

DACA recipient Luz Chavez celebrates outside the U.S. Supreme Court after the court ruled in a 5-4 vote that President Donald Trump's 2017 move to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unlawful. Washington, D.C., June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Even as we allow ourselves to savor this victory and be lifted by the hope of this moment, we also need to prepare and strategize for what’s next, because the fight for immigration justice is far from over. The justices of the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of whether Trump is allowed to end DACA — but rather on the way in which he attempted to do so.

A general view of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Will Dunham

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered a watershed victory for LGBTQ rights, ruling that a landmark federal law forbidding workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees.

Norma Ramirez 4-16-2020

Photo courtesy Norma Ramirez

I have been called “illegal” most of my life. Coming to the United States without legal authorization somehow made me “illegal,” less than, and undeserving of basic human rights. To cope with it, I bought into the lie of merit: If I simply worked hard enough and did all the “right” things, I would become worthy. I always strived to be “good” — to not break any laws and to focus on school. But still — my worthiness never came.

Protesters gather at the Supreme Court demanding DACA protections Nov. 11, 2019. Photo by Candace Sanders / Sojourners

“Because of that program, I was able to buy a home, get a job and pursue a career,” Leezia Dhalla, who came to the U.S. with her family in 1996, at the age of six, said in an interview. Dhalla, who was among thousands of DACA supporters rallying outside the Supreme Court, said her family became undocumented because a lawyer mishandled their paperwork.

the Web Editors 6-28-2019

Checking in on the Boomers, Hong Kong protests, census politicization, an ESPY-nominated Catholic sister, and more in the Weekly Wrap.

A protester holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court where the court decides on the citizenship question. June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The right to be counted is at the foundation of our faith and our democracy. In Matthew 18:12–14) and Luke (Luke 15:3–7) Jesus tells the iconic parable about the lost sheep. A man, who owns 100 sheep, goes to great lengths to find one missing sheep out of the 100 and when he finally recovers the lost sheep, he is happier about the one sheep that is found than the 99 who are safe. The parable speaks volumes about the degree to which God shows a particular concern and attention around anyone who is lost or falls in harm way. In a similar vein, we should be alarmed and equally committed when one person is miscounted or disregarded in our society. Our democracy loses its integrity and legitimacy when people and communities are made invisible and further marginalized by undercounting in the census.

the Web Editors 2-08-2019

Light from the setting sun shines on the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

A Muslim man was executed in Alabama on Thursday, as originally scheduled, after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the execution, denying his request for an imam's presence in the execution chamber.

Attorneys for Domineque Ray, 42, had argued that Alabama's execution policy favored Christian inmates because a chaplain is allowed in the room, often kneeling next to the death row prisoner, and praying with the inmate if requested.

The flag of diversity flutters at the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump enforce his policy barring certain transgender people from joining or staying in the military as the justices put on hold lower court rulings blocking the plan on constitutional grounds. 

Lisa Sharon Harper 7-25-2018

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Supreme Court is seen as the court nears the end of its term. June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Erin Schaff/File Photo

We don’t often think of our current-day allegiances existing within decades, even centuries, of struggle. Sometimes they do. With the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has pushed our nation to an existential point of decision about who we are and who we will be for at least the next two to three generations.

FILE PHOTO: Brett Kavanaugh speaks, moments after being sworn-in at a Rose Garden ceremony in 2006 at the White House, June 1, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing/File Photo

President Donald Trump has chosen conservative federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee for U.S. Supreme Court Justice, NBC News reported on Monday, just before the official White House announcement.

Kavanaugh would replaced retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy if confirmed by the U.S. Senate. 

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (R) and fellow Justice Anthony Kennedy look on in the audience at a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in honour of newly-confirmed Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, August 6, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files

The conservative Kennedy, who turns 82 in July and is the second-oldest justice on the nine-member court, has become one of the most consequential American jurists since joining the court in 1988 as an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan. He proved instrumental in advancing gay rights, buttressing abortion rights and erasing political spending limits. His retirement takes effect on July 31, the court said.

Jennifer Butler 4-23-2018

Image by Rebekah Fulton, Sojourners

On April 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Hawaii v. Trump, the case that will decide whether President Trump’s latest Muslim ban — which bans nationals from Muslim-majority countries, indefinitely — violates our country’s treasured belief in religious freedom. If maintained by the Supreme Court, this ban would communicate to our Muslim, immigrant, and refugee neighbors that our doors are permanently closed to them. This is not only shameful — it’s fundamentally wrong.