Fact Sheet

On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases challenging regulations arising from the Affordable Care Act. Both cases involve for-profit businesses whose owners object - for religious reasons - to free coverage of contraceptive services in their employees’ health insurance plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court will revisit the issue of legislative prayer when it hears oral arguments on Nov. 6 in Town of Greece v. Galloway, a case involving a challenge to a municipality’s practice of beginning each town board meeting with an invocation.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. The high court declined to rule on Proposition 8, leaving the legal status of same-sex marriage in California unclear. Read our legal analysis of the two major decisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear oral arguments in a pair of potentially groundbreaking same-sex marriage cases.

During the past 35 years, federal courts, particularly the U.S. Supreme Court, have superseded states as the driving force in crafting abortion policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court stepped squarely into the same-sex marriage debate when it agreed on Dec. 7, 2012, to review two important lower court decisions involving gay marriage. Find out what that may mean for the future of same-sex marriage in the U.S.

The Court’s Unanimous Decision On Jan. 11, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a significant church employment dispute, giving religious organizations wide latitude in hiring and firing clergy and other employees who perform religious duties. In its unanimous decision, the high court explicitly recognized a legal doctrine known as the “ministerial exception.” Lower courts […]

Whenever churches or religious organizations find themselves involved in civil litigation, courts first must determine whether the First Amendment’s religion clauses bestow a unique legal status on religious organizations that puts some of their decisions and actions beyond the reach of civil laws.

On Dec. 6, a federal appeals court in San Francisco will hear arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a voter-approved 2008 California ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state.