Religious Freedom & Restrictions

Read the Pew Forum Discussion transcript The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that aims to protect the religious freedom of inmates and others held in state and local institutions. The unanimous decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson, issued on May 31, reverses […]

Church-State Experts React to Unanimous Ruling The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that aims to protect the religious freedom of inmates and others held in state and local institutions. The unanimous decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson reverses a ruling by the […]

10:00 a.m.-noon National Press Club Washington, D.C. Sponsored by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, The Federalist Society, and The Constitution Project End of life decisions have been much in the news lately, with the Schiavo case and the late Pope’s medical treatment dominating recent headlines. Interest in this issue is likely to […]

Pew Research Center Washington, D.C. Download the Pew Forum legal backgrounder Speakers: Nathan J. Diament, Director, Institute for Public Affairs, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Co-Editor, Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Law and Thought Ira C. “Chip” Lupu, F. Elwood and Eleanor Davis Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School […]

2:00-3:30pm National Press Club Washington, D.C. Download legal backgrounder on Ten Commandments cases (154K .pdf) On March 2, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases that concern the placement of Ten Commandments displays on public property. The commandments controversy came to national prominence in 2003, when the chief justice of the Alabama […]

10:00am-Noon Washington, D.C. Speakers: J. Bryan Hehir, Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Charles Krauthammer, Columnist, The Washington Post* Walter Russell Mead, Henry Kissinger Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations Louise Richardson, Executive Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University […]

Back to Religion and Public Schools Issue Page One Electorate Under God? A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics Executive Summary Event Transcript Event Transcript: Under God? A Discussion of the Constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance Issue Backgrounder: One Nation Under God? A Constitutional Question Background On June 26, 2002, a divided three-judge panel […]

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. National Press Club Washington, D.C. Speakers: Doug Laycock, Counsel of Record for 32 Christian and Jewish clergy, urging the Court to affirm the 9th Circuit’s ruling Jay Alan Sekulow, Chief Counsel, American Center for Law and Justice; Counsel of Record for United States Senators and Congressmen and the Committee to Protect […]

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Washington, D.C. Speakers Anthony Picarello, Vice President and General Counsel, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; filed amicus brief in Locke case on behalf of Joshua Davey Marc D. Stern, General Counsel, American Jewish Congress; filed amicus brief in Locke case on behalf of the state of Washington Ira “Chip” Lupu […]

Conference took place May 20-22, 2003 Freedom Forum Arlington, VA Keynote Speech Jon Butler, Yale University Teaching About Religion in Public Schools: History and Background on the U.S. Constitution Speakers: Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center Melissa Rogers, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Jennifer Norton, Argonaut High School Evelyn Holman, Bayshore, New York School […]