Law Commons^™

Texas Cheerleaders And The First Amendment: Can You Cheer For God At A Football Game?, Brett A. Geier

Brett A Geier

The Kountze High School Cheerleaders in Kountze, Texas last year placed religious messages on run-through banners at the pre-game ceremonies for its football team. When district officials directed the cheerleaders to cease placing the messages on the banners, the cheerleaders sought relief under the Free Exercise Clause and free speech doctrine. In the spring of 2013, the District Court enjoined the school from preventing the cheerleaders from placing religious messages on the banners stating that the act did not violated the Establishment Clause. This particular case has multiple issues that must be addressed: First Amendment conflict; free speech fora, religious …

"Rfra Exemptions From The Contraception Mandate: An Unconstitutional Accommodation Of Religion", Frederick Mark Gedicks, Rebecca G. Van Tassell

Frederick Mark Gedicks

Litigation surrounding use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to exempt employers from the Affordable Care Act’s “contraception mandate” is moving steadily towards eventual resolution in the U.S. Supreme Court. Both opponents and supporters of the mandate, however, have overlooked Establishment Clause limits on such exemptions. The fiery religious-liberty rhetoric surrounding the mandate has obscured that RFRA is a “permissive” rather than “mandatory” accommodation of religion—that is, a voluntary government concession to religious belief and practice that is not required by the Free Exercise Clause. Permissive accommodations must satisfy Establishment Clause constraints, notably the requirement that the accommodation not impose …

The Naked Private Square, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

In the latter half of the twentieth century, America witnessed the construction of a “wall of separation” between religion and the public square. What had once been commonplace (such as prayer in public schools, and religious symbols on public property) had suddenly become verboten. This phenomenon is well known and has been well studied.

Less well known (and less well studied) has been the parallel phenomenon of religion’s expulsion from the private square. Employment law, corporate law, and constitutional law have worked to impede the ability of business enterprises to adopt, pursue, and maintain distinctively religious personae. This is undesirable …