On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which has potential ramifications for public schools across the country that are losing money when students attend...more
In three cases this term, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the freedom of religious institutions to access government benefits and to make employment decisions....more
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which held that a State’s decision to bar aid to religious schools violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution....more
Historically, the ability of a governmental conduit issuer to issue bonds to facilitate a financing for a religious organization or a religiously affiliated school, university, senior housing facility or other nonprofit...more
In another high-profile 5-4 decision, the majority of the United States Supreme Court ruled on June 30 in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that Montana’s Supreme Court violated the U.S. Constitution when it struck...more
In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, No. 18-1195, 2020 WL 3518364 (June 30, 2020), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Montana could not exclude religious schools from a tax credit scholarship program on the grounds...more
In a 5-4 decision by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 30 that the “no-aid” to sectarian schools provision, in Article X, Section 6, of the Montana Constitution, which was used...more
On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, No. 18-1195, holding that if a state subsidizes private education, the Free Exercise Clause does not allow the state to deny that...more
The high-profile U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding a Colorado wedding cake has important implications for public agencies, which must often act in a quasi-judicial capacity. ...more
Q: Can an employer discriminate against members of the LGBT community on the basis of the employer’s religious beliefs? ...more
On June 4, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Case No. 16-111. The case addresses the conflict between the right to be free from discrimination and...more
In a highly anticipated ruling, in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a cake shop owner who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of...more
On June 4, 2018, a 7-2 United States Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. et al. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission et al. reversed discrimination penalties against a baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a...more
Since 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court has expressly construed a neutral law of general applicability as consistent with the free exercise clause. Deeming Colorado's public accommodations law just such a law, the Colorado Court...more
• The U.S. Supreme Court on June 4, 2018, ruled 7-2 in favor of Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who told a same-sex couple in 2012 that he would not create a cake for their wedding celebration because of his religious...more
On June 4, 2018, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, found in favor of Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakes, who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. He cited religious beliefs condemning...more
In a largely symbolic ruling, in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a cake shop owner who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple based on his...more
Most everyone watching the news these days has heard of the Materpiece Cakeshop case, which challenges the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s ruling that a baker broke the law when he refused to bake a wedding cake for a...more
On June 4, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission violated the constitutional right of free exercise of religion of a Christian...more
In a limited opinion issued, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. However, the Court’s decision in the case, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colo....more
In 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment precludes states from prohibiting the marriage of same-sex couples. In the past three...more
The US Supreme Court decided yesterday what Court watchers thought might be a landmark case deciding whether the rights to free exercise of religion and free speech trumped the rights of gays and lesbians to have access to...more
In fall 2017, The Supreme Court of the United States heard Masterpiece Cake Shop, Ltd., et al v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission et al, which led to a recent decision. The following is an update on a previously written post...more
The Supreme Court issued its anticipated decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. ...more
By a majority of 7–2, the Court ruled in favor of Colorado-based baker Jack Phillips, who in 2012 refused to sell to a same-sex couple a wedding cake intended for a celebration following the couple’s out-of-state marriage....more