NEW: Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be involved in a Supreme Court case? Our new podcast episode features a roundtable discussion with the parents behind the recent Supreme Court victory for parental rights, Mahmoud v. Taylor. Watch and listen here: When the Montgomery County, Maryland school district introduced inclusivity books on gender and sexuality into its curriculum, it initially notified parents when the books were read and allowed parents to opt their children out. But in 2023, the school board took away these longstanding policies, forcing religious parents like Chris and Melissa Persak and Jeff and Svitlana Roman to fight for their right to guide their children’s education.

BREAKING: In a nationwide ruling against a Trump Administration religious conscience rule, a federal district Court today ruled against the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Court sided with Pennsylvania and New Jersey in their years-long effort to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptive and abortion coverage in their healthcare plans. Today’s ruling keeps that effort alive, and the Little Sisters have vowed to appeal the decision. The Little Sisters of the Poor are an order of Catholic nuns who have cared for the elderly poor for nearly 200 years.  They have been in court for over fourteen years, fighting for protection from the contraception mandate which requires them either provide services like the week-after pill in their healthcare plan or pay tens of millions of dollars in fines. becketfund.org/case/commonwea…

BREAKING: Just hours before Thanksgiving, @UCLA asked a federal court to toss three Jewish students’ and a Jewish professor’s claims against the university’s administrators for their role in helping antisemitic agitators ban them from large parts of campus. UCLA continues to refuse to accept blame for the rampant antisemitism it has facilitated and encouraged against its very own students and faculty. becketlaw.org/case/frankel-v… Yitzchok Frankel, a law student and father of four, faced antisemitic harassment last semester for simply wearing a kippah. He was forced to abandon his regular routes through campus because of the Jew Exclusion Zone. Frankel is just one of the many Jewish students at UCLA who faced this “abhorrent” and “unimaginable” mistreatment, as Judge Mark C. Scarsi correctly called it.

#BREAKING: A federal court just blocked @UCLA from allowing and assisting antisemitic encampments that bar Jewish students from large parts of UCLA’s campus. The ruling: becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20240813183534… UCLA helped a group of activists as they set up an encampment where they harassed Jewish students and stopped them from accessing classes, the library, and other critical parts of campus. UCLA reinforced these zones —both by providing metal barriers and by sending away Jewish students—while taking no effective action to ensure safe passage for Jewish students.

A Catholic couple in Indiana asked #SCOTUS to hold the state accountable for keeping their child out of their home. With the help of Becket and attorney @JosHershberger, Mary and Jeremy Cox filed their reply brief and asked the Justices to take their case. becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20240215202036… Mary and Jeremy Cox are a faithful Catholic couple living in Indiana. In 2019, their son informed them that he identified as a girl.

Because of their religious belief that God creates human beings with an immutable sex, they could not refer to him using pronouns and a name inconsistent with his biology.becketlaw.org/case/m-c-and-j…

The New Jersey Supreme Court just issued an important new #religiousfreedom decision, unanimously protecting the right of religious schools to require their teachers to follow their faith without courts getting involved. Find the court’s decision here: njcourts.gov/system/files/c… Becket intervened in Crisitello v. St. Theresa School on behalf of Agudath Israel of America, an national Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, arguing that religious schools must be free to govern themselves, including choosing those who teach and pass on the faith.

THREAD: All about today’s argument in #Fulton v. Philadelphia. Both the Justices and the parties agreed that Catholic Social Services, Sharonell Fulton, and Toni Simms-Busch do vital work to protect needy kids in Philadelphia. #FreeToFoster #fultonvphiladelphia (1/13) By contrast, the Justices repeatedly worried that city officials were going out of their way to manufacture an unnecessary fight, taking a position that will hurt kids in foster care and shut down CSS’s 200-year-old ministry. (2/13) #fultonvphiladelphia

In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, experts weigh in on faith-based #fostercare and #religiousfreedom.

Read all: s3.amazonaws.com/becketnewsite/… #SCOTUS #FreeToFoster

From @asmauddinesq: "For Catholics, foster care is not merely good; it is holy." #FreeToFoster

From Archbishop @ThomasWenski, @usccbfreedom

Bigotry in the Big Apple? Because @NYGovCuomo admitted to “focusing on ultra-Orthodox communities” for his new #COVID19 shutdowns, Yitzchok and Chana Lebovits (and the Jewish school their daughters attend) are taking Cuomo and@NYCMayor de Blasio to court. THREAD: Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam (BYAM) is a Jewish Orthodox girls’ school inside the select number of zip codes that NY has imposed new lockdowns. It bans in-person instruction at the school—stripping parents like the Lebovitses of their right to direct the upbringing of their children

Today’s #SCOTUS win in #Espinoza v. Montana Board of Revenue is a BIG VICTORY for #religiousfreedom not just in schools, but across the board. Here’s why (THREAD): First, the Court said that Blaine Amendments are “born of bigotry” and “arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church” and thus have a “shameful pedigree.” (2/9)

#BREAKING: Minnesota Catholics and Lutherans tell @GovTimWalz they are reopening churches on May 26—after the Governor announced malls, salons, tattoo parlors, & casinos can open, but churches can’t. go.aws/3e40Cit #MNChurchesMatter @MNCatholicConf @Mnnlcms @MNSDistrict The leadership of over 700 Catholic and Lutheran churches, represented by @BECKETlaw & @SidleyLaw, told @GovTimWalz and AG @keithellison that the First Amendment doesn’t let the government put churches at the back of the line during reopening. go.aws/2LQSmWV (2/8)