Free Republic

The former Kentucky clerk who refused to grant a gay couple a marriage license must pay an additional $260,104 to the couple, a federal judge ruled last week. David Ermold and David Moore sued former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in 2015 after she declined to issue the couple a marriage license because doing so would violate “God’s definition of marriage” and her religious beliefs as a Christian. The additional fees Davis must pay are on top of the $100,000 in damages she was ordered to pay Ermold and Moore in September after losing the lawsuit the couple brought. Davis’s...

A new Pope Francis documentary, "Francesco," has certainly commanded some attention. Longtime pope followers like me know to take the hubbub with a grain of salt. The press attention to Francis' papacy has been so often guided by ideology. The progressive left, so to speak has held onto hope that he is their way to a church they are more comfortable with, one conformed to the values of the times rather than age-old tenets. That's not to absolve people on the right, of course, some of whom miss the best of Francis because of the politicized lens through which everything...

No country should allow the sale of children or the intentional creation of orphans, which, make no mistake, is exactly what is happening with surrogacy. A British man living in the United States who has recently begun a romantic relationship with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend bought a baby and is being praised by media for it. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow paid about $100,000 for his new daughter, Valentina Willow. He is most proud of the baby girl’s looks.“Every parent thinks their baby is the best-looking baby in the world, but the truth is Valentina Willow is the best-looking baby in the world,” Drewitt-Barlow...

Justice Samuel Alito had a straightforward question, but the lawyer arguing on behalf of the petitioners in Obergefell v. Hodges did not have a coherent answer. Her central argument in the case: The 14th Amendment's command that the states shall not "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" protected a "right" for people of the same sex to marry each other. Alito did not buy it. "Suppose we rule in your favor in this case and then after that, a...

This term, as the Supreme Court wades into the troubled waters of perhaps the most controversial of social issues, abortion, a look back at recent history may provide guidance and a warning to leave policy to the policymaking branches of government. Before the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling in Obergefell v Hodges attempted to summarily end the cultural debate on the issue of same sex marriage, eleven states had already redefined marriage to include same sex couples. The remaining 39 states’ resistance ranged from voter-rejected propositions to include same sex relationships in their state's marriage law(s) to state constitutional...

According to a new Lifeway Research survey, while 47 percent of “mainline” pastors now support same-sex “marriage,” only 8 percent of evangelical pastors do. More specifically, “Presbyterian or Reformed (49%), Methodist (47%), Lutheran (35%) and Christian/Church of Christ pastors (20%) are more likely to see nothing wrong with same-sex marriage than Baptist (3%) or Pentecostal pastors (1%).” None of this is surprising in the least.First, as noted by Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, “The movement we see among pastors’ views of same-sex marriage has less to do with their denominational tradition than their view of the Bible.”Accordingly, those...

"My religion defines who I am. And I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life," said Vice President Joe Biden in 2012. "I accept my church's position on abortion as ... doctrine. Life begins at conception. ... I just refuse to impose that on others." For four decades, Biden backed the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of the tax dollars of Joe's fellow Catholics to pay for what they view as the killing of the innocent unborn. Last week, Joe flipped. He now backs the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. Ilyse Hogue of NARAL Pro-Choice America welcomed home the...

The Masterpiece Cakeshop decision was not even close in terms of votes (7-2, with Sotomayor and Ginsburg naturally voting in favor of oppression), nor was it a “narrow” ruling on the merits. Instead, it was a ringing endorsement of the idea that sniveling leftist bureaucrats can’t target religious folk for hassles just because the dissenters refuse to bend a knee to the secular idols du jour.This was not about gay marriage – conservatives are no longer monolithic on the issue (I got grief on some site for congratulating Townhall’s Guy Benson on his recent engagement). This was about the right to dissent,...

Progressives in the media have no respect for the traditions and structure of the branches of the government. As soon as one issues a decision based on anything but liberal ideology, the world is over. After the Supreme Court released their decision in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop LTD. vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in favor of the baker, Jack Phillips, the media went on a rampage. Liberal book publisher Haymarket Books tweeted out on its verified account almost immediately after the ruling was released, “Abolish the Supreme Court.”

hen, just weeks after taking office, Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the supreme court, the newly minted US president made good on a central promise of his campaign: to replace the late justice Antonin Scalia with a bona fide conservative. That moment foreshadowed what is shaping up to be among the most indelible of Trump’s triumphs – the reshaping of the federal judiciary with the appointment of dozens of judges with an ideological bent toward the administration’s agenda. Republicans are working with Trump to make a record-breaking number of appointments to federal courts. These new, mostly young, white men...

The New York Times never discouraged U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy from retiring during the Obama administration, but the newspaper’s editorial board is now literally begging him to stick around. Headlined “Please Stay, Justice Kennedy,” the open letter in Saturday’s edition implored him to remain on the high court amid rumors of his retirement, saying “[y]our departure right now from the Supreme Court would have dire consequences for the country.” Why? If Mr. Kennedy leaves, his seat would be filled by President Trump, which would mean “the court will have a locked-in right-wing majority for the rest of most...

As the political world obsesses over the latest sexual-harassment scandals and policy wonks scrutinize the latest tax-reform proposal, the Trump administration is quietly restoring constitutional governance. Although Congress has been unable to pass legislation and President Trump faces record-low approval rates, his hiring of “the best people” in certain key areas has enabled the transformation of the judiciary — as well as reworking the bureaucracy (often called the Fourth Branch). A president has few powers more important than picking judges. Tax deals can sunset and regulations can be rescinded — Congress has used the Congressional Review Act to eliminate 14...

You need the First Amendment precisely when your ideas offend others or flout the majority’s orthodoxies. And then it protects more than your freedom to speak your mind; it guards your freedom not to speak the mind of another. Thus, in classic “compelled speech” rulings, the Supreme Court has protected the right not to be forced to say, do or create anything expressing a message one rejects. Most famously, in West Virginia v. Barnette (1943), it barred a state from denying Jehovah’s Witnesses the right to attend public schools if they refused to salute the flag. In Wooley v. Maynard...

"Whatever the confluence of speech and free exercise principles might be in some cases, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission's consideration of this case was inconsistent with the State's obligation of religious neutrality. The reason and motive for the baker's refusal were based on his sincere religious beliefs and convictions." link to decision https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-111_j4el.pdf

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. While the decision ends an almost six-year legal battle, a new journey begins. This nation stands at the proverbial fork in the road. One path will lead us closer to a society controlled by hostility — one in which those who hold the dominant view in society will use government as a weapon to punish individuals who fail to adopt the prevailing orthodoxy. The other path will move us toward a truly tolerant society — one with room for individuals who believe,...

That case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, takes aim at a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on perceived sexual orientation in places serving the public. Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, says the law violates his free speech rights by forcing him to “create expression that violates his sincerely held beliefs about marriage.” The dispute has attracted a lot of attention from the business community, including an amicus brief signed by 35 companies including Amazon (AMZN), Pfizer (PFE), and Apple (AAPL), which asked the court to rule against Phillips. Another group with an interest in the...

At Tuesday’s oral argument in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission—which will decide whether baker Jack Phillips can be forced by the state to design and create a cake celebrating a same sex wedding—it became apparent quite early on that the Court was grappling not merely with Jack’s case, but with a number of potential conflicts between religious freedom and same-sex marriage on its hands.Recognizing that the issues Jack faces in this case are sure to arise again, the justices struggled with where to draw the line for a constitutional rule which will protect First Amendment rights in light...

This week, the Supreme Court hears Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Jack Phillips, proprietor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to create a wedding cake ordered for a same-sex marriage on grounds that it would force him to create a cake expressing a value opposed to his Christian convictions. The gay men who ordered the cake filed a sexual orientation discrimination claim against him with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the Commission ruled against Phillips. It was clear that this was not a matter of Phillips refusing to do business with these men because they are gay. He offered...

Can people of good will believe that LGBT people should not be denied services based on their sexual orientation and, at the same time, support the rights of a baker such as Jack Phillips to refuse to use his creative talents in ways the violate his deeply-held religious beliefs? The answer is yes - because I support LGBT rights and Jack Phillips, too. Eleven years ago, I helped lead a statewide campaign in Colorado to provide basic legal rights to the LGBT community. As a conservative Republican, I took at lot of heat, which I happily accepted — just as...

The Air Force has punished a highly-decorated and respected colonel after he refused to publicly affirm the same-sex spouse of a retiring subordinate. Col. Leland Bohannon, who was on the verge of being promoted to a one-star general, was suspended from command and orders were handed down recommending he not be promoted. “His career is likely over and he will likely have to retire as a colonel instead of as a general,” First Liberty Institute attorney Michael Berry told the Todd Starnes Show. First Liberty Institute, one of the nation’s most prominent religious liberty law firms, is representing the distinguished...