Free Republic

A Washington state school district has agreed to publicly apologize, undergo religious liberty training and pay $275,000 in attorney’s fees after a lawsuit challenged policies that required elementary school students to keep Bibles concealed in sealed envelopes, according to a Christian education organization whose CEO says children felt pressured to hide their faith. Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday that parents described the emotional toll of the Everett School District’s restrictions, which also included requiring families to submit permission slips every week for their children to attend voluntary, off-campus Bible...

When an anti-abortion activist held a sign depicting a fetus in utero with the caption "What about her body and her rights?" to the side of a University of South Florida weekly open-air market, campus police didn't just order him into a so-called free speech zone, as did Tucson, Ariz. police when an evangelist showed up to a nonsectarian Christmas street festival. USF police arrested and jailed Tyler Newton for 14 hours on Sept. 23 at the behest of campus officials for standing with his sign and sharing his "abolitionist" views with passers-by, a new First Amendment lawsuit claims. Describing...

The American left always congratulates itself as “First Amendment advocates,” even as they campaign to shut conservatives up. The foundation of Harper’s magazine announced they are giving their 2026 “First Amendment Award” to NPR CEO Katherine Maher. She runs a network that won’t give conservatives a right to speak on their formerly taxpayer-funded airwaves. The invitation to their October 26 ceremony – ticket price “$85-$25,000” – describes the award this way: Named for James C. Goodale, the former New York Times general counsel who helped secure the Pentagon Papers victory before the Supreme Court, the award recognizes visible and consequential...

In 1811, New York courts enforced blasphemy laws rooted in Christian doctrine.Chief Justice Kent declared that Americans “profess the general doctrines of Christianity.”Blasphemy statutes remained on the books in multiple states well into the 20th century.Long before the modern culture wars, early American courts treated insults against Jesus Christ as criminal offenses.In 1811, a New York man was sentenced to prison for blaspheming the name of Christ, and the state’s highest court upheld the conviction without hesitation.The ruling came from Chief Justice James Kent, who wrote that the United States was a Christian nation that “profess the general doctrines of...

...A judge in Connecticut has upheld the state’s recent removal of religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements, after officials changed the law in response to legal challenges.... ...Plaintiffs had urged the court not to throw out the case, arguing that “the defendants and their Democrat cohorts throughout our government have used their overwhelming power in the most despicable manner imaginable by enacting a new law that is designed solely to defeat this lawsuit.”.. ..... ...“There is no triumph in watching the most powerful political actors in Connecticut place the full weight of the government boot upon the necks of families,...

The First Amendment protects both freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but those rights do not give activists carte blanche to invade a church and take over the service. Or so I thought. Now, however, a group of activists who did just that has filed a motion to dismiss federal civil rights charges, arguing that its conduct amounted to “pure speech and assembly” protected by the First Amendment. According to the motion, “The Constitution does not contain any exception to free speech in churches.” Such a statement might make sense if the agitators faced charges related to free speech,...

Last week was interesting for anyone concerned about Islam’s growing influence in America. Recently revealed were the 2009 remarks made by Michigan US Senate nominee, Democrat and avowed Muslim, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. He reportedly shared that, while in medical school, he chose to obtain a loan that was compliant with Islamic law—Sharia. In fact, he proclaimed that, as a Muslim, he would always follow Sharia in “everything” he ever sought to do. Some may dismiss these remarks, made 17 years ago, as those of a man simply dedicated deeply to his religion—one he embraces totally separate from his political views...

In a courageous stand for faith, conscience, and dignity of the dying, four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic healthcare ministries sued New York on Friday over a new law that forces them to help terminally ill patients kill themselves in violation of their faith. In Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James, Becket is asking a federal court to block the law before it takes effect on August 5, when healthcare providers who refuse to take part in assisted suicide will face crippling fines, professional sanctions, and criminal penalties. For generations, Catholic healthcare ministries have been...

A federal judge in Oregon has ordered that fencing erected around a Eugene federal building that has been the target of violent anti-ICE riots must be taken down. The federal building houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as other federal agencies. US District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said Monday, "The evidence is clear, convincing, really without any meaningful dispute, that for the time this place has existed, it has been a place where the community has assembled to express themselves." The Biden-appointed judge ruled from the bench following arguments that were held on Monday, per Courthouse News Service. Siding with...

A bill that critics say will stop journalists from reporting on government fraud passed the California Assembly today with votes in favor from Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, and Diane Papan, D-San Mateo. Assembly Bill 2624, dubbed the Stop Nick Shirley Act for the Youtuber who exposed fraudulent government-funded charities in Minnesota, now goes to the Senate. State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said via text on Tuesday night that he hasn’t read the bill yet because, at that time, it was still over the in Assembly. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, who is married to California Attorney General Rob...

🚨 Here is 10 minutes of me confronting the California politicians who authored the "Stop Nick Shirley Act"... When confronted about AB 2624: - Lied about authoring the bill - Couldn't justify the bill - Acted like they didn't know about the bill This bill will CRIMINALIZE exposing fraud, violates the 1st Amendment, protects NGOs from disclosing taxpayer dollars, and these politicians see no problem with it. The fraud is now exposed and they need new laws to hide it. EXPOSE ALL THE FRAUD.

Following a controversial Supreme Court decision striking down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, advocates gathered in solidarity at the site of America’s most famous LGBTQ+ protest. Many of New York’s most prominent activists, from conversion therapy survivors to celebrated drag queens, came together for an emergency rally at Stonewall National Monument. “I am a trans, queer woman, and I am a nurse,” said Qween Amor, an activist and a registered nurse. “I am standing at Stonewall because something dangerous just happened, and we cannot pretend that it didn't.”

The Colorado Court of Appeals has thrown out election denier Tina Peters' nine-year prison sentence, finding that the lower court violated her First Amendment right to free speech related to her allegations of election fraud. “The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” a three-judge panel wrote in a 77-page opinion. “Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud....

The U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been accused of “God-washing” the war in Iran. Leading a Christian worship service at the Pentagon, he prayed for "every round to find its mark" and for “overwhelming violence" against America's enemies. During the service, which was livestreamed and attended by military personnel, Hegseth also quoted from the Psalms, saying: "I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed." Speaking to Sky News, U.S. pastor Rev Andy Campbell said the use of Scripture in conversations around the Iran war is troubling: “If you go to war...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are Militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at “feeding” the very appreciative Fake News Media false information. Now, A.I. has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day. They showed phony “Kamikaze Boats,” shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful, and vicious, but these Boats don’t exist — It’s all false information to show how “tough” their already defeated Military is! The five U.S. Refueling Planes that...

Citing the global threat of overpopulation, Gov. JB Pritzker (D-Ill) and the Democrat majority in the state legislature passed a law requiring all healthcare providers, including those who have ethical or religious objections, to tout the public benefits of abortion. Pritzker justified this compelled speech by asserting that "unconstrained population growth poses a severe threat to public health. We cannot allow zealots who hope to use the innocence of the unborn to divert us from taking the essential actions needed to avert the inevitable famine that will result from the careless creation of more mouths to feed. Hundreds of folks...

Justice Elena Kagan emerged as an unexpected critic of New Jersey’s position Tuesday as the Supreme Court weighed whether a faith-based crisis pregnancy center may challenge a state subpoena in federal court. Her pointed questioning suggested she may join the court’s conservatives in siding with First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which argues that New Jersey’s investigation threatens its First Amendment rights. Why It Matters The case stems from a subpoena issued by Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s consumer-protection division, seeking information from First Choice—including a list of its donors—as part of a probe into whether the center misled women about...

Anti-Islam activists and pro-Muslim counter-protesters clashed on Tuesday in Dearborn, Michigan, prompting a heavy police presence. Dearborn, home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the country, has recently become a target for activists who accuse it of operating under "Sharia law," according to MLive. The clash began when Jake Lang, who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, arrived on Michigan Avenue and attempted to burn a Quran, the outlet reported. Lang held up a lighter attempting to light the religious text on fire, but counter-protesters knocked it from his hands. Later, Lang slapped the Quran with...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Abby Zwerner, the former Richneck Elementary School teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in 2023, has emerged victorious in her civil lawsuit surrounding the shooting. A jury found Ebony Parker, the school's former assistant principal, grossly negligent in preventing the shooting.

The First AmendmentCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.What are the limits on free speech in America? What aren’t you allowed to say? And who is allowed to restrict speech? Myth: You can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater.Fact: This famous phrase is derived from the 1919 Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States, but the full phrase is that “The most...