Tag Archives: Group: Becket Fund

Matthew Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom, Kyle Duncan of the Becket Fund appeared on the World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo (audio archive) | MP3 audio 22:03 mins

Mark Rienzi at Becket Fund: A surprising and public rift opened up last week between President Obama and his lawyers over whether profit-making businesses can pursue goals other than making money, including adhering to religious requirements.

Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently held hearings on and took comments about religious freedom in the U.S. What made it a commission priority? How is religious freedom a civil-rights issue today? . . . There were also many groups and institutions that submitted comments, including the Becket Fund, the American Center for Law and Justice, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Cru (perhaps better known as Campus Crusade for Christ), Alliance Defending Freedom, the Heritage Foundation, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, the Bioethics Defense Fund, Belmont Abbey College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, and Kairos

Washington Times: “For some purposes, but not for moral purposes,” replied Matthew S. Bowman, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom. “Just because a corporation has some limited legal liability doesn’t mean that it limits moral liability.”

Heritage Foundation: “Forcing them to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. The administration’s attacks on faith and business prove that it doesn’t respect either one,” explains Mike Wilkins, an allied attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the Grote family.

Becket Fund: We are encouraged by today’s hearing before the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Kyle Duncan, General Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and counsel on the case. “Being heard before all eight judges – rather than the typical three-judge panel – signifies the importance of the case and the arguments being made. We stand firm in our belief that Hobby Lobby should have the right to opt out of a provision that infringes on their religious beliefs, and we look forward to a favorable outcome.”

AP: In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.

Barry Lynn at Washington Post: At the behest of the Catholic bishops and their fundamentalist Christian allies, far-right legal groups have filed a slew of cases insisting that secular corporations and other employers have a right according to the principle of religious freedom to deny contraceptive coverage to the men and women who work for them. Among those waging this crusade are the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, TV evangelist Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice and the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization founded by radio and TV preachers.

Virtue Online: OL president David W. Virtue D.D. recently interviewed retired US Air Force Fighter Pilot and ACNA Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, about the newest diocese soon to be on the Anglican scene, the Diocese of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy, a ministry of the Anglican Church in North America, and its astonishing growth . . . So, I would suggest to anyone who is inclined to give financial gifts above the tithe to Christian organizations fighting for Religious Liberty, Marriage, etc., you would be better served in giving to venerable and notable groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, Traditional Values Coalition, Beckett Fund and the Family Research Counsel to name a few. Of course, I believe the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is the current leader among all organizations in the fight for Religious Liberty in the military and could use support. I have close, and often weekly, interaction with various leaders of these groups. (

LA Times: Justices have been deciding for weeks whether to take up a Wisconsin case in which a school district was found to have violated the 1st Amendment.

Womenenews via Reuters: On May 22, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit center based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is hoping that the 7th Court of Appeals in Chicago will issue an injunction so its client, Grote Industries, won’t be subjected to fines for not providing the contraceptive coverage required by law since Jan. 1. (newly added to Reuters)

Womensenews.org: “Nonprofit centers like ours that depend on donations are representing these small businesses pro bono because in addition to the fines, the cost of lawyers, travel and other expenses in pursuing these cases would wipe out the assets that took generations for the owners of these small businesses to accumulate,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a phone interview. His group has 44 in-house attorneys and more than 2,400 volunteer attorneys.

SCOTUS Blog has this post of relist petitions to watch. It includes Elmbrook School District v. Doe, 12-755 (fourth relist).

Ed Whelan at NRO: But as I explained of one such ruling (by the Tenth Circuit in the Hobby Lobby case), what those courts are really ruling, without understanding what they are doing, is that an employer’s refusal to provide health insurance coverage for contraceptives or abortifacients cannot be an exercise of religion. Such a ruling is patently wrong, as the only relevant question for purposes of the exercise of religion element is whether the objector is acting from a sincerely held religious conviction.

Foley and Lardner at Mondaq: The case has generated a lot of interest from groups concerned with religious liberty issues; both parties are represented by lawyers from non-profit organizations committed to different views on religious freedom and expression: The District by the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the plaintiffs by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Several entities have also filed amicus curiae briefs in support of the District’s petition: Alliance Defending Freedom, the state of Texas, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a series of education associations, led by the Association of School Administrators.

Robert P. George at Washington Times: This Friday, the Supreme Court will consider whether to hear an important case on the constitutionality of holding a high school graduation in a church auditorium. The case is Elmbrook School District v. Doe, and the court has been considering it for almost five weeks an unusual length of time indicating that the case has caught the court’s attention. The court’s decision will have sweeping implications for school districts and local governments across the country.

Lexology: The case has generated a lot of interest from groups concerned with religious liberty issues; both parties are represented by lawyers from non-profit organizations committed to different views on religious freedom and expression: The District by the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the plaintiffs by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Several entities have also filed amicus curiae briefs in support of the District’s petition: Alliance Defending Freedom, the state of Texas, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a series of education associations, led by the Association of School Administrators.

Sarah Torre at Heritage Foundation: As Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a public comment on Monday on behalf of over 20 Catholic colleges, “No other federal rule has so narrowly and discriminatorily defined what it means to exercise religious conscience, and no regulation has ever so directly violated plain statutory and constitutional religious freedoms. The NPRM does nothing to change that fact.”

MO Family Policy Council: The Missouri Senate has given final passage to pro-life legislation which would protect the conscience rights of the owners of licensed pharmacies in the state. The Senate has approved Senate Bill 126, sponsored by Senator David Sater of Cassville, by a vote of 24-9.

Huffington Post: The number of lawsuits challenging the Obama administration’s contraception coverage mandate climbed to 60 last week, and legal experts on both sides of the issue are predicting that the Supreme Court will take up the issue within the year.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: I’m pleased to report that my Mayer Brown LLP colleagues Andrew Frey and Michael Rayfield and I have just filed a friend of the court briefon behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the Christian Legal Society in Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, which will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court later this month.

Religion Clause Blog: A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in Big Sky Colony, Inc. v. Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

Christian News: The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals announced on Friday that Hobby Lobby’s appeal will go before the entire court as per the company’s request. Cases are customarily held before a panel of three judges, except in what are called en banc hearings.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: The nature of constitutional law is such that when I litigate or file briefs on religious liberty issues, I survey and cite to the Supreme Court’s decisions and religious liberty historical facts in this country going back to when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were first adopted. Doing so recently, it vividly struck me that in all of American history religious liberty has never been as gravely threatened as it is today, especially for Christians. One need only look at the cases being litigated by public-interest law firms, such as Alliance Defending Freedom, Liberty Institute, Becket Fund, and Liberty Counsel.

Sentinel and Enterprise: The state’s highest court has opened the floodgate of opinion by seeking outside briefs in a religious discrimination case against the Acton-Boxboro Regional School District by an atheist family that is challenging the use of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance . . . Listed in the court docket as filing briefs so far are: the Acton School System, John Doe (the atheist family that filed the lawsuit and wished to remain anonymous), the American Humanist Association, Daniel and Ingrid Joyce, the Knights of Columbus, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and the Massachusetts Family Institute.

LifeSiteNews: A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit a Catholic television network filed against the HHS mandate that compel it to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for its employees.

Rich Lowry at National Review: By seeking a shortcut in the courts, supporters of gay marriage want to end debate through judicial fiat. In an amicus brief in the case, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty points out the consequences if traditional marriage is deemed irrational. Religious people and groups objecting to same-sex marriage will “face a wave of private civil litigation under anti-discrimination laws never intended for that purpose,” and they will be “penalized by state and local governments.” In other words, supporters of the exotic-sounding practice of “opposite-sex marriage” will be marginalized forevermore.

Lowell Sun: Listed in the court docket as having filed briefs so far are: the Acton School System, John Doe (the atheist family that filed the lawsuit and wishes to remain anonymous), American Humanist Association, Daniel and Ingrid Joyce, the Knights of Columbus, the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Massachusetts Family Institute.

World: Steve Jordahl is a reporter for The World and Everything in It. Mary Reichard is a legal affairs correspondent for The World and Everything in It. She spoke with two lawyers who filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of DOMA and Proposition 8: Jim Campbell of Alliance Defending Freedom and Lori Windham of The Becket Fund.

Florida Baptist Witness: Kellie Fiedorek, litigation counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said this is a time of “great peril” for religious adherents. In particular, business owners with religious convictions about business, marriage and family are the targets of attacks for refusing to violate their beliefs, she said. “You couldn’t expect an African-American photographer to take a picture of a family who is in the KKK, who is going to wear long white robes and pointy hats,” Fiedorek said. “Similarly, you couldn’t expect a Jewish … baker to bake a cake with swastikas on it and have it say, ‘Happy Birthday to Hitler.’”

Becket Fund: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will brief the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as they examine recent legal developments concerning the intersection of non-discrimination principles with those of religious liberty

Windy City Times: A network of conservative Christian organizations has successfully fought pro-choice and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) civil rights legislation by claiming that such policies infringe on “religious liberty,” according to a major new report released today. The report, by Dr. Jay Michaelson, Religious Liberty Fellow at Political Research Associates (PRA), is entitled Redefining Religious Liberty: The Covert Campaign Against Civil Rights . . . Key players in reframing the debate include the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). According to the report, these organizations, supported by Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, aim “not simply to win religious exemptions to the law, but to contest the authority of secular law itself.” They are allied with such conservative evangelical organizations as Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom . . . The report is available for download here www.politicalresearch.org/resources/reports/full-reports/redefining-religious-liberty/ . | Larger report on the same topic available at ValleyNewsLive via PR Newswire: As New Pope Inaugurated, New Report Exposes Catholic Church’s and Right’s ‘Religious Liberty’ Campaign Against Gay, Reproductive Rights

LifeNews: On Friday, Westminster Theological Seminary joined the throng of challengers to the unconstitutional HHS mandate that forces employers to violate their consciences or pay large fines. Westminster, which is represented by prominent Houston litigator Ken Wynne, moved to intervene in the Becket Fund’s lawsuit on behalf of East Texas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University in Houston federal district court.

NewOK.com: Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court to expedite its case against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in hopes of avoiding millions of dollars in fines the company could face this summer for failing to cover the cost of emergency contraceptives for its employees.

Scholars have filed more than 50 amicus briefs with the Supreme Court urging it to uphold California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). While the media seems intent on ignoring these briefs and hyping the briefs on the other side, the sheer number and quality of the briefs in defense of laws recognizing marriage as the union of a man and a woman is impressive.

Baptist Press: Kellie Fiedorek, litigation counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said this is a time of “great peril” for religious adherents. In particular, business owners with religious convictions about business, marriage and family are the targets of attacks for refusing to violate their beliefs, she said. “You couldn’t expect an African-American photographer to take a picture of a family who is in the KKK, who is going to wear long white robes and pointy hats,” Fiedorek said. “Similarly, you couldn’t expect a Jewish … baker to bake a cake with swastikas on it and have it say, ‘Happy Birthday to Hitler.’”

Rapid City Journal: The legal case against prayer at government meetings isn’t nearly as clear-cut as the Freedom From Religion Foundation would have Rapid City officials believe.

Becket Fund at LifeNews: Nine U.S. Senators and two U.S. Representatives, along with the Oklahoma Attorney General and 11 other key groups, filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the Becket Fund’s challenge to the HHS mandate on behalf of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

CNSNews: Republican members of Congress have weighed in on the legal battle being waged over the Obamacare mandate requiring employers to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to employees.

Information about the Family Research Council webcast and video is here. It runs just over 61 minutes. An extensive description of the event begins: “Religious liberty in America has long been a cherished freedom. In recent decades, reaction to displaying that religion in the public sphere has grown increasingly hostile. What is being done about this slow and methodical attack on the First Freedom? Come hear from those who have battled on the front lines of this issue and have sought to protect the liberty our forefathers handed down. From prayer in schools to speaking against sin in a public place, there are numerous ways that religious liberty has been attacked. It is imperative that we make ourselves aware of the battle fronts and support those who stand as sentinels against encroachment on our first freedom. Join FRC for an informative and important discussion on religious liberty with Kellie Fiedorek, Ken Klukowski, and Adele Keim.”

Christian Post: In addition to Klukowski, the other two guest speakers were Adele Keim, legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Kellie Fiedorek, litigation counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom . . . Fiedorek spoke to those gathered about the various legal suits coming up against Christian businessmen by gay rights groups. These included a photographer sued for refusing to take photos at a gay union ceremony and a baker sued for refusing to provide a cake for a gay union reception.

Washington Times: The Obama administration’s rule must be finalized by Aug. 1. “We haven’t had to file anything new, because nothing has really changed,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing several religious nonprofits and religiously devout corporate owners who have sued over the mandate. He said the lawsuits will continue and likely pick up by August if the exemption is not broadened to cover all religious employers.

Matt Bowman, Daniel Blomberg on World Radio (2/16)

Deacon Keith Fournier at Catholic Online: Another outstanding group doing public interest work is the Alliance Defending Freedom. They offered a quick analysis, the thrust of which is found in the title of their article, Only a Sliver of Religious Organizations Covered by Proposed Exemption to HHS Abortion Pill Mandate. They are correc

Florida Baptist Witness: Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said the proposal still infringes on religious liberty. “Religious non-profits will, in fact, be forced to provide an insurance plan with a provider that gives the religious group’s employees abortion-pill coverage in direct connection with that plan, the coverage is definitely not free, and the coverage is imposed ‘automatically’ even against the objection of many employees who don’t want free abortion-pill coverage for themselves or their daughters,” Bowman said.

LifeNews: . “As a result, the latest White House “compromise” already has a wave of critics, including respected national religious liberty law firms like the Becket Fund and the Alliance Defending Freedom. And many are far harsher than Professor Bradley in their analysis.”

Patheos: The White House has made no concessions to the religious conscience claims of private businesses, and the whole spirit of the “compromise” is minimalist. As a result, the latest White House “compromise” already has a wave of critics, including respected national religious liberty law firms like the Becket Fund and the Alliance Defending Freedom. And many are far harsher than Professor Bradley in their analysis.

Michael Foust of BP News on the Christian Examiner: Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said the proposal still infringes on religious liberty. “Religious non-profits will, in fact, be forced to provide an insurance plan with a provider that gives the religious group’s employees abortion-pill coverage in direct connection with that plan, the coverage is definitely not free, and the coverage is imposed ‘automatically’ even against the objection of many employees who don’t want free abortion-pill coverage for themselves or their daughters,” Bowman said.

CBN: The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith,” said Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal ministry also involved in numerous legal battles against the mandate. “The administration must immediately abandon the idea that it has the power to withhold or dispense our fundamental freedoms to whomever it chooses. The mandate is losing in court. The only acceptable solution is for the administration to obey the Constitution and its legal duty to protect religious freedom.” Complete statement.

Christian Post: “All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate. The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

Times Online: An attorney representing Geneva College and other faith-based institutions said his group is not impressed by a concession made Friday by the Obama administration. Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a national coalition of about 2,000 Christian attorneys, called the proposed change “an accounting gimmick.”

Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Emaily Hardman of the Becket Fund apeared on Breakpoint with John Stonestreet. | MP3 audio 25:26 mins

AP: The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court . . . “The circuits have split. You’re getting different, conflicting interpretations of law, so the line of cases will have to go to the Supreme Court, `’ said Carl Esbeck, a professor at the University of Missouri Law School who specializes in religious liberty issues.

World Magazine: Meanwhile, outside groups advocating for religious freedom are scant too, especially compared to other interest groups at the UN like the gay-rights lobby. Open Doors USA recently shut down its advocacy operation at the UN in New York, though it still has staff in Europe. The Jubilee Campaign, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American Center for Law and Justice, the World Evangelical Alliance, the Humanist and Ethical Union, and the Bahais have staff tasked to lobby the UN on the issue. That amounts to about a dozen people doing full-time advocacy on an issue that affects billions of people around the world.

Roll Call: Abortion opponents rallying by the thousands Friday in Washington at the annual March for Life have lost some political battles lately but won a string of court victories, thanks in part to a diverse coalition challenging a contraception mandate in the health care overhaul . . . The white shoe law firm of Jones Day has also deployed a team of lawyers around the country, including a half-dozen in its Washington office, to defend Catholic dioceses and educational institutions suing the federal government. Other leading players representing the plaintiffs include the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice.

Robert Barnes at the Washington Post: Enjoy the festivities, President Obama, and while you’re on the grand stage Monday, it might be wise to make nice with the assembled Supreme Court justices. The next legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is moving quickly to the high court, and bringing potent questions about religious freedom, gender equality and corporate “personhood.”

Breakpoint Radio (links to audio – 25:30 mins): John Stonestreet interviews Matt Bowman and Emily Hardman, two experts on the front line of the fight for religious liberty.

Christian Post: Stanford Law School has established the nation’s only Religious Liberty Clinic, enabling students under the professor’s supervision to represent clients who are fighting to win legal battles on the grounds of religious freedom in America.

Religion Clause Blog: As reported by CNN, in statement from its general counsel Hobby Lobby says it has shifted the beginning of its health care plan year, thus delaying for several months the requirement that it comply with the Women’s Preventive Services coverage mandate.

The Hill: U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller wrote Monday that Notre Dame’s claims of injury are not ripe and that the school does not have standing to bring them.

Religion Clause Blog: The Becket Fund announced yesterday that it has filed a petition for certiorari (full text) with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the 7th Circuit’s decision in Doe 3 v. Elmbrook School District.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: Now that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied Hobby Lobby’s application for an emergency injunction protecting them from Obamacare’s HHS Mandate on abortion and birth control, Hobby Lobby has decided to defy the federal government to remain true to their religious beliefs, at enormous risk and financial cost.

Washington Times: An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts-and-crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day.

Religion Clause Blog: However, in American Pulverizer Co. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (WD MO, Dec. 20, 2012), a Missouri federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the contraceptive coverage mandate in a challenge filed by a group of metal recycling businesses owned by Evangelical Christians Paul and Henry Griesediek . . .

Eric Metaxes at the Christian Post: When we see bullying tactics being employed during the holidays, we ought to direct the victims to religious rights groups like the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, or the Alliance Defending Freedom. They take on religious hostility cases with great gusto and, I might add, with great success.

National Catholic Register: Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a coalition of Christian attorneys formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund, told the Register that the Dec. 18 ruling shows that religious nonprofits have standing “to protect themselves from bureaucrats that are attacking their religious freedom.” “It shows that federal bureaucrats who are trying to pick and choose what faith is and who can practice faith cannot do so without oversight to ensure they don’t trample on religious freedom,” said Bowman.

Kevin Seamus Hasson at the Wall Street Journal: Does it sometimes seem as if the Christmas wars—namely the battle between secularists and believers over how and where Christmas and Hanukkah (not to mention other faiths’ holidays) should be recognized—have been around forever? If so, you’re not far off. The opening shots of the war, at least in America, were fired in Plymouth Colony itself. And after nearly 400 years, it’s past time we learned our lesson and ceased hostilities.

Becket Fund: Today, a federal court denied a request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate, which would force the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to provide the “morning-after pill” and “week-after pill” in its health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million per day.

Becket Fund: Today, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. handed Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College a major victory in their challenges to the HHS mandate.  Last summer, two lower courts had dismissed the Colleges’ cases as premature.  Today, the appellate court reinstated those cases, and ordered the Obama Administration to report back every 60 days—starting in mid-February—until the Administration makes good on its promise to issue a new rule that protects the Colleges’ religious freedom.

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUS Blog: Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court, the first appeals court to hear a case against the new federal health care law’s mandate for free birth control and other reproductive health services, went searching on Friday for some way to make sure that the government does not delay in issuing a final order on who has to obey that mandate. At a hearing that lasted more than twice the scheduled time, an apparent majority of the three-judge panel left the impression that they would not push for an early court ruling on the constitutionality of that requirement, even while showing some sympathy for the plight of religious colleges that complain it will interfere with their faith beliefs.

Carrie Severino at National Review: My organization, the Judicial Education Project, in conjunction with two leading Jewish Orthodox Groups, Agudath Israel of America and the National Council of Young Israel, has filed an amicus curiae brief in a Becket Fund case, Stormans Inc. v. Mary Selecky, et al., defending conscience rights for pharmacies and pharmacists.

William McGurn at the Wall Street Journal: And the American people were again reminded of the apparent inability of so many of our bluest bloods to distinguish between upholding religious pluralism and enforcing anti-religion.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: Can an American citizen exercise his religion through his privately-owned business? The fate of Obamacare’s disturbing HHS contraception mandate turns on that question, and now the federal courts are split on the answer regarding an issue very likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court . . . Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)—the largest religious-liberty legal organization and network in the country—is representing several companies, and has won the first round in two cases so far. These are Newland v. Sebelius in Colorado, and Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius in D.C. In fact, ADF is representing companies in at least seven lawsuits, including two plaintiffs in my home state of Indiana. Thomas More Law Center is representing another early success, representing Weingartz Supply Company in Michigan, while the Becket Fund suffered an early setback representing Hobby Lobby. And yet another—Liberty Institute—is preparing to launch litigation.

LifeNews: Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned and run company, is fighting back against a judge’s decision siding with the Obama administration saying that it has the right to force it to pay for drugs for women that may cause abortions.

Sentinel and Enterprise: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is gearing up to hear a court case that could permanently strike the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance recited by schoolchildren.