After a half-century, the Supreme Court is getting religious liberty right again
Can Sikhs serve their country while staying true to their faith?
Religious foster care plays a vital role for our most vulnerable children
Study finds religious freedom is an area of unity in a divided America
Want to take the Sabbath off? Supreme Court has a chance to reaffirm religious practice
Most Americans want to protect churches and people of faith. Then it gets complicated
8 religion-related cases to watch when the Supreme Court is back in session
Why a case about one Idaho man’s distinctive religious belief could be headed to the Supreme Court
What’s going on with faith-based adoption agencies? And what will happen next?
A nickel saved his life and now he walks the halls of Congress
Michigan settlement in favor of LGBTQ couples leaves faith-based adoption agencies wondering what’s next
Court rules for religious student group in clash between LGBTQ, religious rights
Trump gives relief to religious Obamacare objectors
Sen. Hatch is key to Gorsuch’s confirmation
Mormons challenged for religious belief in school, online seek relief
Lawmaker changes bill affecting California’s religious colleges
August 10, 2016, Deseret News
While initial reports of Wednesday’s development did explain why the sponsor, state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, agreed to amend the bill, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty attributed the change to a website and series of videos showing how the bill would victimize minorities attending the affected religious schools.
Q&A: The Becket Fund founder’s surprising solution to end conflict between church and state
April 29, 2016, Deseret News
“What if it is possible for the government to acknowledge the existence of a God who is the source of our rights — and mean it — without doing so religiously?” the founder and president emeritus of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty writes in his new book.
A tribute to Justice Antonin Scalia
My view: Obama’s speech at mosque and religious freedom
February 16, 2016, Deseret News
As we continue to think about how best to handle our religious differences, we do well to remember an important lesson about religious freedom. It is a lesson that the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s founder Seamus Hasson has taught: “If anyone in America doesn’t have religious liberty, no one in America has religious liberty. … There is no point in sitting around hoping the bear eats you last.”
Governmental neutrality in matters of faith (Trinity Lutheran)
The transgender rights debate is about more than just restrooms
September 8, 2016, Deseret News
Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at The Becket Fund, told the Deseret News that the mandate is “broad” and that it requires doctors to potentially work against the best interests of their patients.
“One of the most troubling aspects of it is that it requires doctors to perform gender reassignment procedures on, including on young children, even when those procedures may be physically and emotionally harmful to the child and violate the doctor’s faith and medical judgment,” Goodrich said.
Who decides if a law restricts a religious practice? Notre Dame case may provide the answer
Prisoner beards and religious freedoms — what a recent Supreme Court decision means for you
Deseret News, February 2, 2015
So if you don’t live in Arkansas, you don’t wear a beard, and you’re not a prisoner, why does the Holt decision matter to you? If you care about religious freedom, Holt will help those defending it in the courts in at least three ways.
Read Becket Attorney, Hanna Smith’s full article here.
8 Quotes on Religious Freedom you may have Missed
Pennsylvania teachers can’t wear ‘religious garb’ to class but a repeal effort may be possible
Deseret News National December 12, 2014
Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel of The Becket Fund, a religious liberty law firm in Washington, told the Deseret News, “The anti-religious garb statute in Pennsylvania is an unconstitutional vestige of 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry. It was designed to keep Catholics out of public schools but now this bad law can be used to target other religious minorities such as Jews and Sikhs. Oregon did the right thing by repealing its anti-garb statute a few years ago; Pennsylvania should follow suit.”
Read the full article here.
‘Parsonage exemption’ safe, federal court rules, dismissing atheists’ complaint
Deseret News, November 17, 2014
In a statement, Becket Fund attorney Luke Goodrich also criticized the FFRF case. “When a group of atheists tries to cajole the IRS into raising taxes on churches, it’s bound to raise some eyebrows. The court was right to send them packing,” he said.
Chairman of Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is optimistic about religious freedom
‘Deseret News National Edition’: Africa and the 3 Ds, Becket Fund and religious liberty, Al Fox Carraway
Deseret News National Edition October 19, 2014
Fewer than a dozen attorneys work for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. But even with a small corps of lawyers, the firm is making its mark by seeking out and often winning cases that set law-changing precedents. They discussed their Supreme Court cases and why he is optimistic about the future of religious freedom in this country.
Watch the interview here.
Deseret News National Edition – October 19 – Segment 2
What one man’s beard says about religious freedom work
Deseret News, August 26, 2014
For example, Holt v. Hobbs has marshalled the support of the two groups that June’s Hobby Lobby decision divided: The Becket Fund (which serves as part of Holt’s legal team) and the Obama administration…
The government’s support of Holt’s request shouldn’t be surprising, however. An infographic of the case, provided by the Becket Fund, reports that 41 prison systems in America already allow beards longer than Holt’s one-half-inch request.
LDS attorney lists what Mormons need to know about religious freedom today
Deseret News August 8, 2014
Hannah Smith, who as senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has helped secure some major court victories for religious freedom recently, provided a thorough list of areas for concern in U.S. courts today.
Read the rest of the article here.
Propaganda war continues in Hobby Lobby aftermath
Deseret News July 21, 2014
The Becket Fund’s Arriaga wrote Hobby Lobby’s health plan covers “all HHS-required contraceptive methods that do not have a demonstrated risk of destroying a newly created human life — including sterilizations for women.”
Beyond Hobby Lobby, the government’s war on nuns rages
Deseret News, July 2, 2014
Hannah C. Smith is a member of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board and Senior Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that defends religious liberty for people of all faiths.
Hobby Lobby sets a precedent for religious liberty
Court rules for religious freedom
Deseret News, July 1, 2014
The narrow ruling marks the first time the nation’s top court specifically extended religious freedom protections to a corporation, rather than
just individuals. And even if the high court had come down against Hobby Lobby, it was the kind of high-profile case that has set the Becket Fund apart since its founding. The firm looks specifically for opportunities to represent believers of all faiths — Muslims or, in the most recent case, evangelical Christians — who see their freedom to live their faith in jeopardy, with an eye toward not just protecting individuals, but also changing the law and the debate on issues of religious liberty.
The law firm behind the Hobby Lobby win
Supreme Court won’t hear school graduation-in-church case
Deseret News June 17, 2014
Ironically, the case as far as one of the high schools involved, is now moot. Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which handled the case on behalf of the Elmwood district, said graduations are now held in a new, air conditioned and disability-friendly gym at the high school.
Why Hobby Lobby is a family business
Deseret News, June 6, 2014
As a way of explaining what Hobby Lobby is, and how it works as a Family Business, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, shared a video that specifically looks at the history of the company owned by the David and Barbara Green family.
Join the discussion: Is there a war on religion?
Deseret News, May 29, 2014
“When the government said to them, you’re going to have to fund contraception, sterilization, in violation of your deeply held religious convictions, the monks at Belmont Abbey College knew that they just couldn’t do that,” attorney Hannah Smith from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty told NPR. “This is not just about health care. This is really about government coercion of religious individuals and institutions.”
Religious liberty honoree Rabbi Lord Sacks builds bridges among faiths
Deseret News, May 14, 2014
Rabbi Sacks’ interfaith work and his passion for religious freedom were recognized Thursday by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty with its 2014 Canterbury Medal, an annual prize recognizing “an individual who has ‘most resolutely refused to render to Caesar that which is God’s,’ ” the group said.
Atheists still ‘under God’ when it comes to Pledge of Allegiance in Massachusetts
Deseret News, May 9, 2014
“Today the (Massachusetts) Court affirmed what should have been obvious — ‘God’ is not a dirty word,” Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement.
Supreme Court endorsed legislative prayer for second time in 30 years
‘Under God’ in court: Pledge of Allegiance draws new lawsuits
Deseret News, April 24, 2014
The first two suits were rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States on procedural issues, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
‘Under God’ in court: Pledge of Allegiance draws new lawsuits
Deseret News National April 24, 2014
The 1954 change, enthusiastically supported by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, added the words “under God” before the closing phrase “with liberty and justice for all.” Those words have become the target of many, and so far unsuccessful, legal challenges. This week, a humanist family in New Jersey’s Monmouth County went to court challenging the use of those two words, according to the New York Daily News.
A Hobson’s Choice: Religious freedom in the business world
Deseret News, March 9, 2014
Hannah C. Smith is a member of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board and Senior Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that defends liberty for all faiths. The Becket Fund serves as counsel for Hobby Lobby.
Supreme Court to decide whether to tackle religious liberty, contraception mandate
Deseret News, November 23, 2013
Lori Windam, an attorney for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, said their case will answer critical questions on the limits of RFRA’s protections signed into law 20 years ago. “You have a government regulation forcing people to either follow their faith or paying enormous fines,” she said. “If RFRA can’t protect people from that, how much power does RFRA really have?”
Deseret News Sunday Edition, October 27 2013
Deseret News Sunday Edition, October 6, 2013
Fighting the good fight for religious right
Deseret News, August 18, 2013
The Becket Fund’s executive director and lifelong freedom fighter Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz talks about religious liberties and the challenges faced.
Supporters of prayer at government meetings file briefs with Supreme Court
Deseret News, August 6, 2013
Nearly two dozen state attorneys general and more than 30 U.S. senators have filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is hearing its first case in three decades involving prayer at government meetings.
European court upholds Romanian church’s right to approve, bust unions
Deseret News, July 10, 2013
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, called the ruling one of the most important on European religious liberty in years.
“True autonomy for religious organizations of all sorts is becoming even more important as Europe and America become increasingly religiously diverse,” said Stanford University law professor Michael McConnell, who signed the brief. “In this area, government governs better when it governs less.”
Obama and lawyers differ on religious liberty stance
Deseret News, June 5, 2013
Are President Obama and his lawyers on the same page when it comes to religious liberty? A lawyer for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty doesn’t think so.
Religious liberty advocates call for faiths to join forces
Deseret News, June 1, 2013
Hannah Clayson Smith, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who is also a member of the Deseret News editorial advisory board, said proponents of religious freedom have scored several major victories over the past year.
Elder Oaks promotes strengthening the free exercise of religion
Deseret News, May 16, 2013
Religious teachings and religious organizations are vital to a free society and deserve its special legal protection, Elder Dallin H. Oaks affirmed in a speech May 16 upon receiving the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s highest honor, the Canterbury Medal, during a program held in the Pierre Hotel on New York City’s Fifth Avenue.
Public comments indicate few like Obamacare rule on birth control
Deseret News, April 19, 2013
“Under the accommodation … religious organizations would still be forced to facilitate access to products and services that many of them believe to be deeply immoral, even though the obligation for procuring separate insurance policies covering these services would ostensibly fall on insurers or third-party administrators,” stated comments submitted by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing eight clients in seven separate lawsuits over the mandate.
Montana Hutterite colony asks Supreme Court to hear religious liberty case
Deseret News, April 10, 2013
“The state of Montana is needlessly attacking a group of communal farmers who are simply following 500 years of Hutterite religious tradition,” said Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “The state should be applauding the Hutterites’ thriving, productive and self-sustaining farming community, not trying to regulate it out of existence at the behest of corporate lobbyists.”
U.S. legislators come to Hobby Lobby’s defense in contraception lawsuit
Birth control mandate lawsuits make case for systematic disrespect toward religion
States are battlefields for religious liberty
Elder Oaks honored for contributions to the cause of religious freedom
Attorney makes defending religious liberty his mission
50 years later: High court’s school prayer ruling still fuels religious liberty debate
Deseret News, June 24,2012