Supreme Court Decisions on Religious Liberty
Main Index
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Understanding religious liberty and religious freedom in America requires understanding the varying and often contradictory court decisions which have been made in this area. So, this site will begin presenting summaries and expalantions of major Supreme Court decisions dealing with religion and religious freedom. Included are links to full texts fo the decisions for further research, and some newer cases also have links to RealAudio of the oral arguments (from oyez.nwu.edu). Right now this index links to 15 cases, but that number will grow to check back again.
The First Amendment Cyber-Tribune page contains a categorical chronology of some of the more important U.S. Supreme Court Cases. The USSC+ service has a comprehensive archive back to 1966 and some cases dating back to 1793. The Cornell University Law School page also contains some recent cases. For full coverage of ALL of the court's Court Decisions visit WestDoc. However, this is a fee-based service.
This project is obviously biased towards American case law. This is not intentional, but circumstantial. The fact of the matter is, I don't have any information on court decisions from countries other than America. If foreign readers would be kind enough to send me information and, hopefully, web links, then I will start including that information here. I do, however, have here quite a lot of information on the general state of religious liberty in other countries which you can read. In the mean time, hopefully people from outside America will begin to understand a bit about what we Americans keep whining about with regards to our First Amendment.
New Cases
Find out what the most recent additions to this ever-expanding resource are.Full Index
Index of all summaries of Supreme Court cases available on this site.Church Disputes
Supreme Court cases addressing the question of just how far the government and courts can involve themselves with internal church disputes.Atheists, Freethinkers and Religious Liberty
United States court decisions which have involved atheists, skeptics, humanists, and/or other freethinkers who challenged society in order to broaden religious liberty for everyone.Government and Religious Holidays
Can the government fund religious displays during religious holidays? Can the government give employees religious holidays as paid vacation days? Can public schools fund religious holiday programs? Find out what the courts have decided.Evolution & Creationism
Index of Supreme Court cases dealing with the teaching of creationism in public schools.Employment and Business
Index of Supreme Court cases dealing with religious rights as they related to employment and the conduct of business.Religious Tax Exemptions
Should religious organizations be exempt from taxation? Should religious groups get tax exemptions not available to other organizations? What about property owned by religious groups but used for commercial purposes - should they receive the same tax exemptions as property used only for religion?Ten Commandments
Should displays of the Ten Commandments be allowed in public buildings? Should large monuments be erected on the grounds of courthouses or legislative buildings? Should there be posters of the Ten Commandments in schools and other municipal buildings? Some argue that they are part of our legal history, but others contend that they are inherently religious and, therefore, cannot be allowed.Government Support of Religion
Index of Supreme Court cases dealing with government support of religion - includes cases about the display of creches and other religious symbols during holidays and cases about prayer during government functions.Jehovah's Witnesses
Index of Supreme Court cases dealing with the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their faith.Privacy Cases
Index of Supreme Court cases either dealing directly with people's right to privacy, or indirectly relating to current debates about the nature of a right to privacy and whether or not such a right is provided for in the Constitution.Free Speech
Index of Supreme Court cases either dealing directly with people's right to privacy, or indirectly relating to current debates about the nature of a right to privacy and whether or not such a right is provided for in the Constitution.Schools and Religion
Index of Supreme Court Cases dealing with religion and public schools - includes school prayer and governmental funding of religious schools.Unequal Treatment of Minority Religions
Index of Supreme Court cases dealing with the unequal treatment of minority religions.
Further Reading
Recently Reviewed Books on Law
Reviews of recently published books dealing with legal issues. Included are books on laws, the legal system, the courts, key legal decisions and more.Recently Reviewed Books on Church/State Separation
The issue of the separation of church and state has been at the center of a tremendous number of debates in the United States. Questions about prayer in pubic schools, government support of religious events, and more have created a great deal of controversy and quite a few court cases. The books here represent some of the best current works support church/state separation.Recently Reviewed Books on Civil Liberties
Should you have a reasonable expectation of being free from government observation of your political activities? Is freedom of speech an absolute right, or are there legitimate reasons for restricting it? What role does the media play in promoting free speech and in informing the public? Should abortion be a right or a crime? These are a few of the issues addressed in the books reviewed here.Recently Reviewed Books on Free Speech
Is freedom of speech an absolute right, or are there legitimate reasons for restricting it? What role does the media play in promoting free speech and in informing the public? What effect to large corporations have when it comes the people's right to know and to disseminate information? These are some of the issues discussed in recently published books which are reviewed here.Recently Reviewed Books on Abortion
Abortion is one of the most conentious issues in society - there seems little hope in getting the pro-choice and pro-life sides to agree on anything at all. Reviewed here are some of the best recent books dealing with abortion as a philosophical, religious and legal matter.
Major Sources:
-->The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Kermit L. Hall, ed. Compare Prices
The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions. Kermit L. Hall, ed. Compare Prices
The Godless Court? Supreme Court Decisions on Church-State Relationships. Ronald B. Flowers. Compare Prices
The Godless Constitution: The Case Against Religious Correctness. Isaac Kramnick & R. Laurence Moore. Compare Prices
The Constitution and Religion: Leading Supreme Court Cases on Church and State. Robert S. Alley Compare Prices
The Supreme Court on Church and State. Robert S. Alley Compare Prices
