Topics: Issues Related to Religion

• Abortion, Privacy Rights and Religion

  The rights to privacy and First Amendment freedom of religion have been raised as constitutional protections for a woman's right to have an abortion. But the U....

• Aid to Parochial Schools

  The Supreme Court has ruled in many cases involving government aid to religious schools. The Court primarily has weighed whether such aid violates the First...

• Aid to Religious Colleges and Universities

  Government aid to religious colleges presents several First Amendment–related issues including employment policies, construction grants and student...

• Animal Sacrifice

  In its only animal sacrifice case, the Court said a city ordinance prohibiting animal sacrifice violated the First Amendment by targeting the Santeria religion...

• Autopsies and Treatment of the Dead

  Sometimes state autopsy laws conflict with religious objections to such procedures, bringing into play First Amendment questions of religious liberty. Public...

• Blasphemy

  Blasphemy laws punish people who express irreverence for religion and sacred things. Laws against blasphemy have disappeared in the U.S. because of the First...

• Blood Transfusions and Medical Care against Religious Beliefs

  First Amendment free exercise of religion is in question when medical care is refused due to religious beliefs. Courts must balance religious rights and child...

• Capitol Honors for the Dead

  Some have questioned whether the decision to allow preacher Billy Graham's body to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol was a violation of the First Amendment...

• Chaplains

  Government-funded chaplain programs are one area in which religious rights of prisoners and military personnel may outweigh First Amendment violations...

• Charter Schools

  Because the government funds charter schools, are they subject to the same First Amendment restrictions as public schools on prayer and Bible readings...

• Child Custody

  A judge's order in a child custody case could implicate the First Amendment, particularly when the judge forbids a parent from certain statements that is deemed...

• Christian Nationalism

  Christian nationalism has played a key role in U.S. history that many think plays a meaningful role in a country that guarantees religious liberty. Others are...

• Clergy, Bans on Holding Office by

  The last state constitution ban on clergy holding public office was eliminated in Tennessee in 1978 after a First Amendment case that went to the Supreme Court...

• Conscientious Objection to Military Service

  The Court considered conscientious objector cases during the Vietnam War, weighing when First Amendment freedom protects someone from laws requiring military...

• Coronavirus and the First Amendment

  Can the government restrict gatherings, including church services, during the coronavirus outbreak or is that a violation of the First Amendment religious...

• Creationism

  Forcing schools to teach creationism or Intelligent Design is a violation of the First Amendment's protection against establishment of religion, courts have...

• Disaster Aid To and Through Religious Organizations

  Some fear that FEMA's decision to include churches among the entities that receive federal disaster aid could erode the First Amendment separation of church and...

• Discrimination by Religious Organizations

  The Supreme Court has allowed certain types of discrimination by religious organizations based on the freedom of association rooted in the First Amendment...

• Evolution

  The teaching of evolution has been at the heart of many cases brought under the establishment clause, the free exercise clause, and the free speech clause of...

• Faith-based Organizations and Government

  The recent expansion of government funding for faith-based social programs has sparked concerns about the assistance from a First Amendment standpoint...

• Graduation Speech Controversies

  Court decisions have interpreted the First Amendment establishment clause as prohibiting prayers in public schools during both school hours and school functions...

• In God We Trust

  Federal courts have consistently upheld "In God We Trust" as a national motto, which when on coins or elsewhere does not violate the establishment clause of the...

• Intelligent Design

  Intelligent design is a theory that the universe was designed by an intelligent higher power. Teaching the theory blurs the lines between church and state...

• Ministerial Exception

  The ministerial exception shields churches from improper government influence by barring legal claims against churches by employees with religious functions....

• Parental Naming Rights

  The First Amendment would protect a broad, but not unlimited, right for parents to choose the names of their children based on parental rights over education...

• Polygamy

  Polygamy is a practice in which a person is married to more than one person at the same time. Polygamy raises issues under the free exercise clause of the First...

• Prayer at Public Events

  Many Americans are religious and seek to incorporate prayer into public events. Whether such prayer is allowed under the First Amendment depends on the nature...

• Prayer in Public Schools

  Prayer at public school events can involve three clauses of the First Amendment: the establishment, the free exercise, and the free speech...

• Priest-Penitent Privilege

  All U.S. states have laws protecting certain communications under the priest-penitent privilege. The First Amendment is often considered the basis of such a...

• Public Buildings and Religious Use

  The First Amendment creates lines between public and religious buildings. The line is not clear because courts have accepted some civil religion in public...

• Public Employees

  Public employees have a First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern as long as the speech is not outweighed by an the interest in a disruption-...

• Religious Holidays

  The recognition and celebration of religious holidays by government can run counter to the First Amendment prohibition of government endorsing a particular...

• Religious Oaths

  Many early American states required public officeholders to take religious oaths. In 1961, the Supreme Court said this requirement violated the First Amendment...

• Religious Rights of Pharmacists and Morning-After Pills

  The religious rights of pharmacists to refuse to fill a legal prescription for emergency contraception, often known as a morning-after pill, has not made it to...

• Religious Tests for Witnesses

  Before the First Amendment was applied to the states, there was a prominent idea that witnesses in court trials could only testify if they believed in God or...

• Rights of Prisoners

  The First Amendment rights of prisoners have been sharply curtailed. When analyzing prisoner speech claims, the Supreme Court has usually deferred to prison...

• Rights of Students

  Public school students enjoy First Amendment protection based on the type of expression and their age. Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the...

• School Vouchers

  The Supreme Court has upheld school voucher programs, saying if they are administered without favoring one religion over another, they do not violate the First...

• Snake Handling

  Snake handling is a religious ritual practiced by a small number of Protestant churches. Laws against the practice have been upheld against First Amendment...

• So Help Me God

  After an unsuccessful challenge, scholars have debated whether presidents repeating the words "so help me God" when they take their oath of office violates the...

• Sunday Mail

  Before the First Amendment was applied to the states, Christian Sabbath advocates attacked Sunday mail delivery, saying states should regulate their own...

• Taxation of Religious Entities

  Through tax exemptions, legislatures have sought to encourage effects of religious organizations while avoiding First Amendment–based concerns of excessive...

• Ten Commandments

  Recently, legal challenges have been brought against public display of the Ten Commandments for violating establishment clause of the First Amendment...

• Vatican City, U.S. Recognition of

  U.S. relations with Vatican City have stirred concerns among those who fear that recognition of the city-state could violate the First Amendment's separation of...