This post originally appeared on TheHumanist.com What a mess. Recycled tires, decrepit playgrounds, scraped knees, footnote 3. The Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer was a lot of things, but explicit was definitely not one of them. In the wake of what seems to be a tentative victory for theocrats and religious conservatives, a lot of secular Americans are asking: What does this mean for me? The answer, as it so often is with Supreme Court decisions, is: it depends. But before we get to the legal nitty gritty, what was this case all about anyway? The facts are simple enough. Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, operates a pre
For Immediate Release Contact: Patrick Hudson, Communications Assistant, phudson@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9022 David Niose, Legal Director, dniose@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9022 (Washington, D.C., June 26th, 2017)—The American Humanist Association (AHA) expressed grave concern over today’s ruling in the Supreme Court case Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley requiring taxpayer money to flow to a Missouri church school for playground improvements. “This decision, requiring the transfer of tax money from hard working Missourians to houses of worship, is an assault on the principle of church-state separation” said David Niose, the Legal Director at the AHA’s Appignani Humanist
For Immediate Release Contact: Patrick Hudson, Communications Assistant, 202-238-9088, phudson@americanhumanist.org David Niose, Legal Director, 202-238-9088, dniose@americanhumanist.org (Denver, CO, June 20, 2017)—The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the American Humanist Association (AHA) and a parent have a right to pursue their claims against the Douglas County School District in Colorado for sponsoring religious activities in violation of the First Amendment. The ruling, in a case brought by the AHA’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, reverses in part a ruling by the lower court which dismissed the AHA’s claims for lack of legal standing. The Tenth Circuit found that the mot
For Immediate Release Contact: Patrick Hudson, Communications Assistant, 202-238-9088, phudson@americanhumanist.org Monica Miller, Senior Counsel, 202-238-9088, mmiller@americanhumanist.org (Pensacola, FL, June 19th, 2017)—The American Humanist Association’s (AHA) Appignani Humanist Legal Center is pleased that the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida delivered a favorable decision that echoed the AHA’s argument over an unconstitutional religious display on public grounds in Pensacola, Florida. Last week, the AHA’s Monica Miller presented oral arguments in Pensacola, arguing that the cross being displayed and maintained by taxpayer money was an overt endorsement
For Immediate Release Contact: Patrick Hudson, Communications Assistant, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, phudson@americanhumanist.org Monica Miller, Senior Counsel, 202-238-9088, mmiller@americanhumanist.org (Pensacola, FL, June 14, 2017)—The American Humanist Association’s (AHA) Appignani Humanist Legal Center presented its arguments today before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit aimed at preventing the continued state sponsorship of a religious monument. The AHA in conjunction with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed a lawsuit in 2015 on behalf of Pensacola residents who felt that a large cross, located in a ci
