For Immediate Release Contact: Amy Couch, 202-238-9088, acouch@americanhuanist.org (Wentzville, MO, February 26, 2018) – The American Humanist Association (AHA) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a joint letter to the Mayor of Wentzville, MO to express concerns over the Board of Aldermen’s discrimination against an atheist speaker at a recent Board meeting. Sally Hunt came before the board on February 14 to express her concerns over the large “In God We Trust” display that the Board had recently erected in the board room. Not only did the board refuse Hunt the traditional five minute speaking time, they had her forcibly removed from the boardroom. “Ms. Hunt informed us that
For Immediate Release Contact: Amy Couch, 202-238-9088, acouch@americanhumanist.org Monica Miller, 202-238-9088, mmiller@americanhumanist.org (Reno, Nevada, February 20, 2018)—Today, the American Humanist Association (AHA) Appignani Humanist Legal Center filed its opening appellate brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its appeal from the U.S. District Court of Nevada’s dismissal of their case filed on behalf of Humanist inmates in Nevada state prisons. The lawsuit, filed in October 2016, asserts that the Nevada Department of Corrections’ refusal to allow Humanist inmates to study and discuss their shared convictions in a group setting while authorizing meetings for many faith group
This post originally appeared on TheHumanist.com On February 5, the US Supreme Court denied the request of Republicans in Pennsylvania to delay a ruling issued by the state’s Supreme Court mandating the redrawing of congressional lines. The decision likely ensures that the state will get a new map with redrawn districts in time for the fall 2018 midterm elections, moving Pennsylvania residents in the direction of a much fairer representation system. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the current lines drawn are egregiously biased along partisan motivations. The current lines were drawn by a Republican majority legislature under a Republican governor in 2011 in one of the most outrageo
This post originally appeared on TheHumanist.com Lately there’s been a rash of state legislators introducing bills that would allow—and in some cases require—public schools to offer elective courses about the Bible. Two Republican state senators in West Virginia, for example, sponsored a bill earlier this month that would require all schools, both public and private, to offer an elective course that teaches “knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture”. The smokescreen is that the course should look at the Bible as an influence on culture while adhering to “religious neutrality.” In practice, of co
