A string of victories for religious freedom delivered by judges and the Trump administration made 2019 a good year for religious liberty in this country. Among the 2019 court rulings counted by most religious freedom advocates as victories in establishment clause cases were:
The Supreme Court decided 7-2 in a June decision that a 40-foot cross on public land in Bladensburg, Md., which serves as a memorial to World War I soldiers is constitutional.
A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled unanimously in March the long-standing ministerial housing allowance does not violate the establishment clause.
Courts in Minnesota, Arizona and Kentucky all ruled in favor of free speech and free-exercise-of -religion for Christian businesses that opposed providing services for same sex marriages.
A federal judge decided in September the University of Iowa violated the speech, association and free-exercise-of-religion rights of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA by barring the campus ministry from requiring its leaders to be Christians.
Also in September, a federal judge blocked the state of Michigan from canceling the state-approved contract of St. Vincent Catholic Charities to provide foster care and adoption services because the agency refused to certify and place children in the homes of same-sex couples as a result of its belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
On the regulatory front, among the Trump administration’s pro-religious freedom regulations issued in 2019 were:
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a rule in May, that proposed a regulation to rescind an Obama-era rule that required doctors to perform gender-transition procedures and abortions. The Department of Labor announced in August a proposed rule clarifying that churches and other religious organizations that act as federal contractors may hire and fire based on their sincerely held beliefs without fear of being penalized by the government.
In a legislative victory in December, Congress approved and President Trump signed into law legislation that includes language rescinding a section of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that required houses of worship and other nonprofits to pay a 21 percent tax on such employee benefits as parking and transportation.
Publishers Note: President Trump’s nominations to the federal courts have flipped three circuits making them majority Republican-appointed, lowered the age of GOP-appointed judges by 14 years, and reshaped the judiciary for decades to come. All total, 187 Trump-appointed federal judges have been confirmed by the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate. America’s courts are critical to the preservation of religious liberty. The excellent judges being confirmed for lifetime appointments right now will help safeguard religious liberty for our children and grandchildren.