Articles by John Litzler

On March 27, the U.S. House of Representatives approved by voice vote the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, which was Senate Bill 3548, was also unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate on March 24. A large portion of that relief, $349 billion, will fund the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

On Thursday, Texas Gov. Abbott issued Executive Order No. GA-08 (EO). The EO supersedes previous orders and preempts municipal ordinances regarding social/public/mass gatherings.

By John Litzler

Religious liberty is a bedrock American freedom, but a number of legal issues related to this freedom are being sorted out in the courts and news media today.

In some ways, the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States raised more questions than it provided answers. In its opinion the Court concluded that “same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry” and also said “the First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faith.” What happens when these two liberties appear at odds with one another?

One example of this conflict between freedoms occurred in both California and Colorado. In each place, a same-sex couple, exercising their right to marry, sought to hire a baker to create a cake for the couple’s wedding and in each case the baker declined asserting that the baker’s religious beliefs prevented the baker from making a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage.