News

Federal law—the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)—prevents the government from imposing substantial burdens on prisoners’ religious exercise unless the government has a reason “of the highest order” in burdening the prisoners’ religion and the government’s actions are narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. The Alabama Department of […]

By Kelly Shackelford A version of this article first appeared on RealClearReligion.org. Hostility toward religion in America is rising like floodwaters, as shown by the increasing numbers of legal, cultural, and social attacks documented in the 2016 edition of Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America. First Liberty […]

America has never seen a time where the need to defend religious liberty was so critical—a time when religious liberty faces so much hostility. 2015 was the worst year for religious freedom America has ever seen. Barely three months into 2016, the requests for legal help continue to roll in […]

Less than one month after First Liberty Institute issued a demand letter to the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, NASA permitted the name “Jesus” to be published in the JSC daily newsletter again. “We are extremely pleased that the authorities at NASA JSC recognized their mistake in […]

Recently, the governor of a large state was asked whether businesses owned by people of faith should be able to decline participating in same-sex weddings on the grounds of their sincere religious beliefs. This would include First Liberty Institute clients such as Aaron and Melissa Klein (owners of Sweet Cakes […]

Last week, First Liberty Institute attorneys announced their legal representation of Aaron and Melissa Klein—owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa who were forced to pay a $135,000 penalty to the Oregon government for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. In addition to widespread media attention from news […]