A fifth-grade student's invitations to a church Christmas party were singled out and prohibited even though other student invitations were permitted. One would have thought that this issue could have been worked out once the Pocono Mountain School District’s administration was made aware of the selective censoring of a student’s speech. However, in K.A. v. Pocono Mountain School District, the…
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The Pennsylvania Human Relations — charged with enforcing Pennsylvania’s non-discrimination laws — entered a Final Order allowing Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen to continue offering a discount on Sundays to persons who come with a current church bulletin. Intolerant of religion in society, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and one of its members brought a Complaint with Pennsylvania’s…
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The Independence Law Center filed an amici brief before the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to respect parental rights. The case involves an amazing set of facts. After a husband and wife divorced, the wife remarried. Shortly after the remarriage, the wife died. Her new husband petitioned for custody of the first husband’s daughter. Even though the first husband was a fit, involved parent, the…
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The Independence Law Center won a case involving David Hockenberry, a mentally retarded man whose guardians sought court approval to refuse life-preserving medical treatment. Mr. Hockenberry is not permanently unconscious or suffering from any terminal disease. In fact, he is not currently even sick. His guardians simply wanted to be able to withhold life-preserving medical treatment should he become…
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The Harrisburg School District agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Child Evangelism Fellowship of Dauphin County Inc. (CEF) at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. CEF, which provides after-school “Good News Clubs”, filed the case after trying for months to work with the Harrisburg School District. This was not the first incident between the school district and CEF. In…
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A property tax exemption is not so much a special favor for churches as a way to protect the independence of religious institutions. When the government has the power to tax, it has the power to control. In Wyoming County, the Independence Law Center, with assistance from attorney Lindsey Hoban of Ballard Spahr, obtained an important court victory on behalf of a small church in rural Northeastern…
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