More than a Hill of Beans: Political Protests Face Pressure to Be Noticed
As the temperature heats up around the country, so does the political climate surrounding this year’s presidential election. The city of Philadelphia approved twenty-eight permits for demonstrations and marches during this week’s Democratic National Convention,... Read More
We Need to Talk about Lead’s Role in the Cycle of Poverty
We need resources. If there was one resounding takeaway from the Center for American Progress’s event last Wednesday on “Addressing Lead Exposure in Low-Income Communities,” it’s that efforts to remediate lead paint and other health... Read More
Ted Cruz Calls for Religious Freedom for Atheists in RNC Speech
Yesterday, in his speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) included atheists specifically in his call for religious freedom: Freedom means religious freedom, whether you are Christian or... Read More
Humanist Rights in Federal Prisons One Year after Holden v. Bureau of Prisons
The humanist movement has long fought for the rights and dignity of incarcerated people. But for far too long, humanists in federal prison were not even able to identify as such, meaning that they were... Read More
So-Called “First Amendment Defense Act” Would Actually Weaken Civil Liberties
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a U.S. House committee hearing on the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA). The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), heard from a... Read More
Louisiana School Fails to Change Pledge of Allegiance Policy, Requires Students to Stand
The American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center criticizes the Lafayette Parish School System in Lafayette, La., for failing to update its Pledge of Allegiance policy to comply with students’ rights under the First Amendment.... Read More
Federal Judge’s Decision a Win for LGBTQ Rights and for Church/State Separation
Since the US Supreme Court’s ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges last year, marriage equality should be resolved. Yet the religious right still continues to push back against the rights of LGBTQ Americans. Red states began... Read More