Blog of Rights
Heather L.
Weaver
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page
09/15/2011
FBI

9/11's Legacy of Religious Discrimination

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 4:23pm

It's no secret that, after 9/11, a wave of anti-Muslim bigotry washed over the country. The intensity of that prejudice has sustained it for a decade, and, in many ways, anti-Muslim sentiment and fear of Islam seem even stronger and more deeply rooted today than in the months and years after the attack. In the last few years, for instance, a number Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims have been violently assaulted; and scores of mosques and Islamic Centers have been vandalized, with attacks ranging from racist and anti-Muslim graffiti to arson and firebombing.

Read More»
04/17/2013
B-SHOC

Paying the Price for Defending Religious Freedom in South Carolina

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 2:21pm

"What's the harm?" That is the question we are often asked when the ACLU steps in to stop public school officials from including official prayer in school events and proselytizing students. It was a question posed by many community members in the Chesterfield County School District when we filed a lawsuit on behalf of middle school student Jordan Anderson after the district invited Christian rapper B-SHOC and a youth minister to evangelize students during a school-day assembly and continued to subject to students to a variety of other religious practices.

Read More»
04/19/2013
Creationism

God's Gospel Lizards: Creationist Group to Educate Kansas Public School Students on the "Truth About Dinosaurs"

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 3:10pm

Students at Hugoton High School in Hugoton, Kansas, are set to finally learn the “truth about dinosaurs” next week—at least the truth as the Creation Truth Foundation sees it. The religious organization, which advocates for “a return to all of [the] realities of Biblical Creation,” is scheduled to conduct several mandatory school-day assemblies about dinosaurs for all students and teachers on Tuesday. The ACLU of Kansas & Western Missouri and the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief learned about the planned assembly yesterday afternoon and sent a letter today demanding that the public school district cancel the event.

Read More»
01/10/2012
Sharia

Constitutional Law 101: Federal Court Rules That Discrimination Against Muslims Violates the First Amendment

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 2:20pm

If implemented, the amendment would have rendered Oklahoma’s Muslims second-class citizens before the state courts.

Read More»
01/09/2013
School Vouchers

A School Voucher by Any Other Name

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 11:25am

Thirty million. That’s the amount of tax dollars that could be diverted annually from New Hampshire’s coffers to private schools by the year 2022 if the state is allowed to implement its new Education Tax Credit Program. Under the tax credit program, in exchange for donations to “scholarship organizations,” New Hampshire businesses will receive tax credits equal to 85 percent of the amount they donate. The scholarship organizations, in turn, will use the funds to award scholarships to private school students, including those attending religious schools. In short, rather than paying their taxes to the state, businesses will instead be able to direct money owed to the state toward religious education.

Read More»
05/17/2011

Debunking the Mythical "Sharia Threat" to Our Judicial System

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 2:39pm

As the ACLU has documented elsewhere, there has been a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment and attacks on Muslim communities in the U.S. in the last few years. Most recently, multiple states have proposed legislation banning the consideration of Islamic or "Sharia" law by state courts. Anti-Muslim groups claim these measures are necessary because the courts are being "overtaken" by Sharia law. Specifically, Sharia-ban proponents have pointed to a number of court cases involving Islamic religious doctrine or Muslim parties that supposedly evince a "Sharia threat" to our judicial system.

Read More»
01/24/2012
B-SHOC

Don't B-SHOCked: Settlement Shows Public Schools Can't Proselytize

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 4:25pm

A federal judge signed and entered a consent decree and order today in the ACLU’s case challenging widespread and pervasive religious practices in South Carolina’s Chesterfield County School District. The ACLU brought the lawsuit on behalf of a local father, Jonathan Anderson, and his son, who is a student at New Heights Middle School. Both are non-believers. The school district’s unlawful practices promoting religion garnered national attention after a video was posted online documenting a school-day assembly that featured a Christian rapper who calls himself “B-SHOC” (pictured). The assembly also included a sermon delivered by an evangelical youth minister, and students were asked to sign cards pledging themselves to Jesus. Students who did not want to attend the assembly were told that they could instead spend the afternoon in in-school suspension.

Read More»
09/17/2012
Religious Freedom Goes to School

Constitution Day: Cherry-picking the First Amendment

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 1:30pm

Today, many public schools will recognize and celebrate Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.  Two hundred and twenty-five years later, you might think we could all agree on a few simple principles regarding how that document, which was amended a few years later to include the Bill of Rights, applies in the schools that will be studying it. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Constitution’s religious freedom protections, a handful of groups are pushing public schools to adopt a lopsided view of religious liberty that could further marginalize students of minority faiths, as well as non-believers, denying them the full benefit of the public education experience.

Read More»
06/25/2012
Church and State

Supreme Court Takes a Pass on Mt. Soledad Cross Case

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 5:36pm

Today, we were pleased to learn that the Supreme Court declined to review our challenge to the federal government’s display of a 43-foot-tall Latin cross atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, California.  The ACLU and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties brought the case on behalf of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America—the oldest veterans’ organization in the country – and several local residents.  

Read More»
03/21/2011
Religion in Schools

Tennessee's Evolution Two-Step

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief at 11:39am

If it’s true that timing is everything in dance, then Tennessee legislators could use a few more lessons if they ever hope to perfect the evolution two-step they are performing this week. Today marks the 86th anniversary of the Butler Act, which was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Austin Peay on March 21, 1925. The Butler Act criminalized the teaching of evolution or any other principle that "denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible" and sparked one of the most famous legal proceedings of the 20th century — what is often referred to now as the "Scopes Monkey Trial." The trial, during which biology teacher John Scopes (shown right) was defended by ACLU attorneys Clarence Darrow and Arthur Garfield Hays, captured the attention of the nation, and to this day, remains a stain on Tennessee’s public education system.

Read More»
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page
Statistics image