Activists rally outside U.S. Supreme Court in Washington June 26 after the court sided with Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo., which sued after being denied a state grant for creating a safer playground (CNS photo/Yuri Gripas, Reuters).

Can religious schools receive state funds? Supreme Court gives a qualified yes.

by Ellen K. Boegel June 27, 2017

The Supreme Court court ruled on June 26 that the government may not exclude religious groups from grant programs simply because they are religious.

Activists rally outside U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on June 26 after the court sided with Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo., which sued after being denied a state grant for creating a safer playground. (CNS photo/Yuri Gripas, Reuters)

Faith, News

Supreme Court rules church school can’t be barred from state funds for playground

by Carol Zimmermann - Catholic News Service June 26, 2017

The Supreme Court said a Lutheran preschool should not be excluded from a state grant program to refurbish its playground surface just because it is a religious entity.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington seen on April 5, 2017. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

What can the U.S. learn from how other countries balance church and state?

by Ellen K. Boegel May 9, 2017

U.S. educational history is rife with examples of varying levels of government involvement with religious education in public schools.

Women religious gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 23, the day the high court heard oral arguments in religious groups' suit against the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate. (CNS photo/Jim Lo Scalzo, EPA)

News, Politics & Society

Justice Department remains idle on Obamacare’s contraception mandate

by Carol Zimmermann - Catholic News Service April 27, 2017

A year after the Supreme Court returned their cases to lower courts, those fighting Obamacare’s contraception requirement still do not have a direction.

In this photo taken on Jan. 26, 2016, the empty playground at Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Mo. (Annaliese Nurnberg/Missourian via AP)

News, Politics & Society

Gorsuch’s first Supreme Court week features a separation of church and state case

by Mark Sherman - Associated Press and Maria Danilova - Associated Press April 18, 2017

The outcome of the court case could make it easier to use state money to pay for private, religious schooling in many states.

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Politics & Society, Vantage Point

The Supreme Court, the Senate and the Filibuster

by The Editors April 7, 2017

Republican senators invoking the “nuclear option” to confirm Justice Gorsuch is a new development. But contention over the court and the filibuster has a long history.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington is seen on Jan. 31. The court sent a Texas death-row case back to lower courts on March 28, saying the inmate's intellectual disability should prevent his execution. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

News, Politics & Society

Supreme Court protects Texas inmate from death penalty due to intellectual disability

by Carol Zimmermann - Catholic News Service March 30, 2017

The court’s 5-3 decision reversed a Texas appeals court ruling that said inmate Bobby James Moore was not intellectually disabled based on state criteria and could face execution.