Home : Religion and Belief

Military Reverses Bible Distribution Policy At Induction Centers (12/18/2008)
WASHINGTON – In a move that will help protect the religious freedom of new inductees, the U.S. military reversed its policy of giving preferential access to some religious groups to provide literature to new recruits. Some induction centers, known as Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS), have granted Gideons International special access to military recruits in order to provide Bibles and religious messages on the day of their induction. MEPS facilities process incoming recruits for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.

ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit To Protect Religious Liberty Of New Jersey Prisoner (12/03/2008)
TRENTON, NJ – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a New Jersey prisoner, an ordained Pentecostal minister, who is asking the state to respect his religious freedom by restoring his right to preach.

ACLU Secures Religious Freedom For Muslim Prisoners At Wyoming State Penitentiary (11/20/2008)
RAWLINS, WY – The American Civil Liberties Union has struck an agreement with officials at the Wyoming State Penitentiary that will allow Muslim prisoners to maintain their religious practices and beliefs while still being able to eat daily meals.

Victory For Native American Religious Freedom (11/19/2008)
NEW ORLEANS - Today the ACLU of Louisiana (ACLU) and the Native American Rights' Fund in Boulder, Colorado (NARF) announced a victory on behalf of a Native American child attending public school in St. Tammany Parish. Curtis Harjo is a five-year-old Native American child who wears his hair in a neat braid down his back. The Harjo's religion, like that of many Native Americans, includes a belief that hair should not be cut, except as a symbol of mourning upon the death of a loved one. The principal at Curtis' elementary school advised his mother that he would be required to cut his hair to continue to attend school even though to do so would violate his family's religion.

Court Showdown Averted as Town Allows Homeless Ministry to Resume Operations (11/19/2008)
Pittsburgh – This morning U.S. District Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose signed an order allowing the First Apostles' Doctrine Church to resume housing homeless people as part of its ministry. The Borough of Brookville and the church reached an agreement late yesterday, averting an emergency court hearing scheduled for this afternoon.

ACLU of Pennsylvania Defends Church Forced to Shut Down Its Ministry to Homeless (11/17/2008)
Pittsburgh - The ACLU of Pennsylvania filed suit today to defend the right of First Apostles' Doctrine Church, an evangelical Christian church in Brookville, Pennsylvania, to practice its religious beliefs through its outreach ministry to the homeless. The borough recently shut down the ministry by citing the church for zoning violations and voting unanimously to refuse the church's request to resume housing homeless people in the parsonage.

Bush Administration Blocks Medical Services For Immigrant Teens In U.S. Care (11/17/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to order the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to release documents outlining U.S. policy limiting refugee and undocumented teenagers' access to important reproductive health services, including contraceptives and abortion. The ACLU filed today's legal papers after ACF ignored a Freedom of Information Act request from the ACLU dated August 19, 2008.

San Bernardino County Agrees To Allow Religious Head Scarves In County Jails (11/03/2008)
ORANGE, CA -- San Bernardino County agreed today to institute policies that accommodate the First Amendment right to wear religious head scarves in jail.

ACLU Urges Governor Crist to Uphold and Respect Religious Freedom for All Floridians (10/10/2008)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today sent a letter to Governor Charlie Crist urging him to end discrimination in Florida's prisons by accommodating the sacred religious beliefs of inmates. The letter asks Crist specifically to stop the Department of Corrections from continuing to violate inmates' exercise of religion, by amending state regulations to provide religious freedom to everyone. The ACLU hopes that if the state changes its policy, local county jails will follow the example.

ACLU Sues School District For Punishing Kindergarten Student Because Of Family's Religious Beliefs (10/02/2008)
HOUSTON – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas today filed a lawsuit against the Needville Independent School District (NISD) for punishing a five-year-old American Indian kindergarten student for practicing and expressing his family's religious beliefs and heritage by wearing his hair long in violation of school rules.

Federal Lawsuit Challenges District Of Columbia's Funding Of Religious Mission (09/18/2008)
WASHINGTON – The ACLU of the National Capital Area, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the District of Columbia's plan to grant more than $12 million in public property and cash to the Central Union Mission, a religious homeless shelter.