Case in Point November/December 2025
November/December 2025Pivotal Ten Commandment Cases Face Appellate Review
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will take up one of the nation’s most closely watched church-state battles early next year. On January 20, 2026, all 17 active judges of the court will hear oral arguments in two consolidated cases challenging Texas and Louisiana laws that require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
In Texas, lawmakers approved a measure compelling every public classroom to hang a state-issued poster of the Ten Commandments. U.S. district judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction in August this year, preventing the law from going into full effect. In his 55-page opinion, Judge Biery wrote that law likely violates both the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment and is coercive toward students of differing—or no—religious beliefs.
Louisiana’s nearly identical statute, House Bill 71, met the same fate two months earlier. In June 2025 a three-judge Fifth Circuit panel called the measure “plainly unconstitutional,” finding that it served a religious purpose rather than a secular one.
Now, both states’ laws stand before the full appellate court, which will decide whether government-endorsed displays of religious texts belong in public school classrooms. The outcome could redefine how the First Amendment’s establishment clause is applied in American education—and may ultimately invite review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Supreme Court Loss, Wisconsin Looks for a Workaround
After a unanimous loss at the U.S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin officials are now trying to sidestep the ruling that protected a Catholic charity’s right to a religious tax exemption.
Earlier this year the Court ruled 9-0 that the state had violated the First Amendment when it denied Catholic Charities Bureau of Superior an exemption from unemployment taxes. The justices said Wisconsin can’t decide an organization isn’t “religious enough” just because it provides social services instead of preaching.
But rather than accept that loss, the state’s attorney general, Josh Kaul, is pushing to eliminate the religious exemption altogether. His argument: if everyone has to pay into the unemployment system, then everyone is treated equally.
Faith-based advocates say that approach misses the point. Instead of fixing the discrimination the Court identified, Wisconsin, they argue, is trying to erase the rule that protects religious groups in the first place. If the exemption disappears, churches, synagogues, mosques, and ministries across the state could lose a protection they’ve long relied on.
The case now heads back to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where state officials and religious liberty advocates are preparing for another round.
Oklahoma Superintendent Drops Bible-in-Classrooms Mandate
Oklahoma’s new superintendent of public instruction, Lindel Fields, has announced that he’s reversing a controversial policy that required every public school to have Bibles in classrooms and use them in lessons for grades 5 through 12.
The rule, issued last year by former superintendent Ryan Walters, sparked strong backlash from civil rights groups and led to a lawsuit that’s still before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Fields said his office has “no plans to distribute Bibles or a biblical character education curriculum,” adding that such choices should be left up to local school districts. The state education department also plans to ask for the related lawsuit to be dismissed.
Poll: Younger Americans Less Worried About Political Violence, Free Speech
Even after a year marked by political assassinations—including conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota—younger Americans are far less alarmed about political violence than their elders are, a new AP-NORC poll shows.
Only about 3 in 10 adults under 30 say they’re highly concerned about violence targeting conservatives or liberals, compared with roughly half of adults 60 and older.
The generational divide extends to concerns about free speech and press freedom, which about half of Americans say face “major threats.” Older adults express more alarm than younger ones, who appear more detached from partisan fear.
Partisanship runs deep: Republicans worry most about violence against conservatives, while Democrats focus on threats to liberals. Despite differing views, many Americans agree the nation’s political climate has grown increasingly hostile—and dangerously polarized.
U.S. Designates Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern,” but Threats Raise Eyebrows
In a move long urged by religious liberty advocacy groups, the Trump administration has designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for what U.S. officials describe as widespread ongoing violations of religious freedom.
Advocates say the designation is overdue, citing years of deadly attacks on Christians and Muslims by extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Fulani militias. Nigeria’s northern states, which enforce Sharia law, have also prompted international protests over their prosecution of so-called blasphemy crimes.
The U.S. announcement, however, has drawn scrutiny because of its unorthodox rollout. President Trump announced the designation on Truth Social, ahead of the State Department’s announcement. He paired the formal designation with threats to cut aid—and to launch U.S. military strikes—if Nigeria failed to protect Christians.
While faith-based organizations welcomed the CPC listing as a necessary acknowledgment of religious persecution, many observers warned that Trump’s approach could undercut the credibility of U.S. decades-long efforts to shine a spotlight on international religious freedom trouble spots. Nigerian officials have rejected claims of organized persecution, emphasizing the country’s constitutional protections for religious freedom.
Supreme Court Declines Case on Parental Rights, School Gender Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit brought by two Colorado families who said their parental rights were violated when their children attended Gender and Sexualities Alliance meetings at school without their knowledge.
The parents accused the Poudre School District of using confidentiality policies on students’ gender identity that, they argued, cut parents out of critical decisions about their children. Lower courts dismissed the case, and the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld those rulings.
While the Supreme Court declined to intervene, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said the allegations raise issues of “growing national concern” about schools withholding information from parents regarding students’ gender transitions.
The Court’s decision leaves the lower-court rulings intact, but signals that parental rights and school gender policies could soon draw closer scrutiny from the nation’s highest court.