Just Liberty

Ep 42: Mere presidential puffery? Or constitutional crisis? with David French.

As the Trump administration redraws the boundaries of executive authority, are we merely in the midst of a constitutional "adjustment"? Or are we staring down a constitutional crisis with long term implications for civil liberties?
Guest:
David French, New York Times columnist
Show Notes:
Advisory Opinions podcast: https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/ Recent articles by David French in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-french#latest
 
 

EP 41: Quakers, ICE, and "chilled expression" with Noah Merrill.

Houses of worship are no longer off-limits for immigration enforcement as the Trump administration pursues aggressive new policies. But some faith groups are drawing First Amendment lines and asking the courts to enforce them.
 
Guest:
Noah Merrill, Secretary, New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
 
Show Notes:
The legal complaint filed by Quakers and others against the new immigration enforcement policies: https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Complaint.pdf
Background information to the case and preliminary injunction: https://www.friendsjournal.org/quakers-sue-immigration/ Website for the New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends: https://neym.org
 

40: The ABCs of faith in the classroom with Richard Foltin

Do public schools have to be faith-free zones? Or is this a misunderstanding of our Constitution's First Amendment? We delve into the dos and don'ts of religious expression at school, as well as the rationale for these guardrails.
Guest: Richard Foltin, Senior Fellow, Freedom Forum
Show Notes: "Freedom Forum's Guidelines for Religion in Public Schools: https://www.freedomforum.org/content/uploads/2025/01/religion-and-public-schools.pdf
Liberty magazine article on teaching human origins at school: https://www.libertymagazine.org/article/adam-and-eve-go-to-school
Liberty magazine article on Louisiana effort to place "In God We Trust" signs in classrooms: https://www.libertymagazine.org//article/pushing-the-boundaries
 

39: Pt. 2 When immigration policy steps on religious toes with Steve Allred and Jason Mustard

The stories keep on coming--with new federal policies in place, even immigrants with legal status are afraid to go to church or send their children to school. How can individuals navigate this new immigration enforcement landscape?

38: When immigration enforcement steps on religious toes with Steve Allred and Jason Mustard

Could immigration enforcement policy be a religious liberty issue? Under new federal enforcement policies, churches and church properties are no longer off limits for raids or other enforcement activities. How should churches respond?
 
Guests:
Steve Allred, attorney and religious liberty advocate
Jason Mustard, immigration attorney

37: A Christian case against 10 Commandment laws with Amireh Al-Haddad.

It sounds plausible. There must be some net positives from exposing school children to biblical values, right? But is this true? What are the issues that Christians should consider in the face of the growing push for so-called "10 Commandment laws"?
Guest: Amireh Al-Haddad, religious liberty advocate
Show notes:
Liberty magazine articles:
"Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods." https://www.libertymagazine.org/article/thou-shalt-have-no-other-gods
"Thou Shalt Not Lie" - https://www.libertymagazine.org/article/thou-shalt-not-lie
Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Southern Union of Seventh-day Adventists https://www.southernunion.com/ministries-services/religious-liberty/
 

36: Untangling the COVID religious liberty controversies with Jonathan Cherne

The avalanche of COVID-era vaccine exemption requests represented a "stress test" for the American legal system. What did we learn about how religious liberty is protected in America today?
 
Show Notes:
Church State Council wesbite: https://www.churchstate.org
Cherne Law P.C. website: https://www.chernelaw.com 

35: The Rise of Religious Politics 2.0. with Kevin Vallier

A little-known political philosophy seeks to fuse religious mandates with a new understanding of political power. What is Catholic integralism? And how would it revolutionize church-state relations in America?
Guest:
Dr. Kevin Vallier, author and professor, University of Toledo.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/kevinvallier1X: https://x.com/kvallier
Shownotes:
Kevin Vallier author website: https://www.kevinvallier.comBook: All The Kingdoms of The World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism. https://bit.ly/41gwP26 Liberty magazine book review of Adrian Vermeule's Common Good Constitutionalism. https://www.libertymagazine.org//article/adventures-in-christian-authoritarianism
 

34: Partisan Pulpits and Purple Churches with Stephen Cook

Since 1950s, the so-called Johnson Amendment has been a lightning rod for controversy. Is it an unconstitutional restriction on the speech rights of pastors, as a new lawsuit argues? Or a last line of defense against the politicization of America's houses of worship?
 
Guest:
Dr. Stephen Cook, Senior Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Memphis, TN
FB: https://www.facebook.com/2ndBaptistMemphis Insta: https://www.instagram.com/2ndmemphis/
 
Show Notes:
Liberty magazine article about the Johnson Amendment: Unleashing the Churches, by Michael Peabody. https://www.libertymagazine.org//article/unleashing-the-churches Background on National Broadcasters Association's lawsuit: https://bjconline.org/religious-nonprofit-targets-johnson-amendment-092724/

33: Pride, Prejudice, and Parental Rights - with Will Haun.

When deeply held religious beliefs clash with public school lesson plans, finding workable solutions can be a challenge. What happens, though, when a solution is obvious, but compromise has been taken off the table?
Guest:
William Haun, Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
X: https://x.com/BecketLaw
FB: https://www.facebook.com/becketlaw/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/becketlaw/
Show Notes:
Case details on the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty website: https://www.becketlaw.org/case/mahmoud-v-mcknight/Liberty magazine article exploring the current law around parental rights: https://www.libertymagazine.org//article/are-children-mere-creatures-of-the-state