With decisions from the Supreme Court, a new travel ban, and a federally militarized presence in Los Angeles, there are many activities in our world that deserve attention. Amanda and Holly discuss several current events in this episode, including the revival of one of the ugliest policies of the first Trump administration. Plus, they review the unanimous decision in a Supreme Court case about religious exemptions to employment law and discuss the Court’s decision not to hear a case involving the protection of sacred land. 

 

SHOW NOTES

Segment 1 (starting at 00:37): Recent and still-developing news

Holly and Amanda discussed changes in policy about sensitive locations in S6, Episode 10.

We discussed the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in a special episode released April 21 with Melissa Rogers. 

We discussed the harmful school voucher provision in the “big beautiful bill” during their live episode, released May 27. Hear the episode at this link or in your podcast feed, or watch it on YouTube.

Join BJC for a webinar on the problems with the budget reconciliation bill on Monday, June 16, at 2:30 p.m. Click here to register for the event, which is hosted by BJC, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, and Bread for the World.

Read more about the fallout from Rep. Mary Miller referring to a Sikh prayer leader as a “Muslim” and erroneously claiming our country was founded as a “Christian nation” in this article by Andrew Solender for Axios: Rep. Mary Miller faces bipartisan fury over “ignorant” Sikh comment

In memory of Dr. Walter Brueggemann, listen to his 2019 conversation with Amanda on our podcast series exploring the dangers of Christian nationalism: Theological view of Christian nationalism with Walter Brueggemann

 

Segment 2 (starting at 13:17): The new travel ban

After President Trump issued his new travel ban on June 4, Amanda released a statement you can read on BJC’s website: BJC condemns new travel ban as ‘state-sanctioned discrimination’

Visit BJC’s website to read more about the case of Trump v. Hawaii and the history of the travel ban.

Support the NO BAN Act: Click here to use BJC’s form to contact your members of Congress about the legislation.

 

Segment 3 (starting 20:09): The decision in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission

Supreme Court decisions we are waiting for include:

• Mahmoud v. Taylor (Hear a discussion of oral arguments in S6, Ep. 15)
• U.S. v. Skrmetti (Hear a discussion of oral arguments in S6, Ep. 06)

The case Apache Stronghold v. U.S. involves the sacred land of Chí’chil Biłdagoteel — loosely translated in English as “Oak Flat.” Read more about the denial of cert on BJC’s website: U.S. Supreme Court declines Oak Flat petition, allows for federal transfer of sacred land to mining company. Amanda and Holly talked about this issue on a podcast back in 2022: S3, Ep. 17: Religious freedom and our Indigenous neighbors: Save Oak Flat.

Amanda and Holly talked about the oral arguments in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin in Ep. 12: Back to SCOTUS: Regular business in disturbing times

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