Religion in schools

In just last month, the Supreme Court has heard three important religious cases, with yesterday’s argument about a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. Based on the interrogation of the judges, the side seemed that the claims of religious freedom were probably prevalent in all three.

That would extend a remarkable winning series for religion at the Supreme Court.

Since 2012, the Pro-religion side has all won all cases of the first amendment about the relationship between the government with faith. (The exception: The court rejected a challenge for the prohibition of the first Trump government on travel from various predominantly Muslim countries.)

The court has been particularly active in matters related to religious education. It stated that if the government helped private schools, this could not exclude religious. It has religious schools exempt from anti -discrimination laws. In one running case, the judges seemed ready to have parents with religious objections retreat their children during discussions about gay and transgender themes. Yesterday they probably seemed to have a Catholic organization start a charderschool in Oklahoma – so it would be the first religious school that would receive state -chartering funds.

A study from 2021 From religion statements since Chief Justice John Roberts came to court in 2005, found that the Robert court in favor of religious people and groups ruled more than 83 percent of the time compared to about 50 percent of the time for other courts since 1953. “In most of these cases, the winning-religion of the pastream was a mainsteam of the past stream Marginal organizations “, a mainstream-Christian organization, whadiethe in the past of the authors of the Study Epstein, Van Washington University in St. Louis, and Eric Posner, from the University of Chicago.

If the court rules for religious claims in all three current affairs, that figure will rise to 88 percent.

A movement

Regardless of what the Justices decide on the Oklahoma case yesterday, State money is already helping Faith Bloom in American education.

The most important vehicle is through school vouchers, which have spread in the Republican guided states.

With vouchers you can use tax money that the government would have spent to a public school-to pay for your child’s private school (or home school supplies). More than half of the states have such programs, and more than a million students use them, double the number in 2019.

The Supreme Court blessed vouchers for religious schools in a 2002 case, but its use started after the pandemic as more states embraced them broadly. In states such as Florida, where vouchers are extensive to be available to all students, some religious schools now receive almost all their financing from state dollars, said Doug Tuthill, who helps to manage Florida’s program.

States are also looking for other ways to expand religion in public schools. Oklahoma Wil Put Bibles in its classrooms. Louisiana is In a legal battle To get the ten commandments in every classroom. Texas is considering a similar step.

State laws who insist to expand religion in public schools sometimes quote the statements of the Supreme Court that my colleague Adam mentions above, such as a 2022 decision with a football coach who prayed on the 50-Yard line after the matches. “There is no such thing as ‘separation of church and state’ in our Constitution, and recent decisions of the Supreme Court by President Trump’s arranged by President Trump,” said a legislator in Texas, who suggested a bill that suggested prayer in schools.

Trump’s deportation ally

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador is full of Maga in public. He swore over President Trump. He trolls American judges who hinder Trump’s immigration content. He let Trump be deported to a prison in his country designed for terrorists. He says that he will not wrongly hand over a resident of Maryland.

But Privé was Bukele more ambiguous. My colleagues and I reported A big new story about the deportations of Salvadoran And discovered that there are limits to his willingness to organize Trump’s penal colony.

During the negotiations with the United States, Bukele told Trump’s advisers that he would have the prison sentence of “convicted criminals”, but no non-Salvadorans whose some crime was illegal in the United States. Bukele was worried about what that would look like at home. He could not convince Salvadorans that he gave their national interests priority if he turned their country into a landfill for American deportees, he explained to Trump Assistants.

This caused a problem almost immediately. The Trump government sent 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador and said they were members of Tren de Aragua, a gang. Berkele wanted to see the evidence. American officials clambed to collect evidence. They sent the Salvadorans a score card created by the Homeland Security department in which the men received points for different attributes. For example, having many tattoos was worth four points. If a deportee achieved a score of eight points or more, he was considered a gang member.

That – and a coveted trip to the Oval Office – seemed to be satisfied. The Salvadoran leader continued to accept the American deportees who the American labels ‘violent criminals’, and he still enjoys a close relationship with Trump.

Related: A judge ordered the release of Mohsen MahdawiA Green-Card holder trying to deport the Trump government because he helped to lead Pro-Palestinian activism in Columbia.

The latest news

Ukraine Minerals Deal

The United States and Ukraine agree with a deal This creates an investment fund to look for minerals in Ukraine and matters how the income would be distributed between the countries. Zelensky suggested the deal last year, hoping to improve relations with Trump.

The deal is intended to give Trump a personal interest in the fate of Ukraine and to use his worries that the US has given Ukraine a blank check to fight Russia.

The US did not immediately provide details about the agreement and it was not clear what it meant for the future of American military support for Ukraine.

The economy

The economy shried in the first three months of the year by 0.3 percent, a sharp reversal of the strong growth of the previous quarter. However, the decline may not be as bad as it sounds. It usually reflects peculiarities in the way we measure economic activity. (Ben Casselman, the most important economic correspondent of the Times, explained those peculiarities in detail.)

The data suggests that the economy would be solid if Trump’s rates did not strive for the uncertainty and scare American consumers and companies. David Sanger, a Correspondent of the White House, explained how Trump’s own policy Sit directly on his political attraction As a competent steward of the economy.

The report does not cover the period after what Trump called Liberation Day, when he announced rates that refueled stock markets and launched a trade war with China. In other words, rates can make coming reports worse. We just don’t know how much worse. – German Lopez, writer for the morning

More about Trump

• In an interview, Trump insisted that the man who had wrongly deported his administration to El Salvador had tattooed his hand on his hand. He referred to a photo -shop imageAnd the White House could not explain why.

• Late night Handled the interview.

• “I don’t regret voting for him”: The Times asked seven Americans for their thoughts about Trump’s second term. Watch the video.

International

The tactical games: It is just like CrossFit, But with weapons.

Gull Scream Championship: Bird imitators from all over Europe brought their best squawks and struts to a competition in Belgium. See a video.

Social Qs: ‘My girlfriend won’t imagine to her children or friends. Staff!”

Most clicked yesterday: A video of Maggie Haberman, a correspondent from the White House, explanation about Why Trump signs so many executive orders.

Lives lived: Julia Parsons was an American navy code breaker during the Second World War, one of the last survivors of a top secret team of women who disconnected reports from and from German U-boats. She died at 104.

SPORT

NBA: The Lakers season is over after a loss of 103-96 for the Timberwolves last night, which eliminates the flashed team of the competition after just one round.

A diver visited a fallen whale. When he returned, it was gone. So how does a carcass of 18 meters long, 2,000 pounds just disappear? Some divers have surprised that question that regularly diving into the waters of San Diego. We called experts for an answer.

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