On Friday, June 24, the United States Supreme Court ended the judicial precedent of Roe V. Wade and returned control of the abortion issue and controversy to the jurisdiction of individual State governments.
The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.
Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong and had to be overturned.
On Monday, June 27, the SC released another milepost decision concerning the rights of individuals to pray in public places.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 27, 2022 that a school district in Washington state violated First Amendment religious freedom protections when it fired high school football coach Joseph Kennedy for leading personal prayers at the 50-yard line after games.
In the case, the high court held that the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal.
The court found that the U.S. Constitution neither requires nor allows governments to suppress such religious expression.
In the immediate wake of these announced decisions the Centreville Press found an opportunity to sit down with Pastor Bo Hamilton of the Brent Baptist Church and talk briefly about the court decisions and the expected impact it will have on our local communities, congregations, and citizens.
You can view an excerpt from our interview here, along with this article. We will post the entire full length video in a subsequent post. There is also a longer article that will appear in this week’s edition of the Centreville Press with comments and reactions from officials and public figures across the State of Alabama concerning these important issues.
Get your copy of the Centreville Press on Friday, July 1, 2022.
