News & Commentary

When you woke up this morning, did you check your horoscope? Ask your Magic 8 Ball a question? If you get some take out tonight, will you read your fortune cookie? You’d better be careful if you’re in Kalamazoo.

We just got word that the Senate may vote on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill before session ends today. Some legislators are getting desperate, which is why they’re expected to sneak it into a deal on an unrelated bill.

As the year comes to a close, the Michigan Legislature seems to have dutifully set itself to the task of passing as many harmful bills as possible.

We are the founders of PubPeer.com, an online forum for scientific discussion of research scholarship. We and many of the users of our website are anonymous. That anonymity is important for free speech, for academic freedom, and for scientific inquiry. But it’s being threatened, which is why we’re going to court to defend the First Amendment right to anonymity.

Regardless of whether you have been pregnant or not, chances are you can recite the long list of things to avoid in pregnancy: alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, deli meats, unpasteurized cheese, and the list go on.

Yesterday, the full House voted along party lines to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, only hours after it was reported from committee.

Four religions were represented at my family’s Thanksgiving table last week. As I looked around the dining room, I was reminded that one of the things I’m most grateful for is that the Constitution protects not only the right to believe — or to not believe — but also the right to express ideas about faith.

This week will determine whether or not gay and transgender Michiganders are protected from discrimination.

Freedom of religion is one of our fundamental rights as Americans. That’s why it’s protected in the state and federal constitutions.