Catholic Connection – September 13, 2023

Segment 2 & 3 – Appeals court says Catholic group can install Stations of the Cross ‘prayer trail’
“A Stations of the Cross display on privately owned wooded land seems an unlikely subject for a federal case. Yet, just such a case has come out of Genoa Township in Livingston County in southeastern Michigan, escalating from a local government dispute over a special-use permit all the way to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati.”  Attorney Robert Muise joins us in-studio today to explain the situation.  Read more here.

Robert Muise
Attorney, American Freedom Law Center

Robert J. Muise, a former Marine infantry officer, is an expert in constitutional law. Since 2000, his law practice has been dedicated to defending religious liberties, the freedom of speech, and the right to life in state and federal trial and appellate courts all across the country. Mr. Muise has been involved in numerous cases defending American freedoms against the growing threats. 

Segment 4 – Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide if serving the poor is religious
“A Catholic ministry will be in the Wisconsin Supreme Court next week to explain that its care for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled are part of its religious mission. In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industrial Review Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed earlier this year to review a lower court decision finding that Catholic Charities Bureau’s charitable activities were not religious. This decision meant that Catholic Charities Bureau was barred from leaving the state’s unemployment compensation program and joining the Wisconsin Catholic Church’s more efficient unemployment program.”

Nick Reaves joined Becket in 2018. Since then, his practice has focused on First Amendment appellate litigation. Nick has worked on precedent-setting religious liberty cases nationwide and has argued in federal trial and appellate courts across the country.