Acton Institute Powerblog

Promoting free societies characterized by liberty & religious principles

What to expect in Joe Biden’s first 100 days

Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, a president’s first 100 days have served as a benchmark for his presidency. Newly inaugurated President Joe Biden has already made history by signing an unprecedented number of executive orders on his first day and pledging a flurry of legislation which will greatly expand the size, scope, and cost of government while reversing protections for people of faith and the unborn. Continue Reading...

Americans agree with Alito: Religious liberty shouldn’t be canceled

The COVID-19 pandemic has further eroded America’s already flagging support for religious liberty, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned in a prophetic speech to the Federalist Society. Alito’s critics described his clarion call to respect our nation’s first freedom as “charged,” “unusually political,” and “unscrupulously biased, political, and even angry.” Continue Reading...

The facts on Amy Coney Barrett and banning contraception

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee spent days prodding Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett over the hypothetical possibility that the government may one day outlaw birth control. One exchange in particular encapsulated politicians’ inability to grasp the proper role of government, the law, and economic incentives. Continue Reading...

Everything you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett

Amy Coney Barrett’s record of judicial rulings and legal writings shows that she holds an originalist view of the Constitution, and it provides a glimpse into her opinions on such diverse issues as religious liberty, national healthcare, environmental regulations, the right to life, and the Second Amendment. Continue Reading...

Little Sisters, big victories

Religious liberty won two significant victories at the U.S. Supreme Court on July 8. Justices ruled in two separate, 7-2 decisions that the federal government may not interfere in religious institutions’ hiring and firing of ministers, and that the government has the right to grant the Little Sisters of the Poor a religious exemption from a federal Obamacare mandate requiring employers to furnish female employees with no-cost birth control, sterilization, and potentially abortifacient drugs. Continue Reading...

The 1619 Projection: 3 lies Pulitzer should not reward

The 1619 Project’s introductory essay, written by Nikole Hannah-Jones, won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary—and, notably, not for history or public service. That distinction is illuminating. The 1619 Project makes unfounded assertions about the role of slavery in American political and economic history, and it inverts reality to portray slave owners as the embodiment of free-market principles. Continue Reading...