Coalition Urges Supreme Court to Protect Parents from Government Policies That Displace Their Authority Over the Care and Upbringing of Their Children SPRING ARBOR, Mich. — September 15, 2026 — The Wagner Faith & Freedom Center at Spring Arbor University today joined a major coalition of national organizations and leaders in filing an amicus curiae brief before the Supreme Court of the United States defending the fundamental constitutional right of parents to direct the care

A Labor Day Reflection on Work, Calling, and the Glory of God Each year on Labor Day, Americans rightly pause to honor the men and women whose work built our communities, sustained our families, strengthened our economy, and helped make this nation great. But for the Christian, Labor Day invites us to consider something deeper. We were created to work. Properly understood, work is part of God's design for human life. Work is not something to endure so that we can enjoy the we

An Analysis of the Education Freedom Tax Credit -- A significant new chapter in American education policy is about to begin. Last year, Congress enacted the nation's first federal tax-credit program supporting educational choice. As implementation approaches, the Education Freedom Tax Credit provides an important opportunity to consider what good governance requires when government acts in a sphere where the rights and responsibilities of others precede the State. Indeed, th

Reflections on Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission The American constitutional order begins with the first principle that civil government may exercise only limited power. Among the most important of those limits is that government holds no authority to define authentic religious belief or determine how citizens must express their faith. Such belong to God, and to the religious communities that seek to obey Him. Whenever the State a

The American constitutional order rests upon a profound assumption. Law possesses an objective meaning that exists independently of the preferences of judges.[1] The Constitution was not written as a collection of vague aspirations to be reshaped by each generation of political elites. Rather, it was framed as a governing charter with words intended to communicate definite meaning, preserve liberty, and structure representative government. When judges faithfully interpret tho

The State Department’s $3.8 billion commitment to U.N.-administered relief tests whether American compassion abroad remains accountable to American law, policy, and national interests. The State Department’s decision to commit $3.8 billion in American humanitarian assistance to United Nations–administered funds raises a serious question of constitutional stewardship. Who ultimately controls how the U.N. system allocates and conditions those taxpayer dollars? In a recent Herit

Why Moving Power out of Washington Must Mean More Than Rearranging the Bureaucracy DETROIT NEWS| Opinion (Hon. Wm Wagner) - Updated July 31, 2026, 9:57 p.m. ET The House Education and Workforce Committee’s Less Bureaucracy, Better Education package challenges Washington to acknowledge that federal bureaucracy is not necessary for educational excellence. Recognizing that truth does not diminish the real needs these programs address. A principled case for reform must protect st

The Department of Justice’s newly issued guidance on religious liberty, and the legal basis for it, deserves our attention. Although it lacks the drama of a Supreme Court opinion, its practical effect may prove equally significant. The Guidance directs every federal agency to interpret and administer federal law in light of nearly a decade of Supreme Court decisions reaffirming America’s first freedom. That development reflects an abiding constitutional truth. Religious liber

A Commentary on the Citizenship Clause Few constitutional questions are more fundamental than this: Who does the Constitution recognize as a member of the American political community? That question lies at the heart of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Barbara. Although much of the public discussion focused on immigration policy and border security, the Court confronted a far more lasting constitutional question. Beyond whether current immigration laws are wise

Commentary on the Executive Vesting Clause The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter may prove to be one of the most consequential separation-of-powers decisions in a generation. While many will understandably view the case through the lens of current politics, the constitutional question before the Court was far more enduring: May Congress insulate principal executive officers from presidential removal, or does Article II require that those who exercise executive po

Commentary on the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty Draft Report The Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty has released for public comment one of the most significant governmental studies of religious liberty in a generation. At a time when public debate often reduces religious freedom to a political slogan or a cultural grievance, the Commission’s draft report returns the discussion to something far more enduring, first principles. That alone deserves comme

The release of the White House report Saving America’s Story has renewed an important national conversation. Predictably, the report has generated sharply differing reactions. Some have welcomed it as a necessary corrective; others have dismissed it as an attack on the Smithsonian Institution. Both responses, however, miss the larger issue. The central question is not whether one agrees with every criticism contained in the report. Rather, it raises a far more fundamental que

By Professor Augusto Zimmermann PhD* Reason is a natural faculty of the human mind. It confers the ability to understand and to form moral judgments, thus enabling us to distinguish right from wrong, justice from injustice. As for natural law theory, it connects legal issues with timeless principles that are inherent in human nature, ‘not with the laws of any particular nation but with a universal law applicable in all nations’.[1] While it is true that a pagan or humanistic

The release of Pastor Ezra Jin from imprisonment in China is a welcome answer to prayer. After months of detention for faithfully shepherding an independent Christian congregation, he is once again free. We rightly rejoice with his family and with believers around the world who never ceased praying for his release. His story, though, reminds us of a deeper truth. Freedom is precious, but faithfulness is priceless. Throughout history, those who have proclaimed the Gospel of J

The United States and the Republic of Korea have stood shoulder to shoulder for more than seventy years. Forged in the crucible of the Korean War, the alliance rests upon far more than mutual defense. It is grounded in a shared commitment to constitutional government, individual liberty, and the rule of law. That is why the recent treatment of former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Morse Tan deserves careful attention, not only because Ambassador

Keynote Address by the Hon. William Wagner, Distinguished Professor Emeritus on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the American nation. As Americans gather to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth, we should do more than remember our history. We should recover the moral clarity that gave birth to the American experiment in ordered liberty. Two hundred fifty years ago, the signers of the Declaration of Independence made a remarkable claim. They did not a

Washington D.C. — The Wagner Faith & Freedom Center at Spring Arbor University applauds today’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the constitutionality of laws enacted by West Virginia and Idaho preserving girls’ and women’s athletic competition for biological females. In a decisive affirmation of both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, the Court held that states may reserve female athletic teams for biological women and girls in ord

The Supreme Court just answered one of the most consequential constitutional questions of our time. In upholding the laws of West Virginia and Idaho reserving girls’ and women’s athletic teams for biological females, the Court did far more than decide who may compete in school sports. It reaffirmed a foundational principle of constitutional government. The law must remain anchored to objective reality. Congress enacted Title IX in 1972 to ensure that women and girls would enj

The measure of a free society is not how it treats popular opinions. It is how it treats the conscience of those who peacefully disagree. For more than 125 years, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have quietly cared for the dying poor. They ask nothing in return. They accept no government funding, charge no fees, and seek only the freedom to carry out Christ’s command to care for “the least of these.” Yet, New York now threatens these women with fines, loss of licensure, an

The Supreme Court’s latest Second Amendment decision holding a Hawaiian gun law unconstitutional is about far more than firearms. It is about the proper role of the judiciary in our constitutional republic. Once again, the Court demonstrated an encouraging jurisprudential trend. Judges increasingly return to their constitutional duty of saying what the Constitution actually says, not what contemporary politics, shifting public opinion, or preferred policy outcomes wish it ha