In a brief order, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the charity’s appeal that the denial violates the First Amendment’s religious protections.

“Put another way, it doesn’t matter if Catholic Charities gives a cup of water in Jesus’ name, because non-religious charities offer cups of water too,” the group wrote in its petition. “That absurd result deepens a split between state courts that require religious entities to conform to stereotypes to qualify for the ‘religious purposes’ exemption and those that do not.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel and has repeatedly signaled his staunch support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Huckabee, a former TV host and Baptist preacher, frequently visits Israel and once said he wanted to buy a holiday home there. He has maintained throughout the years that the West Bank belongs to Israel, and recently said “the title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs.”

His argument for a so-called “one-state solution” contradicts longstanding official U.S. support for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

He has described the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as “horrific” and " beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime” and argued that the U.S. needs to stand firmly behind Israel.

More...

Democrats sued Georgia state election officials on Monday, alleging new rules that could allow local officials to delay certification of November’s presidential results were illegal.

The lawsuit was filed in the superior court of Fulton county by local Georgia Democratic politicians, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic party of Georgia. It says the rules approved by the Republican-controlled Georgia state election board this month were intended to give individual county election officials the ability to delay or cancel the certification of votes.

The lawsuit says the new rules “introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and – if interpreted as their drafters have suggested – invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties”.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office, which oversees the board, did not respond to requests for comment.

More...