Michael Berry, Esq., is Senior Counsel & Director of Military Affairs for First Liberty Institute, where he focuses on cases involving religious liberty within the armed forces.

He joined First Liberty Institute in 2013 after serving for seven years as an attorney with the U.S. Marine Corps. From 2009 until 2013, Berry served as an appellate litigator, arguing numerous cases before various federal appeals courts. In 2008, Berry was selected for a high-profile combat deployment to Afghanistan with a Marine Corps infantry battalion. From 2009 – 2012, Berry served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the United States Naval Academy.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- First Liberty Institute on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Rowan County, North Carolina to review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Rowan County v. Lund prohibiting Rowan County's commissioners from opening their meetings with prayer. The federal courts of appeal are split over whether prayers offered by legislators at local government meetings are unconstitutional.

"Opening government meetings with prayer is a centuries-old tradition that goes back to before the founding of our nation and continues to this day before Congress, statehouses, and thousands of local governments across the country," said Ken Klukowski, Senior Counsel and Director of Strategic Affairs for First Liberty. "The 'circuit split' on this issue is creating confusion among government officials across the United States that can only be resolved by a clear and definitive decision by the Supreme Court."

This may seem like an abstruse parliamentary maneuver -- and it is -- but Mitch McConnell just escalated the judicial wars in a minor but meaningful way. If frustrated conservatives want the GOP Senate majority to "start acting like one," McConnell's decision eliminates a lever Democrats have been using to stymie some of President Trump's judicial picks. In that sense, he's very much acting like a majority leader; a Democratic one. Try not to let your eyes glaze over as you read the details of this move, which involves dramatically reducing the power of so-called "blue slips" on judges, with which Senators from the home state of a presidential selection have been able to withhold their consent in order to prevent that nomination from moving forward.

The Boy Scouts of America will now allow girls to join their well-known Cub Scout program, which will enable them to advance to the highest rank of Eagle Scout, according to a statement released Wednesday.

The organization’s board of directors voted unanimously to make the historic change to the group that has been for boys since its founding over 100 years ago.

There’s not an American who doesn’t decry the shocking Las Vegas murders. But we, as a nation, turn our backs on the torture of unborn babies.

In recent days, the House of Representatives voted to curtail late-term abortions by passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This law makes it a crime to perform most abortions after the 20-week mark in a pregnancy. Abortionists violating this law could face five years in prison.

The House has passed Pain-Capable acts before, always under the threat of a presidential veto. The bill now awaits action in the Senate, having been introduced by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. The president is ready and willing to sign it.

President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order Thursday to initiate the unwinding of the Affordable Care Act, paving the way for sweeping changes to health-insurance regulations by instructing agencies to allow the ...