A majority of Americans say courts should interpret the U.S. Constitution according to what it “means in current times” not as “originally written,” according a new Pew Research Center survey. This year’s survey results mark the first time a majority of respondents (55 percent) advocate that position and reveal a deep, and growing, generational and political divide over the idea of timeless truth.

A new student organization stepping into the college campus free speech fight wasted no time firing its first salvo by suing the University of Michigan over its speech code. In a lawsuit filed May 8, Speech First alleges the University of Michigan’s “vaguely worded” speech code protects hearers’ sensibilities at the expense of speakers’ constitutional right to free speech.

The California state legislature’s latest effort to outlaw Biblical views on sex, marriage, and gender identity appears to have claimed its first casualty. Citing concerns over possible legal repercussions from a pending bill, Colorado-based Summit Ministries has canceled a summer conference at Biola University in the Los Angeles area.

“The vagueness of the bill has opened up threats to religious communities that the author did not intend,” Biola communications director Brenda Velasco told me.

Three state legislatures face looming deadlines for bills that would provide legal protection for religious foster and adoption care agencies in their respective states. But the bills have weathered virulent opposition from LGBT lobby groups, and supporters fear lawmakers will buckle under accusations of “discrimination,” leaving agencies exposed to legal challenges that could put them out of business.

A unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled last week that churches should not have access to county historic preservation grants.

Attorneys for a dozen New Jersey churches, all previous grant recipients, are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oklahoma state lawmakers last week crippled a bill providing legal protection for religious adoption and foster care agencies that do not place children with same-sex couples. State Rep. Travis Dunlap, a Republican who co-authored the bill, hopes to scrub the unexpected changes before sending the measure to Gov. Mary Fallin, also a Republican. If Dunlap fails, the state likely will lose Christian agencies and churches that have played an integral role in reforming the state’s troubled foster care system.

High school junior Brandon Gillespie learned Friday that administrators at his school would not accommodate a pro-life student walkout the same way they did an anti–gun violence demonstration last month.