Religion & Law

Florida Passes Law to Protect First Amendment Rights in Public Schools

Posted on June 07, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "Responding to the gross violation of free speech brought about by the ACLU in the Santa Rosa County School District (District), the Florida legislature passed a law that requires school districts to obtain the consent of staff and students before entering into any agreement that infringes upon or waives their First Amendment rights...

U.S.?s $13 Trillion Debt Poised to Overtake GDP: Chart of Day

Posted on June 07, 2010
Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama is poised to increase the U.S. debt to a level that exceeds the value of the nation?s annual economic output, a step toward what Bill Gross called a 'debt super cycle.''

Malaysia: Non-Muslim woman lawyer challenges religious council decision

Posted on June 07, 2010
Bernama: "A non-Muslim woman lawyer who obtained leave in her preliminary legal bid to be a syarie lawyer, has filed a judicial review application to challenge a decision that only Muslim lawyers are allowed to practise at the Syariah Court in Federal Territory...

Alan E. Sears: Why is the old rugged cross so ragged on?

Posted on June 07, 2010
ADF President and CEO Alan E. Sears writing at the Christian Post:  "Which brings us back to that curious thing about those who would cut down crosses, cover them in boxes, and sue to have them removed from even the remotest of public places. They don?t really take exception to religious expression, so much as real offense at what a cross represents...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Russia: New national holiday irks non-Orthodox faiths

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Moscow Times: "Russia will celebrate a new holiday next month under a decision backed by the Kremlin and Russian Orthodox Church that is stirring up decidedly unholy feelings among non-Orthodox Russians. Christianization of Rus Day on July 28 won't be counted as a day off work, but it will be recognized on calendars as the country's ninth so-called 'memorial holiday,' which also includes Cosmonauts Day on April 12 and Constitution Day on Dec...

Islamic finance in Russia

Posted on June 07, 2010
Russia Muftis Council in the Moscow Times: "Islamic finance seems to be starting to be implemented in Russia, although by very careful steps. The potential size of the market has received various estimates, from a modest 10 percent of the practicing Muslims to the whole ethnic Muslim population of more than 30 million, or even more...

Canada: Guelph councillors ready to approve Sikh temple

Posted on June 07, 2010
Guelph Mercury: "Guelph mayor Karen Farbridge and all 12 city councillors were polled over the weekend in an effort to forecast the outcome of tonight?s vote on an application for a zoning bylaw amendment for 410 Clair Road East, the proposed site of a Sikh temple that would not exceed 1,972 square metres of gross floor area...

Australia: Catholics want both ethics, religious classes

Posted on June 07, 2010
Brisbane Times: "The Catholic Church has joined the chorus of religious voices opposing the trial of ethics classes in schools. It has organised a petition arguing that the classes should not be held 'in competition' with scripture because it means religious children miss out on ethics...

TN: Supreme Court considers changes to lawyer rules

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Daily News: "Tennessee's Supreme Court is reviewing proposed changes to the rules that govern the state's lawyers . . . Chattanooga lawyer Scott Newton Brown argued in favor of a new rule allowing a lawyer to avoid representing someone if the attorney's religious views clash with the client's...

Conn. school board to revote on church graduation

Posted on June 07, 2010
Hartford Courant: "The Enfield Board of Education has scheduled a second vote on whether to appeal a federal judge's ruling that blocked the town from holding its two high schools graduations this year at a Bloomfield megachurch."

Don?t change ?don?t ask, don?t tell? chaplains say

Posted on June 07, 2010
Church of England Newspaper (via Conger): "President Barack Obama?s call for the US military to end its ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces will decimate the ranks of the chaplain corps, 42 retired senior Army, Navy and Air Force chaplains declared last week in an open letter to the president...

Study: 1/3 of kids have viewed porn by the time they?re 10

Posted on June 07, 2010
NY Daily News: "One third of children age 10 and younger have access to online porn, and more than 8 in 10 teens regularly view hardcore pictures on their home computers, according to a British survey reported in the Daily Mail . . . 'There is compelling evidence that pornography has negative effects on individuals and communities," sociologist Michael Flood, who spoke with hundreds of young people for the survey, told Psychologies magazine...

The Judicial-Confirmation War Moves Up to Rhode Island

Posted on June 07, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "The dustup concerns a nominee named Jack McConnell (pictured), a plaintiffs? lawyer at Motley Rice up in Rhode Island. Earlier this spring, President Obama nominated McConnell to a seat on the federal bench for the District of Rhode Island...

CA: Some in audience pray aloud as Exeter High School District graduates observe moment of silence

Posted on June 07, 2010
Visalia Times-Delta: "The Exeter Union High School District approved a moment of silence instead of a prayer during Friday's 2010 graduation, but that didn't stop many in the audience from praying out loud."

Utah: SUU?s Mormon-themed ad campaign raises questions

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Salt Lake Tribune: "Southern Utah University's recent ad campaign frames its Cedar City campus as a place that supports Mormon cultural values, raising questions about whether a public school should play on faith to recruit students."

IL: Graduations in churches make some groups uneasy

Posted on June 07, 2010
Chicago Tribune: "Barrington High School senior Daniel Santoro can?t wait to strut across the stage of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois to accept his diploma. But the fact that he?ll be marching where pastors normally preach on Sundays irks some advocates for the separation of church and state...

Pennsylvania 13 year old aborts baby with pencil, 30 year old boyfriend buries the baby

Posted on June 07, 2010
LifeNews: "Bryan Kemper, the head of Stand True, a pro-life group reaching out to youth and young adults, informed LifeNews.com of the incident and commented on it. He said it would not have ever made the news had the girl used an abortion drug and aborted the baby at home instead of engaging in a self-induced abortion ...

South Africa: ?Dumped baby still had umbilical cord ? police?

Posted on June 07, 2010
Cape Argus: "A domestic worker was arrested for dumping her newborn baby in a rubbish bin in Umhlanga on Monday morning, Durban Metro police said."

Every Google search to be logged and saved for two years under new Euro MP plan

Posted on June 07, 2010
Daily Mail: "Every Google web search could be stored for up to two years under a controversial new EU plan that has the backing of more than 300 Euro-MEPs. 'Written Declaration 29' is intended to be used as an early warning system to stop paedophiles by logging what they look for using search engines...

Crist receives abortion ultrasound bill

Posted on June 07, 2010
"Crist has 15 days -- until June 22 -- to take action on the bill . . . "

Russia announces 1.5% rise in birth rate, Medvedev praises large families

Posted on June 07, 2010
The News: "Russia may have bucked a post-Soviet population decline, President Dmitry Medvedev saidon Wednesday after announcing a 1.5 percent rise in the number of births during the first quarter . . . 'I hope that we have managed to break those extremely unfavourable demographic trends which have existed in ourcountry over the past two decades,' Medvedev told a Kremlin meeting to reward the parents of extremely large families...

Peter Singer: ?Should this be the last generation??

Posted on June 07, 2010
Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, writing at the NYT's Opinionator blog: "Have you ever thought about whether to have a child? If so, what factors entered into your decision? Was it whether having children would be good for you, your partner and others close to the possible child, such as children you may already have, or perhaps your parents? For most people contemplating reproduction, those are the dominant questions...

?Hospitals nationwide poised to add LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies?

Posted on June 07, 2010
Human Rights Campaign: "Kaiser Permanente ? one of the nation's largest not-for-profit health providers ? updated its Patients' Bill of Rights to fully protect LGBT patients and their families from discrimination. These changes, which took effect in Kaiser Permanente's network of 36 hospitals today, make Kaiser Permanente the first large health network to have a fully inclusive non-discrimination policy for LGBT people...

?Kids of lesbians have fewer behavioral problems, study suggests?

Posted on June 07, 2010
CNN: "A nearly 25-year study concluded that children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, followed 78 lesbian couples who conceived through sperm donations and assessed their children's well-being through a series of questionnaires and interviews...

?Portugal lesbian couple in nation?s first gay marriage?

Posted on June 07, 2010
BBC: "Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, both divorced mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married at a Lisbon registry office."

Connecticut court rejects physicians demands to assist ?suicide?

Posted on June 07, 2010
Blick v. Office of the Div. of Criminal Justice, No. CV-09-5033392 (Conn. Super. Ct, June 1, 2010) Excerpts: This is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief by two connecticut physicians who ask this court to allow them to engage in physician-assisted suicide...

Kagan Nomination Not Stopping Other Nominees

Posted on June 07, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "The U.S. Senate is set to vote late Monday on the confirmation of three nominees for federal district court ? the chamber's first order of business after a week-long recess."

Obama Administration to Spend $125M to Defend Pro-Abortion Health Care Law

Posted on June 07, 2010
LifeNews: "The Obama administration is unveiling a new $125 million publicity campaign over the next five years to promote the pro-abortion health care law . . . "

Famed Blind Singer Andrea Boccelli Reveals, He Was Almost Aborted

Posted on June 07, 2010
What would the world have been like without Andrea Bocelli, Italian pop, opera, and classical singer?

Sister Keehan Off Prestigious Hospital Board over Obamacare Fallout

Posted on June 07, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Sister Carol Keehan, President of the US Catholic Health Association, has been pressured off the prestigious Holy Family Hospital Foundation board over her support for the federal health care bill. Sr. Keehan, in opposition to the United States bishops, was a key supporter of the abortion-expanding bill - so much so that she was given one of the 21 ceremonial pens President Obama used to sign the measure into law...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.