Religion & Law

Judicial Expert: Memo Makes it Clear Elena Kagan Would Back Roe, Abortion

Posted on June 07, 2010
Life News: "Last week, a legal memo Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan authored during her time as a law clerk for pro-abortion Justice Thurgood Marshall received new attention."

OH: Chillicothe city merchants, community members want tighter rules on adult businesses

Posted on June 07, 2010
Chillicothe Gazette: "The Chillicothe Marketplace Merchants have asked Mayor Joe Sulzer and City Council to form legislation to prevent clubs with adult entertainment -- such as nude or semi-nude dancing, massage parlors, escort agencies -- from locating in the city...

Canada: ?Church reconciles with gay altar server?

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Toronto Star: "As the organ backed a spirited choir, a gay man carried the Eucharist down the aisle of a troubled church to the altar ? an altar at which he can no longer serve. It was a sign of reconciliation between a celibate but openly gay man, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough, which he had earlier taken to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal over allegations that his rights were trampled by a bishop and 12 parishioners whose actions, he said, led to his removal from his voluntary role as an altar server at St...

No Md. employees enroll same-sex spouses for health benefits

Posted on June 07, 2010
Washington Examiner: "No Maryland state employees enrolled their same-sex spouses for health benefits during the state's first enrollment period for gay couples, according to Gov. Martin O'Malley's office." | Related: MD: State employees in same-sex ?marriages? get same rights as heterosexuals

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Canada: Denying death payment to single soldiers? families discriminatory, family claims

Posted on June 07, 2010
Winnipeg Free Press: "The Canadian Human Rights Commission is examining whether Ottawa discriminates against families of single soldiers killed overseas by excluding them from a quarter-million dollar death benefit."

Specialist for NASA mission demoted, threatened with termination for sharing views on intelligent design

Posted on June 07, 2010
"An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed an amended complaint Monday in a lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory on behalf of an employee demoted, silenced, harassed, and threatened with termination for discussing his beliefs with willing co-workers about intelligent design as a scientific theory of life?s origins...

Under the U.S. Supreme Court: Kagan headed for OK Corral

Posted on June 07, 2010
UPI: "Middle-of-the-road Republicans on Capitol Hill already have been whispering sweet nothings about Kagan, the first woman U.S. solicitor general, into reporters' ears for days. For now, most of her critics seem to be playing soft ball . . . "

Clinton-era Kagan documents are released

Posted on June 04, 2010
Wall Street Journal (AP): "The William J. Clinton Presidential Library on Friday released the first batch of 160,000 pages of records from Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's service in the former president's White House."

MN: ?Same-sex marriage lawsuit could set back gay rights effort?

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Minnesota Daily: "A lawsuit seeking to end Minnesota's ban on same-sex marriage faces tough odds in court and lacks the broad support that propelled successful efforts in five other states . . . 'There are both legal and political reasons to believe that this lawsuit is a very risky roll of the dice,' said Dale Carpenter, a University of Minnesota law professor who supports same-sex marriage...

To Arab-Americans, AG vows to prosecute hate crimes

Posted on June 04, 2010
Associated Press: "Attorney General Eric Holder promised the Arab-American community on Friday that the Justice Department will vigorously prosecute hate crimes and he said an ongoing dialogue between law enforcement agencies and Arab-Americans is one of the Obama administration's top priorities...

CT: Church graduation lawsuit moving forward

Posted on June 04, 2010
Hartford Courant: "Enfield school officials voted 5-4 Thursday night against appealing a federal judge's temporary injunction . . . Vincent McCarthy, a lawyer representing the school district, says he's going to seek a jury trial and plans to fight to allow graduations at the church in the future...

D.C. police officers have threatened to arrest people praying in front of Planned Parenthood

Posted on June 04, 2010
Christian Newswire: "Several weeks ago Planned Parenthood put up a fence around that public property and police are now threatening to arrest anyone who stands inside that fence. The Christian Defense Coalition is challenging this unconstitutional crushing of prayer and free speech and has applied for a permit to hold a prayer vigil on the public sidewalk leading up to Planned Parenthood...

Rep. Tammy Baldwin and her partner Lauren Azar split

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Hill: "Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Wisconsin Public Service Commissioner Lauren Azar are ending their 15-year domestic partnership, according to a statement from Baldwin?s office."

CA: Hindu scholar to offer Visalia council prayer

Posted on June 04, 2010
Visalia Times-Delta: "Rajan Zed, an internationally renowned Hindu scholar who now claims part-time residency in Visalia, will offer a Sanskrit invocation at the Aug. 2 Visalia City Council meeting." | Related: CA: Hindu prayer to open Lincoln City Council meet

WEA fears for religious freedom in Uzbekistan

Posted on June 04, 2010
Christian Today: "The Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has expressed serious concern over the recent developments in Uzbekistan where a church was raided by police without a warrant."

Albert Mohler: Homosexuality and the military ? what?s really at stake?

Posted on June 04, 2010
"There are huge realities that frame the momentous nature of this policy change. The first is the centrality of sexual identity or orientation to human life. The second is the massive institutional and symbolic influence of the military in American life...

Canada: Anglicans aim to defuse same-sex ?marriage? issue

Posted on June 04, 2010
Vancouver Sun: "The Anglican Church of Canada has agreed to disagree when it comes to the fractious debate over gay marriage. When priests, bishops and laypersons gather Friday for nine days of debate and discussion as part of the church's tri-annual General Synod in Halifax, the approach will be much different than three years ago, Archdeacon Paul Feheley said...

Why national standards won?t fix American education

Posted on June 04, 2010
National Review Online: "Through its 'Race to the Top' program, the administration is using federal grant money to coax states into adopting the 'common core' standards developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers...

Indonesia: Christians bring their protest to the UN after their Church is closed

Posted on June 04, 2010
Spero News: "Members of the Indonesian Christian Church (aka Yasmin Church, Gereja Kristen Indonesia in Indonesian) are preparing to appeal to the United Nations against a decision by the authorities in the West Java City of Bogor to close down their church...

NY: Slow start for same-sex vows

Posted on June 04, 2010
New York Post: "Only one couple showed up at the City Clerk's Office on Worth Street downtown to take advantage of the new service, and they did it in private."

Marie Stopes opening abortion clinics in China

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Abortion provider Marie Stopes International (MSI) is facing criticism for using UK taxpayers? money to fund the opening of abortion clinics in China . . . The organisation carries out 65,000 abortions a year in Britain, most of them through NHS contracts for which it receives £30m a year, according to media reports...

UK: Disabled Peer urges ?don?t legalise assisted suicide?

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, who was born with the wasting disease spinal muscular atrophy, is calling on politicians to sign a charter declaring that disabled and terminally ill people should receive the same legal protection and support as everyone else...

Kagan files show pragmatic streak in tobacco talks

Posted on June 04, 2010
Associated Press: "As an aide to former President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan took a pragmatic approach to negotiating tobacco regulations with Republicans and worried that tough marketing restrictions might be unconstitutional, according to files handed over to Congress Friday...

ABA in midst of Kagan evaluation

Posted on June 04, 2010
The Blog of LegalTimes: "The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary is well into its in-depth investigation into the record of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, which will be presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee for its hearing later this month...

Support for confirming Kagan trails that of recent nominees

Posted on June 04, 2010
Gallup: "A USA Today/Gallup poll finds just under half of Americans, 46%, in favor of the Senate's confirming Elena Kagan's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. That level of support is generally lower than what Gallup has found when it first polled about other recent court nominations, trailing all others except Harriet Miers and Robert Bork...

May jobs report: Census inflates payrolls

Posted on June 04, 2010
CNN Money: "Employers added 431,000 jobs in the month, up from 290,000 jobs added in April. It was the biggest gain in jobs since March 2000. But Census hiring was responsible for 411,000 of May's increase in employment. Private sector employers also added 41,000 jobs in the period, well below the 218,000 private sector job gains in April...

SCOTUSblog: Parsing Kagan?s memos

Posted on June 04, 2010
SCOTUSblog Friday round-up: "Following a flurry of articles on this week?s opinions, Court commentators have turned their attention back to Elena Kagan?s upcoming confirmation hearings, parsing her records for clues to her judicial philosophy."

9th Circuit panel asks California justices if San Diego?s lease to Scouts is legal

Posted on June 04, 2010
Courthouse News Service: "The 9th Circuit has once again asked the California Supreme Court to decide if San Diego's practice of leasing public park land to the Boy Scouts of America interferes with religious and civil rights, given the Scouts' policy barring atheists, agnostics and homosexuals from joining or volunteering...

State DOJ challenges inmate hormone therapy, UW abortion training

Posted on June 04, 2010
WisPolitics: "The DOJ also is urging the Legislative Audit Bureau to look into whether state dollars are being used to fund abortion training for medical students. In April the conservative law firm Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter on behalf of Pro-Life Wisconsin to Van Hollen asking for an opinion on whether the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Authority has violated state law by funding medical residents' abortion training at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin...

Pakistan: President signs convention on civil, political rights

Posted on June 04, 2010
Associated Press of Pakistan: "President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the Instrument of Ratification for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT).This has made Pakistan join the countries that have signed and ratified all the international conventions relating to good governance, sustainable development and human rights ...

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