Religion & Law

High Court Nominee Kagan May Get Support From Republicans

Posted on June 01, 2010
Bloomberg: "Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Lugar of Indiana are among the Republicans praising her."

Pittsburgh may have to pay attorney fees after losing abortion buffer zone case

Posted on June 01, 2010
LifeNews: "The city of Pittsburgh may have to pay attorneys fees after it lost a case regarding the buffer zone law that has been the subject of lawsuits by pro-life advocates . . . Alliance Defense Fund attorneys challenged the local law as unconstitutional for prohibiting speech and helped represent a pro-life nurse who took on the ordinance, which prohibited her from counseling and speaking with women...

New developments against ACLU to save veterans memorials

Posted on June 01, 2010
Rees Lloyd: "[Joseph Infranco, Sr.] Attorney of the Alliance Defense Fund which is representing The American Legion Department of California as friend of the court, said: 'The Supreme Court gave clear guidance in the Mojave memorial case that honoring veterans and acknowledging our nation?s religious heritage is not an establishment of religion...

ACLU?s case against AZ program weak

Posted on June 01, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The Supreme Court will consider ending a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that challenges Arizona's tuition tax program . . . 'Their entire argument is just because religious schools are included among the schools that receive this private money ...

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Kagan?s early influences demanding, activist

Posted on June 01, 2010
AP: "Bio looks like this: raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Manhattan. Two brothers. Mother taught school. Dad was a lawyer. Look closer, and you'll find a family tree richly populated with individuals of great determination, intelligence and activism...

Court Dismisses Action Against Diocese For Negligent Hiring and Supervision of Priest

Posted on June 01, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: In Redwing v. Catholic Bishop for Diocese of Memphis, (TN App., May 27, 2010), the Tennessee Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, dismissed a damage action against the Catholic Diocese of Memphis alleging that it was liable in damages for negligent hiring, retention and supervision of a priest who allegedly sexually abused plaintiff as a child over 30 years ago...

Maldivian Shocks Audience By Annnouncing He Is Not Muslim; Some Call For Death Sentence

Posted on June 01, 2010
Religion Clause Blog:  "The Maldives Constitution, Sec. 9, limits citizenship to Muslims. Minivan News reported yesterday that 37-year old Mohamed Nazim shocked an audience during a question and answer period at a lecture Friday on "Misconceptions About Islam" delivered by a visiting Indian scholar ...

Arizona tax-tuition program goes to Supreme Court

Posted on June 01, 2010
Albany Times Union: "The Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund will defend Arizona's tax-tuition program. ADF attorneys said the program 'is constitutional because it involves individual, private choices and funding, not government action or money...

Portugal?s same-sex ?marriage? law takes effect next week

Posted on June 01, 2010
On Top Mag ("gay advocacy website"): "Portugal's gay marriage law takes effect next week, Portugal Diario reported. Beginning June 7, marriage in Portugal will be defined as a 'contract between two people wishing to form families through the full communion of life...

?South Florida city will define family with gay rights in mind?

Posted on June 01, 2010
Palm Beach Post: "At a recent meeting, [Commissioner Suzanne Boisvenue] instructed city staffers to change the legal definition of family in the zoning law. She said she wants the three-person restriction removed, and language added to ensure that 'family' includes domestic partners, regardless of gender, as well as foster children and all legal guardians...

?UN urges anti-gay law reform in Africa?

Posted on June 01, 2010
AFP: "UN chief Ban Ki-moon persuaded Malawi's president to pardon a gay couple jailed for holding a wedding, but his call to reform anti-gay laws poses a challenge to most of Africa."

Argentine Senate begins marriage debate

Posted on June 01, 2010
Buenos Aires Herald: "The Senate has begun debating a bill for a law that would legalize gay marriage. The bill is looking to modify the National Civil Code and change the definition of marriage from being between a man and a woman to being between two 'contractors...

?As gay marriage heads back to court, political proponents are split?

Posted on June 01, 2010
SF Public Press: "Two nonprofit groups ? Restore Equality 2010 and Love Honor Cherish ? attempted to get the matter back on the ballot this November. But for a number of reasons, they failed to get enough valid signatures by the April deadline . . . 'It?s not surprising, given that the people of California, just a little more than a year and a half ago, enacted a constitutional amendment defending marriage as a union of one man and one woman,' [ADF Attorney Jim Campbell] said...

A list of Okla. abortion laws passed in 2010

Posted on June 01, 2010
AP: "Following is a list of abortion-related measures passed by the Legislature during the 2010 session and their current status . . . "

Albania?s Muslim community sues journalist who called for ban on Islam

Posted on June 01, 2010
Metro News: "The main group representing Albania's Muslim majority population says it is suing a journalist who suggesting the government should ban their faith."

UK Communities Secretary: Freedom to pray at council meetings should continue

Posted on June 01, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Councils should continue to have the freedom to hold prayers at meetings, the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has said. His comments come as a secular group attempts to use the courts to block a council from continuing its centuries-old tradition of praying before meetings...

CA: Ontario council eyes ?In God we trust? for seal

Posted on June 01, 2010
The Sun: "Councilman Alan Wapner wants to bring God back into city government. Inspired by the e-mailed words of a Bakersfield-based nonprofit, he is asking City Council members to consider adding the words 'In God We Trust' to the bottom of the city seal ...

Magistrate upholds steel-wheel ban in Iowa

Posted on June 01, 2010
Gaylord Herald Times: "A Mitchell County magistrate has upheld the constitutionality of an ordinance that bans vehicles with steel wheels from the county?s hard-surfaced roads . . . The county says the wheels damage the roads, but Old Order Mennonite farmers say the use of conventional wheels would violate church rules...

Women in Italy to be offered ?4,500 to not have abortions

Posted on June 01, 2010
Times Online: "In a policy welcomed by anti-abortion campaigners but dismissed by critics as propaganda, women in northern Italy who cannot afford to have their babies are to be offered ?4,500 (£3,700) not to have an abortion. Roberto Formigoni, the centre-right governor of the Lombardy region, said that the offer was to fulfil his pledge in regional elections in March that no woman should have to have an abortion because of economic difficulties ...

Singapore: Tighter reins or separate rules for religious charities?

Posted on June 01, 2010
Today: "Two years ago, some churches raised a debate on whether religious charities should be regulated separately from other charities. While their wishes were denied then - and churches and temples continue to be regulated under the Commissioner of Charities office today - the latest investigations into alleged misuse of funds at City Harvest Church has put the spotlight back on how the religious charities sector should be regulated...

Liberty Counsel Files Injunction Against Santa Rosa Schools Over Religious Expression

Posted on June 01, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "Liberty Counsel filed a Complaint against the District last month on behalf of 22 individuals representing students, faculty and staff, and members of the community, whose constitutional rights to free speech are being violated by a Consent Decree drafted by the ACLU, agreed to by the District, and entered by a federal court ...

Christians Wary of Human Trafficking ahead of World Cup

Posted on June 01, 2010
Wesley W.J. Richards writes at Christian Post: "It has been estimated that between 40,000 to 100,000 people may be trafficked during the World Cup. In January, Time magazine reported on a three-week investigation into human trafficking. Finding a lucrative trade in child sex near two stadiums, one trafficker said, 'I?m really looking forward to doing more business during the World Cup...

?McDonald?s targets gay customers with ?come as you are? ad on French TV?

Posted on June 01, 2010
New York Daily News: "The fast-food giant McDonald's wants to be seen as a company that welcomes everyone. Judging by a new advertisement running on French television, that includes gays."

Opposition to abortion on the rise in Mexico, writes journalist

Posted on June 01, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Mexican journalist Enrique Sanchez published an article in the magazine, Impacto, this week pointing out that a recent forum in Baja California demonstrates that the pro-life movement in Mexico is growing."

Afghanistan suspends Christian aid groups

Posted on June 01, 2010
Christian Today: "Afghanistan suspended two church-based aid groups on Monday over allegations that the organizations are proselytising in the Islamic country. Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid cannot operate while authorities investigate the claim...

Hong Kong?s Protestant churches blooming

Posted on June 01, 2010
Christian Today: "Protestant churches in Hong Kong are blooming with an annual growth rate 6.2% over the last five years and the number of Protestants in the former British colony drawing close to 300,000."

Iraq?s Supreme Court approves Christian seats in Parliament

Posted on June 01, 2010
International Christian Concern: "International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Iraq's Federal Supreme Court approved the results of the March 7th election, including five Christian seats in the Iraqi parliament."

HRC: Celebrating Sen. Ben Nelson?s DADT Repeal Vote

Posted on June 01, 2010
HRC Back Story Blog: "The past two weeks in Nebraska have been nothing short of amazing. Dozens of dedicated Nebraskan volunteers stepped up their energy to mobilize our supporters and supplement our veterans? lobbying to repeal DADT. After nearly three months of intense efforts on the ground in Nebraska, we succeeded in earning Senator Ben Nelson?s decisive vote on the Senate Armed Services Committee to clear the way to repeal ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? this year! ...

Ross Douthat: The birds and the bees (via the fertility clinic)

Posted on June 01, 2010
Ross Douthat writing in the New York Times: "About a million American adults, if not more, are the biological children of sperm donors. Not surprisingly, these Americans have a complicated relationship to the reproductive marketplace that made their existence possible...

Montana Personhood Amendment backers trying again for ballot vote

Posted on June 01, 2010
LifeNews: "Supporters of a personhood amendment are trying a second time to get a measure to define unborn children as people starting at conception on the ballot in Montana. Should they obtain a November vote and Montana residents support it, the measure would challenge legal abortions and head for an immediate court battle...

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