Religion & Law

Law Review: Selling the Government Property Beneath a Religious Monument That Violates the Establishment Clause

Posted on May 26, 2010
Selling the Government Property Beneath a Religious Monument That Violates the Establishment Clause: A Constitutional Remedy or Infringement? Jonathan R. Slabaugh, 29 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 301 (2009) "This note will analyze whether the sale of a constitutionally infringing monument and the government property beneath it is sufficient to cure the Establishment Clause violation and whether it is permissible under the Constitution...

Two sides in vaccine safety debate converge on Chicago

Posted on May 26, 2010
Chicago Breaking News Center: "Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who recently was barred from practicing medicine in his native Great Britain, is expected to tell a 'vaccination choice' rally this afternoon that he will resume his autism research in the U.S., even though his work linking a childhood vaccine to the disorder has been widely discredited...

Atheist Turkish family wins case on compulsory religion classes

Posted on May 26, 2010
Hurriyet Daily News: "An administrative court in Istanbul has ruled that the child of an atheist couple can be exempt from compulsory religion classes at a primary school, Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday . . . Along with Christian and Jewish citizens, atheist people should have the right to be exempt from religion classes, the court said, adding that the Turkish Constitution and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms protect freedom of belief...

What?s at stake: Supreme Court weighs in on school choice

Posted on May 26, 2010
CitizenLink | Drive Thru: "The U.S. Supreme Court?s recent decision to review a case involving an Arizona school choice program could have huge ramifications nationwide. And in Arizona alone, more than 27,000 school children could be impacted by the decision ...

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NYC bus ads target Muslims ?leaving Islam?

Posted on May 26, 2010
NBC New York: "An Upper West Side conservative blogger has placed ads on at least 30 city buses which read 'Fatwa on your head? Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?' Pamela Geller, who is also affiliated with 'Stop the Islamization of America' and the movement against the planned mosque two blocks from ground zero, paid several thousand dollars for the ads, which also include the URL for a website entitled 'Refuge From Islam...

Illinois voucher bill moving again

Posted on May 26, 2010
Chicago K-12 Examiner: "Illinois House Rep. Joyce just filed yet another amendment to SB 2494, the voucher bill. Amendment 4 was sent today to the Rules Committee, which can mean just about anything,"

UK: Cancer patient forced by judge to have surgery

Posted on May 26, 2010
Telegraph: "Doctors will be allowed forcibly to sedate the 55-year-old woman in her home and take her to hospital for surgery. She could be forced to remain on a ward afterwards. The case has sparked an intense ethical and legal debate. Experts questioned whether lawyers and doctors should be able to override the wishes of patients and whether force was ever justified in providing medical care...

UK: Online record of ?religious dissenters? published for first time

Posted on May 26, 2010
Telegraph: "The database, which goes live on Wednesday, discloses those who refused to conform to the doctrine of the established Anglican Church including Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers . . . The digitised papers originally come from the London Metropolitan Archives, which is run by the City of London authority and were compiled by Ancestry...

Iran acquits two female converts of apostasy

Posted on May 26, 2010
The Gospel Herald: "Two well-known female converts in Iran were acquitted of all charges and arrived safely in another country on Saturday. Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh were cleared of apostasy, anti-state activity, and participating in illegal gatherings, reported Elam Ministries, an Iran-focused ministry that has followed the case since the beginning...

BBC TV execs see faith coverage as ?tiresome?

Posted on May 26, 2010
The Christian Institute: "BBC television is in the hands of 'secular and sceptical' executives who ignore religion, a Radio 4 presenter has said. Bosses at the Corporation?s TV channels 'view religious coverage as a rather tiresome obligation to be minimised rather than a rich and promising area to explore', Roger Bolton said...

Greg Baylor: Dear atheists and vegetarians at Penn State-Erie, oops

Posted on May 26, 2010
ADF Attorney Greg Baylor writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "Several months ago I was reviewing a policy at Penn State-Erie when I stumbled upon the 'Safe Zone' at Penn State-Behrend (the Erie campus). I finally got around to blogging about the school?s decision to extend its ?Safe Zone? coverage to atheist and vegetarian students ? something I had never seen before ...

?Sexting? by juveniles would be illegal in Ohio House bill

Posted on May 26, 2010
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Kids sending other kids naughty cell-phone pictures could become a juvenile crime with its own name--sexting -- under a bill the Ohio House passed Wednesday in an 84-12 vote. Under the legislation, minors sending other minors nude pictures of themselves through a cell phone or a computer would be classified as an 'unruly child,' meaning that juvenile authorities could get involved ...

MT: ACLU files complaint over ?proselytizing? at graduation

Posted on May 26, 2010
Great Falls Tribune: "The Montana Foundation of the American Civil Liberties Union believes an invocation and benediction that occurred during graduation ceremonies at Montana State University-Northern in Havre earlier this month were unconstitutional ...

David Cortman on the Michael Medved Show: Arizona Tuition Tax Credits

Posted on May 26, 2010
ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the Arizona tuition tax credit litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court. | MP3 22:54 mins | ADF Media Information

Rutherford argues council prayers constitutional

Posted on May 26, 2010
One News Now: "The Rutherford Institute is urging the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm legislative prayers in Forsyth County, North Carolina, as constitutional."

Nebraska?s Sen. Nelson ?compromises? again: Will back normalization of homosexual behavior in the military

Posted on May 26, 2010
AP: "Sen. Ben Nelson says he will vote to repeal the law that bans gays from serving openly in the military. The announcement raises the chances for the measure's passage."

David Cortman on the Hugh Hewitt Show: Arizona Tuition Tax Credits

Posted on May 26, 2010
ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the Arizona tuition tax credit litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court. | MP3 5:31 mins | ADF Media Information

House tells Senate no dice on NH casinos

Posted on May 26, 2010
Boston Globe: "House budget negotiators told the Senate on Wednesday they cannot agree to legalizing video slots in New Hampshire to fix a $295 million budget hole."

?Top officer talks change as gay ban vote nears?

Posted on May 26, 2010
Yahoo News: "The nation's top uniformed military officer told graduating Air Force Academy cadets they need to support a changing military as Congress nears a vote on repealing the military's ban on openly gay servicemembers."

Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against DOJ over Black Panther voter intimidation docs

Posted on May 26, 2010
Judicial Watch Press Release: "Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Justice Department to obtain documents related to the agency?s decision to dismiss the claims against several members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who were accused of engaging in voter intimidation during the 2008 presidential campaign (U...

NC: Choose Life rally draws large crowd of supporters and brings out media

Posted on May 26, 2010
North Carolina Right to Life: "Pro-lifers from across the state, as far away as Charlotte and Asheville in the west to Wilmington in the east, converged on the Legislature today for the Rally for the Choose Life License Plate . . . Dorothy Yeung, the last speaker, read a statement from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) expressing their solidarity with the efforts to get a hearing for the Choose Life Plate...

MD: Pro-life group fights disclosure law

Posted on May 26, 2010
Washington Times: "A crisis pregnancy center in Silver Spring has become the second group in Maryland to sue a Washington-area government over laws that pro-lifers say are part of a national campaign to snuff out anti-abortion speech . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, which is part of the legal team involved in the Montgomery County lawsuit, said NARAL's investigations are part of a nationwide strategy by pro-choice groups to force crisis pregnancy centers nationwide to post signs so that women intending to get abortions will not unwittingly enter...

Bringing up baby in baby-scarce Germany

Posted on May 26, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Germany reports its birthrate is at a historic low. To raise it, the country needs to make some practical changes, such as daycare that is more widely available. But it also needs to change attitudes."

Louisiana Senate Panel Oks Bill to Stop Abortion Funding in Health Care

Posted on May 26, 2010
LifeNews: "Louisiana lawmakers today moved a bill forward that would have the state become the next to opt out of at least some of the abortion funding in the health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law. Three states have turned their bills into law and three other states have passed them ...

?Don?t ask, don?t tell: How do other countries treat gay soldiers??

Posted on May 26, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Don't ask, don't tell doesn't fly with NATO members, except Turkey and the US. NATO nations now allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. But 53 nations, including North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, ban homosexuals from military service...

Feds announce bust of major child porn ring

Posted on May 26, 2010
AP: "Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they had broken up a major online international child pornography ring that operated as a hierarchy and at its peak had more than 1,000 members trading millions of sexually explicit images."

NC: Prayers reflect Christian heritage

Posted on May 26, 2010
BlueRidgeNow.com: "People who think the County Commission should say a Christian prayer before its meetings came out in force Tuesday night. They think a majority of the residents in Henderson."

Soldier investigated for taunting Iraqi children as ?future gay terrorists?

Posted on May 26, 2010
The Raw Story: "A Fort Wainwright soldier who posted a video mocking Iraqi children on Facebook is being investigated by the Army . . . The boys are also asked if they engage in homosexual acts and they appear to nod and smile."

?Federal ban on gay men?s blood donation to be reconsidered?

Posted on May 26, 2010
"Health statistics show that men who have sex with men have a higher rate of diseases including HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. Gay men who would be likely to donate have an HIV prevalence that is over 15 times higher than that of the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

Supporters: Senate panel has votes to normalize homosexual behavior in the military

Posted on May 26, 2010
AP: "The prediction came after several lawmakers on the panel signaled their support, including Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska who had been considered a holdout."

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