Religion & Law

Mass. AG argues against federal DOMA

Posted on May 26, 2010
Boston Herald: "Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is asking a judge to strike down a federal ban on gay marriage because it interferes with state?s rights to define marriage . . ."

Homosexuals In Military Three Times More Likely to Commit Sexual Assault Than Heterosexuals

Posted on May 26, 2010
. . . homosexuals in the military are about three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are, relative to their numbers . . .

FedEx to offer domestic partner benefits

Posted on May 25, 2010
Out & About (providing overage of the GLBT community for all of Tennessee): "More than 200,000 employees at FedEx will be able to obtain same-sex domestic partner benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2012. While the company has yet to hammer out many of the details, it has announced the expansion of its benefits program nonetheless...

MA: ?Demonstrators urge passage of transgender rights legislation?

Posted on May 25, 2010
Boston Globe: "About 100 people gathered in front of the State House yesterday to hear speakers like Ferraro call for the Legislature to pass a bill protecting transgender rights that has been stuck in committee."

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Living in a Porn Culture

Posted on May 25, 2010
The question I pose in Pornland is, what does it mean to grow up in a society where the average age of first viewing porn is 11 for boys, and where girls are being inundated with images of themselves as wannabe porn stars? How does a boy develop his sexual identity when porn is often his first introduction into sex? What does it mean for a girl or young woman to see herself as a desired object rather than a desiring subject? What do heterosexual relationships look like when sexual identity is constructed within this porn culture? ...

Texas: Study the Constitution ? what a concept?

Posted on May 25, 2010
One News Now: "As to the Democrats' criticism of the new standards, Jonathan Saenz, director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute, remarks that 'it takes a true liberal extremist to oppose students reading the Constitution.'"

Public Opinion, Anti-Discrimination Law, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Posted on May 25, 2010
Illya Somin writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: Some, like George Will in his recent criticism of Rand Paul, argue that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an exception to this, and that it actually changed white public opinion, rather than followed it . . ...

New York?s Highest Court Recognizes A Lesbian Co-Parent?s Rights, But Affirms an Unpopular Precedent: Part Two in a Two-Part Series

Posted on May 25, 2010
Joanna Grossman writes at Findlaw: In a recent ruling, Debra H. v. Janice R., the New York Court of Appeals ? the state’s highest court ? granted “legal parent” status to a woman, Debra H., whose same-sex partner gave birth to a child during their relationship...

Jordan Lorence: 2010 Commencement speakers overwhelmingly liberal

Posted on May 25, 2010
ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "The Young America?s Foundation has published an interesting study on the 2010 commencement speakers at the top 100 universities in America, according to the report issued by U...

?Public charter schools culturally divisive, academically dubious?

Posted on May 25, 2010
Washington Post | On Faith | Spirited Atheist: "The [Nampa Classical Academy] ruling underscores (though this was not its intent) the threat to nonsectarian democratic education posed by taxpayer-financed charter schools that are, in many instances, a cover for pushing private religious and cultural agendas with public money ...

A brief history of politics from the pulpit

Posted on May 25, 2010
"Seeing this issue in the light of the U.S. Constitution and history, it is no wonder the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) launched it?s 'Pulpit Initiative' two years ago to challenge the unconstitutional 1954 tax amendment and restore pastoral freedom to America?s churches ...

U.S. Supreme Court to weigh Arizona?s tax credit law

Posted on May 25, 2010
The Arizona Republic: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the constitutionality of an Arizona program that diverts state tax revenue into private-school scholarships . . . Supporters of the tuition tax-credit program say the tax money does not go directly to private and religious schools...

Gates will support proposed immediate normalization of homosexual behavior in military

Posted on May 25, 2010
One News Now: "Gates will back the measure because Congress has left it up to him when to implement the changes. The proposal was considered a compromise with some Democrats, who want an immediate repeal of the law."

Defiant Judge Takes On Child Pornography Law

Posted on May 25, 2010
"Yet across the country, an increasing number of federal judges have come to their defense, criticizing changes to sentencing laws that have effectively quadrupled their average prison term over the last decade."

?Does Elena Kagan want to ban books? No, and she might even be a free-speech zealot.?

Posted on May 25, 2010
Richard L. Hasen writes at Slate: "Her own academic writings show she is deeply concerned about incumbents passing laws to protect themselves from competition, and she could well end up agreeing with Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas that limits on campaign spending by corporations are unconstitutional...

Supreme Court to decide tuition appeal

Posted on May 25, 2010
Yuma Sun: "The nation's high court will decide whether Arizonans can divert money they owe the state to help students attend private and parochial schools . . . Supporters of the tuition tax-credit program say the tax money does not go directly to private and religious schools...

College backs down from excluding graduation prayer

Posted on May 25, 2010
Arizona Republic | LiveWire blog: "Mohave Community College officials have backed down from removing prayer from a graduation ceremony after students complained about changing the long-standing tradition . . . Mohave college officials changed their minds and reinstated prayers back in the May 12 ceremony...

High Court to Weigh Arizona Tuition Tax Credits

Posted on May 25, 2010
School Law Blog: "The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to weigh the constitutionality of a 13-year-old Arizona program offering tax credits for donations made to organizations that provide scholarships for children to attend private schools . . . "

Kagan?s Harvard report cards

Posted on May 25, 2010
How Appealing links to a couple of reports on Kagan including this link to her report card at the NY Times.

Kagan campaign for Supreme Court: Both sides step it up

Posted on May 25, 2010
USA Today: "Meanwhile, an anti-abortion group, Americans United for Life, is calling Kagan's record on abortion "problematic." The group contends it has found evidence that leads it to believe she would issue "decisions like Roe v. Wade," the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide ...

Congress Presses Ahead With Vote to Repeal ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell?

Posted on May 25, 2010
Fox News: "In a breakthrough in the effort to overhaul the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, Congress is set to vote as early as this week on a proposal to repeal the rule barring gays from serving openly in the military."

President Obama and Congressional Democratic Leadership Drafts the Military Into Doing Its Political Bidding

Posted on May 25, 2010
FRC: "Tonight, President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a back room deal that disregards the views of our troops and uses the military to advance the political agenda of a radical special interest group."

GOP Dilemma: Fight Kagan, or Go Along?

Posted on May 25, 2010
"But the bigger problem conservatives see is that the pro-Kagan statements put Republicans at a disadvantage before the confirmation even begins."

ACLJ: Defending Student Suspended for Wearing Rosary

Posted on May 25, 2010
ACLJ: "I want you to know about a critically important case that we have just taken in New York State. It involves a 7th grade student who was suspended by school officials for wearing a Rosary to school.  We represent Chantell Hosier, and her 13-year-old son, Raymond, who attends Oneida Middle School in Schenectady...

Slouching Towards Irrelevance: The White House love affair with European socialism

Posted on May 25, 2010
The Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog: "Earlier this month while in Brussels, Vice President Joe Biden told the European Parliament that while ?some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, DC as the ?capital of the free world? ? it seems to me that this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title...

Gov?t asks Supreme Court to keep ?soft money? ban

Posted on May 25, 2010
AP: "The Obama administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to let stand a ban keeping political parties from raising unlimited campaign contributions, the latest skirmish following the high court's decision to unleash corporate and labor spending in federal elections...

UK: Opt-out offer for outstanding schools

Posted on May 25, 2010
BBC: "Thousands of schools will become academies and opt out of local authority control, under plans expected in the Queen's Speech . . . "

Senator: No Kagan hearings without Clinton files

Posted on May 25, 2010
'We're heading to what could be a train wreck,' Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said.

Private pay shrinks to historic lows, gov?t pay at historic highs

Posted on May 25, 2010
USA Today: "Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds. At the same time, government-provided benefits ? from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs ? rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010 ...

Law scholars propose to starve ?U.S. News? of LSAT data

Posted on May 25, 2010
National Law Journal: "An organization of law professors want LSAT scores dropped from U.S. News & World Report's ranking formula, and it hopes deans and law schools will be the ones to pull the plug. The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) has urged law schools to stop providing U...

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