Religion & Law

Canada: Harper to ?recommend? defeat of Tory MP?s abortion bill

Posted on May 20, 2010
National Post: "Prime Minister Stephen Harper will vote against a private member's bill promoted by one of his own MPs that would add new Criminal Code penalties for those who coerce women to have an abortion . . . "

Illinois bishop removes priest for homosexual activity

Posted on May 20, 2010
Catholic Culture: "Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet has removed Father Jerry Simonelli from his pastorate because he engaged in homosexual activity."

Australian lawmaker questions limits of confessional seal in abuse cases

Posted on May 20, 2010
Australian: "INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon has called on the Catholic Church to remove the sanctity of the confessional for child abuse cases."

U.S. Bishops Withdraw from Pro-Abortion, Homosexualist Civil Rights Coalition Backing Kagan

Posted on May 20, 2010
LifeSiteNews: " The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has pulled out of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights . . . The release stated that the bishops withdrew following the group's published support for the pro-abortion and homosexualist Supreme Court nominee, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, which was pointed out earlier this week by Deal Hudson of Catholic Advocate and reported by LSN Tuesday...

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Justice Clarence Thomas, the Constitution and School Choice

Posted on May 20, 2010
David Kirkpatrick quotiing Justice Clarence Thomas at Education News: "Whatever the textual and historical merits of incorporating the Establishment Clause, I can accept that the Fourteenth Amendment protects religious liberty rights. But I cannot accept its use to oppose neutral programs of school choice through the incorporation of the Establishment Clause...

UK: Jobcentre axes adverts hiring webcam strippers

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A Government-run Jobcentre has been forced to remove adverts recruiting webcam strippers, following a flood of complaints. Last week it emerged that jobseekers were being offered up to £100 a day to perform 'nude or semi-nude' in front of webcams...

UK: Right-to-die guidance is a sign of a ?culture of death?

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Terminally ill patients should be allowed to commit suicide by turning down food and fluids, according to controversial new medical guidance. The General Medical Council?s (GMC?s) guidelines, released today, have alarmed critics who see them as part of a creeping 'culture of death'...

UK: ?Charlie Condom? promotes condoms to 13-year-olds

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A new children?s character, Charlie Condom, has been created by health chiefs in Southampton to promote condoms to 13-year-olds. Education leaders have slammed the move and others call it 'ridiculous'."

Scotland: Aborted babies thrown out with clinical waste

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The Scottish Government has launched a review of the way human remains are treated, after a Glasgow hospital came under fire for burning aborted babies alongside clinical waste. A member of staff at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said they saw aborted babies being placed in disposal bags and sent for incineration along with used bandages, swabs, dressings and syringes...

NY AG candidate pledges to sue D.C. over ?marriage equality?

Posted on May 20, 2010
City Hall: "Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said yesterday that she plans to sue the federal government over the Defense of Marriage Act if she becomes New York?s next attorney general."

Replica cross in Mojave Desert will come down

Posted on May 20, 2010
"Authorities say a Mojave Desert war memorial cross that replaced one that was stolen is illegal and must come down."

Australia: Burqa debate stopped in NSW upper house

Posted on May 20, 2010
BigPond News: "MP Fred Nile's attempt to bring on a debate on his bill to ban the wearing of the burqa has been voted down by the NSW upper house."

Law Review: The Structure of European Union Law

Posted on May 20, 2010
Pavlos Eleftheriadis, The Structure of European Union Law (May 2010). Cambridge Yearbook of European Law, 2010; Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 47/2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1610089 "Is the general structure of EU law a matter determined by its own constitutional principles? Many assume that this must be the case, because this is what we regularly expect from any order of constitutional law...

Russia: The Church to receive title to Soviet buildings constructed in monasteries and cinema theaters turned into churches

Posted on May 20, 2010
Interfax: "The government committee of the Russian Federation has signed into law a new bill on transfer of property intended for religious use to religious organizations. The law will allow parishes that function in former cinemas and shops to obtain title for such buildings...

Islamic leaders decry Tea Party reference to Muslim ?monkey-god?

Posted on May 20, 2010
CNN: Williams, who also referred to "animals of Allah," was rebuked Thursday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group issued a release Wednesday calling on other Tea Party activists to repudiate Williams' remarks . . . For his part, Williams was unapologetic toward Muslims...

Elena Kagan?s Political Contributions Go to Pro-Abortion Democrats, Radicals

Posted on May 20, 2010
"Kagan made a maximum ($500) campaign contribution to John Bonifaz, who was running in the Democratic primary campaign for Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that donation cause Richmond particular concern."

Congress Should Fix Abortion Funding Problems in Health Care Law, Bishops Say

Posted on May 20, 2010
LifeNews: "In a new letter to members of Congress, the nations Catholic bishops urge the House and Senate to go back and fix some of the problems associated with the new health care law. They specifically want Congress to stop the abortion funding and add conscience protections ...

Father Raymond J. DeSouza: How motherhood stopped being a motherhood issue

Posted on May 20, 2010
Fr. Raymond J. DeSouza writes at the National Post: "Motherhood issues are not what they used to be. When Stephen Harper selected maternal and infant health as Canada's signature issue for next month's G8 and G20 meetings, he likely thought it about as controversial as maple syrup...

?Slang terms OK for body parts in sex ed: judge?

Posted on May 20, 2010
NY Post: "A Brooklyn federal judge said that a Staten Island teacher of 26 years acted correctly when she allowed students to use words like 'furburger' and 'schmeckle' and 'blow job' to teach her sex ed/HIV/AIDS class in public school and is allowing her to sue the Education Department for suspending her...

David Hacker: Student activity fees: How to know your rights are being violated

Posted on May 20, 2010
ADF Attorney David J. Hacker writing at Speak Up Movement / university (via the Christian Post's Advancing Religious Liberty blog): "Casey Mattox?s excellent series on Widmar v. Vincent (stay tuned, there?s more to come) inspired me to write my own mini-series on student activity fees, a topic that will consume student groups from coast to coast this summer as they prepare for the fall semester...

?Idaho 10? member blames UNICEF for group?s arrest in Haiti

Posted on May 20, 2010
Associated Baptist Press: "With the last of 10 Southern Baptist mission volunteers released from a Haitian jail May 17, one of her 'Idaho 10' co-laborers is breaking his silence and blaming the whole ordeal on meddling by the United Nations Children Fund, more commonly known as UNICEF ...

ADF Allied Attorney Success Stories: May 2010

Posted on May 20, 2010
Congratulations to allied attorneys Jim Bopp, Tom Brejcha, Peter Breen, Natalie Decker, Brad Abramson, Steve Fitschen, Doug Myers, Bob Tyler, Jennifer Monk, Frank Mylar, Trent Roddy, Demetrios Stratis, Steve Taylor, and Michael Tierney, for their recent successes listed below...

Gender-bending Yogyakarta Principles brought to Council of Europe

Posted on May 20, 2010
C-FAM: "Two recent initiatives out of the Council of Europe (CoE) on sexual orientation and gender identity are seen as the first major step to codify the radical Yogyakarta Principles into the framework of international institutions. The Yogyakarta Principles (Principles) is a 2007 document adopted by a group of human rights 'experts' including several United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs and members of UN treaty monitoring bodies ...

?Mishandling of funds alleged at gay health clinic?

Posted on May 20, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times: "Chicago's Howard Brown Health Center, one of the nation's largest gay health centers, is investigating allegations that staff members mishandled federal funding for a landmark HIV/AIDS study."

Louisiana: Same-sex adoption bill defeated

Posted on May 20, 2010
The Advocate: "Legislation that would allow adoptions by a 'second parent' was soundly defeated Wednesday afternoon in a Louisiana House committee under a barrage of criticisms against gay-parent adoptions." | HB 738

Idaho Federal Court: First Amendment protects right of Rescue Mission to discriminate on religious grounds

Posted on May 19, 2010
Intermountain Fair Housing Council v. Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, No. CV-08-205-S-EJL, 2010 WL 1913379 (D. Idaho May 12, 2010) Excerpts: ___________________ The Rescue Mission operates an ?Emergency Services Program? that provides food, shelter, clothing, and other life necessities to anyone in need, along with programs that provide education, job-search, and work discipline training...

Phoenix Bishop Says Nun is Automatically Excommunicated for Rubberstamping Hospital Abortion

Posted on May 19, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Bishop of Phoenix has announced that a Catholic nun and administrator of St. Joseph?s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix has automatically excommunicated herself by approving an abortion on a woman who was 11-weeks pregnant, and whose life hospital officials allege they were trying to save ...

NOW feminists attacks Catholic Church, Catholic League response: ?homosexual priests . . . not interested in girls?

Posted on May 19, 2010
The Catholic League: ". . . NOW is calling on the authorities to investigate sexual abuse in the 'male-dominated Catholic Church,' claiming that 'girls as much as boys' are victims of sexual abuse. But the female-dominated organization is wrong as usual: homosexual priests, who commit most of the abuse, are not interested in girls ...

Saskatchewan Court Reserves Decision on Conscience Rights of Marriage Commissioners

Posted on May 19, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "After hearing submissions from both sides of the issue in the case involving proposed legislation that would allow the province's marriage commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex 'marriages,' the five judges of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal have reserved their decision and will issue a written ruling after further deliberation ...

Steve Jobs Says iPad Revolution Means ?Freedom from Porn?

Posted on May 19, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, says his company will not be a party to the pornography industry and hopes that the iPad and iPhone revolution will help lead to a porn-free world. Jobs reiterated his position in a heated e-mail exchange with Ryan Tate, a writer for Gawker...

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