Religion & Law

Let freedom ring! Court rules city of Phoenix can?t stop church bells

Posted on April 20, 2010
A federal judge held that the ordinance against religious bell sounds--which offered an exemption for ice cream trucks, but not for church bells--violated the Constitution.

Virginia bishops: Budget amendment offers chance to end state-funded abortions

Posted on April 20, 2010
CNA: "The Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) has urged the passage of a proposed budget amendment to restrict state funding of abortions, saying it is an ?unprecedented opportunity? to eliminate the vast majority of state-funded abortions." Virginia Catholic Conference: Governor McDonnell proposes pro-life budget amendment; Virginia bishops call for critical action; General Assembly to vote on April 21!

Newsweek Examines NARAL Survey Showing ?Intensity Gap? Between Younger Abortion-Rights Opponents, Supporters

Posted on April 20, 2010
Medical News Today: "According to a NARAL survey conducted earlier this year and released exclusively to Newsweek, 51% of voters younger than age 30 who oppose abortion rights consider it a "very important" voting issue, compared with 26% of their peers who support abortion rights...

MA: Transgender bill opens door to party clash

Posted on April 20, 2010
Boston Globe: "At issue is a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of 'gender identity or expression.' Social conservatives have dubbed it the 'bathroom bill,'? contending it would sanction unisex bathrooms and locker rooms."

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?HRC head gets praise, flak for Obama?s gay-rights initiatives?

Posted on April 20, 2010
The Washington Post carries this profile of HRC and its leader, Joe Salmonese.

NC: Brunswick commissioners keep traditional prayer

Posted on April 20, 2010
WECT News 6: "The suggestion by a Brunswick County commissioner that the board replace the traditional prayer with a moment of silence to start its meetings generated a lot of noise - even from folks outside that county . . . "

Illinois Department of Insurance Clarifies Rules on Fertility Treatment: Lambda Legal Praises the Change

Posted on April 20, 2010
Lambda Legal: "Now, lesbian women and non-gay women who have the same medical condition resulting in infertility will have the same insurance coverage. Prior to this recent clarification, insurance coverage was often denied unless a woman could prove that she had unprotected heterosexual sex for a year - effectively barring coverage for lesbian women...

Mass. GOP nominates ?open gay? for Lt. Gov

Posted on April 20, 2010
OnTop Magazine ("gay advocacy website"): "Openly gay state Senator Richard Tisei will be on the Massachusetts GOP gubernatorial ticket as Charles D. Baker Jr.'s running mate, the Boston Globe reported."

Malaysian lawmaker in trouble over polygamy

Posted on April 20, 2010
Business Week: "A ruling party lawmaker and his second wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to entering into a polygamous marriage without official consent amid a debate in Malaysia over Islamic morality among politicians."

Indonesia upholds blasphemy law

Posted on April 20, 2010
Al Jazeera: "An Indonesian court has ruled to uphold a 1965 blasphemy law that allows for criminal penalties and bans on people or groups that 'distort' the central tenets of six officially recognised religions . . . The law carries a maximum punishment of five years for beliefs that deviate from the orthodox versions of six sanctioned faiths - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Confucianism...

Brazil: Priest caught in homosexual video triggers new church sex abuse allegations

Posted on April 20, 2010
AP: "The scandal erupted when Brazilian television network SBT last month broadcast a tape of Barbosa in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the Internet."

Foetuses ?found dumped? in India

Posted on April 20, 2010
BBC: "Authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat say they have recovered more than a dozen human foetuses from a rubbish bin in the city of Ahmedabad."

Paper: Homosexuality at Root of the Sex Abuse Crisis

Posted on April 20, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A must-read paper produced by Human Life International Research Director Brian Clowes has closed the book on the question of whether homosexuality in the priesthood is a root cause of the clerical sexual abuse crisis. Citing numerous research studies, Clowes demonstrates that homosexuality is strongly linked to sexual abuse of minors, and that celibacy is definitely not a cause of pedophilia...

NH towns continue same-sex ?marriage? debate

Posted on April 20, 2010
Seacoast Online: "With five towns still left to vote in May (including North Hampton), 61 towns to date have approved the question and 33 defeated it. Another 33 towns tabled the measure. In some towns it was hotly debated; in others it passed with little or no discussion...

SC: Man seeks waiver of restriction on sexually oriented business

Posted on April 20, 2010
The Times and Democrat: "A business owner is requesting waiver of Orangeburg County?s zoning ordinance prohibiting sexually oriented businesses from opening within 1,500 feet of each other."

New pro-life law banning abortions based on fetal pain awaits court fight

Posted on April 20, 2010
LifeNews: "Lawmakers in Nebraska put their state on the pro-life map by passing a first-of-its kind piece of legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the notion that unborn children feel pain. The legislation will likely be headed for court, but that's exactly what pro-life groups are after...

Bringing humanity back to the abortion debate

Posted on April 20, 2010
Marc A. Thiessen writes at the Washington Post: ". . . regardless of the legal outcome, a national discussion on the topic of 'fetal pain' can only help the pro-life movement."

Ten-Year-Old?s Pregnancy Heats Up Mexico Abortion Debate

Posted on April 20, 2010
MyStateLine.com: "The debate over abortion in Mexico has become more heated after a ten-year-old girl became pregnant after allegedly being raped by her stepfather. While abortion is legal in Mexico City, the practice is prohibited or restricted outside the capital in the country's states ...

Oklahoma Senate OKs Package of Five Bills to Limit Abortion, Require Ultrasound

Posted on April 20, 2010
LifeNews: "The Oklahoma state Senate on Monday approved a package of five different pro-life bills limiting abortions, including a measure that would allow women to see an ultrasound of their unborn children prior to getting an abortion. The ultrasound measure now heads to Governor Brad Henry ...

Richard M. Esenberg: Debating Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

Posted on April 20, 2010
Richard M. Esenberg writing at the Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog: "Hastings says that the educational purpose of their forum requires, not only diversity among groups, but within groups. I don?t believe the latter. Hastings student groups often have charters that require voting members to adhere to the ideals of organizations...

Kenya Government Starts Campaign for Pro-Abortion Constitution, Attacks Church

Posted on April 20, 2010
LifeNews: "The government of Kenya, apparently with the help of the Obama administration, is rolling out a national educational campaign designed to persuade people to vote for the new pro-abortion constitution this summer. Meanwhile, governmental leaders are attacking church leaders for condemning abortion...

Anti-Islam Bus Ads in Miami

Posted on April 20, 2010
Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: "The Miami Herald reported last week that Miami-Dade Transit was removing the ads, because of objections from Muslims, including the South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. But when I called Miami-Dade Transit to ask for a copy of their advertising policy (they said they?d get back to me about that), the spokeswoman reported that Miami-Dade Transit would be reinstating the ads, based on advice from the County Attorney?s office...

Wyoming: Homeowner?s sign citing Biblical condemnation of homosexual behavior will stay

Posted on April 20, 2010
The AP reports on a homeowner's sign which is near a local high school: "Leviticus 20:13, To be gay equals death."

Why are so many girls lesbian or bisexual?

Posted on April 20, 2010
"For most of human history perhaps 2% of women have been lesbian or bisexual . . . Recent surveys of teenage girls and young women find that roughly 15% of young females today self-identify as lesbian or bisexual . . . why are young women today at least three times more likely than their brothers to identify as bisexual or homosexual?"

High Court hears arguments over Christian student group?s case

Posted on April 20, 2010
Christian Post: "In just a little over an hour, the court heard from both sides of the debate and mulled over a number of hypothetical situations ranging from racist skinheads in an NAACP club to the takeover of a Muslim group by anti-Muslim students ...

A district judge in Wisconsin rules that the National Day of Prayer violates the Establishment Clause

Posted on April 20, 2010
WORLD Magazine: "Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) want President Obama to appeal the decision. 'The National Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according to their own faith?and does not promote any particular religion or form of religious observance,' said ADF senior legal counsel Joel Oster...

Executive order less than lawful?

Posted on April 20, 2010
OneNewsNow: "A lawsuit against a presidential edict to use federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research has gone to an appeals court . . . 'In the Dickey/Wicker Amendment, Congress prohibited federal funding for destructive embryonic stem-cell research,' [Steven H...

Sweden: Parents plead for return of 7-year-old son

Posted on April 20, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "A plea has been sent worldwide for moms, dads, brothers, aunts and grandparents ? in fact anyone ? to contact Swedish authorities and ask them to return to his parents a 7-year-old boy taken into police custody over a dispute that includes the family's decision to homeschool ...

Supreme Court considers workplace email/texting privacy and whether animal cruelty videos are protected speech

Posted on April 20, 2010
How Appealing links to reports on the employer/employee sexting case here (whether an employer can review an employee's communications believed to be private even though a company pager was used) and the cruelty to animals video case here (court issued a ruling addressing whether animal cruelty videos are protected free speech).

Senate GOP leaders to meet with Obama on Supreme Court nominee process

Posted on April 20, 2010
Washington Post: "Senate Republicans will have a chance this week to directly confront President Obama on his vision for reshaping the nation's courts."

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