Religion & Law

Supreme Court calls for more security money, citing increased threats

Posted on April 16, 2010
The Hill: "The Supreme Court is asking for more federal security funds, citing as one reason the 'volume' of threats it receives. Justice Clarence Thomas told a House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday that the court wants money for 12 additional police officers, although security personnel want 24 ideally...

Philippines: Bishop fears for life as Muslim separatists attack city

Posted on April 16, 2010
Catholic Culture: "Following an April 13 Islamist terrorist attack that destroyed 70% of his cathedral, a Philippine bishop says that he and the other Christians of the city fear for their lives."

David French: ?Gaming the System: Judge Diane Wood?s dissent in CLS v. Walker?

Posted on April 16, 2010
"With talk that Seventh Circuit judge Diane Wood may be a contender for a Supreme Court nomination, and against the backdrop of reports of her blatant expressed hostility against orthodox Christian viewpoints, it?s vital to show how that hostility played out in at least one important opinion...

Democrats defend liberal court nominee Goodwin Liu

Posted on April 16, 2010
AP: "A Senate hearing for federal appeals court nominee Goodwin Liu quickly erupted into partisan bickering Friday, in a likely test of President Barack Obama's ability to win confirmation for a liberal court pick."

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Christian case could impact Obama pick

Posted on April 16, 2010
FOX News, liveshots blog: "Carrie Severino, policy director for the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, draws the comparison between the CLS case and the situation now Justice Sonia Sotomayor faced during last year's confirmation process. 'If Diane Wood is nominated to the Supreme Court, the CLS case could be her Ricci," Severino said in referring to Ricci v...

Obama urged to appeal Nat?l Prayer Day ruling

Posted on April 16, 2010
Christian Post: "Just weeks away from the annual National Day of Prayer, a federal judge ruled on Thursday that the day is unconstitutional . . . ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Joel Oster] argues that the national prayer day is 'America's heritage' and 'belongs to Americans...

NASA Employee Sues For Religious Discrimination After Demotion For Pushing Intelligent Design

Posted on April 16, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "According to a release issued yesterday by the Discovery Institute, an employee at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has filed suit in a California state court claiming religious discrimination, harassment and retaliation; wrongful demotion; and infringement of free speech rights ...

SCOTUS Blog Petitions to Watch include RLUIPA case

Posted on April 16, 2010
SCOTUS Blog's latest list of Petitions to Watch includes this: Title: Sossamon v. Texas; Cardinal v. Metrish Docket: 08-1438; 09-109 Issue: Whether states and state officials may be subject to suit for damages for violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 42 U...

Can prayer be unconstitutional?

Posted on April 16, 2010
CNN Newsroom: "Conservative religious groups have criticized the decision. [Joel Oster], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund says, '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...

Judge says National Day of Prayer violates ?separation of church and state?

Posted on April 16, 2010
CitizenLink: "A federal judge in Wisconsin has declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional . . . '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]...

National Day of Prayer under attack

Posted on April 16, 2010
National Day of Prayer Task Force (ChristianNewsWire): "The National Day of Prayer Task Force (NDPTF) and Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) are urging President Obama to appeal federal judge Barbara Crabb's decision in Wisconsin that struck down a federal statute that sets a day for the National Day of Prayer ...

Federal judge rules Day of Prayer unconstitutional

Posted on April 16, 2010
Associated Press: "A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based group of Christian lawyers, issued a statement saying Crabb's ruling undermines American tradition dating back to the nation's birth...

Judge rules National Day of Prayer unconstitutional

Posted on April 16, 2010
Charisma: "A Wisconsin federal judge has ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) are urging President Obama to appeal the decision. The group launched a grassroots effort called Save the National Day of Prayer that has more than 170,000 supporters on Facebook...

National Day of Prayer ruled unconstitutional

Posted on April 16, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb issued the decision in a case filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based atheist and agnostic group that challenged the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law . . . Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are urging President Obama to appeal the decision...

Ark. school district: All fliers OK . . . except ?church-related? ones

Posted on April 16, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Pulaski County Special School District on behalf of a student and her mother, who were both prohibited from participating in Sherwood Elementary School?s literature distribution program because their fliers were 'church-related...

Christian students lead ?Day of Truth? to promote dialogue on sexuality

Posted on April 16, 2010
Charisma: "Thousands of Christian students are participating in the sixth annual Day of Truth Thursday, a student-led initiative that seeks to encourage peer-level conversations about relationships and biblical sexuality . . . The event, sponsored by Exodus International, is a response to the annual Day of Silence, an event created by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) that encourages students to remain silent to show support for students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender...

Newt Gingrich and Jim Garlow: Hastings case tests religious freedom on campus

Posted on April 16, 2010
Newt Gingrich and Jim Garlow write in the Washington Post: "Americans like to think of their college campuses as marketplaces of ideas where students have the opportunity to freely browse a host of competing beliefs, attitudes and philosophies. Unfortunately, today's academic marketplace is more like a company store...

Michael Stokes Paulsen: Exporting Death to Kenya

Posted on April 16, 2010
Michael Stokes Paulsen writes at Public Discourse: "America?s abortion laws may inspire a dangerous provision in Kenya?s new constitution."

Calif. Dems kill resolution honoring the Boy Scouts

Posted on April 16, 2010
"Minority Republican lawmakers sponsored a resolution this week honoring the 100-year anniversary of the Boy Scouts. This being California, the political equivalent of a school-yard brawl broke out. Democrats ultimately killed the resolution after criticizing the Boy Scouts for excluding homosexuals ...

Europe struggles with Muslim dress code

Posted on April 16, 2010
AP: ". . . Threats against cartoonists and artists over depictions of the prophet Muhammad have also raised fears that Islam is not compatible with Western values of freedom of speech. 'Islam is more of an ideology than a religion,' Wilders is fond of saying...

Free Association and the First Amendment

Posted on April 16, 2010
Harvey Silverglate of FIRE writes at the Wall Street Journal full access via Google: "Can a public university force a Christian student group to accept as leaders students who explicitly reject core tenets of the group's faith? On Monday the Supreme Court will entertain precisely this question?and the First Amendment right to freedom of association hangs in the balance...

The Case Against Gene Patents

Posted on April 16, 2010
Joseph Stiglitz and John Sulston write at the Wall Street Journal full access via Google News: "Genetic sequences are naturally occurring things, not inventions. No company should be allowed to monopolize research on them."

State judge overturns Ark. adoption law approved by 57% of voters

Posted on April 16, 2010
" . . . Voters approved the measure in November 2008, two years after the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a policy by state child welfare officials that blocked gays from being foster parents."

Mike Johnson on the Janet Mefferd Show: The National Day of Prayer Ruling

Posted on April 16, 2010
ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss yesterday's National Day of Prayer ruling. Click "National Day of Prayer" or case name tag below for related posts. The MP3 runs approximately 13 minutes.

?Haystack? gives Iranian opposition hope for evading Internet censorship

Posted on April 16, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Haystack, an encryption software custom made to help the Iranian opposition evade official attempts to censor the Internet, is giving some regime opponents hope of organizing and making progress online."

How tax day became pay day

Posted on April 15, 2010
The Heritage Foundation, Foundry Blog: "If more taxpayers continue to drop off the tax rolls, we will soon pass the dangerous tipping point where more than half of taxpayers are non-payers. The individual income tax is the main revenue raiser for federal government...

Canada: Tory MP pushes abortion-related law, despite PM?s warnings against reopening debate

Posted on April 15, 2010
Montreal Gazette: "Insisting his proposal doesn't violate Prime Minister Stephen Harper's stated opposition to reopening the abortion debate, a Conservative backbencher has introduced a private member's bill that would make it illegal to 'coerce' a woman to have an abortion ...

Three-Parent Embryo Creation Shows Contempt for Life; Moves the World Towards the Manufacturing of Children

Posted on April 15, 2010
FRC: "This technology is a further step toward tampering with the very essence of humanity, and demonstrates not just contempt for human life itself - all the embryos in this experiment were destroyed for science - but a profoundly dangerous and arrogant belief that we can tamper with the genetic makeup of our fellow human beings...

Draft Congressional Ethics Rules Would Recognize ?Gay Marriages?

Posted on April 15, 2010
"The House ethics committee has drafted rules that for the first time would define gay married couples as 'spouses' for the purposes of filling out their annual Congressional financial disclosure forms."

FRC Calls House Ethics Committee On Illegal Action

Posted on April 15, 2010
FRC: "Today Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding a decision by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly called the Ethics Committee, to violate the Defense of Marriage Act by recognizing same-sex 'marriage' in newly released financial disclosure forms ...

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