Religion & Law

The Supreme Court and the Battle of Hastings

Posted on April 15, 2010
Deal W. Hudson writing at the Catholic Advocate: ?Just as all student groups have the right to associate with people who share common beliefs and interests, Christian student groups have the right to be Christian student groups,? said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Gregory S...

Doug Napier on KARN with Dave Elswick: ADF files suit after student is barred from distributing fliers about swimming event

Posted on April 15, 2010
ADF Attorney Douglas Napier appeared on KARN with Dave Elswick to discuss this: Ark. school district: All fliers OK?except ?church-related? ones | The mp3 runs just under 7 minutes.

Michelle Obama backs diversity on Supreme Court

Posted on April 15, 2010
AFP: "US First Lady Michelle Obama Thursday said she favored diversity on the nation's top court, wading into risky political waters as her husband weighs his second pick to the bench."

Before House Appropriations Committee, Thomas, Breyer discuss High Court docket, clerks, cameras

Posted on April 15, 2010
Blog of LegalTimes: "Breyer and Justice Clarence Thomas (at left) were asked about the Court's shrunken docket at the Court's annual budget hearing before the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on financial services and general government."

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White House: Obama will issue prayer proclamation despite federal ruling

Posted on April 15, 2010
"White House officials say President Barack Obama still will recognize a National Day of Prayer after a federal judge's ruling the day is unconstitutional."

Same-sex ?marriage? in hands of Portugal?s president

Posted on April 15, 2010
On Top Mag ("gay advocacy website"): "Gay marriage in Portugal is in the hands of President Anibal Cavaco Silva after the country's Constitutional Court OK'd the bill last week. Portugal's Socialist-controlled Parliament, led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates, approved the bill that grants gay and lesbian couples all the rights and obligations of marriage except adoption on February 11...

School vouchers for Chicago elementary schools

Posted on April 15, 2010
Illinois Family Institute: "Rev. Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago) sponsored and passed the bi-partisan school vouchers legislation (SB 2494) that now moves to the Illinois House. This bill would enable 22,000 Chicago elementary students who attend the city's 49 worst performing schools to attend private schools...

New effort launched to protect rights of churches

Posted on April 15, 2010
Christian Post: "Launched Wednesday, Alliance Defense Fund?s Church Project provides legal information to pastors and ministry leaders on how to defend their religious freedom in America as well as practical guidelines on issues such as public funding and hiring policies...

British Prime Ministerial debate

Posted on April 15, 2010
New York Times, The Lede: "The leaders of Britain?s three largest parties face-off for the next 90 minutes live on British television starting at 8:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. ET). Readers in the United Kingdom can watch live video of the debate on the Web site of the British broadcaster ITV...

EU Minister wanted ?sexual orientation? in Macedonia anti-discrimination law

Posted on April 15, 2010
Balkan Insight: "EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has confirmed that he sent a letter to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with his concerns regarding the content of the country's new anti-discrimination law. Speaking to journalists in Brussels late on Wednesday, Fuele said he still thinks that protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation should have been included in the law...

UK: 1 in 4 constituencies set to hold pre-election ?hustings? on moral issues

Posted on April 15, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Hundreds of parliamentary candidates are set to be quizzed about their stances on moral issues in a series of hustings being held by churches across the country. More than 170 churches have signed up to hold hustings, meaning that over a quarter of constituencies will now be involved...

Arizona Legislature OKs abortion reporting bill

Posted on April 15, 2010
Fox11AZ.com: "The bill would put into law a current requirement set by Department of Health Services rules for confidential reports by abortion providers on individual abortions and circumstances without names of the women involved. The bill also requires court reports on how many times judges bypass parental consent requirements...

Obama Nominates Richmond Lawyer for Eastern District of Virginia

Posted on April 15, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "President Barack Obama yesterday nominated John Gibney Jr., a partner with ThompsonMcMullan in Richmond, Va., for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia."

Contradicting Vatican Secretary of State, British bishops deny evidence of ?gay? role in sex abuse scandal

Posted on April 15, 2010
Catholic Culture: "Responding to the controversial statement by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone that homosexuality played an important role in the Church's sex-abuse crisis, Father Marcus Stock said that 'there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse...

USA Today New Grad School Rankings Are Online

Posted on April 15, 2010
USA Today has posted a report here. The law school rankings are here.

Mo. Senate debates, moves forward with abortion bill

Posted on April 15, 2010
STLToday.com: "The bill requires a doctor or qualified professional to provide a woman seeking an abortion with information about the associated health hazards and a medical description of the procedure. The bill also offers the woman an opportunity to view an ultrasound 24 hours before receiving an abortion ...

Supreme Court Lawyers Predict the High Court?s Direction ? Kagan

Posted on April 15, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "Neither SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein nor Jenner & Block associate Lindsay Harrison expect President Barack Obama to engage in a major political battle with Republicans over his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens...

Gov. Mike Huckabee Endorses GA Senate Bill 529 and Asks Georgians to Call Their Georgia House Members

Posted on April 15, 2010
Christian Newswire: "Today Governor Mike Huckabee announced his support for SB 529 in a message that is going out to Georgia constituents asking for their support for SB 529. Governor Huckabee noted the importance of this bill, 'SB 529 is a simple bill that prevents a woman from being forced to have an abortion against her will and prohibits the use of abortion as a means of race or gender discrimination...

Governor Parkinson vetoes changes to Kansas abortion

Posted on April 15, 2010
"Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has vetoed a bill that rewrites the state's laws regulating late-term abortions."

EU ignoring regions? Lisbon Treaty rights: Vienna mayor

Posted on April 15, 2010
EurActiv: "National administrations and the European Commission are ignoring the regions' new right to shape EU decisions under the Lisbon Treaty, Mayor of Vienna Michael Häupl told EurActiv in an interview . . . The treaty, he stressed, was designed to reinforce the democratic input of national and regional parliaments in EU decision-making, via the so-called subsidiarity principle...

Southern Thailand and Islamization

Posted on April 15, 2010
Seoul Times: "Therefore, you have two important dimensions in southern Thailand. One, and of course the most important component at the moment, is the ongoing anti-Buddhist campaign whereby Islamists desire a pure Islamic state. The other important component is that if the Thai military loses control and if Buddhists continue to flee southern parts of Thailand, then the Islamic internationalization of southern Thailand will become a regional issue and this notably applies to Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines...

ADF attorneys to debate, discuss Supreme Court case involving Christian student group

Posted on April 14, 2010
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will participate in a law school debate in the District of Columbia and a panel discussion in California Thursday on the subject of free speech and the U.S. Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Attorneys with ADF and the CLS Center for Law & Religious Freedom, who are litigating the landmark case, represent a student chapter of CLS, which Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco refused to recognize because the group requires its officers and voting members to subscribe to its basic Christian beliefs.

ADF attorney available to media after hearing in case of Yuma church left ?high and dry? by city

Posted on April 14, 2010
City said no to church, yes to non-religious assemblies, leaving church with mortgage on property it can no longer use

ADF launches legal effort to protect churches from government intrusion

Posted on April 14, 2010
Wednesday, the Alliance Defense Fund officially launched its Church Project, a new legal effort to protect churches from excessive and unconstitutional government intrusion prohibited by the First Amendment.

Commencements tilting decidedly left

Posted on April 14, 2010
"CampusReform.org is composing a growing list of 2010 commencement speakers. So far the list includes more than 160 names -- and the ratio of speakers known to be left of center to those known to be right of center is nearly 4-to-1."

Conservatives in Nevada want Sen. Ensign to quit

Posted on April 14, 2010
AP: "Some Nevada conservatives want Republican Sen. John Ensign to resign amid a federal investigation stemming from an extramarital affair, with one critic calling him 'the political equivalent of a suicide bomber.'"

White House Said to Be Widening Search for High Court Nominee

Posted on April 14, 2010
National Law Journal (Law.com): "For months, the list of hopefuls has been thought to include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Diane Wood of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit, as well as Michigan Gov...

Erik Stanley on the Hugh Hewitt Show: The Pulpit Initiative

Posted on April 14, 2010
ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the Pulpit Initiative. The MP3 runs just over 5 minutes. $1 Million Matching Grant for ADF Church Project

Police probe Dignitas death after son raises questions

Posted on April 14, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Police are investigating the case of a woman who did not have a terminal illness but committed suicide at Swiss 'clinic' Dignitas. The son of Kathleen Dobson says he was not told she was about to commit suicide, and if he had known he would have intervened...

UK: School receptionist prayer case settled

Posted on April 14, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A school receptionist who was suing her employers for religious discrimination following a dispute over a prayer email has secured an undisclosed payment and settled out of court . . . The dispute began in January last year when Mrs Cain?s daughter Jasmine, then aged five, was reprimanded by her class teacher for talking about her Christian faith to another child...

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