Religion & Law

Fulton mayor addresses ACLU nativity letter

Posted on April 09, 2010
The Rockport Pilot: "Fulton Mayor Russel Cole announced publicly the Town of Fulton received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seeking information about the nativity scene which was erected at Fulton Navigation Park during the annual Christmas in Fulton celebration ...

NYC Wins a Round in Continuing Battle Against Businesses That Sell Sexually-Oriented Matter

Posted on April 08, 2010
Leonard Link: "A new chapter has been written in the long-running saga of the battle between New York City and proprietors of establishments that sell sexually-related materials, as New York County Supreme Court Justice Lewis York ruled on March 29 that the City had met its "light burden" of showing that the bookstores and video stores operated by the plaintiffs are "adult establishments" subject to a 1995 amendment to the City?s Zoning Resolution (as amended in 2001) sharply restricting the location of such establishments, even though the owners had taken steps to alter their establishments in an attempt to continue operating in their existing locations...

Texas, Minn. Govs Declare April 2010 as Abortion Recovery Month

Posted on April 08, 2010
Christian Post: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty have officially proclaimed April 2010 as Abortion Recovery Awareness Month in their respective states to raise awareness of traumatic effects and lasting ramifications of abortion...

UK: David Cameron pledges to review abortion, euthanasia laws

Posted on April 08, 2010
Telegraph: "David Cameron has pledged to review Britain?s abortion laws and stop assisted suicide in moves designed to place religious issues at the forefront of the Conservative election campaign. The Conservative leader said that he would personally favour reducing the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 or 22 weeks...

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?Abortion and gay marriage new hot-button issues in Mexico?

Posted on April 08, 2010
PRI: "Since Mexico City has legalized both abortion and gay marriage, these have become politically-charged issues in Mexico . . . Mexico City is firmly in control of the leftist party, the PRD and Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who David Lida says has a knack for publicity...

Webinar by Richard Hammar: What Churches and Pastors Must Know about Reporting Child Abus

Posted on April 08, 2010
Christian Newswire: "In recognition of April as National Child Abuse Prevention month, Richard Hammar, noted church law expert and creator of the"Reducing The Risk" sexual abuse prevention program, will explore child abuse reporting laws in a one-hour webinar"Reporting Child Abuse: Laws Churches Must Follow...

Casey Mattox: The (many more than) seven things you can?t say on campus

Posted on April 08, 2010
ADF Attorney Casey Mattox writing at the Academic Freedom File: "With two years distance from the DeJohn decision, however, public universities across New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania continue to hold on to egregiously unconstitutional speech codes that use much of the same language rejected in Saxe and DeJohn and inhibit expression and skew debate on campus by placing students at risk of substantial punishment if someone claims offense at what they say...

Sen. Scott Brown to play key role in battle over military approval of homosexual behavior

Posted on April 08, 2010
Bay Windows ("New England's Largest GLBT Newspaper"): "As a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has an important role to play in the anticipated upcoming vote on a repeal of 'Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell,' (DADT) which could be seen as early as the spring...

?Ted Olson: Prop 8 Challenge Could Have Global Impact?

Posted on April 08, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "According to Theodore Olson, the legal challenge to a California measure banning same-sex marriage he is leading with David Boies clearly has global implications. 'What happens in this case won?t just affect the people of California, it will affect the country...

Using the Bible in Public Schools: A Violation of the Separation of Church and State?

Posted on April 08, 2010
Thomas Bradwell writes at Associated Content: "The goal of the establishment clause is to avoid a state sanctioned church, like the Church of England, and to ensure that members of the new democracy would be afforded the opportunity to worship as they wish without political persecution...

ACLU goes to Ark. court challenging law barring unmarried couples from adopting, fostering

Posted on April 08, 2010
Today's THV: "The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arkansas will ask a Pulaski County circut court to rule in its favor in its challege to Act One, a 2008 law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adopting foster parent in Arkansas ...

Canada: Smoking cannabis a religious right, court told

Posted on April 08, 2010
Toronto Star: "In a constitutional challenge to Canada?s drug laws, however, the two men argue that the cannabis plant is sacred to their religion, the Assembly of the Church of the Universe (COU), which claims about 35 active ministers and 4,000 members across Canada...

NC: West Jefferson voices concerns about sexually-oriented businesses

Posted on April 08, 2010
Ashe Mountain Times: "For West Jefferson Town Manager Greg McGinnis, the possibility of a sexually-oriented business (SORB) attempting to locate in West Jefferson is all too real. At a meeting held at West Jefferson Town Hall on Monday, April 5, to discuss the issue of sexual businesses, McGinnis related a cautionary tale to a crowd of more than 50...

ADF to five universities: ?Speech codes? give officials too much latitude to define ?offensive? conduct

Posted on April 08, 2010
On behalf of students at five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the Alliance Defense Fund sent letters Thursday to inform the schools of the need to revise restrictive ?speech codes? on their books that do not comport with a ruling from the U...

Cops: Wiccan listed victim as ?sacrifice? in phone

Posted on April 08, 2010
AP: "A self-described Wiccan had a man's phone number programmed in her cell phone under the word 'sacrifice' before she stabbed him to death, then claimed he had tried to rape her, authorities said Thursday." Related posts on Wiccan including efforts to promote it at the Air Force Academy

China?s Censors Tackle and Trip Over the Internet

Posted on April 08, 2010
NY Times: "The one constant is its growing importance. Censorship used to be the sleepy province of the Communist Party?s central propaganda department, whose main task was to tell editors what and what not to print or broadcast. In the new networked China, censorship is a major growth industry, overseen ? and fought over ? by no fewer than 14 government ministries ...

David French on the Frank Pastore Show: CLS v. Martinez at the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on April 08, 2010
ADF attorney David French appeared on the Frank Pastore Show to discuss CLS v. Martinez, which is set for oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 19th. The MP3 runs just over 16 minutes. What's at stake in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez? · The freedom of Christian student groups to be treated the same as other student groups without being forced to deny their faith...

China: Beyond Communist rule and capitalist change, what?s the real story?

Posted on April 08, 2010
Christian Science Monitor on Yahoo News: "Is the most surprising thing about China how much it?s changed in recent decades ? or how little? . . . "

Health care reform information for your family

Posted on April 08, 2010
Regent Law Family Restoration: "Alliance Defense Fund litigator Matt Bowman expresses some grave concern over the validity of President Obama's executive order against abortion funding. 'Some members of Congress say that they voted for the health reform law because the President?s executive order directs Health and Human Services, in some narrow ways but not in others, to refrain from spending federal money on abortion...

Christian students claim CA law school discriminated against group when it denied student funding

Posted on April 08, 2010
CNSNews: "The U.S. Supreme Court later this month will hear what both sides agree will be one of the most important religious freedom cases to come before the court in years. . . . The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group which helped fund the Supreme Court appeal, said the Christian Legal Society is being discriminated against because it would be forced to alter the Christian message of the group if they accept other students as members and leaders ...

U.S. Denying Entry Visas to People Who Work on Israel?s Dimona Nuclear Reactor?

Posted on April 08, 2010
Eugene Volokh writing at the Volokh Conspiracy and quoting JoshuaPundit: "NRG/Maariv (Hebrew link only, sorry) reported today that the Israeli government was stunned when every nuclear technician at Israel?s Dimona reactor who had submitted visa requests to visit the United States for ongoing university education in Physics, Chemistry and Nuclear Engineering had their visa applications summarily rejected, specifically because of their association with the Dimona reactor...

Massachusetts? Short-Term Customers Boosting Health Costs

Posted on April 08, 2010
NCPA Policy Digest: "Thousands of consumers are gaming Massachusetts' 2006 health insurance law by buying insurance when they need to cover pricey medical care, such as fertility treatments and knee surgery, and then swiftly dropping coverage, a practice that insurance executives say is driving up costs for other people and small businesses, says the Boston Globe...

Beijing Prof Fired for Having Second Baby

Posted on April 08, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Law professor Yang Zhizhu was notified by officials from the China Youth University for Political Sciences on March 26 that he was being fired because he had violated Beijing's family planning regulations . . . "

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Austrian law restricting in vitro fertilization violates European Convention on Human Rights

Posted on April 08, 2010
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued a Chamber judgment that Austria?s laws restricting in vitro fertilization procedures are 'discriminatory' and violate the right to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights . . . "

U.S. Medical Society Sues to Overturn ObamaCare

Posted on April 08, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has filed a lawsuit against the newly enacted health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), making them the first U.S. medical society to take legal action against the sweeping health care overhaul ...

Several States Looking at Banning Abortion Funding Under New Health Care Law

Posted on April 08, 2010
". . . Under the new health care law, states will be in charge of their own health care exchanges that are available for individuals and small businesses starting in 2014. In those exchanges, state's can ensure tax dollars do no go towards plans or subsidies for plans that pay for abortions ...

IMAPP: March 2010 Marriage Law Digest Now Online

Posted on April 08, 2010
You can access the most recent issue here. Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

CA: Ministerial Exception Precludes Wage and Hour Suit Against Scientology

Posted on April 08, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Headley v. Church of Scientology International, (CD CA, April 2, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed a claim by a Church of Scientology staff member that the Church violated state and federal labor laws . . ...

Kenyan church leaders withhold support of country?s draft constitution

Posted on April 08, 2010
CNS: "Kenyan religious leaders said they will reject the proposed new constitution during a referendum in June because it would legalize abortion and keep in place Islamic courts, opening the prospect that Islamic law would become part of the nation's laws ...

Roberts: Lack of consensus in decisions reflects Supreme Court?s inability to compromise

Posted on April 08, 2010
LA Times: "U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the lack of consensus in many of the Supreme Court's decisions reflects its fundamental inability to strike compromises on laws, as Congress can when writing them."

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