Religion & Law

?US general apologises for anti-gay remarks?

Posted on March 30, 2010
Google News (AFP): " An ex-US general has apologised after saying Dutch UN troops failed to prevent the Srebrenica genocide partly because their ranks included openly gay soldiers, the Dutch defence ministry said on Tuesday . . ."

MD: ?Same-sex marriage advocates bide time?

Posted on March 30, 2010
Baltimore Sun: But instead of using the [AG] opinion to launch a renewed effort to legalize gay marriage in Maryland, advocates are taking a different, counterintuitive tack: Stalling.

PC(USA) Minister Faces New Charges for Same-Sex Ceremonies

Posted on March 30, 2010
Christian Post: "A retired Presbyterian minister who was cleared of wrongdoing two years ago for performing same-sex ceremonies for two lesbian couples is facing new charges and again awaiting trial."

Tensions Flare After Recess Maneuver

Posted on March 30, 2010
Wall Street Journal (subscription)(full access thru Google): "President Barack Obama's decision to circumvent the Senate in filling 15 administration posts marked another step in the administration's turn toward a more-combative approach toward congressional Republicans, provoking a volley of protests from GOP lawmakers...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Breast cancer genes can?t be patented, federal court rules

Posted on March 30, 2010
LA Times: "On Monday afternoon, they won. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet ruled that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office never should have granted the patents in the first place because the genes are 'a law of nature.' The Patent and Trademark Office has granted patents for roughly 20% of human genes...

42 of 58 Cal. DAs oppose Obama 9th Circuit Nominee

Posted on March 30, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle: "Forty-two of California's 58 county district attorneys are opposing President Obama's nomination of Goodwin Liu to the federal appeals court in San Francisco, saying they believe the UC Berkeley law professor is hostile to the death penalty...

City Drops Bid to Shut Down Home Bible Study, But Threat to Others Remains

Posted on March 30, 2010
Pacific Justice Institute: "A city northeast of Los Angeles that sparked national outrage for its attempts to shut down a home Bible study has conceded defeat while hinting that it might try to shutter similar groups . . . "

ADF-allied attorney secures agreement with hospital to extend vital care for 40-year-old woman

Posted on March 30, 2010
Family agrees to seek transfer to new medical facility by April 9 when hospital may discontinue life-sustaining treatment

Federally funded abortions are in our future

Posted on March 30, 2010
Kathleen Parker writes at the Washington Post: "Now, the president's executive order purports to address this gap by extending the Hyde Amendment to these dollars as well. The problem is that, regardless of Obama's stated intentions, he can't actually do this without an act of Congress...

$1 Billion AT&T Headache is Just Obamacare?s First Side Effect

Posted on March 30, 2010
Heritage Foundation, The Foundry: "In the closing days of the Congressional health care debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told the National Association of Counties: 'We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.' Today marks the end of just the first week of life under Obamacare and Speaker Pelosi has been proven right: we are just now finding out what is in it...

America has changed its course, perhaps forever.

Posted on March 30, 2010
Pete DuPont writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Late Sunday night America made its largest public-policy course change since the 1930s: Congress moved 17% of our national economy from the market place to full regulation and control by the federal government...

Bodies of 21 babies found in China river

Posted on March 30, 2010
AP: "The bodies of 21 babies, believed dumped by hospitals, have washed ashore on a riverbank in eastern China, state media reported Tuesday. ideo footage showed that the bodies - stashed in yellow plastic bags, at least one of which was marked 'medical waste' - included some infants several months old...

Marine?s dad ordered to pay protesters? court fees

Posted on March 30, 2010
The Wichita Eagle: "The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from Kansas was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday."

Sex infection gonorrhea risks becoming ?superbug?

Posted on March 30, 2010
Reuters: "The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea risks becoming a drug-resistant 'superbug' if doctors do not devise new ways of treating it, a leading sexual health expert said."

Supreme Court cases test speech rights and more

Posted on March 30, 2010
USA Today: "Larry Stickney speaks passionately as he tries to explain why the names of people who signed a 2009 Washington state ballot measure against gay rights should be kept secret. 'I had been in the political game for 16 years, but we had no idea the viciousness that we would come under,' ...

Obama signs health care reconciliation bill

Posted on March 30, 2010
AP: "President Barack Obama is signing a bill Tuesday that finalizes his big health care overhaul and revamps the U.S. student loan system."

AZ: Anti-casino plan stalls in Senate

Posted on March 30, 2010
Arizona Republic: "An annexation bill that could help Glendale stop the construction of a tribal casino near its sports district has stalled in the Senate. Senate President Bob Burns said [House Bill 2297], which two weeks ago passed in the House, will not be taken up in the Senate...

AZ: Senate ignores Dems on divorce

Posted on March 30, 2010
Arizona Republic: "Senate Republicans beat back a flurry of Democratic amendments to [Senate Bill 1199] and gave voice-vote approval to the measure, which would extend the time it takes to become divorced."

Parents sue Spain over mandatory course material

Posted on March 30, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Professionals for Ethics have filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of more than 300 parents and children opposing the mandatory 'Education in Citizenship' program. 'The curriculum promotes radical sexuality, homosexual behavior, [and] abortion and it openly bashes Christianity,' explains [Roger Kiska], a Europe-based ADF attorney...

Massachusetts ?bubble zone? remains intact

Posted on March 30, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The Massachusetts Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a 'bubble zone' law that requires pro-life counselors to stay 35 feet away from abortion clinics . . . [Tim Chandler], an attorney with Alliance Defense Fund, laments that that the state's highest court now has turned away McCullen v...

High court mulls speech rights and more

Posted on March 30, 2010
USA Today: "'The shift in the nature of the free-speech plaintiffs has been going on for some time,' adds Stanford law professor Michael McConnell, who represents a group of Christian students in a separate case. The students are challenging a decision by a California state law school to deny their group campus privileges because it excludes gay men and lesbians...

NPR changes abortion language

Posted on March 30, 2010
NPR: "NPR News is revising the terms we use to describe people and groups involved in the abortion debate . . . On the air, we should use 'abortion rights supporter(s)/advocate(s)' and 'abortion rights opponent(s)' or derivations thereof (for example: 'advocates of abortion rights')...

Health care law too costly, most say

Posted on March 30, 2010
USA Today: "Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the health care overhaul signed into law last week costs too much and expands the government's role in health care too far, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, underscoring an uphill selling job ahead for President Obama and congressional Democrats ...

?What If Joey Has Two Daddies???

Posted on March 30, 2010
William C. Duncan writes at the Ruth Institute Blog: "A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently issued an opinion ordering the State of Louisiana to issue an amended birth certificate for a child born in Louisiana but listing as the child?s parents two men ...

IA: Davenport residents upset over Good Friday change

Posted on March 30, 2010
WQAD: "With the Lenten season winding down, Davenport is creating bad feelings about Good Friday. Bill Edmond and other city council members are upset over the city's change to the religious holiday. 'The civil rights commission has decided we can no longer call it Good Friday...

UN Threatens Binding Treaty on Defamation of Religions

Posted on March 30, 2010
Becket Fund: "Today, the UN Human Rights Council agreed to extend the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee, a UN body that is working on a binding treaty on the 'defamation of religions? by adopting the motion without a vote. However, support for the flawed concept is dwindling as attempts to fast-track the drafting of a formal treaty were defeated...

Construction of Two Churches Stopped in Indonesia

Posted on March 30, 2010
Compass Direct News: "An Islamic mob stopped construction of Santa Maria Immaculata Catholic Church in Citra Garden, West Jakarta earlier this month even as government officials in Yasmin Park, Bogor, West Java halted work on an Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) building ...

Threat of Return to Hindu State in Nepal Looms

Posted on March 30, 2010
Compass Direct News: "Four years after Nepal became officially secular, fear is growing that the country could revert to the Hindu state it was till 2006, when proclaiming Christ was a punishable offense and many churches functioned clandestinely to avoid being shut down ...

Wis. Charter School 12-Step Program at Church Draws FFRF Complaint

Posted on March 30, 2010
Freedom from Religion Foundation: "How can a public charter school be housed at a Lutheran church? Should its students be required to attend 12-step recovery sessions that are religious in nature? Those are questions a resident of the School District of Janesville, Wis...

Freedom from Religion Foundation complains that OH college gives Christian group a web tab

Posted on March 30, 2010
Read Freedom from Religion Foundation's press release here. "While Terra hasn't responded officially, the changes requested by FFRF have been made. The Christian Fellowship's 'Student Life' tab has been removed and it's listed with the other clubs on the 'Student Clubs' page...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.