Religion & Law

Matt Bowman: Unchecked government health care endangers conscience rights

Posted on March 26, 2010
ADF Attorney Matt Bowman writing in The Washington Examiner: "Cathy DeCarlo of Brooklyn and her family followed the health reform debate more closely than some others might have. Cathy is Catholic and a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Less than a year ago, the federally-funded hospital forced her to assist in a 22-week dismemberment abortion, despite her tearful pleas that she be spared the horror...

Maine GOP Senators play key role in ensuring D.C. same sex ?marriage?

Posted on March 26, 2010
Washington Post, D.C. Wire: "In its first direct vote on the issue, the U.S. Senate has rejected an amendment to the health care reconciliation bill that would have stopped same-sex marriage in the District until a referendum could be held. Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) had introduced that amendment; the full Senate rejected it early this morning by a vote of 59 to 36, with five members not voting...

Mugabe: No ?gay rights? in Zimbabwe

Posted on March 26, 2010
AP: "Zimbabwe's president says gay rights will not be protected in a constitution being drawn up under a power-sharing deal."

Black marriage campaign is growing

Posted on March 26, 2010
AP: "Some groups have held events throughout the month, although Black Marriage Day, which celebrates matrimony in the black community, falls on the fourth Sunday in March. The founder estimates more than 300 celebrations are being held this weekend. The aim is to try to stabilize, if not reverse, the trend of non-commitment within the black community...

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Former DOJ Official Picked for 9th Circuit

Posted on March 26, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia has sat in the District of Arizona since 2000, when she was among the last Clinton judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate."

Widening impact of Citizens United: En Banc D.C. Circuit nullifies donor limit

Posted on March 26, 2010
SCOTUS Blog: "In the first major court ruling to apply the Supreme Court?s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the en banc D.C. Circuit Court on Friday unanimously struck down a ceiling on contributions to independent political groups that want to spend money directly to support or oppose candidates for the presidency and Congress...

Islamic drive against religious ?defamation? may be losing steam

Posted on March 26, 2010
CNS News: "The Islamic-led drive against the 'defamation' of religion achieved its lowest-ever level of support in a United Nations vote Thursday, despite attempts to breathe new life into the flagging campaign by linking it to the recent Swiss vote banning the construction of minarets...

MD: GOP chief wants to block same-sex ?marriage? opinion

Posted on March 26, 2010
WJZ13 (AP): "The GOP leader in Maryland's House of Delegates wants state lawmakers to pass legislation that would invalidate a recent Attorney General opinion on gay marriage."

ACLU targets Fulton Nativity scene

Posted on March 26, 2010
The Rockport Pilot: "The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas has submitted a public records request which was sent by mail as well as by facsimile for information regarding a Nativity scene allegedly placed on the grounds at Fulton Navigation Park...

?IRS Should Investigate Florida Church For Opposing Mayoral Candidate, Says Americans United?

Posted on March 26, 2010
AU: "Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a church in Gainesville, Fla., that posted a sign opposing a mayoral candidate. Dove World Outreach Center erected a sign on its property reading, ?No Homo Mayor...

Catholics sue Spain over sex education classes

Posted on March 26, 2010
EurActiv: "300 objectors have filed a lawsuit against the Spanish government's "leftist stance" on education, challenging compulsory 'anti-Christian' classes for school students before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) . . . The suit, filed this month by lawyers from the Alliance Defence Fund (ADF) and Professionals for Ethics, calls for the adoption of 'provisional measures' preventing the Spanish government from obliging children to sit the course...

Wisconsin: ?FFRF Asks State to Quit Citing Good Friday as State Holiday?

Posted on March 26, 2010
Freedom from Religion Foundation: "The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which won a major victory in federal court overturning Wisconsin's Good Friday state holiday 14 years ago, has asked the Revisor of Statutes Bureau to quit listing Good Friday as a state holiday in the official version of the Wisconsin State Statutes...

Georgia Senate Votes To Prevent Coercive Abortions

Posted on March 26, 2010
WCTV.tv: "The Georgia State Senate today voted to prevent women in Georgia from being forced to have an abortion against their will. [Under Senate Bill 529], authored by Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), criminal abortions will include unlawfully coercive abortions, or with the intent to prevent a birth based on the gender or race of the unborn child...

Officer: ?Gay? and Straight Marines Won?t Share Rooms

Posted on March 26, 2010
CBS: "Commandant Gen. James Conway, the top officer in the Marine Corps, told Military.com Friday that straight soldiers will not be asked to share rooms on base with openly gay soldiers if the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is repealed."

UK: ?Equality Bill passes in House of Lords?

Posted on March 26, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The Government?s controversial and far-reaching Equality Bill passed its remaining stages in the Lords this week while concerns about its impact on religious liberty persist. The Government tidied up Lord Alli?s amendments that allow civil partnership registrations to be held in churches...

Classroom sex images, Christian-bashing draw lawsuit

Posted on March 26, 2010
WorldNetDailya: "A lawsuit has been filed against the Spanish government over mandatory classes that expose children to sexually explicit images and bash Christian beliefs . . . 'Americans should take note of this case because this sort of situation is not restricted to Spain,' said [Roger Kiska], legal counsel for ADF based in Europe...

ACLU appeals federal court decision upholding Nevada?s brothel ad ban

Posted on March 26, 2010
Las Vegas Sun: "The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of Davis and two newspapers, today asked the full U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case and overturn a decision by a three-judge panel of the court upholding the state's ban on prostitution ads...

Exodus leaders issue statement against Uganda?s ?anti-gay bill?

Posted on March 26, 2010
Christian Post: "'Exodus International believes that every human life, regardless of an individual?s sexual behavior, is of inestimable worth to God and that defending this principle is foundational in offering a Christian response to any issue,' reads a statement issued by the Board of Directors of Exodus International and its North American membership...

Federalism Restoration Amendment: Take 2

Posted on March 26, 2010
Randy Barnett has posted draft language at the Volokh Conspiracy.

Fired Christian counselor fights ruling

Posted on March 26, 2010
Christian Post: "Attorneys with a Christian legal firm plan to appeal a recent ruling against a Christian counselor who was laid off after she referred a lesbian to another counselor. 'A counselor who is a Christian shouldn?t lose her job for upholding the highest professional standards,' said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Brian Raum on Friday...

Oregon: Judge rules in favor of university in Liberty lawsuit

Posted on March 26, 2010
Student Press Law Center: "Lawyers for The Liberty, an independent publication at Oregon State University, filed a motion for reconsideration after a judge ruled in favor of the university in a lawsuit filed by the paper . . . Though lawyers for the Liberty filed a motion for immediate relief, which would have required the university to allow the newspaper to again be distributed on campus, it was withdrawn after the university amended its fixed bin policy and allowed the paper to distribute again, said [Heather Gebelin Hacker], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund representing the Liberty...

Illinois State Senate OKs school vouchers

Posted on March 26, 2010
Chicago Sun Times: "Parents with students in the lowest-performing elementary schools in Chicago could obtain vouchers to move their children into better-performing private schools under a plan that passed the Illinois Senate on Thursday."

Kansas: Lap dancing may grind to a halt

Posted on March 26, 2010
Topeka Capital-Journal: "Kansas House OKs bill keeping semi-nude dancers, clients 6 feet apart."

Marriage more stable than living together, Office for National Statistics finds

Posted on March 26, 2010
Telegraph: "Married couples are less likely to split up than those who live together, according to the Office for National Statistics."

SC county leaders to follow 2008 law on prayer

Posted on March 26, 2010
Charlotte Observer: "A 2008 law says government bodies can have a prayer by a designated chaplain, that members pray on "an objective and rotating basis" or that local religious leaders pray."

Anti-Law School Blogs Seek to Keep Others from Making ?Same Mistake We Did?

Posted on March 26, 2010
Bruce Carton writes at Legal Blog Watch: "It has taken me a while to realize the scope of this, but I now see that there is a good-sized army of young lawyers who have taken to the blogosphere with a common mission: to alert any wannabe lawyers out there to the futility of such a decision ...

Another Strategy for Fighting the Health Care Reform Law

Posted on March 26, 2010
Gary Palmer and Harold See write at the Alabama Policy Institute: "This past week, Congress passed a health care act that both supporters and opponents say will put control of important aspects of our lives in the hands of the federal government. It is a mistake to think the uproar is merely about a health care act...

Legislatures In Kan., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Advance Abortion-Related Bills

Posted on March 26, 2010
Medical News Today: "State legislatures in Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee recently acted on several abortion-related measures. Summaries appear below . . . "

Judge Voids City School Closings

Posted on March 26, 2010
NY Times: "A Manhattan judge on Friday reversed a city decision to close 19 schools for poor performance, ruling that education officials engaged in 'significant violations' of state education law and failed to follow proper process in closing the schools...

Kentucky could lose highway funds over ?Hell is Real? billboard

Posted on March 26, 2010
McClatchyDC.com: "Kentucky risks losing $42 million a year in federal transportation funds if lawmakers approve a billboard deregulation bill aimed at saving a 'Hell is real' sign along Interstate 65, according to federal officials . . ."

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