Religion & Law

Christians Face 1,000 Attacks in 500 Days in Karnataka, India

Posted on March 23, 2010
Christian Post: "Minority Christians in southern Karnataka state are under an unprecedented wave of Christian persecution, having faced more than 1,000 attacks in 500 days, according to an independent investigation by a former judge of the Karnataka High Court...

Ala. high school students visit superintendent?s office, ask return of school praye

Posted on March 23, 2010
WHNT.com (AP): "About a dozen Alexandria High School students went to the Calhoun County School Board office to deliver a message that they want weekly prayer and daily Bible reading resumed over their school's public address system . . . "

Neugebauer refuses Stupak?s call to apologize on House floor for ?baby killer? remark

Posted on March 23, 2010
ReporterNews.com: "U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak during a CBS News interview today called on Abilene Congressman Randy Neugebauer ? who admittedly yelled ?it?s a baby killer? while Stupak was addressing the House on Sunday night ? to apologize from the floor of the House of Representatives to the entire body...

Costa Rica: Religious education consultants criticize efforts to remove religion course from schools

Posted on March 23, 2010
CNA: "Regional superintendents of Religious Education in Costa Rica are denouncing suggestions to remove Catholic education courses from public schools following a ruling by Costa Rica?s Constitutional court. The recent decision stripped the Church's right to choose which religion teachers are hired in Costa Rican schools...

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Poll: nearly half of U.S. voters favor states suing the feds over healthcare plan

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Desert Sun: "Roughly 49 percent agree states should sue, while 37 percent oppose the suits. Fourteen percent are undecided, according to a national survey by Rasmussen Reports released today."

Steven H. Aden: The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Posted on March 23, 2010
ADF Attorney Steve Aden, writing at The Federalist Society: "[I]t is a significant burden on a religious organization to require it, on pain of substantial liability, to predict which of its activities a secular court will consider religious. The line is hardly a bright one, and an organization might understandably be concerned that a judge would not understand its religious tenets and sense of mission...

Pakistani Christian girl enslaved by police officer, burned alive

Posted on March 23, 2010
Catholic Culture: ?The girl had been enslaved by a woman, Sama, a ?dealer? of youth sold as prostitutes or slaves to wealthy Muslim families," according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples."

US: China should reflect on Google retreat

Posted on March 23, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): ". . . Beijing 'should seriously consider the implications when one of the world's most recognizable institutions has decided that it's too difficult to do business in China.'"

Group seeks fight with IRS?to overturn pulpit ?censorship?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Florida Baptist Witness: "The Alliance Defense Fund is recruiting pastors willing to pick a fight with the Internal Revenue Service in order to overturn a 55-year-old law it believes is resulting in unconstitutional pulpit 'censorship' . . . 'This is the only place where federal law is allowed to restrict the speech of an individual after the fact, instead of telling you beforehand when the law is violated,' [Erik Stanley] said of IRS regulations about the Johnson Amendment...

NY: Kingsborough Community College flips, backs pro-life free speech

Posted on March 23, 2010
LifeNews: "A student told he could not distribute a pro-life newsletter on the campus of Kingsborough Community College will be allowed to do so as a result of a letter sent to the school by the Alliance Defense Fund [ADF News Release] . . . [Travis Barham] added: 'In this case, campus security officers and several administrators tried to stop a student from passing out pro-life fliers even though no campus policy prohibited him from doing so...

ACLU Will Appeal Order To Turn Over Campaign Documents In Prop 8 Challenge

Posted on March 23, 2010
ACLU: "Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Monday that the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality California must turn over campaign documents, including internal e-mails and memos regarding efforts to overturn Prop 8, even though the groups are not parties to the legal challenge brought by Ted Olson and David Boies seeking to strike down the discriminatory ordinance ...

MS: Judge rules against lesbian teen in prom flap

Posted on March 23, 2010
"A federal judge says he won't force a Mississippi school district to hold a prom canceled after a lesbian student asked to bring her girlfriend . . ."

Pro-Life Germans March for Life in Munster

Posted on March 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "On Saturday afternoon March 13, a silent prayer march set off in the German town of Münster, a city of 280,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia close to the Dutch border and a resort of 40,000 students."

German Homeschooling Family Seeks Asylum in Canada

Posted on March 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A German homeschooling family is seeking asylum in Canada after fleeing their native country due to persecution, reports the Globe and Mail."

Means to undo Obama care and the likelihood of success in the courts

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Volokh Conspiracy carries several posts today that discuss ways to kill Obamacare and the likelihood of success for lawsuits challenging individual mandates.

NY: Strip club owner pleads guilty to running prostitution ring

Posted on March 23, 2010
NY Daily News: "A Manhattan lawyer pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a hooker ring out of a Midtown jiggle joint and was barred from working in - or even going to - strip clubs for five years."

Catholic Vote Action: Stupak Decision ?Unconscionable?

Posted on March 22, 2010
?The Stupak-Obama purported fix also sets the stage for a new front in presidential politics that will further politicize the abortion issue. The decision over taxpayer funding for abortion and critical conscience protections now rests with President Obama, Kathleen Sebelius, and future presidents...

Schlafly: Health Care Vote Set to Expose the Myth of the ?Pro-Life Democrat?

Posted on March 22, 2010
"It is naive for any elected official, especially one who describes himself as 'pro-life,' to expect that a promise to issue an Executive Order that reasserts the intentions of the Hyde Amendment will be fulfilled by the most pro-abortion president to ever sit in the White House ...

House Passes Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care Bill After Executive Order Deal

Posted on March 22, 2010
But, pro-life groups unanimously opposed the executive order saying they don't trust Obama and that technically it will fail in its attempt to stop the legislation's abortion funding. They say an executive order can't modify federal law and that abortions will be funded regardless of the content of the executive order.

Democrats worried about Republicans? motion to recommit on Stupak language

Posted on March 22, 2010
"Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said House leaders are specifically concerned about a Republican motion to recommit that would contain only language on abortion that Stupak originally had wanted to include in the Senate bill."

Senate Fight Starts: GOP Says Senate Parliamentarian Will Kill Fix-Its Bill

Posted on March 22, 2010
"Senate Republicans say they can get the whole package of reconciliation fixes ? the fix-its that make the Senate plan palatable to House Democrats - thrown out with a trump card procedural motion. And they say Democrats are slow-walking a decision from the parliamentarian until the House passes the Senate bill...

The Scandal of Natural Law

Posted on March 22, 2010
This is a test post

Texas Republican says he shouted ?baby killer?

Posted on March 22, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer acknowledged Monday that he is the lawmaker who shouted out "baby killer" during a floor speech by Rep. Bart Stupak . . . Neugebauer insisted in a statement that he was not referring directly to Stupak but to the agreement that the Michigan Democrat helped work out with the White House...

Beijing tightens controls over religious groups, now required to declare each financial transaction

Posted on March 22, 2010
Spero News (AsiaNews): "China?s State Religious Affairs Administration has issued new, more restrictive financial accounting rules for religious organisations. For experts, the new regulations give the authorities more tools to limit the latter?s activities...

Va. attorney general to sue over health-reform law

Posted on March 22, 2010
WVEC.com: "Cuccinelli said in a statement Monday that his office plans to file its complaint in U.S. District Court as soon as President Barack Obama signs the measure into law."

Buggery charges pending against Malawi ?couple?

Posted on March 22, 2010
The Malaysian Insider: "A Malawi gay couple facing charges of buggery and indecency after getting engaged in a traditional ceremony late last year have a case to answer, a magistrate court ruled today . . . "

Law Review: Euthanasia in Belgium Five Years after Legalisation

Posted on March 22, 2010
Penney J. Lewis, Euthanasia in Belgium Five Years after Legalisation (January 9, 2009). European Journal of Health Law, Vol. 16, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1573667 | "In 2002, Belgium became the second country to legalise euthanasia after the Netherlands...

Virginia: Courts, schools hit with sexting

Posted on March 22, 2010
The Roanoke Times: "Increases have been small -- and it's difficult to pin down an exact number because so few actually get to court -- but prosecutors say sexting cases are becoming more prevalent in court systems around the Roanoke region."

Gallup: Underemployment Hits 20% in Mid-March

Posted on March 22, 2010
Gallup: "Gallup's underemployment measure hit 20.0% on March 15 -- up from 19.7% two weeks earlier and 19.5% at the start of the year . . . Gallup classifies Americans as underemployed if they are unemployed or working part-time but wanting full-time work...

Canadian University threatens Ann Coulter with hate speech laws

Posted on March 22, 2010
National Post: "Francois Houle, vice-president academic and provost, advises Ms. Coulter, who holds a law degree, to review Canada's hate speech and defamation laws before giving her talk at the university."

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