Religion & Law

ACLU of Iowa investigates Christmas display at Winnebago County courthouse

Posted on March 19, 2010
WQAD.com (AP): "It's investigating whether officials violated the Constitution by displaying the Nativity scene for more than three months."

UK: Christian foster parents punished when their foster child converts from Islam

Posted on March 19, 2010
Christians feel their freedoms are being eroded bit by bit and the government's reaction to a Muslim girl's conversion to Christianity is one example . . . When the girl decided she wanted to be baptized in a church, government officials said the foster parent failed in her duty to preserve the girl's religion ...

UK: Court backs £400,000 payout for head teacher forced to quit over ?Islamophobia?

Posted on March 19, 2010
Times Online: "A headmistress forced from her job after a campaign by two Muslim governors to give Islam a greater presence in a state school is entitled to £400,000 damages, the Court of Appeal has ruled. Erica Connor, 57, left the New Monument primary school in Woking, Surrey, because of stress after she was accused of Islamophobia...

Ruling on brothel ads spurs appeal: ACLU wants rehearing on restoration of restrictions

Posted on March 19, 2010
Leagle.com: "An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has decided to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a recent decision that restores the state's restrictions on brothel advertising." Related: 9th Circuit: Nevada has right to ban brothel advertising

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France: High Council of Integration suggests limits on religious expression in public space

Posted on March 19, 2010
la Croix: "The High Council for Integration shall make proposals aimed at extending the regime of neutrality of public space. Prohibit elected to wear a sign or religious dress in the deliberative public bodies. Prohibit mothers who wear the veil to accompany students during a school outing...

Kenya: Churches back down on abortion stance

Posted on March 19, 2010
Daily Nation: "Churches softened their position on the abortion clause in the draft constitution yesterday, averting a showdown with MPs opposed to any amendments to the document. The church leaders, who had vowed to mobilise their flock to reject the draft constitution if abortion was not outlawed, agreed to an amendment proposed by Pubic Health Minister Beth Mugo providing that expectant women can get emergency treatment if their lives are threatened...

Bill Would Make Obama?s International Taxpayer Funding of Abortions Permanent

Posted on March 19, 2010
LifeNews: "[Rep. Nita Lowey] The new York Democrat and prominent abortion activist in the House has unveiled new legislation designed to make permanent Obama's executive order revoking the Mexico City Policy."

Malawi churches: Same sex acts ?sinful,? Western nations should stop threatening aid withdrawal

Posted on March 19, 2010
Boston Globe: "Malawi church leaders say that homosexuality is 'sinful' and urge Western nations to withdraw threats to halt aid to this southern Africa country over a court case that could send two gay men to jail for up to 14 years."

VP Biden Says Obama Plans to ?Control Insurance Companies?

Posted on March 19, 2010
Chicago Now: "Tapper asked VP Biden what he'd been hearing from the members of the Democrat Congress that are vulnerable over this healthcare debate and Biden's reply let slip the administrations ultimate goal; full government control of the insurance industry ...

Pelosi puts the heat on undecided N.Y. Dem, latest vote counts

Posted on March 19, 2010
The Hill reports and provides the latest vote count estimates.

General David Petraeus tipped as Republican 2012 presidential candidate

Posted on March 19, 2010
Telegraph: "Speculation is mounting that Gen David Petraeus could run as the Republican presidential candidate in 2012."

Nudity concerns in Colo. town prompting new rules

Posted on March 19, 2010
Boston Globe: "In response to neighborhood reports of a topless gardener, the housing authority in a Colorado town plans to amend its rules so that tenants cover up when they're outside."

Architect of Betrayal?: WH Exposes Obama as Provocateur of Catholic Dissention

Posted on March 19, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed to reporters today that President Barack Obama actively promoted the Catholic Health Association's public break with the American Catholic bishops to support his health care legislation ...

Victory: UK Catholic Adoption Agency Wins Right to Refuse Homosexual Couples

Posted on March 19, 2010
The case stems from legislation by the Labour government, the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) of the Equality Act, that force all services, businesses and charities to consider homosexuality a category especially protected from 'discrimination'.

Third World Women Don?t Want Contraceptives, Expert Tells Canadian Politicians

Posted on March 19, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "'The existing programs of family planning are imposing Western views on people who have a different view of life and very different desires for family size,' he said. The approach taken by such groups as UNFPA and Planned Parenthood is 'contraceptive imperialism,' according to Mosher, 'exporting the mentality of Manhattan ...

Rescuing Frozen Embryos: Is Adoption a Valid Moral Option?

Posted on March 19, 2010
E. Christian Brugger writes at the Culture of Life Foundation:  ". . . as of 2003 the estimated number of frozen embryos at IVF clinics in the United States was approximately 400,000.[1] I add that that number increases annually by approximately 19,000 [2], which puts estimates in 2010 at between 500,000 and 600,000 frozen human embryos...

AL: Alexandria HS stops morning prayers after student complains

Posted on March 18, 2010
The Anniston Star: "The Christian influence at Alexandria High School is visible, but as of this week it's a little less overt. There, brightly colored flyers printed with Bible verses hang on the walls, weekly Bible studies are held before class begins and, until recently, prayers were spoken over the school's intercom system...

CA: Fresno City plans action against instructor who ?presented religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in a health class?

Posted on March 18, 2010
Fresno Bee: "Fresno City College officials said they plan to take action against an instructor accused of presenting religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in a health class. But school officials declined to say what action they will take. In a March 8 letter to three students who complained, the school said its investigation found that instructor Bradley Lopez violated district policy and engaged in conduct that could create a hostile learning environment...

Nigeria: Muslim attackers kill 12 in latest fighting

Posted on March 18, 2010
Associated Press: "Attackers killed 12 people Wednesday morning in a small Christian village in central Nigeria, officials said, cutting out most of the victims' tongues in the latest violence in a region where religious fighting already has killed hundreds this year...

Turkey: Discrimination will be banned, draft law says

Posted on March 18, 2010
Hurriyet Daily News: "A board to prevent discrimination is going to be founded according to a draft law that the Interior Ministry completed recently under the government?s move for democratization, the daily Milliyet reported Wednesday. The draft law identifies nine different types of discrimination which are a person?s gender, race, language, religion, ethnicity, sexual identity, social status, marital status, political views, health situation, age and disability status...

NY: Schuylerville moves forward with SOB zoning

Posted on March 18, 2010
The Post-Star: "The proposal designates three residential and three commercial districts - each allowing different levels of development. There would also be one educational district, which contains the Schuylerville Central School, and a 'riverfront recreational district,' which runs along the western edge of the Hudson River...

India: Gov?t given time to bend adoption law for German couple

Posted on March 18, 2010
SIFY News: "A bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly gave the government more time as it failed to submit an affidavit stating its stand on the issue. German national John Balaz and his wife had pleaded that they were willing to adopt the twins in India itself as birth through a surrogate mother was illegal in their country...

GOP loses effort to force direct vote on healthcare

Posted on March 18, 2010
AP: "Republicans have lost an effort to force House Democrats to hold a direct vote on the health overhaul bill."

About Jordan Lorence

Posted on March 18, 2010
________________ ABOUT Jordan Lorence Jordan Lorence serves as senior counsel and senior vice-president of the Office of Strategic Initiatives for the Alliance Defense Fund at its Washington, D.C., Regional Service Center. He has litigated religious liberty, free speech, and marriage cases across the nation since 1984...

About Matt Bowman

Posted on March 18, 2010
Matt Bowman serves as legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its Washington, D.C., Regional Service Center, where he is a key member of the Life Litigation Project to protect the sanctity of human life. Before joining ADF in 2006, Bowman clerked for several federal judges at the U...

Matt Bowman: $11 Billion buys a lot of abortions

Posted on March 18, 2010
"The Department of Health and Human Services could use President Obama's $11 Billion to give away, for free, every abortion performed in America, and they would still have $10.4 Billion dollars left over."

Delaware lawmakers question child porn bill

Posted on March 18, 2010
WJZ13: "Members of a state Senate panel expressed serious concerns Wednesday about a bill being pushed by the attorney general's office that would allow civil lawsuits for possession of child pornography. The bill proposed by Attorney General Beau Biden is intended to expose purveyors of child pornography to civil liability to victims of child exploitation...

Anti-abortion Democrat Kildee says he will vote yes on health care bill

Posted on March 18, 2010
Washington Post, 44 Blog: "Anti-abortion forces who oppose President Obama's health-care overhaul suffered a significant defection Wednesday when Rep Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.) announced that he would vote in favor of the proposal."

CLS Case could affect next Supreme Court Nomination

Posted on March 18, 2010
"A case the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up over a Christian group's challenge to UC Hastings College of the Law's nondiscrimination policy for student groups could end up influencing the political debate over a possible vacancy on the court this summer...

Judge Frowns on Request for California Bar Data

Posted on March 18, 2010
Mike McKee writes at the Recorder: "A law professor's long-proposed study about affirmative action's effect on bar exams' pass rates has encountered another obstacle. In a tentative opinion released last week, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow deflated UCLA School of Law professor Richard Sander's plans by finding that the documents he seeks -- California State Bar historical data on past bar exams -- don't fall within the scope of documents traditionally subject to public disclosure...

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