Religion & Law

Ex-Gilbert mayor to defy code with ?illegal prayer session?

Posted on March 16, 2010
Arizona Republic: "Former Mayor Steve Berman says he'll hold an 'illegal prayer session' at his Gilbert home next Monday, in defiance of a town code that bans religious assemblies in private homes . . . Last week the Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale-based religious legal group, appealed to the Planning Commission to overturn a provision in the zoning code that prohibited church meetings inside residences ...

Pay-per-view porn? Not for MN state employees

Posted on March 16, 2010
Associated Press: "A bill slated for a House committee Wednesday would prevent state workers from booking at in-state hotels or meeting facilities that provide their customers with pornographic materials on demand because many link sex with violence. The companion legislation has been moving through the Senate...

Matt Bowman: $11 Billion for ?community health centers? that won?t promote abortion? Don?t bet on it.

Posted on March 16, 2010
"Last week the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) assured the public that its centers don't intend to perform abortions. NACHC's intentions, however, should be viewed with scrutiny."

NJ court: Tea party bid to oust senator must wait

Posted on March 16, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "A New Jersey appeals court has put on hold a conservative tea party group's effort to throw a Democratic U.S. senator out of office."

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?Universities May Deny Funding To Student Clubs That Discriminate, Groups Tell High Court?

Posted on March 16, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "Public colleges and universities should have the constitutional right to deny funding and official recognition to student clubs that engage in religious discrimination, a trio of religious and civil liberties groups has told the Supreme Court...

Federal Courts Move Toward More Public Access

Posted on March 16, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "At its closed-door meeting at the Supreme Court today, the Judicial Conference approved measures aimed at making federal court documents and courtroom audio recordings more widely available and at lower cost. The conference, the policy-making arm of the federal judiciary, voted to increase the number of documents members of the public can obtain free through the PACER system ...

Arizona: Gilbert ordinance bans home Bible studies

Posted on March 15, 2010
Persecution Blog: "Here's an interesting and troubling story coming from Arizona. According to the report the legal organization, The Alliance Defense Fund, has taken up the case and it is expected that this ordinance will be overturned. The question I have is why was this even made an ordinance in the first place...

RC bishops slam Irish Civil Partnership Bill

Posted on March 15, 2010
Christian Institute: "Ireland?s Civil Partnership Bill is an 'extraordinary' attack on freedom of conscience and religion, Irish Roman Catholic bishops have said. Speaking at a press conference three Irish bishops said the Bill 'represents a fundamental revolution in our understanding of marriage and the family and cannot go unchallenged...

UK: David Cameron pledges support for faith schools

Posted on March 15, 2010
The Christian Institute: "David Cameron has pledged his support for faith schools and has indicated that a Conservative government would oversee an increase in their numbers."

PA: Public hearing tonight about West Carson Street strip club

Posted on March 15, 2010
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh City Council is scheduled to host a public meeting from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Onala Club, 1625 West Carson Street, to allow residents to voice their opinions about a proposed strip club in the community."

?Gay couples find surrogate mothers in India?

Posted on March 15, 2010
Montreal Gazette: "Commercial surrogacy is a booming industry in India, and in recent years the ranks of childless foreign couples have been swelled by gay partners looking for a low-cost, legally-friendly path to parenthood."

Mixed-gender dorm rooms are gaining acceptance

Posted on March 15, 2010
LA Times: "About 50 schools in the U.S., including a few Ivy League campuses and several in California, are allowing men and women to room together. Participation is still relatively low."

Internet pornography has social costs

Posted on March 15, 2010
NJ.com: "[An] exemplary new report to be issued tomorrow by the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton called "The Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations." Very ably authored by Mary Eberstadt and Mary Anne Layden, this report is a careful reflection on the consequences of the deluge of internet pornography...

Ruling expected in Ill. abortion notification case

Posted on March 15, 2010
KWQC (AP): "A judge in Chicago expects to rule March 29 on whether to lift a temporary restraining order on a long-debated Illinois law that requires a teenage girl's parents to be told before she has an abortion."

Portugal same-sex ?marriage? bill forwarded to Constitutional Court

Posted on March 15, 2010
OnTopMag (?gay advocacy website?): "Portugal President Anibal Cavaco Silva has forwarded a gay marriage bill approved by Parliamentarians to the nation's Constitutional Court, Lisbon's Diario de Noticias reported. Cavaco Silva asked the court to review the constitutionality of 4 out of 5 of the bill's articles...

University of Wisconsin spends $59K to train students to learn doing abortions

Posted on March 15, 2010
LifeNews: "More documents a pair of pro-life groups have uncovered using freedom of Information Act requests show the University of Wisconsin may be illegally funding internships for medical students at abortion centers. The new documents obtained via an open records request by Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Alliance Defense Fund reveal that, since 2007, UW has spent more than $58,878 paying for abortion training...

VA: Specialty plates touting right to abortion advance to governor

Posted on March 15, 2010
The Virginian-Pilot: "It's now up to Gov. Bob McDonnell whether Virginia abortion-rights advocates will be able to proclaim their viewpoint on their license plates."

USCCB Reiterates Opposition to Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill

Posted on March 15, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has again weighed in against the health care reform bill approved by the Senate (H.R. 3590) due to 'serious flaws on abortion and conscience rights.' In a bulletin insert updated on Thursday for release in parishes the following Sunday ...

University of Wisconsin paying to train future abortionists at Planned Parenthood

Posted on March 15, 2010
Pro-Life Wisconsin: "The results of an open records request by Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Alliance Defense Fund reveal that since 2007, more than $58,878 of funds of a state agency have gone to train future abortionists at Planned Parenthood."

EEOC Concludes Company Should Have Reasonably Accommodated Employee?s Felt Religious Obligation to Wear a Headscarf

Posted on March 15, 2010
Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: "According to the Complaint in EEOC v. Pollard Agency, filed last week, the Pollard Agency fired an employee for 'wearing a headscarf to cover her hair, which is a sincerely held religious belief as required by her faith...

How Many Rounds of Edits Are Best, and What Kinds, for Law Review Publications?

Posted on March 15, 2010
Orin Kerr writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: "The process of publishing a law review article usually involves rounds of edits . . . Journal editors and authors alike sometimes wonder, what?s the best number and type of rounds of edits? This is a particularly tricky question for student editors because normally they are only on their journal for two years...

IN: Butler rejects U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts as commencement speaker

Posted on March 15, 2010
IndyStar.com: "If U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts comes to his niece's graduation at Butler University, it won't be as the commencement speaker. A student-led proposal to invite Roberts, an Indiana native whose niece is in Butler's senior class, to speak at Butler's May 8 graduation was shot down by faculty members...

Bill would ban embryo sales, human-animal ?hybrids?

Posted on March 15, 2010
AZ Republic: "A bill working its way through the state Legislature sounds like a science-fiction novel, with its wording to prevent the creation of 'human-animal hybrids.'"

D.C. bill would outlaw sex between teachers, students

Posted on March 15, 2010
Washington Post: "In the District, it's not illegal for a public school teacher to have sex with a student who is older than 16, the age of consent in the city . . . The bill, sponsored by D.C. Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), stems from concerns by Schools Chancellor Michelle A...

LA: Court Says Non-Custodial Parent May Share Religion With Child

Posted on March 15, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In D.R.S. v. L.E.K., (LA App., March 10, 2010), a Louisiana state appellate court held that a parent holding court-awarded custody of a child generally may not shield the child from exposure to the non-custodial parent's religious beliefs ...

NY: Boiler Plate AG Endorsement of Church Property Sale Found Insufficient

Posted on March 15, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "A New York trial court has rejected the apparently routine method by which the state Attorney General's office gives its statutorily required consent to the sale of real property by non-profit religious corporations. The New York Religious Corporations Law, Sec...

After Stevens

Posted on March 15, 2010
Ever since last fall, when it emerged that Stevens had hired only one law clerk for the next year, instead of his customary four, there has been growing speculation that he will soon retire . . .

Ariz. town bans church from in-home meetings

Posted on March 15, 2010
CBN News: "The city of Gilbert shut down the church after a city employee spotted signs for it in the neighborhood . . . 'We hope the City of Gilbert will recognize that this is a bad law on the books, and will repeal it or rewrite it to protect people's rights in their own home to practice their faith,' Napier said...

Town?s ban on religious gatherings in homes appealed

Posted on March 15, 2010
WMAZ (AP): "A Christian advocacy group says a zoning code in Gilbert, Ariz., that bars religious assemblies in private homes is unconstitutional . . . The Alliance Defense Fund has filed an appeal, warning the town that its code violates the U.S. Constitution...

Terminate all religious meetings, but not your MNF parties

Posted on March 15, 2010
Ian Pringle writing at The Daily Caller: "The town [of Gilbert] ordered Pastor Sutherland, of Oasis of Truth Church, to 'terminate all religious meetings . . . regardless of their size, nature or frequency . . . As the Alliance Defense Fund put it, 'this ban is defended based upon traffic, parking, and building safety concerns...

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