Religion & Law

Catholic Bishops: Politico Wrong on Its Position on Health Care Bill, Abortion

Posted on March 10, 2010
LifeNews: "A new reports earlier this week in the political web site Politico caused a stir in the pro-life movement. Politico's report made it appear the nation's Catholic bishops would lend their voice to the Senate health care bill should its provisions funding abortion be removed...

Quebec to ban religion in public daycares

Posted on March 10, 2010
CBC News: "Quebec will ban religious instruction in provincially funded daycare centres, Family Minister Tony Tomassi said Wednesday. Tomassi made the announcement just one day after saying he would not prevent daycare centres from teaching religious beliefs...

Hundreds protest Fairfax imam giving prayer in Virginia House tomorrow

Posted on March 10, 2010
Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog: "Hundreds of people are urging House of Delegates leaders to revoke an invitation to a Falls Church imam to give the prayer tomorrow, accusing him of condoning violence and defending the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks...

MD: Bill to require legislative approval for recognition of out-of-state same-sex ?marriages?

Posted on March 10, 2010
ABC: "A Maryland state senator has introduced a measure that would prohibit the state from recognizing gay marriages authorized elsewhere without legislative approval." SB 852

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Peru: Hospitals to resume free distribution of morning-after pills

Posted on March 10, 2010
Living in Peru: "Peru's Health Minister Oscar Ugarte announced that public hospitals will resume distributing the morning-after pill, since international research requested by his department concludes that the pill is not a method of abortion."

New Faces at the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission

Posted on March 10, 2010
The Blog of the Legal Times: "The D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission has a new executive director in Kim Whately, and she has announced that there are two new members of the commission."

Poland: Democratic Left Alliance ?seeks more rights for gay and unwed couples?

Posted on March 10, 2010
Warsaw Business Journal: "The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has said it wants unwed couples ? including both heterosexual and homosexual couples ? to be able to register to gain similar rights to married couples, allowing them to file tax returns together, leave inheritances to each other and take out joint credits...

Law school faculties 40% larger than 10 years ago

Posted on March 10, 2010
National Jurist: "The average law school increased its faculty size by 40 percent over the past 10 years, according to a study by The National Jurist to be released in late March. This increase in staffing accounts for 48 percent of the tuition increase from 1998 to 2008, the study shows...

How the Dutch came to consider euthanasia for those ?tired of living?

Posted on March 10, 2010
Joe Carter writing at First Things, On The Square: "Over a period of forty years, the Dutch have continued the search for where to draw the line with euthanasia, shifting from acceptance of voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill, to voluntary euthanasia for the chronically ill, to non-voluntary euthanasia for the sick and disabled, to euthanasia for those who are not sick at all but are merely 'suffering through living...

Global agency reconsiders `.xxx? for porn sites

Posted on March 10, 2010
AP: "A global Internet oversight agency is reopening discussions about whether to create a '.xxx' domain name as an online red-light district where porn sites can set up shop away from the wandering eyes of children and teenagers."

6th Circuit Finds Limits on Religious School?s Freedom to Fire

Posted on March 10, 2010
Tres Baldas writes at Law.com (National Law Journal): "Religious schools don't have a free pass to ignore a key federal employment law based on a 'ministerial exception.' At least not in the 6th Circuit . . . "

MS: Lesbian Fights To Take Girlfriend To Prom

Posted on March 09, 2010
WAPT.com: "High school senior Constance McMillen knows the rule: no same-sex date at the senior prom. But the lesbian is challenging the Itawamba County School District policy, and has enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union . . . "

Five Myths about Same Sex ?Marriage?

Posted on March 09, 2010
Janic Shaw Crouse writes at Concerned Women for America: "Let?s begin with the basic argument that people are 'born gay.' Apparently, activists are operating under the assumption that if they say this long enough, people will believe it. Yet the science is not there to substantiate their oft-stated premise that homosexuality is genetic and is immutable ...

?First openly gay U.S. House reading clerk relishes role?

Posted on March 09, 2010
DCAgenda: "And yet, [Joe] Novotny is making history simply by holding the job. The 34-year-old Chicago native is the first openly gay person to work as a reading clerk in the U.S. House . . . "

Texas judge declares death penalty unconstitutional

Posted on March 09, 2010
Dallas Morning News (AP): "A state district judge in Houston has granted a pretrial motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional, a decision that the Texas attorney general called 'an act of unabashed judicial activism.'"

NJ Polls: ?Attitudes about gay marriage mixed and largely fixed?

Posted on March 09, 2010
APP.com: "New Jersey polls over the past six years show that support for gay marriage has drifted between 41 and 50 percent. At the same time, opposition has hovered within a nearly identical 40 to 50 percent range."

Morocco expels Christian orphanage workers

Posted on March 09, 2010
Christianity Today: "Christian volunteers and foster parents at a Moroccan orphanage were forced to abandon dozens of children on Monday after they were accused of proselytising. Moroccan authorities raided Village of Hope and said they were expelling the 20 workers and parents...

ACLU FAQ: ?Marriage Recognition for Same-Sex Couples in Maryland?

Posted on March 09, 2010
The ACLU has issued this press release and FAQ About Marriage Recognition for Same-Sex Couples in Maryland.

Malta to join appeal against crucifixes decision

Posted on March 09, 2010
Times of Malta: "The Maltese government has asked to intervene in the hearings of the European Court of Human Rights which is considering an appeal filed by Italy against a decision to remove crucifixes from public places."

Denver Archbishop discusses denial of enrollment to children of same-sex couples

Posted on March 09, 2010
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput writing in the Denver Catholic Register: "The policies of our Catholic school system exist to protect all parties involved, including the children of homosexual couples and the couples themselves. Our schools are meant to be 'partners in faith' with parents...

UK: Cameron promises equal parental leave for homosexual couples

Posted on March 09, 2010
Chartered Management Institute: "Tory leader David Cameron has promised to make sure homosexual couples in civil partnerships will receive the same maternity and paternity leave as their heterosexual counterparts."

Safe Schools Czar ducks questions on past statements about homosexuality, says Department of Education won?t dictate curriculum

Posted on March 09, 2010
CNSNews: CNSNews.com asked Jennings 'about issues raised by congressional Republicans.' To that, Jennings responded, 'I?m not going to talk about that. Thank you . . . You can ask what you want, but I?m probably not going to answer it.' When asked if he thought the federal government should promote homosexual behavior as moral in public schools, Jennings stressed the limited authority of the Department of Education ...

WV Ultrasound Bill: Protecting Life = Potty Training

Posted on March 09, 2010
Jeremy Dys writes at the Engage Family Blog of the Family Policy Council of WV: "Last night, the Health Committee of the House of Delegates advanced this year?s pro-life bill (SB 597) after the defeat of numerous amendments that were merely desperate attempts by pro-abortion lawmakers to derail the measure...

9th US missionary freed in Haiti, returns home

Posted on March 09, 2010
Findlaw (AP): "A U.S. missionary held for more than a month in Haiti on kidnapping charges flew back to the United States after being released from prison, while the leader of her Baptist group remained in custody . . . Defense lawyer Louis Ricardo Chachoute said Coulter was released because there was no evidence to support the charges of kidnapping and criminal association...

Justice Scalia Suggests that the Legal Academy is Out of Touch: Is He Right?

Posted on March 09, 2010
Michael C. Dorf writes at Findlaw: "Justice Scalia was simply injecting a bit of comic relief into a tense oral argument, but underneath his joke was a more serious charge, one that he and other judges have made repeatedly for some years now. They complain that law professors produce scholarship that has no practical value to judges who must resolve hard cases...

Google?s Computing Power Refines Translation Tool

Posted on March 09, 2010
NY Times: ?This technology can make the language barrier go away,? said Franz Och, a principal scientist at Google who leads the company?s machine translation team. ?It would allow anyone to communicate with anyone else.? Related: ZDNet: Google Chrome gets instant language translation, privacy settings

Same-Sex Couples Begin Saying ?I Do? in Washington

Posted on March 09, 2010
FoxNews: "Dozens of same-sex couples made a historic walk down the aisle in Washington Tuesday as gay marriage became legal in the nation's capital."

Nancy Pelosi?s grip on House slips

Posted on March 09, 2010
Politico: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not accustomed to the word she?s been hearing far more frequently in recent days: 'no.'"

Canadian PM Backpedals on Proposal to Change National Anthem over Gender

Posted on March 09, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The short-lived proposal to bow to political correctness and exclude the word 'sons' from Canada's national anthem has come to an abrupt end."

Scottish law firm set to provide Sharia advice

Posted on March 09, 2010
Christian Institute: "A Scottish law firm has become the first in the country to offer clients advice on Sharia law alongside its conventional legal services. The controversial service, offered by Glasgow based Hamilton Burns solicitors, allows clients to receive guidance from both a Muslim lawyer fully trained in Scottish law and a Sharia scholar...

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