Religion & Law

Maine woman pleads guilty to pornography charge

Posted on February 24, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "A 31-year-old Mars Hill woman is facing up to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge of production of pornography."

California: Mom must share custody with ex lesbian partner

Posted on February 24, 2010
"In a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, a Bay Area woman has won the right to parental status and visits with the daughter of her former lesbian partner, who moved out when the girl was 3 months old."

WV: House Dems shoot down marriage amendment

Posted on February 24, 2010
Charleston Gazette: "Democrats in the House of Delegates on Tuesday swiftly shot down Republican attempts to advance a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage."

Apple creating ?explicit? category for App Store

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Unofficial Apple Weblog: "After all of the kerfuffle earlier this week about Apple shutting down racy apps in the App Store, it appears that the company might be creating a special place for all of that suggestive and sexy content."

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U.K. Religious Schools Forced to Promote Abortion, Homosexuality under Sex-Ed Bill

Posted on February 24, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Britain?s Labour government clarified this week that an amendment to the Children, Schools and Families bill, that says faith schools may teach the mandatory Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) program 'in a way that reflects the school?s religious character,' does not, in fact, give the schools freedom to oppose abortion, contraception and homosexual activity on moral grounds...

Political gaps strain churches

Posted on February 24, 2010
The American Spectator: "In a society already ideologically polarized, many believers go to church in hopes of a respite from conflict. But recent surveys show similar political disparities straining the Christian community. There are huge gaps in political affiliation between clergy and laity, especially in the oldline Protestant denominations...

Oregon Legislature About to Repeal Statute Barring Wearing of Religious Dress by Public School Teachers

Posted on February 24, 2010
Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: . . . Prof. Howard Friedman (Religion Clause) reports that, ?According to the Oregonian, yesterday by a vote of 21?9 Oregon?s state Senate approved House Bill 3686 repealing an 87-year old ban on teachers wearing religious dress in the classroom...

The Future of Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on February 24, 2010
Dale Carpenter reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: "That?s the title of a symposium to be held this Friday at the University of San Francisco School of Law."

Disability advocates testify at MA hearing on assisted suicide bill

Posted on February 24, 2010
Not Dead Yet: "Yesterday, in spite of short notice and a long delay in the start of the hearing, disability advocates testified in opposition to a bill that would legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts." [post includes video]

UK: Children and schools bill passes final stages in Commons

Posted on February 24, 2010
UK Parliament: "The Commons passed the report stage and third reading of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, which now moves into the Lords. The Bill aims to provide guarantees for parents and pupils, setting out what they are entitled to expect from the schools system...

New USCIRF Executive Director Named

Posted on February 24, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The new top staff person is Jackie Wolcott, ambassador to the United Nations Security Council in the George W. Bush administration . . . "

European Human Rights Court Says Turkey Violated Rights In Conviction For Clothing

Posted on February 24, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The European Court of Human Rights yesterday held that Turkey violated Art. 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights when it convicted members of a religious group known as Aczimendi tarikat˙ for the clothing they wore...

Report Urges More US Religious Engagement In Foreign Policy

Posted on February 24, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The Chicago Council on Global Affairs yesterday released a task force report titled Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy . . . The report includes a dissent and response among task force members on whether the Establishment Clause imposes restrictions on the way the U...

SC: Court Upholds Application of Noise Ordinance To Church

Posted on February 24, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "Atlantic Beach, South Carolina police ticketed the CME Mission Church for broadcasting its religious services into the surrounding neighborhood by means of a loud speaker system, after complaints by surrounding businesses and residents...

Florida: Police eye porn suspect in child?s slaying

Posted on February 24, 2010
CNN: "A man authorities want to question in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl, whose body was dumped in a landfill, appeared in a Florida court Wednesday on child pornography charges after being extradited from Mississippi."

Further Legal Action Being Explored in Swedish Homeschooling Case

Posted on February 24, 2010
HSLDA: "In what is becoming an increasingly tragic situation, Christer and Annie Johansson are still separated from their 7-year-old son, Dominic, who remains in the custody of Swedish social services, where he has been since June . . . HSLDA and the Alliance Defense Fund are jointly advising the family and exploring all available avenues to help reunite Dominic with his family...

CNN Poll: ?69% OK with gays in the military?

Posted on February 24, 2010
CNN Politics: "Support for allowing gays in the military is much higher among Democrats than Republicans, but the policy wins support from a majority of Republicans as well. More than eight in ten Democrats say that gays should be allowed to serve; 62 of Republicans and 63 percent of Independents agree with that view...

Obama Administration Proposes Expanding Embryonic Stem Cell Research Further

Posted on February 24, 2010
David Prentice writes at LifeNews: "Last Friday the National Institutes of Health announced that they were proposing a 'technical change' in their Guidelines for destruction of human embryos, a.k.a. Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research."

Melanie Phillips: Mr. Balls?s secular Inquisition

Posted on February 24, 2010
Melanie Phillips writing in the Spectator: "Indeed, the real significance of this appalling piece of legislation [the Children Schools and Families Bill] goes far beyond this particular row over this amendment, and far beyond the particular difficulties to be faced by faith schools and the ludicrous hoops through which they are now expected to jump...

Obama zeros in on law professor for 9th Circuit post

Posted on February 24, 2010
LA Times: "UC Berkeley's Goodwin Liu will be nominated to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, The Times has learned. Though he will face opposition from conservatives, he has admirers in that camp as well."

Uzbekistan: Threats, raids and violence against religious believers

Posted on February 24, 2010
Forum 18: "Three members of the unregistered Greater Grace Protestant Church have been given heavy fines in Samarkand in central Uzbekistan, Forum 18 News Service has learned."

?Gay Discrimination Bill Will Stifle Free Speech, Advance ?Homosexual Agenda,? Critics Say?

Posted on February 24, 2010
Fox News: "A bill in Congress that would prohibit discrimination in public schools based on sexual orientation or gender identity could stifle free speech and even lead to "homosexual indoctrination" in the nation's classrooms, critics say."

Maryland AG Opinion: ?State?s high court likely to rule in favor of same-sex marriages recognition?

Posted on February 24, 2010
"A long-awaited opinion by Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) out Wednesday morning concludes that the state's highest court is likely to rule at some point that same-sex marriages performed in other states are valid in Maryland."

Coloradans May Get Tax Break for School Choice

Posted on February 24, 2010
Citizen Link: "A Colorado bill could give home school or private school families a tax credit the state would have spent on that child in a public school. The Colorado Legislature is considering the Quality Education and Budget Reduction Act, House Bill 1295 ...

Pentagon lifts ban on women in submarines, some want to lift combat ban

Posted on February 24, 2010
"The Pentagon said on Tuesday it is moving ahead with plans to end the U.S. military's ban on allowing women to serve in submarines."

UK: Sexually Confused

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Guardian: ". . . faith schools can continue preaching that contraception, abortion and homosexuality are wrong or sinful, even though sex and relationships education (SRE) ? which will be a compulsory part of the curriculum ? is supposed to promote equality, diversity and tolerance...

Oregon: Ashland clinic will offer medication-induced abortions

Posted on February 24, 2010
MailTribune: "Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon plans to offer medication-induced abortions at its clinics in Ashland and Eugene beginning sometime in March."

Focus Founder to Step Aside After Three Decades

Posted on February 24, 2010
Citizen Link: "Dr. James Dobson, founder and former chairman of Focus on the Family, is stepping down 33 years after he began the organization that has helped countless families."

WI: Med students? studies a violation of state law?

Posted on February 24, 2010
OneNewsNow: "Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) obtained records concerning the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Virginia Zignego, communications director for Pro-Life Wisconsin, explains what they discovered. 'The UW Medical School has been taking students over to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to do two, four-week rotations there, and at this rotation, the students view and participate in abortions,' she reports...

Supreme Court settles corporate jurisdiction debate

Posted on February 24, 2010
National Law Journal: "Court unanimously rules that a corporation's principal place of business is where the company's executives work, not where the company's products are sold."

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