Religion & Law

Obama Pro-Abortion Health Care Reconciliation Bill Expected Monday, Then Summit

Posted on February 19, 2010
LifeNews: "Democrats in Washington are continuing to push for the controversial reconciliation strategy to railroad the pro-abortion government-run health care bill through Congress."

Just Like Everyone: Inclusiveness efforts seek to make GLBT lawyers?and all others?feel at home

Posted on February 19, 2010
ABA Journal: "Though many legal employers decline to address GLBT issues, a growing number are joining the inclusiveness movement . . . The difference between diversity and inclusiveness isn?t semantic. It marks a significant change in the approach toward GLBT and other minority employees...

Virginia Governor?s New Equal Opportunity Order Eliminates Sexual Orientation Protection

Posted on February 19, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed Executive Order No. 6 on Equal Opportunity in all facets of state government, superseding an Equal Opportunity executive order signed in 2006 by Gov. Tim Kaine."

Virginia Christian Clergy Urge Defunding of Planned Parenthood

Posted on February 19, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "Dozens of Virginia's most influential Christian leaders, including Rev. Pat Robertson and Rev. Jonathan Falwell, have signed a petition to the state's governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general asking them to take steps to cut off state funds that go to Planned Parenthood...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Apple changes App Store policy on ?overtly sexual content?

Posted on February 19, 2010
AppleInsider: "Due to numerous complaints from customers, Apple has begun removing software from its App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch that has been deemed 'overtly sexual.'"

Study finds sharp decline in law review circulation

Posted on February 19, 2010
Law.com (National Law Journal): "The reported paid circulation for the Harvard Law Review, Davies found, was 8,760 in 1979 but a mere 2,029 in 2009 ? a decline of nearly 77%. Paid circulation for The Yale Law Journal dropped by more than 57% ? from 4,051 in 1980 to 1,725 in 2009...

Five Muslim Soldiers Arrested at Fort Jackson in South Carolina

Posted on February 19, 2010
"CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody . . . The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson...

Law Review: Should there be a separate confrontation doctrine for domestic violence cases?

Posted on February 19, 2010
Mark Egerman, Avoiding Confrontation (February 15, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1553455 "This article takes seriously Justice Scalia?s facetious aside in Giles v. California and examines whether there should be a separate confrontation doctrine for domestic violence cases...

Another D.C. judge rules against public vote on marriage

Posted on February 19, 2010
Washington Post: "Another Superior Court judge has denied a request by same-sex marriage opponents to overturn a D.C. Board of Elections rulings against a referendum on the issue . . . Holeman's ruling will not be official until Monday, said Austin Nimocks, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund...

Advocates of homosexual behavior asks U of Alaska for nondiscrimination policy

Posted on February 19, 2010
KTUU (AP): "Members of the gay-straight alliance at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have again asked the Board of Regents to add sexual orientation to the UA nondiscrimination policy."

Rep. Pence: Stop Using Taxpayer Money to Fund Planned Parenthood

Posted on February 19, 2010
CNSNews: "In a speech on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) earned a standing ovation when he said the United States has a moral obligation to the unborn, and that the time has come to stop funding Planned Parenthood with money from pro-life American taxpayers ...

Judge rules Oklahoma abortion law unconstitutional

Posted on February 19, 2010
"District Judge Daniel Owens said Friday that the measure dealt with multiple subjects and violated the Oklahoma Constitution's ban on such legislation."

?The compassionate killers: Ray Gosling, AIDS, and euthanasia?

Posted on February 19, 2010
Newsweek: "Gosling's admission and his ensuing arrest was certainly shocking. But it also confirmed what assisted-suicide experts already knew: legal issues of hastening death have long plagued AIDS patients and their doctors. 'Certainly, we know it's a community where this type of bootleg assisted suicide occurred throughout the 1990s,' says Ian Dowbiggin, the author of A Concise History of Euthanasia and an expert on the right-to-die movement...

UK: Bill ?will allow schools to teach that homosexuality is wrong?

Posted on February 19, 2010
Guardian: "Campaigners today accused the government of performing a U-turn over sex education in faith schools, after changes to a bill they said would allow the schools to discourage the use of contraception and teach that homosexuality is wrong . . ...

Forsyth appeal decision on Monday, Feb. 22

Posted on February 19, 2010
North Carolina Family Policy Council: "The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to decide this Monday, February 22 whether or not to appeal a federal district court ruling that declared the Board?s public prayer policy unconstitutional ...

Kevin Theriot on AFR Focal Point: Opposing open homosexual behavior in the military

Posted on February 19, 2010
ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on AFR Focal Point with Bryan Fischer to discuss the issue of open homosexual behavior in the military. The MP3 runs appox. 12 minutes. Related ADF Media: ADF: Change in military policy on homosexual behavior could affect chaplains

Private and Public Schools Subject to Transgendered Guidelines

Posted on February 19, 2010
The guidelines will require schools to allow transgendered students access to facilities of the opposite sex, including bathrooms and locker rooms.

Eritrea frees 14 Christians two years after being detained

Posted on February 19, 2010
Christian Today: "All 12 of the released Christians are members of the Kale-Hiwot Church and were high school students at the time of their arrest. Upon their release, authorities warned the believers not to participate in any Christian activities or risk execution, according to the watchdog...

Md. delegate seeks ban on first-cousin marriage

Posted on February 18, 2010
WJZ: "A Maryland delegate says it's time for his state to ban marriages between first cousins, unless both people are over 65 or if one party is unable to reproduce."

Lisa Miller safe for now: Virginia judge refuses to issue arrest warrant

Posted on February 18, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Judge Harrison of the Bedford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court ruled that because Miller's whereabouts are unknown, it cannot be proven that she is aware of the court order to transfer custody of her daughter Isabella. He scheduled another hearing for May 19...

New coalition vows fight on ?don?t ask, don?t tell? repeal

Posted on February 18, 2010
Stars and Stripes: "Members of the Alliance Defense Fund said a change to the law could compromise the work of military chaplains, possibly forcing them to teach acceptance of homosexual lifestyles even when it violates their faith. Earlier in the day, the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers reiterated its opposition to allowing gays to serve in the military...

Arizona Bill Would Strengthen Reporting on Abortions

Posted on February 18, 2010
MyFoxPhoenix.com: "A bill to strengthen Arizona's abortion requirements is advancing in the Legislature."

Kevin Theriot interview with Mark Larson: DADT and the Chaplaincy

Posted on February 18, 2010
ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared with Mark Larson to discuss this: Change in military policy on homosexual behavior could affect chaplains. The MP3 runs just under 11 minutes.

Roberts versus Roberts: Just how radical is the chief justice?

Posted on February 18, 2010
Jeffrey Rosen writing in The New Republic: "For the past few years, I?ve been giving Roberts the benefit of the doubt, hoping that he meant it when he talked about the importance of putting the bipartisan legitimacy of the Court above his own ideological agenda...

Christian Student Killed in Iraq; Fourth Murder in Days

Posted on February 18, 2010
Christian Post: "The bullet-riddled body of a 20-year-old Christian student was found on the street of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Wednesday . . . 'We don't want elections, we don't want representatives, we don't want our rights, we just want to be alive,' Baasil Abdul Noor, a priest at Mar Behnam church in Mosul, declared Tuesday ...

Jitters over China?s waning taste for T-bills

Posted on February 18, 2010
Financial Times: "China?s holdings fell by $34.2bn to $755.4bn from the previous month, prompting renewed jitters that the country was diversifying from Treasuries over fears about their future value . . . Significantly, Japan overtook China as the biggest foreign holder of US Treasuries in December ...

Florida: ?Gay woman fights adoption ban?

Posted on February 18, 2010
WPLG: "A gay Hollywood woman is fighting to keep custody of her foster child after the state filed an appeal to a judge's ruling that granted her custody."

Lawsuit to bring Swedish homeschooling case before Human Rights Court

Posted on February 18, 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. Nearly eight months ago Swedish authorities approached the Johanssons as the family was on a plane ready to relocate to India...

New Zealand: Pro-Life doctors challenge abortion guidelines

Posted on February 18, 2010
New Zealand Herald: "Anti-abortion doctors have gone to court to challenge new Medical Council guidelines on how physicians with personal objections to abortion must deal with patients."

Indiana Court of Appeals: Surrogate not necessarily legal mother

Posted on February 18, 2010
NWI Times: "A husband and wife who had their embryo implanted into a surrogate, who then gave birth to their child, moved one step closer to getting the wife named the legal mother rather than the surrogate. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a Porter Circuit Court decision that denied the husband and wife's petition to establish maternity on behalf of the wife, who they say is the biological mother even though a different woman gave birth...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.