Religion & Law

Same-sex custody dispute could rewrite Ohio laws

Posted on February 18, 2010
KyPost: "The girl is the biological child of Kelly Mullen, who was Hobbs' partner for seven and a half years. Mullen and Hobbs separated in July, 2007, sparking a bitter custody battle. Hobbs is fighting for shared custody and visitation rights. The courts say Mullen has sole custody of her daughter...

David Cortman on the Janet Mefferd Show: Arizona Tuition Tax Credits

Posted on February 18, 2010
ADF attorney David Cortman on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss this: ADF attorneys appeal to U.S. Supreme Court to protect school choice in Ariz. The MP3 runs just over 7 minutes.

Minnesota campaign law faces test

Posted on February 18, 2010
StarTribune.com: "Is Minnesota's law that keeps corporations from spending money in support of political candidates unconstitutional? Officials at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce believe a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling says it is."

NC: Buncombe County leaders to offer prayer

Posted on February 18, 2010
Citizen-Times.com: "Buncombe County government is shifting the job of offering prayer at commissioners? meetings from clergymen to commissioners themselves."

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

Are Citizens Uniting Against Citizens United?

Posted on February 18, 2010
Tony Mauro writes at Law.com (The National Law Journal): "Critics of the Supreme Court's January ruling in Citizens United v. FEC are pointing happily to a poll released Wednesday that indicates widespread public opposition to the decision and its green light for more corporate and union expenditures in election campaigns ...

ADF attorneys appeal to U.S. Supreme Court to protect school choice in Ariz.

Posted on February 18, 2010
"Alliance Defense Fund attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday, asking it to reverse a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that declared portions of a tuition tax credit program for students unconstitutional."

NY high school cancels Christian club, lets 60 others remain

Posted on February 18, 2010
ADF attorneys file suit against Board of Education of Half Hollow Hills after officials shut Christian student club down

Nightfall in America: The Obama deficits portend a gloomy future.

Posted on February 18, 2010
". . . All of this means we are indeed beginning to see a new America, dusk rather than dawn . . . "

Mexican states challenge same-sex ?marriage? in court

Posted on February 18, 2010
Agence France-Presse: "Five of Mexico's 32 states have announced plans to challenge a measure that legalizes gay marriage in the country's Supreme Court."

NY Court clarifies role of ISPs in child pornography cases

Posted on February 18, 2010
NY Law Journal: "Internet service providers that tip authorities to images of child pornography they intercept are not agents of the government and thus are not obligated to obtain a search warrant, a New York state judge has ruled." More information at Community Defense Counsel

ADF: Change in military policy on homosexual behavior could affect chaplains

Posted on February 18, 2010
The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Wednesday expressing concern over the effects that any change in military policy concerning homosexual behavior would have on the religious freedom of chaplains.

Dispute over polygamous sect property trust argued before Utah Supreme Court

Posted on February 18, 2010
KCSG (AP): "Utah's highest court weighed in on the long running dispute over a polygamous sect's property trust Wednesday with one central question: Why did sect members wait so long to challenge a judge's decision to remove the trust's religious foundation?"

Gilbert Meilaender: On Bioethics in Public

Posted on February 18, 2010
Gilbert Meilaender writes at The New Atlantis: "From January 16, 2002, to June 11, 2009, I served on the President?s Council on Bioethics . . . We all have a stake, therefore, in how public bioethical debate is structured. Indeed, it may be that we should care more about how it is structured than about what is decided on any given occasion ...

George Weigel: The Erosion of Religious Freedom

Posted on February 18, 2010
George Weigel writes at EPPC: "And now we have the successor of John Quincy Adams and William H. Seward, Elihu Root and Cordell Hull, George Marshall and Dean Acheson suggesting that the defense of the LGBT agenda will, as a human rights issue, be considered on a par with such basic human rights as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and religious freedom -- and that no small part of the substance of religious freedom may have to be sacrificed, if necessary, to advance that agenda...

Mississippi ?sex education? bill prompts debate

Posted on February 18, 2010
Clarion-Ledger: "House Bill 837 would mandate school boards adopt a sex education policy by June 30, 2011, of their choosing: abstinence-only or abstinence-plus. Current law does not require schools to have a policy. The bill passed the House 83-32 and awaits Senate action...

Should Possession of Child Pornography Require Reparations to the Child?

Posted on February 18, 2010
"In one sense, reparations also help to remind the perpetrator . . . that his conduct was not simply a private, 'victimless' transaction. In another sense, the availability of reparations expresses society's interest . . . "

PA school district using school-issued laptop webcams to spy on students

Posted on February 18, 2010
America's Right: "The complaint, filed by minor high school student Blake Robbins and his parents, alleges that the school district has been spying on the activities of students and students? families through the 'indiscriminate use of and ability to remotely activate the webcams incorporated into each laptop issued to students,' all without the knowledge or consent of any of the students or parents involved...

NC: Locals limit taxpayer funded abortion

Posted on February 18, 2010
North Carolina Family Policy Council: "Wake County and the Town of Apex have removed coverage for elective abortions from their employee health insurance plans, after recognizing legal questions raised by a 1981 state Supreme Court ruling that a county 'exceeded its statutorily conferred power in levying the tax involved in the funding of medically unnecessary abortions...

ADF attorney available to media after hearing over right to vote on DC marriage redefinition law

Posted on February 18, 2010
ADF, Stand4MarriageDC appealing Board of Election?s decision to shut out voters

Arizona Marital Preference for Adoption up for vote

Posted on February 18, 2010
The Center for Arizona Policy has issued an action alert: "HB 2148, Marital Preference for Adoption, will be voted on by the Arizona House of Representatives as early as next Monday, February 25. This bill gives children in foster care a chance to have a married mom and dad by establishing a preference for married couples where possible...

Commission on International Religious Freedom accused of anti-Muslim bias

Posted on February 18, 2010
"From the start, critics say, the commission has disproportionately focused its efforts on the persecution of Christians, while too often ignoring other religious communities and downplaying their claims of persecution . . ."

Prenatal screening ?curbs some genetic diseases?

Posted on February 18, 2010
Associated Press: "Now, more women are being tested as part of routine prenatal care, and many end pregnancies when diseases are found. One study in California found that prenatal screening reduced by half the number of babies born with the severest form of cystic fibrosis because many parents chose abortion...

NH House rejects bill treating fetus as person

Posted on February 18, 2010
WMUR: "The New Hampshire House has rejected a bill that would have allowed prosecutors to charge people who kill a fetus with murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide."

SD: ?Sexual orientation and gender identity? tabled in House committee

Posted on February 17, 2010
Email from the South Dakota Family Policy Council: "Today, on a procedural vote the House Health and Human Services Committee voted to 'TABLE HB 1144' by a 8 - 4 margin. If no other action happened on this bill it would effectively die on the table. So, our work and attention to this matter is still necessary as they proponents could work to resurrect the bill in coming days, or weeks...

?LifeSiteNews Interviews Ron Paul: How Congress Can Stop Roe v. Wade Now?

Posted on February 17, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "But Congressman Ron Paul of Texas - a pro-life lawmaker and former presidential candidate who believes in the Constitution - says the 'federal solution' sought by some national pro-life leaders in response to Roe is "a total failure." In this exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews...

Citing same-sex ?marriage? bill, Washington Archdiocese ends foster-care program

Posted on February 17, 2010
"The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has ended its 80-year-old foster-care program in the District rather than license same-sex couples, the first fallout from a bitter debate over the city's move to legalize same-sex marriage."

Uzbekistan: Sports journalist arrested for religious activity

Posted on February 17, 2010
Forum 18: "Hairulla Hamidov is under detention and faces charges under the Criminal Code's article 216 ('Illegal establishment of Public Associations or Religious Organisations'). He had in the past founded a popular weekly religious radio programme and a popular Islamic-inspired periodical, Odamlar Orasida (Among People), which was banned in 2007...

Man Arrested for Questioning Rep. Kennedy on Abortion Goes to Court

Posted on February 17, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Young, a Democratic mayoral candidate, was arrested and dragged away to jail after questioning Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, about his pro-abortion views at an open forum on health care at Brown University last November."

Va. legislature strips Planned Parenthood funding from license plate bill

Posted on February 17, 2010
Tracking American Evangelical Politics: "The Alliance Defense Fund reports that the Virginia state legislature has stripped Planned Parenthood from funding it was due to receive from its own license plate bill."

AZ: Senate panel OKs Ten Commandments at state site

Posted on February 17, 2010
East Valley Tribune: "SB1213 directs the Legislative Council, the main occupant of the building, to look for donations to put up a monument, plaque or some other permanent form of the commandments. The measure now goes to the full Senate."

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