Religion & Law

Federal Court Has Become the New Feelings Forum

Posted on January 25, 2010
Debra J. Saunders writes at Townhall: "That's another way of saying that the law isn't as important as feelings in this trial. Feelings rule -- and not just because the measure's foes somehow believe that Californians haven't been taught enough about gay people...

Laurence Tribe: What Should Congress Do About Citizens United?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Laurence Tribe laments the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission at the SCOTUS Blog.

The Economist: ?Leviathan stirs again?

Posted on January 25, 2010
The Economist: "Today big government is back with a vengeance: not just as a brute fact, but as a vigorous ideology. Britain?s public spending is set to exceed 50% of GDP (see chart 1). America?s financial capital has shifted from New York to Washington, DC, and the government has been trying to extend its control over the health-care industry...

Think campus censorship disappeared in the 1990s? Guess again

Posted on January 25, 2010
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), writing at Reason Magazine: "With so many examples of censorship and administrative bullying, a generation of students is getting four years of dangerously wrongheaded lessons about both their own rights and the importance of respecting the rights of others...

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

Prop 8 on trial: ?Bourgeois moonbats plead sanity?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Big Hollywood: "Children are pawns in the Leftist strategy of social deconstruction and dominance. As Prop 8 attorney Brian Raum revealed during his cross-examination of Ms. Zia, the Sapphic scribe had previously described marriage as a 'patriarchal institution,' stating in print that she and her partner had only married in 2004 to defy the 'fundamentalist, warmongering regime in Washington' ...

Pennsylvania school changes policy after targeting pro-life student?s shirt

Posted on January 25, 2010
LifeNews: On Thursday, the board approved revisions to four policies that dealt with dress and grooming, student expression and harassment . . . 'Pro-life students shouldn't be censored for their views,' ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman told LifeNews...

Wisconsin abortion facility at Madison Surgery Center taking awhile to set up

Posted on January 25, 2010
LifeNews: "The new abortion facility at the Madison Surgery Center is taking awhile to set up, according to emails the Madison State Journal newspaper obtained . . . The e-mails were obtained through an open records request by the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit, Christian legal organization that is representing several surgery center workers who don't want to take part in abortions...

ADF update on Prop 8 trial: Day 9

Posted on January 25, 2010
ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks writing in The Christian Post: "The testimony Friday all came in the form of a single witness: Dr. Gregory M. Herek, an expert in psychology from the University of California at Davis. He was called as the plaintiffs? final witness in a futile effort to demonstrate that the concept of 'sexual orientation' is immutable and no different from race or sex...

College defends prof who mocked Christians

Posted on January 25, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "A California college is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to restore a policy at the center of a case in which a professor berated a Christian student with the suggestion, 'Ask God what your grade is' . . . ADF Litigation Staff Counsel David Hacker said at that time if the school cared about free speech rights of students, "they should not desire to pursue enforcement of such a bad policy...

Baptist Press Prop 8 summary, Day 8: Chinese religious leader criticized for views

Posted on January 25, 2010
Baptist Press: Each day during the trial Baptist Press will post a blog entry from someone in the courtroom. Following is commentary on day eight of the trial from Austin R. Nimocks, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, who writes about the controversy about Tim but also about other portions of Thursday's trial (ADF supports Prop 8) ...

A Q&A with The Recorder?s Prop 8 courtroom reporter

Posted on January 25, 2010
The AM Law Litigation Daily: "Litigation Daily: '. . . Who is doing the heavy lifting?' Levine: 'David Thompson, the managing partner of Cooper & Kirk, has carried the load on at least four cross exams of expert witnesses. Dealing with experts is all-consuming...

Research reveals ?sexting? stats

Posted on January 25, 2010
One News Now: "'We found that four percent of teenagers 12 to 17 who had a cell phone said that they had sent these images of themselves to somebody else,' she explains. 'And then we also found that 15 percent of teenagers at the same age range said that they had received these images of somebody that they knew...

Italian Judge Removed In Dispute Over Crucifixes In Courtrooms

Posted on January 25, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Italy, The Superior Council of Magistrates has removed Judge Luigi Tosti from the professional rolls of Italian magistrates . . . Tosti has refused to hear cases because there are crucifixes in Italian courtrooms . . . "

Prop. 8 Supporters Make Their Case, Expected to Rest by Midweek

Posted on January 25, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "In federal court here, lawyers defending Proposition 8 called their first witness, political expert Kenneth Miller, who said gays are a well-funded and politically connected group . . . The defense is expected to rest its case by midweek...

New Belgian primate in debate on homosexuality

Posted on January 25, 2010
Catholic Culture: "The Archbishop-elect of Brussels?a conservative prelate who was chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to replace the liberal Cardinal Godfried Danneels-- touched off the debate by affirming that homosexuality is a psychological disorder."

ADF Alliance Alert Categorical Email Digest Is Extra Long Today

Posted on January 25, 2010
Today's Alliance Alert Categorical Email Digest is longer than normal, because it also includes Friday's posts. The Digest was not emailed on Friday due to technological difficulties. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. RSS feeds and other email distributions of the ADF Alliance Alert were distributed on Friday on schedule...

Ex-Relief Worker: Christians Credited, Blamed for U.S. Deeds

Posted on January 25, 2010
Christian Post: "The world does not see a distinction between the United States and Christians, said a former humanitarian worker who served in South Asia and Africa and worked with refugees when he returned to the United States."

India: US consulate tightens visa processing norms for surrogacy

Posted on January 25, 2010
Times of India: "As high drama is being played out in Indian courts over surrogacy issues, the US consulate in Chennai, perhaps worried about the rash of litigations, has decided to tighten its visa processing norms, particularly for couples coming to the city for fertility treatment and assisted reproduction...

D.C. Circuit Approves Internet Ban on Defendants Who Use the Web to Victimize Children

Posted on January 25, 2010
Community Defense Counsel linking to the Blog of the Legal Times: "In U.S. v. Love, a three-judge panel on Jan. 22 upheld the Internet ban that was imposed as a condition on Allan Love?s release after he has served his sentence for transporting or shipping material involving child pornography...

Washington: Abortion Groups Attack Faith-Based Charities Providing Support to Pregnant Women

Posted on January 25, 2010
Christian Newswire: "NARAL Pro-Choice Washington and Planned Parenthood are pushing for new legislation that would place a "gag order" on faith-based charities providing free support to pregnant women . . . The bill 'Concerning Limited Service Pregnancy Centers' (HB 2837/SB 6452) will be heard in the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee on Wednesday, January 27 at 8:00 A...

Lawyers for plaintiffs rest case in Prop. 8 case

Posted on January 25, 2010
AP: "Lawyers for two same-sex couples challenging the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage rested their case Monday after showing videotape of a simulcast in which supporters of the ban said gay marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality...

?Jury hears ?abortion? at provider?s slaying trial?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "Jurors hearing the case of a man charged with killing prominent abortion provider Dr. George Tiller heard the word abortion for the first time Monday, when an usher testified about seeing protesters at the church the doctor had attended...

Mo. AG backs plan to let child porn victims sue

Posted on January 25, 2010
"Child pornography victims could sue anyone convicted of producing, promoting or possessing their sexual images for at least $150,000 in damages under a proposal backed by the Missouri attorney general."

ECLJ to the UN: Egypt must legalize conversion from Islam to Christianity

Posted on January 25, 2010
ACLJ: "The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) - an international affiliate of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) - has submitted a critical case to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion urging Egypt to legalize conversion from Islam to Christianity in accordance with International Human Rights standards...

Two Protestant churches burnt in Indonesia

Posted on January 25, 2010
Asia News: "At least 1,000 people set fire to the Pentecostal community places of worship. According to local Muslims, the two buildings did not have the legal permits as 'churches.' The Nahdlatul Ulama admits the violence of radical Islamists against Christians...

McDonald?s apologizes to Singapore for removing pig from Zodiac

Posted on January 25, 2010
The Straits Times: "McDonald's this month started selling cartoon character miniatures depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar, but the pig was replaced by love god Cupid as McDonald's said it did not want to offend Muslims."

The Fort Hood Report: Why no mention of Islam?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Time: "The U.S. military's just-released report into the Fort Hood shootings spends 86 pages detailing various slipups by Army officers but not once mentions Major Nidal Hasan by name or even discusses whether the killings may have had anything to do with the suspect's view of his Muslim faith...

Muslims have no monopoly over ?Allah?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Anwar Ibrahim writing in the Wall Street Journal: "Few Muslims around the world would endorse the claim that we have a monopoly on the word 'Allah.' It is accepted that the word was already in the lexicon of pre-Islamic Arabs. Arabic's sister Semitic languages also refer to God as 'Allah': namely, 'Elaha' in Aramaic, and 'Elohim' in Hebrew...

Indiana: Legislative committees to take up sexting bills Tuesday

Posted on January 25, 2010
WIBC: "House and Senate committees vote Tuesday on rival proposals for dealing with 'sexting': -- teenagers' use of cell phones to send explicit pictures of themselves or classmates."

NC: Strip club would violate Mount Airy zoning

Posted on January 25, 2010
My Fox 8: "Don't tell Andy, Opie and Aunt Bee, but Mayberry could get its first strip club if the owner of a night club petitions the city to rezone his property . . . But according to Jeff Coutu, the city's director of planning, the district El Tequila is located in currently does not allow adult businesses...

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