Religion & Law

Freedom from Religion Foundation: ?Action Alert: Protest Mother Teresa Stamp?

Posted on January 21, 2010
Freedom from Religion Foundation: "The U.S. Postal Service announced with great fanfare in January that among the 2010 stamps it is releasing will be one honoring Mother Teresa. What's wrong with honoring this nun with a U.S. postage stamp? Plenty. Only about 25 new commemorative stamps a year are selected using 12 criteria...

?Hate crimes? law named No.1 anti-Christian act of 2009

Posted on January 21, 2010
CNSNews: "The new federal hate crimes law has all the potential to be a major attack on religious liberty and freedom of speech, according to top religious liberty attorneys . . . Erik Stanley, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz...

GBLT community weighs in on same-sex case

Posted on January 21, 2010
Southern Illinois Daily Egyptian: "A national court case that could decide the fate of same-sex marriage has SIUC?s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community apprehensive about the future . . . The Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, supporting Proposition 8, argue the clause is justified because same-sex marriages are unfit for the procreation and safety of raising children...

Trial airs Mormon Church?s role in fight over Prop 8

Posted on January 21, 2010
Law.com: "The e-mails and other memos detail the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' involvement in Proposition 8 -- for instance, that there was at least one LDS volunteer working in every California ZIP code . . . During the morning session, plaintiffs called Ryan Kendall, a Colorado man whose religious parents subjected him to so-called conversion therapy as a teenager ...

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NJ: Preacher?s toe touches school lawn, he gets arrested

Posted on January 21, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "A New Jersey judge has dismissed a criminal case against a volunteer who was preaching the Gospel on public property in front of the Edison, N.J., High School when his toe inadvertently brushed the grass and he was arrested . . . 'Christians shouldn't be arrested and charged as criminals for expressing their beliefs on public property...

Macon native Martin will be new 11th Circuit judge

Posted on January 21, 2010
Macon.com: "Beverly Baldwin Martin, a former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, was confirmed by the Senate, 97-0, on Wednesday morning as a new judge for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."

Letter to the Editor: Appreciates policy on religious freedom

Posted on January 21, 2010
Tampa Bay Newspapers: "As the initiator of the petition to establish a policy of freedom of religious expression in Pinellas County Schools during religious holidays, I thank you for adopting a new policy on religious freedom with a unanimous vote on the second reading Dec...

ACLU: ?Reflections on a Decade of Reproductive Freedom?

Posted on January 21, 2010
ACLU Blog: "There is still much work to be done to create a world that respects everyone?s right to form intimate relationships, to enjoy a private sexual life, and to decide whether and when to have children. These are the three cornerstones of reproductive freedom that we must continue to shore up as we look ahead toward a new decade...

Utah: ?New state senator comments on aim to extend gay benefits?

Posted on January 21, 2010
KSL: "New state Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City, wants to let gay couples and nontraditional families have more rights . . . 'Families are unique, and we have many non-traditional families. But at the end of the day, they are all families,' McAdams says...

Feds fight back on Montana made guns lawsuit ? Scope of Commerce Clause at issue

Posted on January 21, 2010
AP: "Montana doesn't have the authority to exempt itself from national gun control laws, the federal government argued in new court filings, hoping to beat back a movement from states adopting the Firearms Freedom Act . . . The Department of Justice, in a brief filed this week in U...

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Washington Case on Release of Petition Signers

Posted on January 21, 2010
"Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear a case that asks it to decide whether the Washington Secretary of State may release the names, addresses, and other personal information of over 138,000 individuals who signed a referendum petition seeking to protect traditional marriage in Washington...

UK: Election battle turns to family

Posted on January 21, 2010
Christian Today: "The family has come back under the political spotlight again after the main parties set out their key family policies yesterday. The Government?s long-awaited green paper includes proposals to prevent the breakdown of families, like helping fathers become more involved in raising their children...

Campaign finance ruling deeply divides Washington interest and legal groups

Posted on January 21, 2010
The Hill: "The Supreme Court?s monumental decision to overturn decades of restrictions on corporate and union money in elections deeply divided Washington interest and legal groups Thursday as supporters hailed the decision as a victory for free speech and opponents predicted a cataclysmic upending of the democratic election process ...

India: Christians forced out of camps ahead of EU visit

Posted on January 21, 2010
Christian Today: "Authorities in India's Orissa state are reportedly forcing Christian refugees out of the makeshift camps ahead of a visit this month by an EU delegation . . . The camps' residents - Christians caught up in attacks in 2008 - say they are being forced to move out so that the authorities can project an image of peace in the area, reports Bosnewslife agency...

WA: Yakima votes to crack down on bikini coffee

Posted on January 21, 2010
UPI: "A Washington town voted 4-3 to draft regulations to crack down on bikini coffee stands by imposing rules similar to those governing other adult businesses."

Faith groups step in as abstinence funds dry up

Posted on January 21, 2010
Washington Post: "'With funding being cut from the government, you're going to see more responsibility placed on churches in the community to carry this banner,' said Michael Polite, assistant pastor at Riverside Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nashville, which collaborated with several other local Adventist churches for the ball on a recent weekend ...

Texas: 7 church fires in 3 weeks being investigated

Posted on January 21, 2010
KLTV: "New Year's Day, the church fires across East Texas began. Now, more than 30 ATF agents are sifting through the churches that have burned, doubling a $5,000 reward to $10,000 for any information leading to an arrest."

Catholics for the Common Good: Defense counsel shines in marriage trial

Posted on January 21, 2010
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good: "One thing that has really impressed me is the great job ProtectMarriage.com lawyers are doing in poking holes in the testimony of the plaintiffs? expert witnesses, both undermining their credibility and extracting concessions that conflicted with the points they were trying to make ...

Obama poised to nominate Goodwin H. Liu to 9th Circuit

Posted on January 21, 2010
Jonathan H. Adler writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "The Daily Journal reports that President Obama is ?poised? to nominate Professor Goodwin Liu, Associate Dean at the University of California at Berkeley?s Boalt Hall School of Law, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...

Uganda anti-gay bill may change, says MP Bahati

Posted on January 21, 2010
BBC: "A Ugandan MP who proposed introducing the death penalty for some gay people has told a newspaper he is willing to change his draft legislation."

New survey shows 60% Irish favor legalizing abortion

Posted on January 21, 2010
Irish Examiner: "Three-in-five 18-35 year olds believe abortion should be legalised, according to a sex survey which found one-in-four women has experienced an unplanned pregnancy. The national poll also found almost 10% of 18-34 year olds has been involved in a relationship where an abortion took place...

?Court upholds rejection of Russia?s first lesbian marriage?

Posted on January 21, 2010
RIA Novosti: "A Moscow court rejected on Thursday a lesbian couple's appeal against an earlier ruling upholding a registry office's refusal to register their marriage . . . The Moscow City Court 'ruled to leave the October 6, 2009, decision of the Tverskoi Court intact and reject the appeal,' the presiding judge said...

Planned Parenthood uses teens to distribute injectable birth control in rural Ecuador

Posted on January 21, 2010
CNSNews: "Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has launched a program in rural Ecuador that uses people ages 11 to 19 to deliver the hormone injection Depo-Provera, a birth control method that prevents the release of eggs from the ovaries."

Italy: Berlusconi law may ban daytime porn

Posted on January 21, 2010
Business Week: "Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi?s government is backing new media rules that forbid pay-per-view pornography and other adult programming during daylight hours, a measure that would hurt revenue at News Corp.?s Sky Italia SpA."

Austin R. Nimocks on the Hugh Hewitt Show: The Proposition 8 Trial ? Emotion rules the day

Posted on January 20, 2010
ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show yesterday to provide this update on the Proposition 8 trial. The MP3 runs 5 minutes.

Debate at U. of Colorado: Should the Government Approve Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on January 20, 2010
Jonathan Rauch v. Maggie Gallagher. More information at here.

Ethics complaint filed against Kline over abortion investigations

Posted on January 20, 2010
Topeka Capital-Journal: "Former Attorney General Phill Kline lied to the Kansas Supreme Court, misled a Johnson County grand jury investigating an abortion provider and discussed an ongoing case on 'The O'Reilly Factor,' a conservative talk show. Those are among the grounds bringing Kline, who also is a former Johnson County district attorney, before the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys, according to the formal complaint released Tuesday by the disciplinary administrator's office ...

Missouri works to dodge abortion funding

Posted on January 20, 2010
One News Now: "Republican State Senator Scott Rupp has introduced a bill that would protect his state from abortion mandates proposed in healthcare reform . . . "

FreedomKentucky.org to offer legislative updates

Posted on January 20, 2010
Bluegrass Institute: "Want to follow what state lawmakers are doing to improve education, pass a balanced budget, lower taxes, modernize labor policy, stand up for Kentuckians against Washington?s health care push and close the gap on public pensions? It?s as close as the click of your mouse at www...

Conrad opens door to reconciliation for healthcare

Posted on January 20, 2010
The Hill: "The Senate Budget Committee Chairman said Wednesday he?s willing to use special rules to force a final healthcare bill through with a simple majority vote . . . His comments lend weight to speculation that congressional Democratic leaders plan to have the House pass the Senate healthcare reform without changes, then pass a second bill with changes hashed out between the two chambers' leaders and the White House ...

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