Religion & Law

Court overturns ?malicious prosecution? of ministry

Posted on January 04, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "A case brought by a church ministry in Chicago against city officials after they applied zoning and administrative rules to prevent the group from offering housing to victims of Hurricane Katrina has been revived by judges at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ...

?NJ gay marriage advocates plan Trenton rally to urge lawmakers? vote?

Posted on January 04, 2010
NJ Star Ledger (AP): "Gay rights advocates in New Jersey plan to rally in Trenton today as part of their last-chance effort to persuade lawmakers to legalize gay marriage."

?Tiger, forget Buddhism, find Christ: Brit Hume on Fox?

Posted on January 04, 2010
USA Today (includes video of Brit Hume): Hume forecasts Woods will recover as a golfer but "...Whether he can recover as a person depends on "his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redeption that is offered by the Christian faith...

Health bills could expand IRS role

Posted on January 04, 2010
USA Today: "Internal Revenue Service agents already try to catch tax cheats and moonshiners. Under the proposed health care legislation, they would get another assignment: checking to see whether Americans have health insurance."

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High-Flying Home-Schoolers

Posted on January 04, 2010
NCPA: "Home-schoolers in Michigan are not required to take standardized tests, as they do in other states, but Michigan home-schoolers sometimes take them voluntarily. The results from these tests are very impressive, says the Mackinac Center."

China says 5,394 arrested in Internet porn crackdown

Posted on January 04, 2010
Reuters: "Chinese police arrested thousands in a drive against Internet pornography throughout 2009, officials said, vowing a deepening crackdown that critics say is being used to tighten overall censorship."

Ron Paul?s ideas no longer fringe

Posted on January 04, 2010
LA Times: "With the economy still struggling, the lawmaker's libertarian views are getting serious attention."

?Polyamory, love?s new frontier?

Posted on January 04, 2010
"Adherents call it responsible non-monogamy or polyamory, and the nontraditional practice is creeping out of the closet, making gay marriage feel somewhat last decade here in Massachusetts."

Activists want marriage on Iowa Legislature?s agenda

Posted on January 04, 2010
Gazette Online: "Gov. Chet Culver and legislative leaders say the upcoming session will focus on budget problems, but activists are working to get gay marriage on the agenda."

?Openly gay? man to join Salt Lake City Council

Posted on January 04, 2010
Local News 8 (AP): "Stan Penfold, who was elected to represent the liberal Avenues and Capitol Hill areas, is thought to be the council's first openly gay member."

Egypt?s Coptic Christians battle for ID cards

Posted on January 04, 2010
BBC: "Identity cards carrying details of a person's religion are required by law in Egypt for employment, education, and access to any public services. International rights groups say they are also used to discriminate in areas such as employment. Lawyer Peter Ramses Al Nagar says he is now representing 3,200 Christians who are forced to live under a Muslim identity...

Senegal President Wade apologises for Christ comments

Posted on January 04, 2010
BBC News: "Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade has apologised to the Christian minority for comparing a controversial statue to Jesus Christ."

Algerian Muslims block Christmas service

Posted on January 04, 2010
Compass Direct: "Nearly 50 Muslim members of a community in northern Algeria blocked Christians from holding a Christmas service on Saturday (Dec. 26) to protest a new church building in their neighborhood."

Dutch euthanasia deaths up significantly to 2,500, number still underreported

Posted on January 04, 2010
LifeNews: "The number of euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands rose significantly in 2009 compared with 2008. There were reportedly 200 more deaths under the law, but pro-life advocates say those numbers are likely lowball estimates given the underreporting in the Dutch system...

2009: The Darwin Show

Posted on January 04, 2010
Stephen Shapin writing in the London Review of Books: "For the Darwin Day Foundation (whose advisory board includes Dawkins, Dennett, Wilson and Pinker), as for other sponsors, Darwin Day is less about a historical figure than an occasion for extending versions of scientific materialism and rationalism to ever new cultural domains, encouraging an appreciation of 'science and the role of humans in developing the Scientific Method that permitted the acquisition of an enormous amount of verifiable scientific knowledge, that is now available to modern humans...

Richard W. Garnett: Freedom for Faith, Freedom for All

Posted on January 04, 2010
Richard W. Garnett reviews David Novak's In Defense of Religious Liberty at First Things: "Novak?s focus, in his Defense, is on a different version of religious liberty: the 'freedom of a religious community to bring its moral wisdom to the world'?to 'sing the Lord?s song on strange ground...

ACLU: ?Miller v. Jenkins ? About the Case?

Posted on January 04, 2010
The ACLU has posted this report in connection with the case involving efforts by a former lesbian partner to remove the custody of a child from its biological mother.

Campus religious club asserts right to discriminate

Posted on January 04, 2010
Champion Newspaper: "Agnes Scott College and Georgia Perimeter College both have Christian student organizations, as do most colleges throughout the state and nation . . . But what if one of those principles violates the school?s anti-discrimination policy? ...

Lambda Legal: ?Mother Seeks Public Help to Locate Missing Child?

Posted on January 04, 2010
Lambda Legal has posted this press release on behalf of the former lesbian partner who seeks to remove a child from the custody of her natural mother.

Maine, NH House seats OK for now

Posted on January 04, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "A prominent demographer says New Hampshire and Maine aren't in danger of losing one of their U.S. House seats each based on the Census Bureau's 2009 population estimates. But the picture may change in another decade."

Local NH towns may debate marriage

Posted on January 04, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "Gay marriage opponents have begun a grass-roots effort to challenge New Hampshire's new gay marriage law by raising the issue at town meetings this spring."

Single-gender public schools a growing trend

Posted on January 04, 2010
PRI: "In 2002 there were 11 public schools in the US offering single-gender classrooms. Now, there are 91 single-gender schools."

Spanking makes kids perform better in school, helps them become more successful: study

Posted on January 04, 2010
NY Daily News: "A study, which found that young children whose parents spank them perform better at school later on, isn?t winning high marks with child development experts. The research, by Calvin College psychology professor Marjorie Gunnoe, found that kids smacked before age 6 grew up to be more successful ...

Missouri legislature to consider parental choice for school districts

Posted on January 04, 2010
KansasCity.com: "Advocates say making it easier for parents to pick schools could improve academic performance, encourage parents to get more involved in their children?s education and reduce drop out rates. But critics question whether open enrollment policies do much to improve academic performance, caution that it could affect school funding and make planning more difficult and worry that the discussion could lead to a voucher system with public money going to private schools...

State Legislative Round-Up: Youth & Schools and Transgender

Posted on January 04, 2010
The ACLU Blog of Rights carries this post summarizing so called "sex education" developments in several states.

Mike Johnson on the Michael Medved Show: Legal Threats in 2010

Posted on January 04, 2010
ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss legal threats that we face in 2010. The MP3 runs just over 34 minutes.

The American Lawyer: ?Litigation Department of the Year: Gibson Dunn?

Posted on January 04, 2010
Law.com (The American Lawyer): "American Lawyer names the firm its Litigation Department of the Year. The department has marquee partners, a very deep bench and a guiding sense of creative calm in the face of crisis that helps make it greater than the sum of its parts ...

Democrats May Skip Conference Committee to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill

Posted on January 04, 2010
LifeNews: "Congressional Democrats are seriously examining the possibility of skipping the formal conference committee process in an attempt to railroad the pro-abortion health care bill through the House and Senate . . . "

Pro-Life Legal Group May File Lawsuit Against Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill

Posted on January 04, 2010
LifeNews: "Should Congress approve and President Barack Obama sign the pro-abortion health care bill pending in Congress, a pro-life legal group says it would likely file a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. Liberty Council would file a legal challenge...

NY Times: ?Uganda: Americans? Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push?

Posted on January 04, 2010
The NY Times carries this propaganda by Jeffrey Gettleman who writes: "Human rights advocates in Uganda say the visit by the three Americans helped set in motion what could be a very dangerous cycle."

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