Religion & Law

Abortion group drops suit against ex-worker

Posted on December 31, 2009
Christian Examiner: "Planned Parenthood has dropped a lawsuit against a former clinic director who quit her job after viewing an abortion by means of an ultrasound machine . . . 'Like so many Planned Parenthood lawsuits, this lawsuit was baseless, so we are pleased that it has been withdrawn,' Steven Aden, senior legal counsel for ADF, told BP News Service...

Issues to watch in 2010

Posted on December 31, 2009
WORLD Magazine: "In New Mexico, the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission found a Christian photographer guilty of discrimination for refusing to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony. Julea Ward is filing a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University after the university dismissed her from its counseling program because she would not affirm homosexual behavior...

Law Review: An introduction to Islamic family law in US courts

Posted on December 31, 2009
Legal Studies Research Paper Series, University of Wisconsin, No Altars: An Introduction to Islamic Family Law in US Courts (December 16, 2009). Univ. of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper Series. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524246 "American judges have been judging Muslim divorces in state courts for years, creating a body of case law that not only involves Islamic family law doctrines, but also reveals interesting insights about American Muslim marriage practices generally...

Law Review: Freedom of religion and discrimination in two important UK cases

Posted on December 31, 2009
Neil James Foster, Freedom of Religion and Discrimination - Two Important UK Cases (December 23, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1527327 "Two recent UK cases deal with the question of how the freedom of religion right interacts with laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of race or sexual orientation...

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Law Review: The uncertain line between public and private morality

Posted on December 31, 2009
Todd E. Pettys, Sodom's Shadow: The Uncertain Line between Public and Private Morality (December 26, 2009). Hastings Law Journal, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1528446 "This Article begins by arguing that the divine accountability thesis illustrates human beings? deeply ingrained tendency to regard their political communities as discrete moral entities, individually deserving of punishment or reward...

ADF Alliance Alert Publication Schedule

Posted on December 31, 2009
The ADF Alliance Alert Categorical Email Digest will not be delivered on Friday, January 1st. Some posts may appear on the website on that day. Normal publication will resume on Monday, January 3rd. Happy New Year!

Ireland: ?Retrograde? closure of bioethics body criticised

Posted on December 31, 2009
"The Irish Council for Bioethics is to close at the end of this month after a decision by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to terminate its funding . . . 'You would really want to question the wisdom of shutting down such a body in light of the Supreme Court ruling this week,' [Dr Siobhán O?Sullivan] added, in a reference to Tuesday?s ruling on access to three frozen embryos...

Spain first EU leader after Lisbon Treaty

Posted on December 31, 2009
UPI: "Spain's assumption of the European Union's rotating presidency Friday is the first presidency under the EU's new legal framework in the Lisbon Treaty."

Phoenix Mormon temple foes claim enough signatures to overturn council action

Posted on December 31, 2009
Arizona Republic: "Residents said this week that they had collected enough signatures to send the issue to voters, saying the temple at 5104 W. Pinnacle Peak Road is not a good fit for the neighborhood. City officials have said the coalition needs 9,800 valid signatures from registered Phoenix voters to qualify for a referendum...

Catholic Hospitals? Pro-Abortion Money Trail

Posted on December 30, 2009
NewsMax: "Most Catholic Americans wrongly assume that Catholic hospitals are dedicated to fighting abortion. In fact, many of the most important people running those hospital systems, and representing them before government, have spent fortunes supporting some of the most powerful pro-abortion politicians in America...

N.Y. town at odds over church bells

Posted on December 30, 2009
UPI: "Residents of Pittsford, N.Y., appear split regarding the decision to quiet a local church's bells during late night hours, church officials say."

Ben Nelson to Run Television Ad Defending Health Care-Abortion Compromise

Posted on December 30, 2009
LifeNews: 'Sen. Ben Nelson will run a television commercial during a college football bowl game to defend his decision."

Obama gives Interpol free hand in U.S.

Posted on December 30, 2009
"Obama has granted Interpol the ability to operate within the territorial limits of the United States without being subject to the same constitutional restraints that apply to all domestic law enforcement agencies such as the FBI."

Pa. man pleads guilty to raping 4 children

Posted on December 30, 2009
DelawareOnline.com (AP): "A suburban Philadelphia man already convicted in federal court in a child pornography case pleaded guilty in county court to sexually assaulting four children, including infants. John Jackey Worman . . . "

Child trafficking and adult porn correlate

Posted on December 30, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Peters conducted a lengthy research project on the problem and discovered that one of the major factors in men seeking children is adult pornography."

La.: Rights violated ? but no one?s to blame

Posted on December 30, 2009
OneNewsNow: "A federal appeals court has backed a Louisiana town in an abortion protest case. The Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Columbia, Louisiana . . . 'One of the folks was actually arrested by the police and a whole bunch of other folks were threatened with arrest if they didn't put away the signs and leave,' explains Randall Wenger, the attorney who defended the pro-lifers...

Book review: Justice Kennedy?s law

Posted on December 30, 2009
At SCOTUS Blog, Lyle Denniston reviews Frank J. Colucci, Justice Kennedy?s Jurisprudence: The Full and Necessary Meaning of Liberty, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kan., 2009), 186 pp. (cloth), $34.95. Deniston reports: "Few understand him [ie...

H1N1 Precautions Suspended Religious Activities At Montana Jail

Posted on December 30, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "Last week in Office of the State Public Defender v. McMeekin, (MT Sup. Ct., Dec. 23, 2009), the Montana Supreme Court issued a writ of mandamus ordering the jail revise its policy so that attorneys can have face-to-face visits with pretrial detainee clients ...

Swedish authorities frown on home schooling

Posted on December 30, 2009
OneNewsNow: "A Swedish family is faced with the prospect of losing their children simply because they home school . . . Earlier this month, a Swedish court sided with the officials. HSLDA, along with attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund, will be defending the family...

Florida attorney general: healthcare reform unconstitutional?

Posted on December 30, 2009
Christian Science Monitor: "Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum ? a Republican running for governor ? says a federal healthcare bill that forces everyone to buy health insurance or pay a penalty could be unconstitutional. If it passes, he is considering a legal challenge...

Nevada: Parraguirre to become chief justice

Posted on December 30, 2009
Nevada Appeal: "Ron Parraguirre will assume the position of chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court in 2010."

?Ohio district: Teacher asked kids about religion?

Posted on December 30, 2009
AP: "An Ohio school district says a teacher accused of burning the image of a cross on students' arms also surveyed them about religion."

Feinstein: Some of the planners behind Christmas attacked were released from Guantanamo Bay

Posted on December 30, 2009
The Hill: "The senior Democrat [Sen. Dianne Feinstein] on the Senate intelligence committee wants no more Guantanamo Bay detainees released to Yemen in the wake of a Christmas day terrorist attack hatched in that country . . . In addition, two of the planners behind the Christmas Day bombing plot had been released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 and ended up rejoining terrorist ranks in Yemen, according to a report by ABC News?s Brian Ross...

Walter Williams: Modern Day Lunacy ? The Preexisting Condition Patient Protection Act

Posted on December 30, 2009
Walter Williams writes at Townhall: "For a president and congressman to shamelessly propose something like the Pre-existing Condition Patient Protection Act demonstrates just how far we've gone down the road to perdition. The most tragic thing is that most Americans have no idea that such an act violates every principle of insurance and it's something that not even yesteryear's lunatics would have thought up...

Real Truth About Obama Asks Supreme Court to Protect Political Speech

Posted on December 30, 2009
"A group of citizens formed RTAO in July 2008 because they wanted to provide accurate and useful information about then-candidate Barack Obama. Specifically, RTAO wanted to broadcast an ad explaining Obama?s support of abortion. RTAO also planned a website and wanted to distribute a letter in order to raise money for the ad...

Why the Mullahs Are Vulnerable

Posted on December 30, 2009
Con Couglin writes at the Wall Street Journal: "What began as anger over a stolen election has grown into a revolt against Iran's system of Islamic government."

Jay Mathews: Foreign language teaching is becoming just Spanish

Posted on December 30, 2009
Jay Matthews writes at Education News: "Most of the rest of the world has made great strides in improving English language instruction. Just because our mother tongue has become the leading language of international discourse doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to make as many of our citizens as possible bilingual, at least...

Law Review: Same-Sex Divorce Jurisdiction and Why Divorce is an Incident of Marriage

Posted on December 30, 2009
Same-Sex Divorce Jurisdiction: A Critical Analysis of Chambers v. Ormiston and Why Divorce is an Incident of Marriage That Should Be Uniformly Recognized Throughout the States Danielle Johnson, 50 Santa Clara L. Rev. 225 (2009) "First, Part II of this comment will discuss the current state of the law regarding same-sex marriage, the evolution of those laws, and general principles and approaches to marriage recognition...

Behind Closed Doors: Impotence Trials and the Trans-Historical Right to Marital Privacy

Posted on December 30, 2009
Behind Closed Doors: Impotence Trials and the Trans-Historical Right to Marital Privacy Stephanie B. Hoffman, 89 B.U. L. Rev. 1725 (2009) "Part III analyzes the role that impotence trials play in challenging traditional conceptions of marital privacy...

Proposition 8 defenders oppose televising trial

Posted on December 30, 2009
"In a letter to Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, lawyers defending Proposition 8 argued that allowing cameras in the federal court trial would violate federal rules and expose their side to threats, intimidation and harassment from gay marriage advocates...

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