Religion & Law

ADF appeals decision to allow bad speech policy to stand while suit against GSU proceeds

Posted on December 21, 2009
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a notice of appeal Friday in the case of a Christian man arrested for sharing his faith in the ?free speech area? of Georgia Southern University.

Prince Edward Island proclaims same-sex ?marriage? amendments

Posted on December 21, 2009
CBC: "Marriage commissioners on P.E.I. have been able to perform same-sex marriages since June 2006, but many pieces of provincial legislation still referred to married couples as 'man and woman' or 'husband and wife.'"

Maine ?gay marriage? supporters plan to make it 2010 election issue

Posted on December 21, 2009
SeaCoastOnline.com: "They also are planning to take a more personal approach with voters than they did in the months leading up to November ? an approach that focuses less on identifying likely voters than it does on having conversations with people in the more rural, small-town pockets of Maine...

Egypt university to appeal niqab ruling

Posted on December 21, 2009
Breitbart (AP): "A leading Cairo university will appeal a court decision allowing female students to don the full face veil on campus dormitories, a university official said on Monday."

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

N.M. bill proposes constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man, one woman

Posted on December 21, 2009
New Mexico Independent: "The bill proposing a constitutional amendment was filed by Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington . . . "

Radical Islam meets a buffer in West Africa

Posted on December 21, 2009
Washington Post: "Mali in some sense has become a test case as its government has accepted tens of millions of dollars in American aid intended to stave off what U.S. officials say could be a growing threat of radicalism in parts of Africa where Muslims make up the majority...

United Nations Quashes Religious Expression? Again

Posted on December 21, 2009
Becket Fund: "Today the United Nations adopted a resolution that empowers governments to punish its own citizens for expressing their religious beliefs and speaking out against a particular faith. In a vote of 80 in favor, 61 against, and 42 countries abstaining, the concept of ?defamation of religion? received yet another nod of approval from the U...

Eugene Volokh: ?More on Christian Legal Society v. Martinez?

Posted on December 21, 2009
Eugene Volokh responds once again to David French at the Volokh Conspiracy: "Likewise, it seems to me that there is an eminently conceivable, and legitimate, state interest in denying government funds to groups that discriminate based on religion, sexual orientation, and such, even when the discrimination is ?commonsense? and ?mission-based...

New software battles child pornography

Posted on December 21, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Microsoft has developed PhotoDNA, software technology that helps calculate the distinct characteristics of a digital image to match it to other copies of that same image . . . Trueman says that 'if the National Center has perhaps a thousand new child pornography photos that come in on one day, they might be able to identify ten children in those photos...

Courthouse Grounds Make Room For New Display

Posted on December 21, 2009
Leesburg Today: "Exercising his request to the Board of Supervisors, Leesburg resident Richard L. Wingrove has put up a banner on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation."

SC fire department removes nativity display

Posted on December 21, 2009
Chicago Tribune: "The manger scene was removed from Fire Station 12 after city officials received a letter from the group Freedom from Religion Foundation, which works for the separation of church and state."

$100 million payoff for Dodd

Posted on December 21, 2009
Washington Post (AP): "A $100 million item for construction of a university hospital was inserted in the Senate health care bill at the request of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election campaign, his office said Sunday night...

Serving U.S troops could face prison if they fall pregnant while active

Posted on December 21, 2009
"But Major General Anthony Cucolo, who runs US operations in northern Iraq, issued the new orders because he said he was losing too many women with critical skills." .

UK: Teacher sacked over ?pupil prayer?

Posted on December 21, 2009
The Press Association: "A Christian teacher dismissed from her job after offering to pray for a sick pupil said she felt she had been treated like a criminal."

Coburn: Nelson agreement with leaders ?threw unborn babies under the bus?

Posted on December 21, 2009
The Hill: ?You have to compliment Ben Nelson for playing the price is right,? Burr said. ?This isn?t the Louisiana Purchase. This is the Nebraska windfall.?

Christian group wages campus fight

Posted on December 20, 2009
"That organization, the non-profit Alliance Defense Fund, is now undertaking a special campaign on a familiar front of the culture wars. Armed with a $9.2 million donation from an anonymous family plus its own matching funds, the group is stepping up efforts to combat what it says is widespread and unconstitutional censorship at public colleges ...

U.S. Senator places hold on bill over Brazilian custody battle

Posted on December 18, 2009
AP: "A New Jersey senator plans to hold up a trade bill that would benefit Brazil because of a long-running battle over a 9-year-old boy."

PA: District judge strikes 100-foot ?bubble zone,? keeps 15-foot buffer outside abortion clinics

Posted on December 18, 2009
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh can ban abortion debates and demonstrations within 15 feet of a medical facility entrance, but it can no longer prevent advocates from walking up to people outside that buffer zone, a federal judge ruled Thursday ...

?Urgent need? to regulate sex toys, Canadian MP says

Posted on December 18, 2009
The Globe and Mail: "The issue is over plastics such as bisphenol A, a controversial chemical in Canada, and phthalates, used to make plastic soft and flexible. Dozens of studies have shown the chemicals may cause hormonal complications at certain levels of exposure, yet both are common in sex toys, which are classified as 'novelty' items in Canada and are therefore removed from almost all oversight, Ms...

?D.C. Council votes to recognize gay marriage?

Posted on December 18, 2009
Dallas Voice: "With the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, a right-wing legal group that has filed many challenges against equal rights for gays, the clergymen are still pressing forward with an effort to put the issue before voters in the District."

Judge upholds ruling against photographers who declined work at homosexual ceremony

Posted on December 18, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "'Christians in the marketplace should not be subject to predatory legal attacks for simply abiding by their beliefs,' said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. 'The Constitution prohibits the state from forcing unwilling artists to promote a message they disagree with and thereby violate their conscience...

Marriage Equality USA opposed to secret vote by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors

Posted on December 18, 2009
Imperial Valley News: "'Judge Walker already rejected the petition of the Alliance Defense Fund to intervene in this case and this is just an end run around that decision using the Imperial County Board of Supervisors as a front for their participation,' said Molly McKay, MEUSA's Media Director...

?New Mexico?s frightening court ruling that demands Christian photographers must shoot gay weddings?

Posted on December 18, 2009
Queerty: "The Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Huguenins, has promised to appeal. And we actually agree with ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence's argument: 'Christians in the marketplace should not be subject to predatory legal attacks for simply abiding by their beliefs...

New Mexico court rules against Christian photographers

Posted on December 18, 2009
CitizenLink: "Jordan Lorence, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), said it exposes the threat such laws pose to religious liberty. 'The court showed very little respect for that,' he said, 'and said that this was no different than a caterer serving food and was liable to this same-sex couple...

DC mayor signs bill to redefine marriage

Posted on December 18, 2009
AP: "The bill must pass a 30-day period of Congressional review."

Imperial County, CA: ?The Valley of the Grinch?

Posted on December 18, 2009
San Diego Gay and Lesbian News: "Tuesday the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, in a 3-2 vote, moved to intervene in the Federal court case challenging Prop 8?s constitutionality . . . Mr. Wally also informed me that he was approached by the Alliance Defense Fund (the anti-equality guys with money) to bring the issue to the board with the promise that they would pay all of the county's expenses with regards to the case...

Radical Is as Radical Appoints

Posted on December 18, 2009
David Limbaugh writes at Townhall: "I'm wondering whether there's anyone out there with the guts to pretend that it's insignificant that President Barack Obama keeps appointing radical after radical to his czar positions. Can anyone honestly say Obama's appointments don't tell us a great deal about Obama himself -- as if we needed any further proof he is a left-wing extremist?"

A merry Christmas; Senate eyes Dec. 24 vote on healthcare reform legislation

Posted on December 18, 2009
The Hill: "'If the majority leader wants to schedule a vote Christmas Eve, that?s unfortunate, but Senate Republicans will not make it easier for them to try and pass this historic mistake,' McConnell said in a statement to The Hill."

Virginia: Mother not charged for killing newborn, because umbilical cord still attached

Posted on December 18, 2009
Investigators said because the mother and baby were still connected by the umbilical cord and placenta, state law does not consider the baby to be a separate life. Therefore, the mother cannot be charged."

Darwin?s Disciples Today

Posted on December 18, 2009
Carson Holloway writes at Public Discourse: "As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin?s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of the Species, it is time to realize that the best way to honor his legacy is to fight its over-extension and misapplication into the realm of politics...

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