Religion & Law

?Marriage penalty? buried in healthcare bills

Posted on December 14, 2009
One News Now: "A Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota says 'a huge marriage penalty for the American middle class' is hidden in both the House and Senate healthcare bills."

Calif. electronic bingo machine ban upheld

Posted on December 14, 2009
Legal Newsline: "California charities may not use electronic bingo machines, a federal appeals court panel ruled this week. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that charitable entities in the state cannot skirt a state law banning bingo machines, saying that live-call bingo games violate the Americans With Disabilities Act because it discriminates against players with disabilities...

Court Hears Contraceptive Questions Debate in Yaz Litigation

Posted on December 14, 2009
Law.com (Legal Intelligencer): ". . . The plaintiffs allege in papers that the birth control pills caused injures like pulmonary embolism, blood clots in the legs, heart attacks, strokes and gall bladder and kidney disease. "

Final High Court Session of 2009 Ends Without Campaign Finance Decision

Posted on December 14, 2009
Law.com (National Law Journal): "When the Supreme Court on June 29 ordered re-argument in the campaign finance case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the speculation was nearly unanimous on why it took that unusual action . . . On Monday morning, the Court gaveled its final session of 2009 to a close without a decision in Citizens United...

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India: Church leaders request PM to oppose homosexuality

Posted on December 14, 2009
Christian Today: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was last week urged to oppose the decriminalizing of homosexuality in India."

Resignation of Oklahoma City judge to reshape 10th Circuit

Posted on December 14, 2009
The Oklahoman: "The resignation of Chief Judge Robert Henry of Oklahoma City on Thursday gives President Barack Obama more opportunity to shape the federal appeals court that serves Oklahoma. Seven judges on the 12-seat 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were appointed by Republican presidents...

New prostitution law cuts into business at RI strip clubs

Posted on December 14, 2009
Providence Journal: "Bouncers patrol dimly lit alcoves where topless women socialize with customers. The curtains that offered a measure of privacy in the 'VIP rooms' are gone. And signs posted throughout the Charles Street club read: 'Prostitution is illegal...

R.I. sex lobby seeks larger voice at State House

Posted on December 14, 2009
Providence Journal: "But the Ocean State?s adult entertainment industry regularly donates to key political leaders, employs one of the state?s most influential lobbyists, and has created a nonprofit organization, the Rhode Island Entertainment Association, to protect its interests...

TX: Alleged ?adult store? near Bentwater closes its doors

Posted on December 14, 2009
Monroe Courier: "A store located near the entrance to Bentwater that sold adult videos and other sexually suggestive items closed its doors last week in the wake of complaints by some Bentwater residents that the store was a bad fit for the community...

U.S. Supreme Court: Can Scripture trump non-discrimination law?

Posted on December 14, 2009
UPI:  "Last week, the justices agreed to hear and decide a separate dispute between a San Francisco law school and the Christian Legal Society. The case pits the law-driven obligation of a school, a public entity, to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians and the right of a religious student group to follow biblical condemnation of homosexual activity...

?The Role of the U.S. Solicitor General?

Posted on December 14, 2009
C-Span Video is available here: "Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy made opening remarks before a panel discussion on the role of the Solicitor General. Three former U.S. Solicitor Generals gave insights on the duties associated with the job, including arguing before the Supreme Court...

Feds take aim at customers of child prostitution

Posted on December 14, 2009
Associated Press: "Now the Justice Department is starting to go after those who pay to have sex with children. Previously authorities targeted people who sold children for sex, but they are taking advantage of a little-used provision of a 2005 bill to focus their efforts so far in Kansas and Missouri after noticing an apparent rise in child prostitution cases...

NC: Effort to remove atheist from Asheville city council

Posted on December 14, 2009
CBS (AP): "When Bothwell was sworn into office on Monday, he used an alternative oath that doesn't require officials to swear on a Bible or reference 'Almighty God.' That has riled conservative activists, who cite a little-noticed quirk in North Carolina's Constitution that disqualifies officeholders 'who shall deny the being of Almighty God...

UK: Birmingham council seizes home after ?homophobic abuse?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Inside Housing: "Birmingham City Council has been awarded possession of a tenant?s home, following a ?reign of homophobic abuse and anti-social behaviour?. Birmingham County Court has given the tenant, Richard Leonard, a two-year anti-social behaviour injunction, which bars him from harassing or intimidating local residents and causing damage to their homes and vehicles, after a series of incidents since May 2009...

Scotland: Straight teacher subject to ?gay taunts? loses ?sexuality harassment? claim

Posted on December 14, 2009
STV News: "A teacher who was subjected to gay taunts from pupils has lost his sexuality harassment claim."

D.C. Council preps for second same-sex ?marriage? vote

Posted on December 14, 2009
wtop.com: "The D.C. City Council will cast a second vote on legalizing gay marriage next Tuesday, after approving it two weeks ago. This vote is basically procedural, but it is needed to make gay marriage legal in the city."

Tax-funded abortions to continue in Austin, TX

Posted on December 14, 2009
Baptist Press: "Bucking the pleas of nearly 10,000 local petitioners, the Travis County Board of Central Health in Austin unanimously approved a renewal contract worth about $450,000 to fund abortions for poor women with county property taxes."

?Georgetown U. tries to be Catholic and gay-friendly?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Washington Post: "Sivagami 'Shiva' Subbaraman was leading a workshop about making college campuses more gay-friendly in February 2008 when a Georgetown University student burst into the room with news: The university president had agreed to open a resource center for gay students and hire a full-time director to run it...

Supreme Court may hear appeal on workers? text message privacy

Posted on December 14, 2009
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear "a case in which employees won a constitutional right to privacy in their text messages, even when the messages were sexually explicit comments to co-workers.

?Hope Witsell?s Sexting Suicide: Why kids self-destruct with cell phones and online?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Emily Bazelon writes at Slate: "Last week, Hope's suicide became the second with a clear link to sexting and the peer torture that can follow from it. At the end of seventh grade last spring, Hope sent a photo of her breasts to a boy she liked, and the picture went viral at her school...

?Gay group carves out niche at Catholic University?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Washington Post: "Every Wednesday morning, 150 officials at Catholic University receive an e-mail about a gay student's struggles on campus . . . So far, the administration has not been receptive to the group's Wednesday efforts. This summer they rejected an application from the group, CUAllies, to be an official student club...

Christmas Returns to Oregon School

Posted on December 14, 2009
Liberty Counsel: "Principal Michelle Zundel of Bellview Elementary School in Ashland, Oregon, has reversed her prior decision banning Christmas trees and Santa Claus from her school."

Uncertain laws on surrogates leave custody at issue

Posted on December 14, 2009
"The creation of Ethan and Bridget tested the boundaries of the field known as third-party reproduction, in which more than two people collaborate to have a baby."

Rep. Gordon is fourth Dem retirement

Posted on December 14, 2009
The Hill: "Democratic retirements are beginning to mount, after the announcement Monday that Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) will not seek reelection next year."

Are artificial wives on the horizon?

Posted on December 14, 2009
Paul Christensen writes in The Washington Times: "Humans will be marrying robots within 50 years, according to David Levy, winner of the 2009 Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence."

ACLU Challenges Illinois? Increase In Lobbyist Registration Fees, Including Church Exemption

Posted on December 14, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: The ACLU announced yesterday that it has filed a federal lawsuit in Illinois seeking to block the January 1 increase in fees for registering as a lobbyist for a non-profit organization under the Illinois Lobbyist Registration Act...

Pro-life nurse forced to assist an abortion

Posted on December 14, 2009
Hot Air: "Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the ADF, explained that the hospital could not legally have required the nurse to participate in the abortion even if the case had been a 'Category I,' meaning that the patient required 'immediate surgical intervention for life or limb threatening conditions...

Hugh Hewitt: Generosity with purpose

Posted on December 14, 2009
Hugh Hewitt writing in The Washington Examiner: "There are many para-church and secular groups that deserve the support of people of faith in these tumultuous times. The counterpart to the ACLU is the Alliance Defense Fund (telladf.org). If the ADF had even one Gelbaum supporting it with anything close to the $50 million he was sending the left-wing lawyers at the ACLU, religious liberty, unborn life and traditional marriage would at least be fully represented in the courts...

?Witch hunt? expected under new U.S. ?hate crimes? law

Posted on December 14, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Benjamin Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, agreed with the damage assessment. 'Homosexuals got exactly what they wanted. In the marketplace of ideas, one side has now been censored,' he said. 'This [situation] is exactly what homosexual activists have in mind...

The San Diego ?cross case? ? play it again . . .

Posted on December 14, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'Really it's a disgraceful suit, in our view,' he laments. 'One person's agenda should not diminish the sacrifices made by America's veterans and their families -- and that's what they're attempting to do in this case.'"

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