Religion & Law

?Teen birth rates highest in most religious states?

Posted on September 17, 2009
MSNBC: "U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests."

European Parliament raps Lithuania for curbing homosexual advocacy

Posted on September 17, 2009
C-FAM: "The European Parliament voted 349 to 218 today to condemn Lithuania for its "law on the protection of minors" which prohibits promotion of "homosexual, bisexual or polygamous relations" among children under 18 in the Baltic nation. Conservative critics contend that the measure, crafted in reaction to the domestic legislation of a sovereign member state pertaining to the family, oversteps the Parliament's authority...

Fla. Episcopal Bishop to Authorize Blessing of Same-Sex Unions

Posted on September 17, 2009
Christian Post: "Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade intends to allow clergy in the Diocese of Southeast Florida to bless the unions of same-sex couples. The authorization will only apply to gay and lesbian couples who have been legally married, he says."

50 Bright Stars: An Assessment of Each State?s Constitutional Commitment to Limited Government

Posted on September 17, 2009
Goldwater Institute: "In an era of burgeoning federal government power, state constitutions are full of untapped potential; many provide stronger protection of individual freedoms than does the federal constitution. But realizing that potential requires recognizing its existence and assessing which state constitutions offer the best opportunities for securing the principles of limited government...

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National Right to Life: ?America?s Healthy Future Act? contains ?massive federal subsidies? supporting abortion

Posted on September 17, 2009
National Right to Life press release: "The bill contains provisions that would send massive federal subsidies directly to both private insurance plans and government-chartered cooperatives that pay for elective abortion. This would be a drastic break from longstanding federal policy, under which federal funds do not pay for elective abortions or subsidize health plans that cover elective abortions...

House votes to defund ACORN

Posted on September 17, 2009
Associated Press: "The House voted Thursday to deny all federal funds for ACORN in a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action."

The Community Defense Reporter Online: Protecting Children and Their Neighborhoods

Posted on September 17, 2009
The July and August 2009 editions of the Community Defense Reporter are now available online at the Community Defense Counsel.

ACLU And Coalition Ask Justice Department To Withdraw Religious Discrimination Opinion

Posted on September 17, 2009
ACLU: "The American Civil Liberties Union joined a broad coalition of religious, civil rights and health organizations today in signing a letter urging Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to withdraw an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion approving of religious discrimination in hiring by religious groups receiving federal funds to carry out federal programs ...

Notre Dame?s Father Jenkins Begins Pro-Life Measures at University, but Still not Dropping Charges against Pro-Life Protestors

Posted on September 17, 2009
LifeNews: "In apparent attempt to regain favor with pr-life Catholics upset that Notre Dame invited pro-abortion President Barack Obama to give its commencement address and gave him an honorary degree, university president John Jenkins says he will attend the 2010 March for Life...

Second Abortion Increases Risk of Premature Babies 93%: Canadian Study

Posted on September 17, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "A new Canadian study has shown that abortion increases the risk of future premature pregnancies and low birth-weight babies; however, the author has refused to say that abortion should be avoided, instead calling for improved abortion techniques...

Controversy Continues Over Law Prof?s ?Anti-Gay? Ad

Posted on September 17, 2009
Legal Blog Watch: "As a graduate of Boston College Law School, I was disappointed to read about BC Law Professor Scott T. Fitzgibbon's starring role in an anti-gay marriage TV ad targeted at voters in Maine. Now that I've watched the ad and read more about it, I find it even more disappointing for the ways in which it distorts some of the underlying issues...

The Nature of Academic Freedom is Central to the Controversy at Boston College Law School

Posted on September 17, 2009
"Dean Garvey's entire approach is based on a fundamentally flawed conception of academic freedom."

Love Thy Neighbor: Should Religious Accommodations that Negatively Affect Coworkers? Shift Preferences Constitute an Undue Hardship on the Employer Under Title VII?

Posted on September 17, 2009
Rachel M. Birnbach, Love Thy Neighbor: Should Religious Accommodations that Negatively Affect Coworkers? Shift Preferences Constitute an Undue Hardship on the Employer Under Title VII? (September 13, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1472698 "This Note argues against those courts that have found that imposing on shift preferences of coworkers, outside the context of a collective bargaining agreement, amounts to preferential treatment...

Religious Pluralism Versus Social Cohesion? Normative Fault Lines of Human Rights Jurisprudence in Europe

Posted on September 17, 2009
Daniel Augenstein, Religious Pluralism Versus Social Cohesion? Normative Fault Lines of Human Rights Jurisprudence in Europe (September 15, 2009). U. of Edinburgh School of Law Working Paper No. 2009-23. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1473893 "This essay explores the tension between religious pluralism and social cohesion in European human rights jurisprudence...

Celebrating the Differences that Could Make a Difference: United States v. Virginia and a New Vision of Sexual Equality

Posted on September 17, 2009
Courtney M. Cahill, Celebrating the Differences that Could Make a Difference: United States v. Virginia and a New Vision of Sexual Equality (September 15, 2009). Ohio State Law Journal, Forthcoming ; Roger Williams Univ. Legal Studies Paper No. 82. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn...

Several BigLaw Lawyers Win Supreme Court Clerkships

Posted on September 16, 2009
ABA Journal: "Out of 34 clerks hired so far (Sotomayor will be hiring three more), nine went to Yale and eight to Harvard, according to the Washingtonian story. The top feeder judge on Above the Law?s April 15 clerkship list was J. Harvie Wilkinson of the Richmond, Va...

Cal. School Dist. settles with ACLU, agrees to mandatory ?homophobia? training

Posted on September 16, 2009
ACLU: "The mandated training will make it clear to administrators, teachers and students not only what constitutes sexism and homophobia, but what school officials must do to deal with it ? and prevent it from spreading ? according to the law,' said Hector Villagra, director of the ACLU/SC's Orange County office...

Cash for Kids in Japan

Posted on September 16, 2009
Global Post: "In the country with the lowest birth rate in the world, the newly empowered Democratic Party of Japan has proposed a solution: pay to procreate. As part of the manifesto that helped the DPJ rout the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in last month?s election, families will receive 26,000 yen (about $280) per month for each child through junior high school...

?Gay conservative group unveils Fla. chapter?

Posted on September 16, 2009
The Washington Blade, an advocate of homosexual behavior reports: "A national gay conservative group is seeking to expand with chapters throughout the country and last week launched its first affiliate in Florida. GOProud, the gay conservative group founded this spring, announced Sept...

Charter schools see more attrition: Fewer students are graduating, union study finds

Posted on September 16, 2009
Boston Globe: "The Massachusetts Teachers Association, which conducted the study, said the exodus reinforces its longtime assertion that charter schools systematically push out academically weak students in an effort to boost their college acceptance rates and MCAS scores ...

Canadian Court: ?Parents do not have ultimate authority over the moral or religious education of their children?

Posted on September 16, 2009
"In a recent troubling judgment . . . , Quebec's Superior Court ruled that parents do not have ultimate authority over the moral or religious education of their children . . . "

Networks Ignore Push for Repeal of DOMA

Posted on September 16, 2009
"Although the health care reform debate has gobbled up media attention for weeks, the networks? silence on the fundamental issue of how the federal government defines marriage is odd."

Rational basis and constitutional line-drawing in the same-sex ?marriage? debate

Posted on September 16, 2009
Orin Kerr writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "When the state takes on the task of defining who should receive a government benefit, and that definition requires a great deal of complicated linedrawing, it is presumptively rational for a legislature to draw lines in ways that match traditions or common contemporary practices...

Massive Public Opposition to U.K. TV Abortion Ads Delays Implementation

Posted on September 16, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "But officials were not prepared for the overwhelming opposition of Britain's public to the idea. With over 4000 submissions having been made to the consultation, the review of the advertising codes will be delayed a year."

FCC to take another look at Janet Jackson case

Posted on September 16, 2009
Reuters: "In a filing on Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the FCC asked the court to allow the agency to review whether CBS was reckless by failing to use a video delay technology, reasserting that CBS used a video delay for the 2004 Grammy Awards only seven days after the Super Bowl...

Divide between right, mainstream media

Posted on September 16, 2009
Politico: "The right-wing media?s single-minded focus on a handful of targets over the past months and its success in pushing those stories into the mainstream have underscored the sharp divide between traditional news organizations and the bloggers and talk show hosts aggressively pursuing an ideological agenda on-line and on TV and radio ...

Arizona: Charter-school advocates sue state

Posted on September 16, 2009
"Arizona's leading charter-school advocacy group has filed two lawsuits to force the state to equalize funding going to all public schools, charter and district."

SC: EEOC Sues On Behalf of Jehovah?s Witness Fired For Refusing Halloween Participation

Posted on September 16, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog: "The EEOC alleges that in 2006 the company fired a Jehovah's Witness employee who refused on religious grounds to represent the company at a local Halloween carnival."

Texas: City?s Settlement of RLUIPA Lawsuit Leaves Challenged Ordinance In Effect

Posted on September 16, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "The city of Bellmead, Texas (under prodding from a federal judge as trial approached) is close to settling a RLUIPA lawsuit brought against it by the Church of the Open Door which was refused zoning permission to move its halfway house for released prisoners into a former nursing home building it had purchased...

Chaplain?s free speech rights restored in Michigan

Posted on September 16, 2009
Baptist Bulletin: "Martin Colburn, Christian chaplain of two veterans? organizations, has had his free speech rights restored, reports OneNewsNow. In February he was thrown out of a hospital in Michigan because he had a Bible in his hand and had been meeting with a patient...

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