Religion & Law

Criminal Contempt Case Over a Meal Prayer Goes to Trial on National Constitution Day

Posted on September 16, 2009
Liberty Counsel: "Tomorrow, Liberty Counsel will be in federal District Court in Pensacola representing the Principal of Pace High School, Frank Lay and Athletic Director Robert Freeman as they face criminal contempt charges for a prayer over a meal...

How to Succeed at Business Development: A First-Year View

Posted on September 16, 2009
LawJobs.com: "In fact, the firm's leadership emphasizes that cultivating marketing and business development skills is as essential to becoming a great lawyer as learning to take a deposition or draft a corporate charter. It's all about uncovering client needs, listening more, talking less and helping create solutions for the clients...

Missouri Court OKs lawsuit against Methodist church for alleged negligent oversite of sex abuser

Posted on September 16, 2009
Columbia Missourian: "This ruling is significant because it is the first time a Missouri court has held that a negligence case could be pursued against a church for sexual abuse,' said Ken Chackes, the plaintiff's attorney, who has handled about 100 cases involving alleged sexual abuse involving the clergy...

Student to Fight Court Decision on Confederate Clothing

Posted on September 16, 2009
FoxNews: "A South Carolina teen who sued a school district over the right to wear Confederate-themed clothing to school will appeal a ruling that sides with the district, her attorney said Wednesday."

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

Washington: R-71, domestic partnership ballot language could cause voter confusion, business interests oppose marriage

Posted on September 16, 2009
"Heading into November, the R-71 debate takes a turn and a change in vocabulary."

Poll: Canada More Open to Same-Sex ?Marriage? than U.S., UK

Posted on September 16, 2009
". . . according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 61 per cent of Canadians say couples of the same gender should continue to be allowed to legally marry in their country. In contrast, only 33 per cent of Americans and 41 per cent of Britons say that same-sex marriage should be made legal in their respective countries ...

Canada: Rev. Stephen Boisson in court today challenging ?hate speech? conviction

Posted on September 16, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "[Alberta pastor Stephen Boissoin] is in Alberta Court of the Queen's Bench, appealing the conviction of hate speech that resulted in the above penalties. That conviction was based upon a letter to the editor . . . in which Boissoin expressed his opinion that homosexuality is immoral and dangerous, and called into question new gay-rights curricula permeating the province's educational system...

Judge rules Kan. city violated free speech rights

Posted on September 16, 2009
Associated Press: "A federal judge says the city of Mulvane violated a woman's free speech rights when police led her from a public forum on a casino project in the southern Kansas city . . . Farnsworth is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious advocacy group based in Scottsdale, Ariz...

Nashville passes gender identity law

Posted on September 16, 2009
Baptist Press: "Nashville became the latest city to add 'sexual orientation' and gender identity to its non-discrimination policy Sept. 15 but left the two controversial terms undefined, and critics charged the ordinance only opens the city up to more far-reaching laws affirming homosexuality ...

?The Respect for Marriage Act of 2009?

Posted on September 16, 2009
Leonard Link has this commentary discussing the newly introduced Act to repeal DOMA including these comments: "Second, Rep. Frank, who is an expert nose-counter when it comes to these things, thinks the time is not ripe for this bill. The priorities, as he sees them, are to get the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill enacted, to get the Employment Non-Discrimination Bill in its newly-inclusive form through the legislative process, and to tackle the military "don't ask, don't tell" policy...

Murphy expects House hearings on DADT repeal in early 2010

Posted on September 16, 2009
S. Florida Blade, a publication that advocates homosexual behavior reports: "Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) said he expects the House to hold hearings on a bill to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in winter or spring of 2010."

Mullen to give thoughts to Senate panel on ?Don?t ask, don?t tell? policy

Posted on September 16, 2009
The Hill: "Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) won a promise from Adm. Mike Mullen that he would provide his take on the repeal of 'Don?t ask, don?t tell' before the Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing this fall."

ADF: Bill to repeal DOMA demonstrates ongoing disregard for the American people

Posted on September 16, 2009
"A bill introduced in Congress Tuesday that would repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act demonstrates the increasing amount of contempt America?s political leaders appear to have for the values of the people they serve . . ."

Minnesota Governor Stops All ACORN Funding

Posted on September 16, 2009
CNSNews: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R.) sent a letter Wednesday afternoon to the director of the Minnesota Commission of Management and Budget ordering him to stop all state funding to ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)...

El Paso Times: ?Keep Christmas: Don?t delete from classrooms?

Posted on September 16, 2009
El Paso Times: We agree with Jonathan Saenz of the Free Market Foundation: "It's outrageous that the war on Christmas continues in our state and our nation."

Law Firms Get Top Marks for ?Gay Equality? in the Workplace

Posted on September 16, 2009
The AmLaw Daily: "Law firms continue to lead the way in providing protections and benefits to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees, according to a survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the largest LGBT civil rights group in the country...

Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.: The Naked Truth

Posted on September 16, 2009
Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.: The Naked Truth Kathleen T. Gibson, 9 U. Miami Ent. & Sports L.Rev. 201 (2009) "In Barnes, the issue before the Court was whether the application of an Indiana public indecency statute to nude dancing impermissibly infringed upon freedom of speech...

Clinton Urges Crackdown on Human Trafficking

Posted on September 15, 2009
Fox News: "Secretary of state warns that human trafficking is flourishing in the shadows of the global economic downturn."

ADF-allied attorney available to media after arguments in significant Canadian free speech case

Posted on September 15, 2009
Justice Earl Wilson will take up the case of a pastor punished by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for letters-to-the-editor published in a newspaper regarding his Christian views on homosexual behavior.

ADF-allied attorney available to media after arguments in significant Canadian free speech case

Posted on September 15, 2009
Justice Earl Wilson will take up the case of a pastor punished by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for letters-to-the-editor published in a newspaper regarding his Christian views on homosexual behavior

Will Alabama?s criminalization of sex toys reach the Supreme Court?

Posted on September 15, 2009
Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld. . . a state statute that criminalizes, among other things, "knowingly distribut[ing] ... any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for any thing of pecuniary value" ...

How liberals can win by losing at the Roberts Court

Posted on September 15, 2009
Richard L. Hasen writing at Slate Magazine: "Here are three strategies of the moment for avoiding a bad loss, taken from my experience with election law cases . . . 1. Stay out of the Supreme Court, even if you lose in the lower court . . . 2. Try to pick off one of the five conservative justices to issue a narrower opinion ...

National ripples may be felt from New Jersey, Virginia: Elections and Marriage

Posted on September 15, 2009
Capital Times: "Kicking off his re-election bid last June, Gov. Jon Corzine passionately described a vision for New Jersey that includes giving 'people the freedom to marry whomever they love.' Corzine's high-profile embrace of same-sex marriage demonstrates how politicians' calculations are changing...

Census Count of Same-Sex Couples to Stir Policy Fights

Posted on September 15, 2009
Washington Post: "Gay advocates say they plan to use 'A Census that Reflects America's Population,' as the Census Bureau calls its plan to report same-sex marriage statistics, to push for legislative and policy initiatives, while groups opposed to same-sex marriage weigh a counteroffensive...

The Trial of John Roberts

Posted on September 15, 2009
Jeffrey Rosen writes at the NY Times: "Likewise, if the Roberts court issues a sweeping 5-to-4 decision in the current case, Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, striking down longstanding bans on corporate campaign expenditures, it would define John Roberts as indelibly as Miranda defined Earl Warren...

Sandra Day O?Connor: End judge elections in Wash.

Posted on September 15, 2009
AP: "The first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court says there's a serious problem with the government in Washington and many other states: They elect their judges."

?Va. Judge Nominated For Appeals Court; Alexandria Woman Is a Trailblazer?

Posted on September 15, 2009
How Appealing links to numerous reports about the nomination of Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Obama cautious on faith-based initiatives

Posted on September 15, 2009
Washington Post: "Civil liberties advocates have pressed Obama to keep the promise he made in July 2008 when he told an audience in Zanesville, Ohio: 'If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them -- or against the people you hire -- on the basis of their religion...

ACLU sues over abstinence conference for Mississippi teens

Posted on September 15, 2009
OneNewsNow: "The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Mississippi to halt religious messages that are part of abstinence-only sex-education programs."

Uruguay law may not enable ?gay adoptions? after all

Posted on September 15, 2009
AP: "A closer reading of an adoptions law promoted by Uruguay's gay rights groups suggests it might not enable adoptions by gay and lesbian couples after all."

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