Religion & Law

Professional Teachers or Political Union?

Posted on September 08, 2009
EdNews: "'The big turning point was in the early seventies,' Bailey said. Before that time, the NEA had been more loosely organized, and a teacher could belong to a local organization not affiliated with the national. When the American Federation of Teachers suddenly began drawing members away from the NEA, it took a more assertive approach to organizing...

ACLU argues for legal prostitution in Rhode Island

Posted on September 08, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "Now, Rhode Island lawmakers are pushing to criminalize indoor prostitution, saying it damages the state's reputation, disturbs neighbors, encourages sex trafficking and puts women in potentially dangerous situations . . . Rhode Island's legal quirk has its defenders, including the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and some academics, who say the businesses don't bother anyone and provide a way for prostitutes, many of whom are Asian immigrants, to support their families...

Ted Olson: Will the Supreme Court finally overturn McCain-Feingold and enforce the First Amendment?

Posted on September 08, 2009
Theodore B. Olsen writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Public discussion about the character and fitness for office of presidential candidates is at the core of the First Amendment's command that 'Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the Freedom of Speech...

Becket Fund defends release time for South Carolina kids

Posted on September 08, 2009
Becket Fund: "On August 31, Spartanburg County School District No. 7 filed a motion asking a South Carolina federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group, and two parents. The Foundation's claim in Moss v...

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

?Mother of accused bully of a gay student says her son is actually the victim?

Posted on September 08, 2009
Utica Observer-Dispatch: "[Tamara Hendrick] said her son is being accused of harassing the gay 14-year-old student who has filed a lawsuit against the school district alleging the district failed to protect him from harassment. But Hendrick said it was actually the gay student who harassed her son...

New IRS filing requirements for nonprofits could bring tough decisions for small charities

Posted on September 08, 2009
Observer-Reporter: "Betsie Trew said new requirements for organizations that file Form 990 - the first in three decades - are being required by the Internal Revenue Service to disclose much more information about themselves and their organizations' missions ...

UK: Abortion ad rules review delayed

Posted on September 08, 2009
Guardian: "Regulators have delayed publication of the results of a controversial review of the UK advertising code, which includes proposals that could allow abortion clinics to run TV commercials, until next year after receiving around 4,000 submissions...

NM ACLU defending man who killed pregnant girlfriend, unborn child

Posted on September 08, 2009
LifeNews: "The ACLU of New Mexico is defending a state resident charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child. Marino Leyba, Jr., stands accused of killing 17-year-old Sarah Lovato, her father and Lovato's nine-month-old unborn child...

Phoenix target of church bell lawsuit

Posted on September 08, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is suing the city of Phoenix over trying to silence church bells . . . [ADF Attorney Erik Stanley] is asking the court to rule the ordinance unconstitutionally vague and stop criminal prosecutions of the churches and pastors...

Court rules in favor of ?endangering? minors, rejects Plan B challenge

Posted on September 08, 2009
OneNewsNow: A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the FDA, challenging the sale of the Plan B 'morning-after' pill to 17-year-olds . . . 'The judge said that the plaintiffs didn't have the legal right to bring a lawsuit to challenge the over-the-counter switch for Plan B, even though they were comprised of doctors' groups, pharmacists, and parents whose interests were directly tied to the availability of Plan B over the counter,' [Steve Aden] explains...

Washington: Holiday display limits offered

Posted on September 08, 2009
Seattle-Tacoma News Tribune: "Under the draft policy announced last month, Capitol landlords no longer allow private displays or exhibits in public areas inside any campus building . . . Ron Wesselius, a real estate agent, sued after Gov. Chris Gregoire lit a Jewish menorah in a Hanukkah-related ceremony in December 2006, and the state denied his subsequent request to put up a nativity display...

Arizona Catholic church sues to ring its bells

Posted on September 08, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "Three churches have filed a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix, charging that its noise ordinance which prohibits the ringing of their church bells is unconstitutional and suppresses a long American tradition . . . ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley explained the suit, saying that churches shouldn?t be published 'for exercising their faith publicly...

WSJ: ?Christian girls, interrupted?

Posted on September 08, 2009
William McGurn writing in the Wall Street Journal: "Two Christian girls. Two sets of distraught parents. And two state courts smack in the middle of it. One of these courts is in New Hampshire, where a judge recently ordered that home-schooled Amanda Kurowski be sent to public school ...

Idaho Press-Tribune: Charter should wait on Bibles

Posted on September 08, 2009
Idaho Press-Tribune Editorial: "The leadership of the new Nampa Classical Academy made an about face last week and decided to include the Bible in lessons even though state officials ruled they could not . . . Last week, ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman argued instead that the attorneys are prepared to ask a court to stop the commission from issuing a notice of defect because the school uses the Bible...

Church-bell ?noise? under attack ? in America

Posted on September 08, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Three churches in Phoenix have brought a legal action against the city because one pastor already has been convicted and other churches are being threatened over the "noise" from their bells, some of which have rung out to the community for decades ...

In India, Suit Threatened Over Compulsory Hindu Prayer In Schools

Posted on September 08, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "The education minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh last month ordered that beginning Sept. 5, all students in schools that participate in the state-run lunch program must recite the "bhojan mantra" before their mid-day meals...

De Facto Parents: Now children can have multiple legal parents without biology, adoption, or marriage.

Posted on September 08, 2009
". . . a revolution in the legal understanding of parenthood seems to have quietly begun with little or no public debate or discussion. This dramatically transformative development is the statutory recognition of 'de facto' parenthood . . ."

$9.2 million grant enables ADF to ramp up defense of free speech at universities

Posted on September 08, 2009
"The Alliance Defense Fund has received a $9.2 million grant in support of the nation?s largest-ever campaign to eradicate unconstitutional public university and college policies designed to silence religious speech and expression."

Doug Napier on ?The David Boze Show? on KTTH: Homeschooling ? ?that?s all Christian stuff?

Posted on September 08, 2009
ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on "The David Boze Show" on KTTH, The Truth Radio to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school. The MP3 runs just under 10 minutes.

Mike Johnson on ?The Meeting House? on Faith Radio: NH Homeschooling case

Posted on September 08, 2009
ADF attorney Mike Johnson appears on the Meeting House on Faith Radio with Bob Crittenden to discuss this: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school. The MP3 runs just over 13 minutes.

Supreme Court: Early release of Citizens United audio

Posted on September 08, 2009
SCOTUS Blog: "The Supreme Court announced Friday that the audiotape of next Wednesday?s oral argument in a major campaign finance case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (08-205), will be released for public broadcast shortly after the argument ends...

No-Fault Divorce is Institutionalized Evil

Posted on September 08, 2009
S. Michael Craven writes at the Center for Christ and Culture: "No-fault divorce is a social and legal atrocity that needs to be abolished both for the sake of families and children that have, for too long, been subjected to the tyrannical actions of family courts, and because it has encouraged, through law, radical selfishness on the part of narcissistic, self-indulgent spouses...

Christian evangelists target Dearborn?s large Islamic population

Posted on September 08, 2009
Detroit Free Press: "The California man is part of an ongoing effort by at least eight Christian groups across the United States to spread the gospel in Dearborn ? a city known for its sizeable Islamic population . . . But the push has caused tensions at times, resulting in lawsuits, accusations of assault and a fierce debate about how Islam can coexist with Christianity in the West...

Large Churches Face Zoning Hurdles

Posted on September 08, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "Today's Baltimore Sun carries an interesting analysis of zoning opposition to building of mega-churches (and similarly large synagogues and mosques)."

Former FEC Commissioners Available for Press Interviews: After Citizens United v. FEC Oral Argument

Posted on September 08, 2009
Tomorrow at 10 a.m., the United States Supreme Court will hear reargument in the campaign-finance case of Citizens United v. FEC.

New Religious Education Law Being Drafted In Kyrgyzstan

Posted on September 08, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "Forum 18 yesterday reported on the draft text of a new Law on Religious Education and Educational Institutions that is being drafted by Kyrgyzstan's State Agency for Religious Affairs (SARA). Kanybek Osmonaliev, had of SARA, says a new law is needed in order to reduce the number of Islamic educational institutions and to require them to offer a proper balance of religious and secular subjects...

Sudanese woman sent to jail for wearing pants

Posted on September 08, 2009
LA Times: "Journalist Lubna Hussein, wearing the same pants in the courtroom, is convicted of public indecency and sentenced to a month in jail when she refuses to pay a $200 fine. She could have been flogged."

Ky. school trip included baptisms

Posted on September 08, 2009
USA Today: "A mother is angry about a trip led by the head football coach at Breckinridge County High School. The coach took about 20 players on a school bus late last month to his church, where nearly half of them ? including her son ? were baptized...

Yale criticized for nixing Muslim cartoons in book

Posted on September 08, 2009
AP: "Steinberg was among 25 alumni who signed a protest letter sent Friday to Yale Alumni Magazine that urged the university to restore the drawings to the book. Other signers included John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W...

Obama asks Congress to raise the debt ceiling

Posted on September 08, 2009
The Hill: "Now Obama is asking Congress to raise the debt ceiling, something lawmakers are almost certain to do despite misgivings about the federal debt. The ceiling already has been hiked three times in the past two years, and the House took action earlier this year to raise the ceiling to $13 trillion...

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