Religion & Law

Georgetown Law School to Honor AFL-CIO Leader Despite Gay Marriage Advocacy

Posted on August 25, 2009
Cardinal Newman Society: "Georgetown University, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Washington, D.C., plans to bestow upon AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, despite his organization?s advocacy for homosexual ?marriage? and laws mandating employee insurance coverage for contraceptives...

Priest Risks Life for Churchless Christians in Egypt

Posted on August 25, 2009
Christian Post: "A Coptic priest who renovated his home to accommodate Christian ceremonies in his churchless village is not afraid of the death threat Fatwa issued against him, he declared. The Rev. Estefanos Shehata of the village Upper Ezbet Dawoud Youself, about 124 miles south of Cairo, is fed up with the unfair treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt...

Bishop D?Arcy says Notre Dame must answer for honoring Obama

Posted on August 25, 2009
CNA: "Bishop John M. D'Arcy, whose diocese encompasses the University of Notre Dame, is not letting the issues raised by the university's honoring of President Obama lie dormant. Instead, the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend has penned a poignant article for the upcoming edition of America magazine that calls on the renowned university to evaluate the consequences of its failure to respect the authority of the bishops...

Seminary president: Southern Baptists must change or die out

Posted on August 25, 2009
One News Now (AP): "The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says at least two-thirds of Southern Baptist youths are leaving the church between adolescence and adulthood

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U.N. Agency Calls for Teaching Children 5-to-8 Years of Age about Masturbation

Posted on August 25, 2009
CNSNews: "The report, called International Guidelines on Sexual Education, was released in June in conjunction with the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization which works for universal access to 'reproductive health care.'" The Guidelines

Texas governor signs landmark human-trafficking legislation

Posted on August 25, 2009
ABP: "The bill establishes a statewide Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force in the attorney general?s office, creates a human trafficking training component for law-enforcement officers, starts a program to connect services to trafficking victims and begins a grant program for groups that provide assistance to domestic trafficking victims...

North Carolina FPC: Ten reasons to keep abstinence education in NC

Posted on August 25, 2009
North Carolina Family Policy Council: "1. Early sexual activity has a myriad of negative consequences for adolescents that go beyond sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and teen pregnancy, which condoms cannot protect against . . . 2. Postponing sexual activity?even for a few years?is associated with fewer lifetime sexual partners and healthier lifetime outcomes for men and women ...

Controversial vaccine defended by FDA

Posted on August 25, 2009
North Carolina Family Policy Council: "A new government study found that the Gardasil vaccine?which helps to protect against genital warts and certain cancers that are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)?results in higher, but expected, instances of fainting and blood clotting than similar vaccines ...

Elk River bucks discriminatory religious use policy after letter from ADF

Posted on August 25, 2009
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have received a positive response to a letter they sent to the town of Elk River urging it to stop its discriminatory policies restricting the use of its public library and park for religious purposes.

Judge dismisses DOMA lawsuit on technicality

Posted on August 25, 2009
Christian Post: "A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit filed against the Defense of Marriage Act, saying that the suit had been improperly filed in state court before it was transferred to his jurisdiction . . . Though the gay Southern California couple that filed the lawsuit last December will likely refile, Brian Raum, senior counsel for Alliance Defense Fund, hailed Monday?s ruling...

Court strikes down portions of S. Dakota informed consent law

Posted on August 25, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "A federal court has upheld portions of South Dakota?s informed consent law which require doctors to tell women considering an abortion that they are terminating a human life . . . ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden commented on the court ruling, saying 'A woman?s life is worth more than Planned Parenthood?s bottom line, so we?re pleased the abortion industry failed in its attempt to strike down this law...

?Obama wins: Federal gay marriage suit tossed?

Posted on August 25, 2009
On Top Magazine: "The Obama administration has prevailed in its attempt to dismiss a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Los Angeles Times reported . . . The Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which as intervenor in Smelt is also defending DOMA, promoted the argument that there is a government interest in 'responsible procreation' ...

WI: City officials adopt recommended ?invocations policy? despite threats

Posted on August 25, 2009
Evangelical Examiner: "The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that La Crosse, Wisconsin City Council has adopted an invocations policy after receiving legal counsel from ADF attorneys that will allow the council to continue opening public meetings with prayer ...

?US judge nixes suit that split Obama, gays?

Posted on August 25, 2009
Houston Chronicle (AP): "U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled the case ? the first of several pending challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act ? must be refiled in federal court . . . Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group that has joined the government in defending the federal marriage law, said Carter was right to dismiss the case on procedural grounds...

State AG tells Wisconsin: Find someone else to defend ?unconstitutional? domestic partnership law

Posted on August 25, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Armed with sound legal principles and plenty of chutzpah, the Wisconsin Attorney General has told state lawmakers that he will not defend the state's domestic partnership law for homosexual couples against a legal challenge . . . 'We're very hopeful and optimistic that the Wisconsin Supreme Court will take note of what the Attorney General said in his statement and they will use that as a favorable factor in determining whether to take this case,' ADF Litigation Counsel Jim Campbell told LifeSiteNews...

European Committee for Social Rights upholds pro-abstinence sex education program

Posted on August 25, 2009
body that polices compliance with the European Social Charter, a human rights document binding on all states within the Council of Europe, has deemed a pro-abstinence sex education program used in many Croatian schools to be acceptable.

PJI Launches Center for Public Policy, Efforts to Reform CPS

Posted on August 25, 2009
Pacific Justice Institute: "The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is launching its new Center for Public Policy (CPP), a 501(c)(4) organization, this week in an effort to assist California legislators to enact laws benefiting all Californians."

Delaware gov. tries to preserve sports betting

Posted on August 25, 2009
AP: "Delaware's governor is looking at ways his state can preserve its plan to balance the books by offering sports wagering now that a court has ruled its proposal violates a 1992 federal ban on such bets."

Former NY AFL-CIO Leader Named Head of New York Fed

Posted on August 25, 2009
WSJ: "Denis Hughes, president of the New York state branch of the AFL-CIO, had been serving as acting chairman of the New York Fed board since May, when Stephen Friedman stepped down from the position." National Right to Work: Union Boss Takeover of American Government Continues: AFL-CIO Official Named Head of NY Federal Reserve

Court Rules That ?Sexual Orientation? Laws Include Former Homosexuals

Posted on August 25, 2009
PFOX: "In a precedent setting case, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has ruled that former homosexuals are a protected class that must be recognized under sexual orientation non-discrimination laws. The Court held that, under the D.C. Human Rights Act, sexual orientation does not require immutable characteristics...

Parental Rights and the State Regulation of Religious Schools

Posted on August 25, 2009
Parental Rights and the State Regulation of Religious Schools Matthew Steilen, 2009 B.Y.U. Educ. & L.J. 269 "In Wisconsin v. Yoder, the United States Supreme Court invalidated convictions of several Amish parents for removing their children from school in violation of state mandatory attendance laws...

Toward an Integrated Disparate Treatment and Accommodation Framework for Title VII Religion Cases

Posted on August 25, 2009
Toward an Integrated Disparate Treatment and Accommodation Framework for Title VII Religion Cases Roberto L. Corrada, 77 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1411 (2009) "This Article explores the interrelationship between accommodation and discrimination in Title VII religion cases...

Constitutionality of Home Education: How the Supreme Court and American History Endorse Parental Choice

Posted on August 25, 2009
Constitutionality of Home Education: How the Supreme Court and American History Endorse Parental Choice Chad Olsen, 2009 B.Y.U. Educ. & L.J. 399 "The year 2008 frightened many homeschooling parents. A California Court of Appeals case, In re Rachel L...

?The Journey to Protect Women?s Mental Health with Relevant, Truthful and Not Misleading Information in Informed Consent Abortion Statutes?

Posted on August 25, 2009
"Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota v. Rounds: The Journey to Protect Women's Mental Health with Relevant, Truthful and Not Misleading Information in Informed Consent Abortion Statutes" Kathleen G. Chewning, 3 Charleston L. Rev. 601 (2009) "Finally in Part III, this Note addresses Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota v...

Colorado: Denver West principal ends his abstinence push

Posted on August 25, 2009
Denver Post: "The principal at Denver's West High School started and then abandoned an effort to replace Planned Parenthood sex education with a religious-themed abstinence-only program. Jorge Loera, the first-year principal at West, told district officials Monday that although he doesn't agree with teaching teens about contraception, he will continue the partnership the school has had with Planned Parenthood...

Understanding the legal challenge to Florida?s ban on homosexual adoption

Posted on August 25, 2009
John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council: "The decision by Judge Lederman is classic, text-book, judicial activism. Instead of interpreting and enforcing the plain language of the statute, which has been held constitutional by federal courts, she openly and brazenly defied the rule of law...

Howard Dean: Obama will get health care bill

Posted on August 25, 2009
Washington Times: "Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Tuesday that President Obama will get a strong health care reform bill, but he predicted Republicans would not support the measure regardless of its provisions . . . 'Were going to pass a bill, and the bill is going to have a public option,' Mr...

Federal court tosses lawsuit challenging federal DOMA

Posted on August 25, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "A federal court Monday threw out a lawsuit filed against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman . . . 'Marriage is not just any two people in a committed relationship. Americans understand and believe that there's more to a marriage than that...

Harvey Milk inducted into California Hall of Fame

Posted on August 25, 2009
CBS 5: "Former San Francisco supervisor and gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk is among 13 new inductees to the California Hall of Fame, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced Tuesday."

Wis. A.G. won?t defend same-sex law in court

Posted on August 25, 2009
Baptist Press: "A lawsuit seeking to overturn Wisconsin's same-sex domestic partnerships law as unconstitutional received a boost Aug. 21 when the state's attorney general announced that he, too, believes the law conflicts with Wisconsin's constitutional marriage amendment ...

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