Religion & Law

Nevada domestic partner registration opens

Posted on August 24, 2009
Mercury News (AP): "Monday marked the first day Nevada couples could begin registering as domestic partners in advance of a new law that takes effect in October."

Texas school districts crack down on teen ?sexting?

Posted on August 24, 2009
Dallas Morning News: "In July, the Houston Independent School District became one of the first large urban districts in the nation to officially ban sexting . . . Mesquite ISD also added a section in its Student Code of Conduct this summer: 'Sending, sharing, viewing or possessing pictures, text messages, e-mails or other material of a sexual nature in electronic or any other form on a cellphone or other electronic device is prohibited...

Florida: Police nab underage strip club dancers in Cocoa

Posted on August 24, 2009
Florida Today: "Police were told the girl was 14, but when they went to investigate the complaint at Playmates strip club in Cocoa, they discovered two girls, ages 15 and 17, dancing before club patrons."

ADF-allied attorney available to media following arguments at Ohio Supreme Court

Posted on August 24, 2009
Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney David Kennedy will be available for media interviews following his oral arguments before a master commissioner at the Ohio Supreme Court in a lawsuit involving a church being taxed on a type of property for which some other charitable organizations are not taxed.

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IRS loophole gets Minnesota churches off tax-violation hook

Posted on August 24, 2009
Minnesota Independent: "The ADF?s Eric Stanley said that the campaign 'is really part of a long, sustained campaign' to get a court challenge to IRS laws governing electioneering. 'We feel very confident that when we do, it will not take long for a federal judge to strike down this unconstitutional restriction on churches? rights...

In ?Hillary: The Movie? case, Supreme Court considers major shift in election law

Posted on August 24, 2009
LA Times: "President Theodore Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass a law to keep corporate money out of political races. Now, the Supreme Court may overturn it."

?Gay employment bill on queue for returning Congress?

Posted on August 21, 2009
Christian Post: "A bill that could force religious groups to hire gay employees will be debated in Congress when lawmakers return from their summer recess. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed bill in the U.S. Congress that would make it illegal for employers to make decisions on hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee based on sexual orientation...

Rhode Island: Governor picks 3 for state bench

Posted on August 21, 2009
Providence Journal: "Governor Carcieri potentially made a dent in filling vacancies on the state bench Friday by nominating three people, including his chief of staff, to judicial openings."

Wisconsin AG ?cannot? defend domestic partnerships, cites marriage amendment

Posted on August 21, 2009
"The amendment prohibits our government from recognizing any other legal status substantially similar to marriage."

North Carolina: Housing authority asks HUD to rule on religious services

Posted on August 21, 2009
North Carolina News-Record: "People near and far are weighing in on whether the High Point Housing Authority got it right when officials began denying the use of a common space in a subsidized housing community for religious services. Most question whether the policy at Elm Tower is being interpreted incorrectly after largely elderly and disabled residents who live there were stopped from meeting with a preacher on Sunday mornings...

North Carolina Family Policy Council: ?Court indirectly affirms homosexual adoption?

Posted on August 21, 2009
North Carolina Family Policy Council: "After conceding that 'same-sex adoption' does not exist in North Carolina law, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals has affirmed that a woman is a legal parent of the biological child of her former partner...

Indiana Court of Appeals finds ?adult business? in contempt

Posted on August 21, 2009
Plaza Group Properties, LLC v. Spencer County, No. 74A04-0901-CV-51 (Ind. App. Aug. 21, 2009) "The Defendants were precluded from arguing that Spencer County Ordinance 2005-11 was unconstitutional and that two of the Defendants did not operate the business...

Brian Raum on The Word 100.7 with Janet Mefferd: Prop. 8 & DOMA

Posted on August 21, 2009
ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum on The Word 100.7 with Janet Mefferd: Prop. 8 & DOMA The mp3 is just over 10 minutes.

Mich. man accused of bigamy in lawsuit

Posted on August 21, 2009
UPI: "A woman is suing her husband, alleging in a new lawsuit he was already married with children when they got married in Michigan in 2002."

Advocacy group files complaint against porn makers for filming unsafe sex

Posted on August 21, 2009
FOX News: "The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said Thursday it would file complaints later in the day with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health."

Poll: Americans losing confidence in Obama

Posted on August 21, 2009
Associated Press: "The Washington Post-ABC News survey found that less that half of Americans -- 49 percent -- say they believe the president will make the right decisions for the country. That's down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark of the Obama"

Law professor: ?Lower courts still use the ?morality of the majority? to criminalize consenting sexual acts?

Posted on August 21, 2009
J. Kelly Strader, professor of law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, writing in the Los Angeles Times: "[B]ased on the reasoning in the Lawrence decision, you might conclude that lower courts would strike down laws that are solely based on majoritarian morality...

Students of Belmont Abbey criticize contraceptive discrimination ruling

Posted on August 21, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "Students at Catholic universities, citing religious freedom concerns, have voiced their opposition to a federal ruling that Belmont Abbey College engaged in unlawful discrimination by refusing to fund contraceptives in its health care plan...

ADF attorney available to media during trial in Texas parental rights case

Posted on August 21, 2009
adfmedia.org: Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks will be available for media interviews following a jury trial in a Texas parental rights case.

Albert Mohler: Rethinking abortion: Two unexpected witnesses

Posted on August 21, 2009
Albert Mohler writing in the Christian Post: :"To the great consternation of abortion-rights proponents, Americans have not accepted abortion on demand as a permanent reality. As a nation, we have debated any number of issues beyond abortion in recent years, but abortion remains the controversy that is most central, unavoidable, and deeply personal...

Lutherans start last debate on homosexual clergy proposal

Posted on August 21, 2009
"Opponents made a last stand Friday against a proposal to allow sexually active gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination."

President Obama to Muslims: ?Ramadan Kareem?

Posted on August 21, 2009
White House Briefing Room blog: "As the new crescent moon ushers in Ramadan, the President extends his best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world."

Utah AG?s office revises guide to polygamy

Posted on August 21, 2009
Salt Lake Tribune: "After months of haggling over every period, definition, connotation and allusion, the state's Safety Net Committee has released a revised guide to understanding so-called fundamentalist Mormon communities in Utah, Arizona and as far away as Missouri and Canada...

Canadian appeals court rejects pro-lifer?s tax case

Posted on August 21, 2009
Daily Gleaner: "The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has dismissed the anti-abortion activist's appeal of his convictions on charges that he failed to file federal income-tax returns in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Little, 65, maintains that since some federal funds pay for abortions, filing tax returns amounts to a violation of his right to freedom of religion...

Better luck next time? with the facts

Posted on August 21, 2009
In an August 5th post by Amy Sullivan on Time?s Swampland blog, "Better Luck Next Time," there were several factual errors that ADF would like to correct.

Indiana public schools take aim at ?sexting?

Posted on August 21, 2009
6News: "The Indiana Public Schools' Board of Commissioners voted to send a measure on to the full school board that would prohibit students from possessing, viewing or sharing pictures or texts that include sexual content, 6News' Renee Jameson reported...

Texas: Beaumont strip club files lawsuit against city, police department

Posted on August 21, 2009
"KFDM News has learned the owners of a Beaumont strip club have filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Beaumont and the police department claiming the sexually oriented business ordinance is unconstitutional . . . The city claims the club did not submit all of the proper information to obtain its permit...

Human trafficking: A problem of language?

Posted on August 21, 2009
Huffington Post: "It's the commercial aspect that separates the crime of trafficking from other sexual acts children, and it is this aspect where we need to see change. Frequently, law enforcers and prosecutors do not recognize the commercial aspect or are too lazy, understaffed or under-budgeted to investigate...

Australia: Melbourne man claims prostitute?s baby ?a breach of contract?

Posted on August 21, 2009
AdelaideNow.com: "A Melbourne man who paid a woman for sex is resisting child support requests after the alleged prostitute had his baby. The married man argues the child is potentially a breach of the Trade Practices Act. He told a Federal Magistrate he shouldn't have to pay for the inadvertent offspring given the circumstances of the conception...

Journalism professor calls for ?hate beat?

Posted on August 21, 2009
Charles Davis, assistant professor at the MU School of Journalism, writing in the Columbus Daily Tribune: "As a near-absolutist First Amendment advocate, my prescription for hate speech is always more speech: Give the bigot a microphone as big as the hatred, I say, and watch as the marketplace of ideas works its magic ...

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