Religion & Law

Activists call for Swaziland to legalize prostitution, same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on August 19, 2009
The Zimdiaspora: "HIV and gay activists in Swaziland are calling for the legalisation of prostitution and gay marriages to bring the spread of the HIV epidemic under control. Speaking at the country?s National Smart Partnership Dialogue in Manzini on Wednesday, Swaziland Aids Support Organisation (SASO) spokesperson, Vusi Matsebula, said it was necessary to conduct a study to look at the role prostitutes play in the spread of the disease...

Court tells New Haven Police to stop harassment of street preacher

Posted on August 19, 2009
Evangelical Examiner: "The city of New Haven has agreed to a court order issued Monday that will allow a man to resume expressing his Christian faith on public sidewalks . . . The consent order was issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in Morrell v...

NY Broome Community College settles with church

Posted on August 19, 2009
Evangelical Examiner: "'Churches shouldn?t be discriminated against for their beliefs,' said ADF Litigation Counsel Daniel Blomberg. 'We are pleased that Broome Community College now recognizes the constitutional right of churches and other religious groups to meet in public meeting facilities on the same terms as other groups...

Battle Lines Drawing up in Ireland?s Second Lisbon Treaty Referendum

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Under heavy pressure from EU leadership, the Irish government agreed to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on October 2nd this year. Pro-life and pro-democracy campaigners have warned that acceptance of Lisbon will strip EU member states of the right to retain or pass laws on abortion and a host of other widely disparate issues...

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Massachusetts: Man Allegedly Stabs Ex-Girlfriend for Refusing to Abort Child

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "A young Massachusetts man is in custody after allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend, reportedly in anger that she would not abort their unborn child, according to police."

Australia Court Legally Recognizes Two Women as Men

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "The two women, who have undergone mastectomies and testosterone treatment, believe that even though they still have female reproductive systems, their outward demeanor and hormone regimens make them men."

Poll: Majority of Americans Understand Health Care Bills Mean Abortion Funding

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeNews: "The pro-life movement has been working overtime to educate Americans about the fact that the health care bills in Congress would result in massive abortion funding. Despite a slew of mainstream media stories to the contrary, the public appears to have received the message...

Ceding the common ground on abortion: Obama never intended to ?reduce? abortions

Posted on August 19, 2009
Keith Pavlischek writes at First Things "First Thoughts" blog: "[A]nyone who has been paying attention knows full well that Obama and his crew are not interested in reducing the number of abortions. How do we know this? We know it because Obama and crew keep telling us that they are not interested in reducing the number of abortions...

OK judge tosses abortion law requiring ultrasound

Posted on August 19, 2009
"Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson said the law violated constitutional requirements that legislative measures deal only with one subject."

Pacific Justice Institute Launches Office in San Francisco Bay Area

Posted on August 19, 2009
Pacific Justice Institute: "'The San Francisco region is without a doubt one of the most hostile places in the country toward religious liberties and values,' noted Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. 'But with growing challenges come greater opportunities...

Jim Daly: Obama Not Working to Make Abortion Rare

Posted on August 19, 2009
Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, writes at the U.S. News & World Report "God & Country" blog: "So, what should President Obama do? At a minimum, he should promote policies ensuring a woman's informed consent before she receives an abortion, including the opportunity to view an ultrasound image of her child...

Theodore Olson?s ?road to championing same-sex marriage?

Posted on August 19, 2009
Star News Online: "While Mr. Olson came to the case by a serendipitous route that began late last year with Rob Reiner, a Hollywood director widely known for his Democratic activism, he said his support of same-sex marriage stemmed from longstanding personal and legal conviction...

Netroots Nation confronts church and state

Posted on August 19, 2009
Bruce Ledwitz writes at The Huffington Post: "I am proposing instead that the principle of government neutrality toward religion be retained but that certain religious symbols under certain circumstances be regarded as encompassing both religious and nonreligious messages...

The chilling effect of public disclosure requirements

Posted on August 19, 2009
Reason Magazine:"Two years ago, the Senate rejected an attempt to regulate 'astroturf,' professional political agitation aimed at stimulating (or simulating) grassroots activity. Recently that measure's supporters have been saying 'I told you so,' citing the debate over who is behind boisterous criticism of President Obama's health care agenda at congressional town hall meetings...

Nat Hentoff: ?I am finally scared of a White House administration?

Posted on August 19, 2009
Nat Hentoff writing in the Jewish World Review: "No matter what Congress does when it returns from its recess, rationing is a basic part of Obama's eventual master health care plan . . . This end-of-life consultation has been stripped from the Senate Finance Committee bill because of democracy-in-action town-hall outcries but remains in three House bills...

MA: Man allegedly stabs ex-girlfriend for refusing to get abortion

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "A young Massachusetts man is in custody after allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend, reportedly in anger that she would not abort their unborn child, according to police."

White House may push through health care without Republicans

Posted on August 19, 2009
CNN: "The Obama administration is looking hard at pushing through a health care reform bill without Republican backing, top Democrats close to the White House told CNN . . . Democratic success could depend on an obscure tactic called reconciliation, a type of budget maneuver that requires only a simple majority -- 51 votes -- to pass...

Catholic Belmont Abbey would close before giving in to Obama admin.

Posted on August 19, 2009
LifeNews: "The president of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic school, says he will close the college before it gives in to an Obama administration ruling forcing it to provide contraception coverage in its insurance plans for employees. The EEOC ruled the school must provide the coverage, even though it violates Catholic teachings...

New Zealand judge: ?Time to let gay couples adopt?

Posted on August 19, 2009
New Zealand Herald: "The acting head judge of the Family Court has called for gay and lesbian couples to be given rights to adopt children, just as a private member's bill on the issue goes into the ballot for Parliament's order paper today."

?NYCLU sues Herkimer Co. School District for failing to protect gay youth from harassment?

Posted on August 19, 2009
NYCLU: "The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against the Mohawk Central School District in Herkimer County for failing to protect a gay student who does not conform to masculine stereotypes from vicious and relentless harassment, physical abuse and threats of violence...

Wyoming: Sex ed is settled for upcoming school year at Park County school

Posted on August 19, 2009
Billings Gazette: "With less than a week before classes are set to start at Cody High School, board members of Park County School District 6 made clear Tuesday that they will not soon reconsider decisions made over the past several months about the school's health and sex education curriculum...

South Korea: Int?l pornography producers sue web users

Posted on August 19, 2009
News 24: "Foreign pornography producers are suing South Korean Internet users for breach of copyright by uploading their content onto local websites, police said on Thursday. In an unusual case, a local law firm representing 50 US and Japanese porn producers has filed suit against about 10 000 heavy uploaders...

Iowa: ?Rights panel will vote on gay marriage stance?

Posted on August 19, 2009
Des Moines Register: "The state's top civil rights advocates will vote Thursday on whether to formally support the state Supreme Court's decision allowing gay marriage and to oppose a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision."

Louisiana: Tangipahoa prayer policy changed

Posted on August 19, 2009
2theadvocate.com: "The Tangipahoa Parish School Board unanimously approved Tuesday night a change in its policy on prayer and invocations at the opening of its meetings, a policy that is the subject of an upcoming trial in U.S. District Court at New Orleans ...

Sweden outlaws home schooling

Posted on August 19, 2009
One News Now: "The founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association says home schooling in Sweden will soon be banned altogether, with a few minor exceptions."

NY: Legal victory after church kicked off campus

Posted on August 19, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "A public college that banned a church from meeting on its property has scrapped its policy of discrimination and is now allowing equal access to campus facilities . . . ADF Litigation Counsel Daniel Blomberg said in a statement: 'Churches shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs...

The saga of the Nampa Idaho Charter School and the Bible

Posted on August 19, 2009
Boise Secular Humanist Examiner: "The seemingly never-ending saga of controversy and debates on the use of the Bible by the Nampa Classical Academy seems to have come to a rest for the time being . . . The controversy peaked when on Aug 14, 2009 when a religious advocacy group, the Alliance Defense Fund from Arizona, presented a 15-page document to the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, stating that Nampa Classical Academy's use of the Bible was consistent with Idaho's Constitution...

Do For-Profit Schools Outperform Non-Profit Schools in the Chilean Voucher System?

Posted on August 19, 2009
National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education: "As school choice and privatization schemes increase in popularity, the effects of different forms of school sponsorship on student performance are increasingly a subject of debate among policymakers and scholars...

Ontario: Man gets 552 days for stabbing after argument in local strip club

Posted on August 19, 2009
ThePeterBoroughExaminer.com: "Jayson McConnell admitted that he plunged a knife into two men's abdomens and one man's chest during a fight in a parking lot near Lansdowne St. E. and Ashburnham Dr. The fight moved to the parking lot from Thursdays after bouncers kicked McConnell and his friend, Jeffrey Nielsen, out of the strip club...

SC: Federal judge strikes statute regulating ?adult business? billboards

Posted on August 19, 2009
A federal judge held that ?a South Carolina law limiting the placement of billboards advertising adult businesses is unconstitutional.? The Sign Statute at issue, S.C. Code Ann. § 57-25-145 (enacted in 2006), ?prohibits most businesses which offer sexually-oriented materials or entertainment from using any ?offpremises, outdoor advertising ...

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