Religion & Law

Group challenges Cleveland?s domestic partner registry

Posted on August 13, 2009
News Net 5 (AP): "The Alliance Defense Fund said it filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of taxpayers. The alliance is also asking the court for preliminary and permanent injunctions to shut down the registry."

Federal court challenge to Prop 8 hits a speed bump

Posted on August 13, 2009
TotheCenter.com: "Both sides of the case, a group of same-sex couples and Prop. 8 sponsors the Alliance Defense Fund, filed their first briefs last Friday, but did not agree on whether a trial would be required to settle the dispute. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker gave them until August 17 to re-file...

Calling Someone Homosexual Is Not Defamation Per Se, Judge Rules in Suit by Anna Nicole Smith Lawyer

Posted on August 13, 2009
New York Law Journal: "Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin said in a ruling Wednesday that a 'veritable sea change in attitudes about homosexuality' has led him to conclude that today the New York Court of Appeals would not hold that calling someone a homosexual was defamation per se...

ADF to Idaho Public Charter School Commission: Bible is not a banned book

Posted on August 13, 2009
Despite the commission?s objection, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently held that it is entirely constitutional for the Bible to be studied objectively as an educational resource.

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Fordham Law School Bans Reed Smith After Firm Pulls Out of On-Campus Interviews

Posted on August 13, 2009
The Legal Intelligencer: "According to a memo posted by Above the Law, Fordham University School of Law Dean William Michael Treanor found the timing of Reed Smith's decision to pull out of on-campus interviewing at the school to be unprofessional. And, in response, he banned the firm from interviewing on the campus for five years...

Making Sense of the Establishment Clause

Posted on August 13, 2009
SSRN: "While the jurisprudence of the Establishment Clause may not make much sense (common or otherwise) as a substantive legal matter, it does make sense as a series of jurisprudential maneuvers by which the Court has sought to make more room for religion in civic life...

The Distinction and Normative Interdependence between ?Government? and ?Governance?: The EU as a Regime of Governance

Posted on August 13, 2009
SSRN: "Governing in Europe has taken more open, dynamic and informal shapes than the traditional notion of constitutionally based ?government? conceptually covers. New styles of governing have been summarised by the rather modern notion of ?governance? or ?new governance?...

Bioethics and Law

Posted on August 13, 2009
SSRN: "In this paper, I begin with discussing the problem of defining concepts of law and morality. The broad range of possible conceptions of both is discussed and a distinction is made between a process view and a product view. It is argued that our views on the relation between law and morality depend on which conceptions of law and morality we presuppose...

Establishing a Constitutional Standard that Protects Public School Teacher Classroom Expression

Posted on August 13, 2009
Journal of Law and Education: "This commentary argues that teachers have limited First Amendment rights to utilize teaching methods that are not dictated by the state-prescribed curriculum, and until the Supreme Court definitively decides a case that addresses the issue of teacher in-class speech, lower courts faced with the issue should employ a modified version of the Hazelwood standard...

Democrats Disagree on Abortion Coverage

Posted on August 13, 2009
Citizen Link: "On Monday, pro-abortion U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., acknowledged that the federal health-care overhaul would include abortion . . . But on Tuesday, Lofgren's fellow Democrats touted the opposite position."

Doug Napier on the Michael Medved Show: Healthcare Reform and Its Potential Impact on Religious Freedom and the Sanctity of Life

Posted on August 13, 2009
ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss Health Care Reform and its potential impact on Religious Freedom and the Sanctity of Life. The MP3 runs just over 33 minutes.

Maine: ?Gay marriage supporters open 3rd campaign office?

Posted on August 13, 2009
Boston Globe (AP): "A group fighting to keep Maine's gay marriage law on the books has opened its third campaign headquarters in as many weeks."

World Congress of Families V: Day Two: Family and Demography

Posted on August 13, 2009
Christian Newswire: "Steven W. Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute, spoke of a 'Gendercide in Asia.' According to Mosher, policies that limit the number of children a family may have are a contributing factor to the trend of sex-selective abortions; which Mosher called 'a chilling reality in many countries in Asia...

Senate committee drops end-of-life provision from health care bill

Posted on August 13, 2009
The Hill: "The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member [Sen. Chuck Grassley] said Thursday."

NY Catholic Archbishop top challenges: Marriage breakdown and religion, morals in the public square

Posted on August 13, 2009
CNA: "Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York told CNA last week that the Catholic Church is currently facing many challenges, four being: the vocation to marriage, the state of Catholic parishes and schools, the great number of lapsed Catholics and finally the difficulties in a culture desperate to keep the Church and morals out of the public square ...

Arizona: Maricopa Co. crackdown yields substantial drop in crime and illegal immigration

Posted on August 13, 2009
YourWestValley.com: ". . . Thomas said, the joint crackdowns on illegal immigration with the Maricopa County Sheriff?s Office have led to a decline in the illegal immigration population. The Center for Immigration Studies recently released a report showing that since 2007, Arizona has seen a 30 percent drop in its illegal immigrant population...

Scientists find rare gene behind short sleepers

Posted on August 13, 2009
AP: "Scientists have discovered a gene that helps a mother and daughter stay alert on about six hours sleep a night, two hours less than the rest of their family needs."

Americans United for Life Applauds 6th Circuit Decision Protecting Women from Dangers of RU-486

Posted on August 13, 2009
Americans United for Life: "The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has dissolved an injunction against the enforcement of an Ohio law strictly regulating the provision of the dangerous abortion drug, RU-486."

Delaware legislature creates de facto parenthood status

Posted on August 13, 2009
The Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage Blog has this post praising a new law in Delaware that creates a de facto parenthood status.

Maryland: ?Pro-Gay-Marriage Muslim Delegate Stirs Conservatives?

Posted on August 13, 2009
NPR: "It some ways Saqib Ali has had a normal life for a local politician . . . But Ali says his support of gay marriage is not a reflection of his faith or belief in Islam but a decision he made as a politician representing his constituents with and without faith backgrounds...

South Dakota Planned Parenthood May Lose License, Fails to Follow Abortion Law

Posted on August 13, 2009
LifeNews: "That's because state officials say the abortion center is not following a new law that requires it to inform women that the abortion will destroy the life of their unborn child."

Delhi female births rise hailed

Posted on August 13, 2009
BBC: "India's capital, Delhi, recorded more female than male births during 2008, for the first time in many decades."

Lutheran CORE to Defend Traditional Marriage and Uphold Biblical Teaching on Sexuality

Posted on August 13, 2009
Christian Newswire: "Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform) will be gathering Lutherans from throughout the United States to defend traditional marriage and to defeat proposed changes in church teaching about sexuality. Lutheran CORE will be working to defeat proposals that would change the teaching and policy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ...

David French: A Good Week for Religious Liberty on Campus

Posted on August 13, 2009
David French, Director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, writes at the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog: ". . . the settlements are a signal that it's not hard for any college to reach an agreement with pro-life and/or religious student groups ? simply grant them the same rights everyone else enjoys, and the case goes away...

ACLU: ?Government Proposes Massive Shift In Online Privacy Policy?

Posted on August 13, 2009
ACLU: "The American Civil Liberties Union submitted comments today to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) opposing its recent proposal to reverse current federal policy and allow the use of web tracking technologies, like cookies, on federal government websites...

Quebec Government Has Begun Same-Sex Parenting Inclusiveness Training for Primary School Teachers

Posted on August 13, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "The Quebec Ministry of Education has funded the development and implementation of training for primary school teachers promoting inclusiveness for families with same-sex parents, and will be implementing it in Montreal and Quebec City, reports Le Journal de Quebec...

Socialist Sweden Moves to Ban Homeschooling

Posted on August 13, 2009
"The new legislation argues that because a child's education should be 'comprehensive and objective' it must be 'designed so that all pupils can participate, regardless of what religious or philosophical' views of parents or children."

Cat out of the Bag: Dem Congresswoman Admits ObamaCare Covers Elective Abortions

Posted on August 13, 2009
LifeSiteNews (links to videos): "A Democratic Congresswoman admitted to her California constituents gathered at a town-hall meeting what the Obama administration has tried desperately to keep quiet: the health care reform bill covers abortions."

Iranian Christian women refuse to recant faith

Posted on August 12, 2009
Christian Today: "Two female Christian converts from Islam are defying an order to recant their faith issued by Tehran?s revolutionary court on Sunday."

Wisconsin: Meeting prayer changes rejected

Posted on August 12, 2009
La Crosse Tribune: "The council considered altering the policy after Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation warned the council the prayer was unconstitutional. A Scottsdale, Ariz.-based conservative Christian organization later offered free legal defense if the city adopted a policy strictly adhering to its template, which it called proven to pass constitutional muster...

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