Religion & Law

Pat Buchanan: ?Time to go, Grampa?

Posted on August 04, 2009
Chronicles Magazine: "If government intends to 'bend the curve' of rising health care costs, and half of those costs are incurred in the last six months of life, and physician-counselors will be sent to the seriously ill to advise them of what costs will no longer be covered, and what their options are?what do you think is going to be Option A?"

UK: ?Sexting? craze on the rise among children

Posted on August 04, 2009
Reuters: "A growing number of British teenagers are swapping sexually explicit images of themselves on mobile phones leaving them open to bullying and victimization by their peers, police and a children's charity said on Tuesday."

Committee on Oversight & Gov?t Reform: ?Issa to Emanuel: Back Off!?

Posted on August 04, 2009
Oversight & Government Reform - Republicans: "Following reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been orchestrating an effort to intimidate members of Congress and Governors who raise legitimate concerns regarding the effectiveness of the stimulus, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Emanuel saying 'While this type of scare tactic may work In Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress...

ADF attorneys advise Chesapeake officials regarding constitutionality of invocations

Posted on August 04, 2009
The Alliance Defense Fund together with The Family Foundation of Virginia sent a letter to Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff and other city officials Tuesday, offering to provide pro bono legal assistance if the city adopts a model prayer policy that subsequently gets attacked in court.

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Rep., ex-vice admiral Sestak to challenge Specter

Posted on August 04, 2009
Findlaw (AP): "Rep. Joe Sestak on Tuesday announced he would challenge Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter, setting the stage for a Pennsylvania primary race likely to center on Specter's Democratic credentials."

Joseph Farah: ?Why I doubt Kenyan birth document . . . I don?t know what he?s hiding?

Posted on August 04, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Because so many Americans have been educated in government schools, it is probably necessary for me to explain that reporting a news story is different than making an assertion . . . For the life of me, I don't know why every single American can't agree on that...

Harry Reid: Not 1 minute for ?phony issue? of birth

Posted on August 04, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Only a day after a document purporting to be President Obama's birth certificate from Kenya was submitted to a court in California, the long-running dispute over his birth and eligibility to occupy the Oval Office has been entered into the Congressional Record ? by a Democrat no less ...

NY Times: ?Persistent ?Birthers? Fringe Disorients Strategists?

Posted on August 04, 2009
a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/us/politics/05zeleny.html?hp">NY Times: ?Obama is completely illegitimate as a U.S. president for two reasons ? not only because he did not provide the place of his birth, but also because both parents have to be U...

Senate opens debate on Sotomayor for Supreme Court

Posted on August 04, 2009
"The Senate is starting a historic debate on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor . . . Republicans have lined up almost solidly against President Barack Obama's nominee . . . "

Kalamazoo voters will decide ?gay-rights? ordinance

Posted on August 04, 2009
Kalamazoo Gazette: "Kalamazoo voters will have the last word in November on a controversial, local, gay-rights ordinance that had banned gender identity or sexual-orientation discrimination in housing, employment and access to public accommodations."

Prayer showdown in Lodi

Posted on August 04, 2009
Lodi News-Sentinel: "Local attorney Mark Bowman, who is a member of the fund, has sent a letter to the city offering to defend Lodi in court for free if the council adopts a prayer policy that does not restrict the content of the prayer. 'It is my hope that our city will not succumb to mere 'threats' to remove a practice that has enjoyed over two centuries of protection,' Bowman said in a letter dated July 28...

Legally challenging universities reduces censorship

Posted on August 04, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'The University systems have overreached significantly to where they routinely encroach upon students' fundamental constitutional rights,' [French] contends. 'And in those circumstances, court action is absolutely an option.'"

IRS withdrawal leaves churches ?in limbo?

Posted on August 04, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'We're going to hold another 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday' this year, September 27,' [Erik Stanley] explains. 'We're going to continue to seek to have this issue clarified -- either by the IRS clarifying the issue itself and admitting that what a pastor says from the pulpit does not violate the Johnson Amendment, or seeking clarification of the issue by federal court...

VA: Islamic school gets approval to expand campus

Posted on August 04, 2009
Washington Post: "A Saudi-funded academy was granted a zoning exemption Monday that allows it to expand its 34-acre Popes Head Road campus in Fairfax County, culminating a years-long campaign to enlarge the school at that location."

NEA Goes All-Out for Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on August 04, 2009
Phyllis Schlafly writes at Townhall: "The National Education Association, which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage...

Blasphemy Laws Seen As Root Cause of Violence Against Christians

Posted on August 04, 2009
CNSNews: "A deadly attack by Muslims against Christians in Pakistan has turned attention once again to notorious blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty and are frequently used against the Christian minority.

Sample Law Review Submission Cover Letters

Posted on August 04, 2009
Concurring Opinions: "Following this post are four sample law review submission cover letters I have used in recent seasons. I provide them after detecting an absence of any samples existing on the Internet and reviewing various posts and comment threads addressing the subject that leave readers conflicted about what a cover letter might accomplish...

Australia: Trade in abortion drugs exposed

Posted on August 04, 2009
The Australian: "A veteran Brisbane obstetrician has blown the whistle on a new form of backyard abortion, involving contraband supplies of the controversial drug RU486 smuggled into the country for women to terminate their own pregnancies."

?Americans United Urges Supreme Court To Reject Scheme Designed To Keep Cross On Public Land?

Posted on August 04, 2009
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "Americans United made the argument in a friend-of-the-court brief filed yesterday in Salazar v. Buono, a legal battle centering on the display of a cross at the Mojave National Preserve in California...

State of the Law on Pornography

Posted on August 04, 2009
Clifton Drake writes at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission: "When it comes to the word 'pornography,' many Christians would assume it?s synonymous with 'obscenity,' and indeed in the biblical worldview, it is. The law, however, takes a different view...

Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial

Posted on August 04, 2009
AP: "Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting at the trial Tuesday of a female journalist who faces a flogging for wearing trousers in public."

Nebraska: ?Operation Rescue Announces ?Keep It Closed? Campaign?

Posted on August 04, 2009
Pro-Life Blogs: "Operation Rescue announced today that it has launched the new "Keep it Closed" campaign, which is a multi-group effort to stop LeRoy Carhart from opening a late-term abortion clinic in Nebraska, Kansas, or any other state." Operation Rescue Announcement

Las Vegas: Kickbacks from adult clubs to cab drivers spur legal battle

Posted on August 04, 2009
Las Vegas Sun: "Several Las Vegas taxi companies and adult clubs are firing back in a lawsuit over commissions topless and nude clubs pay to cab drivers for bringing them customers, and both sides appear to be digging in for a long legal fight."

Strip club murder, shooting in Brooklyn closes Poplar Street Bridge

Posted on August 04, 2009
BND.com: "According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, the bridge was shut down to all traffic for about 15 minutes so police could search for evidence related to a double shooting that started at the Pink Slip nightclub in Brooklyn. The two were apparently shot after they left the strip club early Tuesday...

ADF $2.2M University Matching Grant: Doubling resources to counter doubling threats

Posted on August 04, 2009
"With help from generous Ministry Friends like you, the ADF Center for Academic Freedom is engaged in a unique endeavor aimed at restoring religious liberties on campus." Learn more here

Ambiguity About Ambiguity: An Empirical Inquiry into Legal Interpretation

Posted on August 03, 2009
SSRN: "Most scholarship on statutory interpretation discusses what courts should do with ambiguous statutes. This paper investigates the crucial and analytically prior question of what ambiguity in law is. Does a claim that a text is ambiguous mean the judge is uncertain about its meaning? Or is it a claim that ordinary readers of English, as a group, would disagree about what the text means? This distinction is of considerable theoretical interest...

At Public Law Schools, Tuition Jumps Sharply

Posted on August 03, 2009
The National Law Journal (Law.com): "Double-digit tuition increases loom for students at some of the country's top public law schools."

ACLU expresses concern over creationism in schools

Posted on August 03, 2009
The Daily Texam: "With a battle brewing over the Texas State Board of Education?s potential to emphasize the importance of the Bible and the Christian faith in American history classes, American Civil Liberties Union members are expressing deep concern...

New York Catholic nurse forced to assist in abortion

Posted on August 03, 2009
The Bulletin (Philadelphia): "'Pro-life nurses shouldn?t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs,' said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. 'Requiring a devout, Catholic nurse to participate in a late-term abortion in order to remain employed is illegal, unethical, and violates her rights of conscience...

Episcopalians race to elect a ?gay bishop?

Posted on August 03, 2009
Washington Times: "Not even two weeks have gone by since Episcopalians voted at their most recent gathering in Anaheim to allow dioceses to consecrate gay bishops than have two dioceses: Minnesota and Los Angeles, risen to the challenge. Three candidates for the episcopate are now out there, one of them a female cleric from Annapolis...

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