Religion & Law

Senator wins review of ?don?t ask, don?t tell?

Posted on July 28, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle: "A Senate panel, after prodding by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, will examine the future of the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy governing gays in the military."

Wisconsin Public Radio: The challenge to Wisconsin?s domestic partner law

Posted on July 28, 2009
Wisconsin Public Radio (audio files available - direct link): Wisconsin?s domestic partner benefits are being challenged in a new lawsuit as unconstitutional. After six, Gene Purcell talks with the lead counsel bringing the lawsuit; then after six-thirty, his guest argues in favor of domestic partner benefits...

Arizona: ?CAP Opposes Racetracks? Bailout Campaign?

Posted on July 28, 2009
Center for Arizona Policy 5 Minutes for Family: "Despite state legislators giving a resounding NO to gambling expansion during the regular session, proponents of expanded gambling have launched a new and more aggressive (and expensive!) public relations campaign to try to convince legislators, the Governor, and the public that casino-style gambling should be allowed off-reservation at racetracks...

W.Va. man fails to persuade 4th Circuit that films aren?t obscene

Posted on July 28, 2009
"A . . . man who trafficked in bestiality films violated federal obscenity laws, a federal appeals court has ruled, showing that obscenity prosecutions targeting extremely explicit sexual material, far from being relics of the past, still occur."

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IRS withdraws audit on Minn. pastor?s sermons

Posted on July 28, 2009
"After launching an audit of the church in August 2008, the IRS has now stated in a letter that it is closing its examination of the sermons due to a procedural problem."

Australian PM won?t support same-sex ?marriage,? civil unions

Posted on July 27, 2009
Matthew Franklin reports in The Australian: "Kevin Rudd has guaranteed he will resist any attempt at this week's Australian Labor Party conference to allow gay marriage or civil unions that mimic marriage."

Nurse ?forced? to help in a late-term abortion

Posted on July 27, 2009
momlogic reports: "Providing legal advice for her action is the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian group seeking to put a national spotlight on the case. The suit also seeks to force Mount Sinai to give up federal funding it receives, because it failed to uphold a federal rule protecting employees who have moral objections to controversial procedures...

Sen. Graham announces support for Sotomayor

Posted on July 27, 2009
Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) announced today [last week] that he would support Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, making him the first Judiciary Committee Republican to do so and potentially paving the way for several more GOP senators to back her...

Sens. Hatch, Cornyn say they?ll vote against Sotomayor

Posted on July 27, 2009
McClatchyDC.com: "Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and John Cornyn of Texas, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Friday that they'll vote against Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court . . . "

Calif. Justice up for 2010 retention vote says marriage redefinition inevitable

Posted on July 27, 2009
Mike McKee writes at the Recorder (Law.com): "'Someday at some point my dissent will be the majority view in California,' he said during an interview in his San Francisco chambers late Wednesday. 'I think that's where the law is headed.' 'Equal protection is either equal or it's not,' he added...

Hamas set to compel Gaza women to wear head covering

Posted on July 27, 2009
Haaretz: "Senior Hamas officials had claimed, in the wake of Hamas' June 2007 Gaza takeover, that the organization did not have any intention to turn the Sharia, Islamic religious law into official state regulations. Two years later, however, it seems that the Hamas government is slowly introducing more and more regulations in the spirit of the Islamic decrees...

Canada?s High Court Rejects Hutterite Challenge To License Photo Requirement

Posted on July 27, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony, (Sup. Ct. Canada, July 24, 2009), Canada's Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision rejected a constitutional challenge brought by the Hutterites to Alberta's requirement that all drivers licenses contain a photo of the license holder ...

USAID Inspector General Raises Questions About Religious Nature of Some Grants

Posted on July 27, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "On July 17 the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development issued issued a report titled Audit of USAID's Faith-Based and Commuinty Initiatives . . . "

Sen. Hatch to Vote Against Supreme Court Nominee , First Time in 33 Yr Career

Posted on July 27, 2009
Fox13Now.com (report includes video): "On Friday, Orrin Hatch said he would vote against Sotomayor."

About That New Jersey Organ Scandal

Posted on July 27, 2009
Sally Satel writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Even by New Jersey standards, Thursday?s roundup of three mayors, five rabbis and 36 others on charges of money laundering and public corruption was big. But what put this FBI dragnet head and shoulders above the rest are the charges of trafficking in human body parts...

?UN allows gay, lesbian group to join debates?

Posted on July 27, 2009
AP: "The United Nations granted official status to a gay and lesbian organization from Brazil on Monday, allowing it to participate in U.N. meetings ranging from health to human rights."

Alaskans to vote on parental consent for abortion

Posted on July 27, 2009
One News Now: "Alaskans may have a chance to overturn a state Supreme Court decision on parental notice for a minor's abortion . . . Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council tells OneNewsNow that did not last."

?Arizona could reap millions with revision in gaming policy?

Posted on July 27, 2009
Jay Heiler writes in the Arizona Republic: "When Arizona is $3.5 billion and more than 30 percent short on its budget, this question ought to be called by the state's political leadership. Arizona's racing industry has now called it, seeking permission to operate casinos on existing racetracks and give the state 45 percent of the profits...

Avoid CNBC?s Family Hour Special, ?Porn: Business of Pleasure?

Posted on July 27, 2009
Parents Who Would Prefer Their Daughters Not Seek Careers In The Hardcore Pornography Business Should Ensure They Aren?t Watching CNBC?s Family Hour Special, ?Porn: Business of Pleasure?

?Free to Speak? campaign launched

Posted on July 27, 2009
North Carolina Family Policy Council: ?The guidelines were sent to every school district, but they didn?t always make it into the hands of school administrators, teachers, parents, and students,? said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. ?As a result, some schools have practices that are in direct violation of the guidelines and the U...

HBO, ABC rank highest in GLAAD?s ?Network Responsibility Index?

Posted on July 27, 2009
GLAAD Press Release: "The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today released its third annual Network Responsibility Index, a report that maps the quantity, quality and diversity of images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on television...

Conservative groups bind together in letter opposing Sotomayor

Posted on July 27, 2009
Via the American Future Fund, the text of a letter to the United States Senate sent by "156 conservative and constitutional cause leaders" regarding the nomination of Judge Sotomayor.

Senator Sessions Announces Opposition to Sotomayor for Court

Posted on July 27, 2009
Bloomberg: "Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will vote against confirming Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Leftist ABA can?t figure out why its losing members

Posted on July 27, 2009
"The association doesn't even represent half of all U.S. lawyers anymore . . ."

Why moral conservatism is indispensable to liberty

Posted on July 27, 2009
Tim Dunkin writes at Renew America: "My intention here is not to aim any blue-on-blue friendly fire at libertarians. Instead, I want to point out that the belief that you can have liberty without a foundation in Judeo-Christian biblical morality, or even that you cannot have liberty unless you toss this morality aside, is completely contrary to reality...

UK: Serial bigamist Emily Horne allowed to walk free

Posted on July 27, 2009
Times Online: "A former glamour model who wed five men without divorcing any of them was today allowed to walk free with a suspended prison sentence by a judge who said she had 'undermined the institution of marriage'."

Nebraska legislators seek to assert state sovereignty

Posted on July 27, 2009
Omaha World Herald: "At least three Nebraska lawmakers want to send a message to the federal government: Butt out of state business. Next year they will see if a majority of their colleagues agrees. The senators are working on resolutions asserting Nebraska's sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution...

Idaho: ACLU will check Bible use at charter

Posted on July 27, 2009
Tabitha Kelly reports in the Idaho Press-Tribune: "The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho will investigate Nampa Classical Academy's use of the Bible as a classroom text to see if it violates separation of church and state rules."

Pro-lifer sues hospital over rights violation

Posted on July 27, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'This hospital has known of her objection for almost five years,' he notes. 'And even though it receives federal funds that require it by law not to force employees to participate in abortion, it forced her over her strenuous objection to assist in this abortion of a 22-week-old child...

Wisc. governor skirts marriage amendment

Posted on July 27, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'The domestic partnership law clearly violates Wisconsin's marriage amendment, which precludes any kind of legal status which is substantially similar to marriage,' [Raum] explains. 'And the way that the law reads, it creates a legal status that in almost every way is an attempt to mirror marriage...

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