Religion & Law

Criminalizing Immoral Trafficking: An Introspection

Posted on June 10, 2009
SSRN: "This paper looks into the problems of immoral trafficking and looks into the various models approached by countries to prevent sex trafficking. It also takes into account that criminalizing buying of sex would be a much better option and efficient option than legalizing it in India...

House Democrats Prevent Amendment Limiting Obama’s Intl Abortion Agenda

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeNews: "The House of Representatives is slated to consider a bill today to fund the State Department, but House Democrats wielded their control over the chamber by preventing a pro-life amendment."

Same-sex “marriage” and the death of tradition

Posted on June 10, 2009
Carson Holloway writing at First Things: "In sum, what was thought to be obvious by all people, not just in our society but by all human beings from the dawn of humanity until just a few years ago-that marriage is a union between a man and a woman-is to be rejected out of hand, as irrational and unjust...

Abortion Business in Philadelphia Gives Away Free Abortions Honoring George Tiller

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeNews: "An abortion business in Pennsylvania is drawing criticism or giving away free abortions on Tuesday in honor of slain late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller."

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The abortion issue we’re ignoring: Emerging knowledge about medial risks

Posted on June 10, 2009
Barbara Kay writing in Canada's National Post: "There's a third side to the debate that gets short media shrift: emerging knowledge about medical risks surrounding induced abortion (IA). Throughout 40 years of highly publicized ideological squabbling, researchers in the field of human reproduction have been quietly beavering away on mounting epidemiological data around IA and its link to preterm birth (PTB) in a future pregnancy...

D.C.: Hearing on same-sex marriage vote underway

Posted on June 10, 2009
The Washington Post's D.C. Wire blog reports: "But Brian Raum, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, is arguing 'the people should decide,' and the that Human Rights Act does not extend to same-sex marriage. 'The issue before us is not whether same-sex marriage is good or bad policy, but whether who gets to decide this critical moral and social issue?" Raum said...

Bible study resumes legally without permit

Posted on June 10, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Joe Infranco, a senior counsel with ADF, comments on the case. 'They've demonstrated a desire to protect the constitutional rights of this family,' he says of the county officials. 'They sent the family a very nice, and I think heartfelt, apology, and they have let the pastor know that he is free to have Bible studies in his home...

Lawsuit involving MD pro-lifers goes to court

Posted on June 10, 2009
OneNewsNow: "These pro-life advocates were arrested, shackled, held in prison overnight, and subjected to two rounds of sexually invasive searches simply for expressing their beliefs,' [Daniel Blomberg] recalls. 'The fact of the matter here is expressing your First Amendment rights is not a crime -- and the government has no right to harass and threaten citizens for expressing those rights in public...

Delaware: Sussex has prayer policy in hand

Posted on June 10, 2009
Ron MacArthur reports in the Cape Gazette: "In a letter to council, J. Michael Johnson, ADF senior counsel, wrote there is no question that a legislative body may open its sessions with an invocation. 'Contrary to some recent claims, such prayer can also include sectarian references without running afoul of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause,' he wrote...

Should Catholic justices recuse selves on certain cases?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Tallahassee Democrat: "But because of the Catholic Church's active opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and capital punishment, it raises serious questions about the freedom of Catholic justices to judge these issues. Perhaps the time has come to ask them to recuse themselves when cases come before their court on which their church has taken positions binding on its communicants...

New Second Amendment Case at U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on June 10, 2009
SCOTUS Blog: "Alan Gura, the Alexandria, Va., attorney who won the historic Supreme Court ruling last year establishing a personal right to have a gun for self-defense at home, started a new challenge in the Supreme Court Tuesday. It seeks to have the Second Amendment right enforced against state, county and city gun control laws...

LeFlore County’s proposed monument is on hold after the circuit court ruling

Posted on June 10, 2009
Manny Gamallo and Susan Hylton report in the Tulsa World: "The Haskell County commissioners are being represented for free by the Alliance Defense Fund. According to its Web page, the ADF defends religious freedom cases 'through a legal alliance of Christian attorneys, like-minded organizations, and the critical financial support of our Ministry Friends...

Bells that raise strange questions

Posted on June 10, 2009
Terry Mattingly writes at GetReligion: "'According to a news release from the Alliance Defense Fund, a whisper is 30 decibels and a normal conversation is about 60 to 70 decibels. Ice cream trucks are allowed to emit up to 70 decibels at a distance of 50 feet under an exemption to the city's ordinance, but no exemption exists for church bells...

Christian attorneys ask high court to stop ACLU’s attack on Mojave Desert cross

Posted on June 10, 2009
Nathan Black reports in The Christian Post: "Tim Chandler, legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, stated, 'One person's agenda shouldn't diminish the sacrifice made by America's veterans and families.' 'Americans want these memorials to be protected," he added...

Pace students pray in spite of graduation controversy

Posted on June 10, 2009
Florida Baptist Witness: "According to a news release, Alliance Defense Fund sent letters to the school district challenging both measures and emphasized that the policies were unconstitutional and violated the rights of students and teachers. The district reversed both positions soon after receiving the letters from ADF...

Ohio: In women?s bathing suit, man arrested for harassment

Posted on June 10, 2009
NECN (includes video): "For almost a week, police in Sugarcreek Township, Ohio, had been searching for an unknown man reported to be approaching women and teenage girls along the Little Miami River, while wearing a women's bathing suit."

Is marriage on the chopping-block in D.C.?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Jennifer Mesko writing at CitizenLink: "The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics held a hearing today on whether the new law can be put to a public vote. A decision will come later. 'The issue before us is not whether same-sex 'marriage' is good or bad policy, but who gets to decide this critical moral and social issue,' argued Brian Raum, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund...

UCLA will allow graduate to mention Jesus

Posted on June 10, 2009
CitizenLink: "'Christian students are entitled to the same rights as all other students,' said Heather Gebelin Hacker, litigation staff counsel for ADF. 'We are pleased that UCLA officials understand that denying religious liberty to students is a violation of the First Amendment...

?China bans parts of gay festival?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Chris Hogg reports in BBC News: "Officials have warned the owners of two venues planning to hold a play and a film screening they would face 'severe consequences' if they went ahead."

?More Evidence? Sotomayor on Gay Porn?.?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Leonard Link: "This in itself may tell you something about Judge Sotomayor?s linguistic restraint in describing the facts of cases, and her nuanced understanding of matters sexual. The opinion is Farrell v. Burke & Freeman, 449 F.3d 470 (2nd Cir...

Library of Congress: The Approach of the Halakah and Sharia? to Contemporary Legal Issues

Posted on June 10, 2009
The Library of Congress: Judaic and Islamic legal systems (based on Halakah and Sharia', respectively) have endured for centuries despite the rapid changes and challenges of the modern world?from exploration of outer space to human cloning. They serve as a testimony to the relevance and universality of their underlying values and principles...

?1/3 of Irish gay couples living in United States?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Cahir O'Doherty reports in the Irish Voice: "An estimated 1,200 Irish-born men and women ? roughly a third of all Ireland?s gay couples ? are living with a same-sex partner in the United States, according to a new study based on U.S. Census data."

Male dancer injured in strip club shooting

Posted on June 10, 2009
Detroit News: "Investigators are trying to sort through an early morning fight that occurred in a west-side strip club, leaving a male dancer in temporary serious condition at an area hospital after an officer shot him."

What does the research about how gender influences judging actually say?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Deborah Rhode writing at Slate: "On the federal bench, women skew to the political left, while men are more evenly distributed. This makes it problematic to use simple models of statistical analysis and samples of limited size. If, for example, researchers are looking at federal sex-discrimination cases during a particular period, there may be too few conservative women to know whether their presence on a panel would have had the same effect as that of a more liberal female judge...

New York May Use Taxpayer Money to Buy Human Eggs

Posted on June 10, 2009
CitizenLink: "New York's Empire State Stem Cell Board is expected to vote Thursday on a plan that would use state money to pay women for their eggs, which would be used for research."

?Gay couples forced to flee US over immigration law?

Posted on June 10, 2009
AP: "Bills have been introduced in Congress to treat same-sex partners like heterosexual spouses for the purposes of immigration but are likely to face a strong fight, both from gay marriage opponents and anti-immigration groups. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prevents immigration officials from recognizing gay marriages, even from states where they are now legal...

UK: Gov?t to give free condoms to boys as young as 12

Posted on June 10, 2009
Christian Concern for our Nation: "Boys as young as 12 will be allowed to pick up free condoms without their parents' knowledge by showing a plastic 'condom card' issued to them when they receive safe sex advice . . . The plan is being drawn up by the Brook Advisory Service, a UK organization that promotes contraception to teenagers, and the Department for Children, Schools and Families under the Government?s plan to extend the scheme nationally...

Ruling Socialist Party promises same-sex ?marriage? in Portugal

Posted on June 10, 2009
Russia Today reports: "With gay marriage forbidden in Portugal the ruling Socialist party plans to propose new laws allowing same-sex marriage if they return to power after September elections. Lisbon's gay community welcomes this but legislation may prove tough in a deeply Catholic country...

Planned Parenthood executive to lead Stanford philanthropy center

Posted on June 10, 2009
Stanford News Service: "Kim Meredith, the chief development officer for Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), will lead the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. She takes over as executive director on July 1."

Is California school district breaking federal law with ?gay? curriculum

Posted on June 10, 2009
Chelsea Schilling reports at WorldNetDaily: "But Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England released a statement condemning the program and accusing the district of violating federal law. She said the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment governs any survey, analysis or evaluation given to students...

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