Religion & Law

Church Chimes Bring Probation to Phoenix Pastor

Posted on June 09, 2009
Christian Science Monitor: 's ridiculous to be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church's bells did not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks," said Erik Stanley, a senior legal counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Painter.

Holder Winks at Voter Intimidation: On ballot integrity, the Justice Department is taking us backward.

Posted on June 09, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "When Eric Holder became U.S. attorney general, he promised to administer the law in an objective, nonpolitical manner. So it's disappointing that the Justice Department had spent the last several months misinterpreting key voting rights laws for nakedly political reasons...

UK: Doncaster mayor vows to cut Gay Pride funds

Posted on June 09, 2009
BBC: "Peter Davies, of the English Democrats, said: "My policy on gays and lesbians is very simple. 'I don't think councils should be spending money on them parading through town advertising their sexuality.'"

Ross Douthat: ?Not all abortions are equal?

Posted on June 09, 2009
Ross Douthat writing in the New York Times: "Yes, many pregnancies are terminated in dire medical circumstances. But these represent a tiny fraction of the million-plus abortions that take place in this country every year. (Almost half of that number are repeat abortions; around a quarter are third or fourth procedures...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Boston Catholic health agency in partnership providing abortion coverage

Posted on June 09, 2009
Catholic Culture reports: "Caritas Christi, the health-care system affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston, has entered into a partnership that will provide coverage for abortion, sterilization, and contraception under the terms of a state government contract...

Groupthink: An Ivy-Covered Path to the Supreme Court

Posted on June 09, 2009
Critics suggest that elite universities shave off the differences in backgrounds and contribute to a kind of high-level groupthink . . .

10th Circuit votes 3-0 against Okla. Commandments display

Posted on June 09, 2009
Eric Young writes in The Christian Post: "'Haskell County officials acted within the law when they allowed the display of this Ten Commandments monument,' argued Attorney Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund, who represented the commissioners in this case...

Appeals court rules monument violates First Amendment

Posted on June 09, 2009
Marie Price reports in the Journal Record: "Alliance Defense Fund attorney Kevin Theriot, of Leawood, Kan., said he will recommend that the county commissioners seek a rehearing before the full court. Monday?s decision came from a three-judge panel of the appellate court...

Race: Sotomayor And Obama Versus Voters

Posted on June 09, 2009
Stuart Taylor writes at the National Law Journal: "Conservative critics of Judge Sonia Sotomayor may be digging themselves into a hole if they keep hurling the tired old 'liberal activist' slogan at her. The reason is that her supporters can plausibly retort that these days, the Supreme Court's conservatives are as activist as the liberals, especially on racial issues...

David French: Free Exchange on Campus Swings and Misses

Posted on June 09, 2009
ADF attorney David French, Director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, writes at the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog: "Following a link at Inside Higher Ed, I stumbled across a new report from a group called Free Exchange on Campus (FEC), an umbrella organization of academic establishment groups and their allies (including the AAUP, the ACLU, and the American Federation of Teachers) that in practice seems dedicated not so much to "free exchange" but to opposing conservative critics of higher education...

?Fla. high court won?t block state bar?s brief in gay-adoption case?

Posted on June 09, 2009
"The state Supreme Court on June 4 rejected a conservative Christian legal group?s request to throw out the Florida Bar?s friend-of-the-court brief against the state?s ban on gay adoption . . ."

Supreme Court choice could reignite culture wars

Posted on June 09, 2009
Linda Feldmann writing in the Christian Science Monitor: "For the most part, on issue after issue in the long-running 'culture wars,' Obama has played it low-key. After all, he has a deep recession and two wars on his plate. But as the Senate prepares to hold confirmation hearings for Obama?s first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, many of the hot-button issues dear to religious conservatives are about to come roaring back ? foremost among them gay marriage, abortion, and the role of faith in the public square...

Buddhist Monk Faces Worldly Green-Card Matters

Posted on June 09, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "Since devoted himself to serving a burgeoning Buddhist community in Southern California. Barefoot and clad in a saffron robe, Mr. Jomthong recently gave what amounts to the most accurate job description he has: 'to share Buddhist practices and to promote peace and harmony among people...

10th Circuit Holds 10 Commandments Monument Violates Establishment Clause

Posted on June 09, 2009
" . . . the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a display of a Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the county courthouse in Stigler, Oklahoma, violated the Establishment Clause."

Hadley Arkes: Higher Education and the Political Regime

Posted on June 09, 2009
Public Discourse: "All education is moral education, because it carries an understanding of the things worth knowing?and a hierarchy of the things more or less worthy of being known. Moral education must also point to a certain end: an understanding of the ways of life that are better or worse for human beings...

French, U.S. imams talk about being Muslim military chaplains

Posted on June 09, 2009
AP: "While they tend to the spiritual needs of their co-religionists in the ranks, as other chaplains do, these imams also spend much time explaining their religion and its practices to their non-Muslim superiors."

U.S. Government Defends Mojave Desert Cross

Posted on June 09, 2009
Becket Fund: "Today (June 1), in a brief filed in the Supreme Court in Salazar v. Buono, the United States government defended the constitutionality of the 75-year old Mojave Desert Cross, which memorializes World War I veterans."

China defends Web-filtering software requirement

Posted on June 09, 2009
AP: "The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology posted on its Web site Tuesday a notice to all PC makers that they will be required to pre-load the 'Green Dam-Youth Escort' filtering software on units to be sold in China as of July 1, including imported PCs...

Sex shop facing 31-day suspension says punishment too harsh

Posted on June 09, 2009
Kate Howard reports in The Tennessean: "The Pleasure Palace, a Dickerson Road adult bookstore, has asked for a hearing before a Chancery Court judge to argue against a 31-day suspension of their sexually oriented business license."

Int?l media is ?shocked? at possibility of sex-selection abortions

Posted on June 09, 2009
Dawn Eden reports at Americans United for Life: "The media Down Under is abuzz with reports of a new home ?gender test? for pregnant women, now available in stores without a prescription. It enables a woman who is eight or more weeks pregnant to learn the sex of her child, with 90 percent accuracy ? opening up the possibility that she might abort it if she is not happy with the result...

Planned Parenthood asks California funds be restored

Posted on June 09, 2009
Christian Telegraph: The country's leading abortion provider is calling on California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore $36 million in proposed cuts to family planning funds, reports Baptist Press.

Russia?s minority Christians fear return to Soviet era persecution

Posted on June 09, 2009
John Beita reports in The Christian Post: "Minority Christian leaders in Russia fear the government's re-establishment of a Ministry of Justice council could signal a return to Soviet era persecution against Christians."

Transgenders find place in college admission forms

Posted on June 09, 2009
Dhanya Matsa reports at Express Buzz: "This coming of age move from colleges in the city is a result of a directive from the State Education Department last year asking all colleges to not discriminate against transgenders, to recognise the gender and provide facilities for them...

8th Circuit rejects ACLU challenge to immigration e-verify program for employers

Posted on June 09, 2009
day, in a 3-0 decision, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld local ordinances enacted to discourage illegal immigration and protect business owners . . . In reviewing the facts, the appellate court was puzzled as to why the ACLU even brought the case and dismissed their second complaint with prejudice ...

MA: Strip club petitions city to reconsider special permit

Posted on June 09, 2009
Will Richmond reports in The Herald News: "The attorney for prospective strip club operator Gary Lund is petitioning Fall River Superior Court to reconsider the recommended conditions made by the city to obtain an adult entertainment license."

Sotomayor?s confirmation hearings to begin July 13

Posted on June 09, 2009
AP: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced Tuesday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will convene on July 13, considerably earlier than Republicans wanted."

Senate to pass hate crimes bill as amendment

Posted on June 09, 2009
Chris Johnson reports in the Washington Blade: "Senate leadership has decided to pass hate crimes legislation as an amendment to another bill instead of a standalone piece of legislation, according to the Human Rights Campaign . . . . A Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Senate has planned to pass hate crimes legislation as an amendment for some time...

?Gay? family kids 7 times more likely to be homosexual

Posted on June 09, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "A licensed psychologist with both clinical and forensic practice outreaches is warning that it appears children of homosexual couples are seven times more likely to develop 'non-heterosexual preferences' than other children, but lawmakers establishing policy often don't know that because the researchers have concealed their discoveries...

An Historical and Prudential Analysis of Oaths As Applied to the Current Controversy of the Bible and Quran in Oath Practices in America

Posted on June 09, 2009
Ohio State Law Journal: "An analysis of religious artifacts and oaths in contemporary America is especially relevant in light of cases such as ACLU of North Carolina and the circumstances involving Keith Ellison, America's first Muslim congressman. Congressman Ellison used the Quran during his swearing-in ceremony while taking his oath of office prior to assuming duties in the House of Representatives...

Will Iran?s ?Marriage Crisis? Bring Down Ahmadinejad?

Posted on June 09, 2009
TIME: "These days, the phrase 'marriage crisis' pops up in election debates, newspapers and blogs and is considered by government officials and ordinary Iranians alike to be one of the nation's most serious problems. It refers to the rising number of young people of marrying age who cannot afford to marry or are choosing not to tie the knot...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.