Religion & Law

Justice Souter and the Supreme Court?s Church-State Balance

Posted on May 22, 2009
Brookings Institution: "As we await a White House announcement, a consideration of Justice David Souter?s religious liberty legacy is in order. Justice Souter has had a strong voice and an interesting combination of views on these matters. A brief review of some of Souter?s opinions helps to lay a foundation for understanding how President Obama?s pick to replace him might affect the church-state balance at the Court...

Washington: Planned Parenthood undergoes leadership changes, audit

Posted on May 21, 2009
John Stucke reports in The Statesman Review: "Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest has undergone a management shuffle during the past year and is attempting to settle a state audit that uncovered Medicaid overbilling and other problems."

Montana pro-lifers launch initiative to ban abortion

Posted on May 21, 2009
Charles S. Johnson reports in the Billings Gazette: "The Montana ProLife Coalition is proposing a 2010 constitutional initiative that ultimately could ban abortion by declaring that human life begins when an egg is fertilized."

Colorado Governor OKs ?gay benefits?

Posted on May 21, 2009
John Ingold reports in The Denver Post: "Gov. Bill Ritter this week quietly signed into law a bill that will allow gay and lesbian state employees to share benefits with their partners in the way married couples already can."

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Canada: Alberta stands by ?controversial? parental rights clause

Posted on May 21, 2009
"The legislation would let parents pull their children from classrooms when religion, sexuality or sexual orientation are being taught."

Teacher satisfaction: Public vs. private education

Posted on May 21, 2009
One News Now: "A new study shows that despite a much lower salary, private school teachers are happier than their public school counterparts. The study was conducted by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice . . . "

UK: Law ?will force churches to employ gay staff?

Posted on May 21, 2009
"Religious groups are to be forced to accept homosexual youth workers, secretaries and other staff, even if their faith holds same-sex relationships to be sinful."

MA: Middleton voters defeat SOB bylaw

Posted on May 21, 2009
Brendan Lewis reports at Wicked Local: "Middleton Town Meeting voters narrowly defeated an article last week that would have designated an area off Sharpners Pond Road as an adult zoning district."

Sex indoctrination amendment fails in deliberation over Texas House bill

Posted on May 21, 2009
Corrie MacLaggan reports in The Statesman: "The Texas House today gave tentative approval to a bill that seeks to strengthen school health advisory councils. But an attempt to tack on a requirement for sex education failed."

Oklahoma stem cell research gets $5.5M

Posted on May 21, 2009
Susan Simpson writing in The Oklahoman: "The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust board voted Monday to contribute $5.5 million to adult stem cell research . . . The adult cells are not taken from embryos."

A proposal to redress the imbalance between state and federal power

Posted on May 21, 2009
Randy Barnett writing at Forbes: "I decided to draft a Bill of Federalism consisting of 10 amendments devised to restore the balance between state and federal power as well as the original meaning of the Constitution. By identifying 10 separate amendments, a coalition can be formed from people who support different constitutional reform measures that could not be combined into a single amendment...

?Controversial protest by radical gay group now subject of federal lawsuit?

Posted on May 21, 2009
Todd A. Heywood, writing at PrideSource: "Members of the radical anarchist group Bash Back! Lansing have been served with court orders in a federal lawsuit brought against them for their participation in a Nov. 9 protest in the evangelical Lansing Church Mount Hope Church ...

Craigslist-related bust nets New Yorkers

Posted on May 21, 2009
OneNewsNow: "'I'm pleased to see that Attorney General [Andrew] Cuomo of New York is continuing to target Craigslist, because Craigslist is still a problem when it comes to prostitution -- and where there's prostitution, we know there's sex trafficking and child prostitution,' says Trueman, a former prosecutor with the Justice Department...

NH: ?Votes may come today on altered gay marriage bill?

Posted on May 21, 2009
Kevin Landrigan writing in the Nashua Telegraph: "Austin Nimocks with the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund said Lynch's changes fail to protect conscientious objectors based on religion and predicted the law would lead to lawsuits."

?The battle over benefits for same-sex spouses?

Posted on May 21, 2009
Philip Shishkin writing in the Wall Street Journal: "Some conservatives fear that this lawsuit is part of a Trojan-horse campaign to make gay marriage a reality nationwide over the will of voters. They see the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court here in March, as an important one...

Bill to create special COGIC license plate tabled until next year

Posted on May 21, 2009
"Ford said one of the lawyers that called her represented the Alliance Defense Fund, a self-described alliance of Christians and like-minded organizations defending 'religious liberty, sanctity of life, marriage and the family' through strategy, funding, training and litigation...

French Government Agency Combatting Cults Releases Report

Posted on May 21, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog: "Digital Journal says that 10 pages in MIVILUDES' 199-page report are devoted to criticizing the activity of sects in the United Nations and the OSCE."

ACLU threatens to sue Cal. school over parental consent requirement for student?s Harvey Milk report

Posted on May 21, 2009
"The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego is threatening to sue Ramona school officials after they told a sixth-grader she couldn't present a report on slain gay rights advocate Harvey Milk to fellow students unless their parents signed permission slips...

Legislation Would Protect Kids from Morning-After Pill

Posted on May 21, 2009
Citizen Link: "U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., has introduced legislation that would pull federal funding from any school that hands out the morning-after pill. The Schoolchildren?s Protection Act (HR 2458) has 40 co-sponsors."

Thousands of NY Christians Protest Marriage Redefinition

Posted on May 21, 2009
There are 32 Democrats in the state senate. However, several, including pentecostal pastor Diaz, have stated they will vote against the same-sex marriage bill. Diaz says there are another six Democrats in the state senate who will not support the bill ...

Wisconsin: Defense calls no witnesses in prayer death trial

Posted on May 21, 2009
AP: "Attorneys for a Wisconsin woman accused of praying for her dying daughter instead of getting her help have rested their case without calling any witnesses."

Aren?t all violent crimes ?hate? crimes?

Posted on May 21, 2009
Jeff Jacoby writes Jewish World Review: "Hate-crime laws serve a symbolic function, not a practical one: They proclaim that crimes fueled by certain types of bias are especially repugnant. But that is the same as proclaiming that crimes fueled by other types of bias, or by motives having nothing to do with bias, are not quite as awful...

Louisiana: Kenner moves to crack down on sex businesses

Posted on May 21, 2009
The Times-Picayune: "Kenner officials are moving to step up their regulation of sexually oriented businesses with a 29-page ordinance governing such items as hours of operation, floor plans and employee licensing."

Arizona: County Attorney calls on abortion clinics to report statutory rape

Posted on May 21, 2009
The Lighthouse Blog has posted a press release from the office of Maricopa County (AZ) Attorney Andrew Thomas: "In response to recent events at local Planned Parenthood clinics, County Attorney Andrew Thomas is publicly calling on Planned Parenthood to report sexual abuse of minors to law enforcement and to train and instruct all staff members to do so...

Legislation Attacking Abstinence Rejected in Texas House

Posted on May 21, 2009
The Texas Republic News Blog: "Texas law currently requires that students be taught that 'abstinence before marriage is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.'"

Congress: Update on bill promoting homosexuality/abortion abroad

Posted on May 21, 2009
Tom McClusky writing at the FRC Cloakroom Blog: "Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) removed potentially controversial language that would have extended to same-sex partners overseas the same benefits given to spouses and dependents, such as access to U...

Federal domestic partner benefits legislation is reintroduced in both houses of Congress

Posted on May 21, 2009
Sexual Orientation and the Law Blog: "The bill, sponsored by Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House and Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in the Senate, would provide benefits for same-sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits...

Blackstone Fellow wins Embryo Law Essay Competition

Posted on May 21, 2009
Nightlight Christian Adoptions has announced that Ms. Anne Swanda of the U. of Nebraska College of Law is the winner of the 2009 Embryo Law Essay Competition. Ms. Swanda is a Blackstone Fellow. Learn more about the Blackstone Fellowship.

Homosexual Advocacy Group Accuses Maine Diocese of Violating Tax Law

Posted on May 21, 2009
CNSNews (AP): "A gay rights advocacy group complained to the IRS that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine is violating tax rules by helping a referendum campaign that would repeal the state's new same-sex marriage law."

Why Homosexual Behavior Is More like Consensual Incest and Polyamory than Race or Gender - Part 1

Posted on May 21, 2009
Robert A. J. Gagnon writes at the Christian Post: "The problem is that the analogy to race and gender doesn?t work well. Race and gender are 100% heritable, absolutely immutable, and primarily non-behavioral conditions of life, and therefore, intrinsically benign...

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