Religion & Law

NH Legislature passes bill to redefine marriage

Posted on May 06, 2009
"The House voted today for a version of the bill passed by the Senate last week."

Erik Stanley on Reality Check: ?Hate Crimes? Bill in Congress

Posted on May 06, 2009
ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on Reality Check with Mike and Clairie Monokian to discuss the "hate crimes" bill pending in Congress. The mp3 runs just over 7 minutes.

9 year old Christian girl is gang-raped and murdered in Pakistan

Posted on May 06, 2009
ChurchinNeed.org: "A nine-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was gang-raped before being killed and dumped in a canal and outrage is growing amid reports that almost a month later nobody has been arrested . . . The crime took place on April 9th (Maundy) Thursday in Holy Week and Christians believe the attack was intended as an insult to their fait...

Judge: Schools can?t ban poster religious phrases

Posted on May 06, 2009
KnoxNews.com (AP): U.S. District Court Judge Robert Echols issued a preliminary injunction last week, barring the school district from censoring religious speech on posters. Any future policy must be "reasonable, viewpoint-neutral, and in accordance with federal law," he ruled...

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Christian Legal Society Asks Supreme Court to Protect Rights of Religious Student Group

Posted on May 06, 2009
Attorneys with the Christian Legal Society?s (CLS) Center for Law & Religious Freedom are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the right of a religious student group to draw its leaders from those who share the group?s religious views.

Maine House votes to redefine marriage

Posted on May 05, 2009
"After an emotional three-hour debate, the Democratically-controlled House voted 89 to 57 in favor of the bill."

Viewing adult-themed TV tied to earlier sex for teens

Posted on May 05, 2009
Forbes: "Teens who watched adult-themed movies and television shows as children become sexually active at a younger age than their peers, a Children's Hospital Boston study finds."

Ezra Levant: ?How I beat Canada?s ?human rights? censors?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Ezra Levant writing in Reason Magazine: "The Internet may also spell the beginning of the end for the HRCs of the world. In the days after my meeting with McGovern, I began to blog about human rights commissions and free speech, encouraged by my worldwide support...

Frontrunner for Supreme Court believes Constitution grows ?with the times?

Posted on May 05, 2009
CNSNews: "Judge Diane Wood, reported to be on President Obama?s short list of possible nominees to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, believes a judge's interpretation of what the Constitution means must 'grow with the times.'"

?The damage done by the sex industry?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Gail Earle writes at OregonLive.com: "The bottom line of all the research is the horrific damage that is done to our society and women by the sex industry, which takes women often damaged by early abuse and further damages them."

?Until death or our term, do us part?: A new angle to redefine marriage

Posted on May 05, 2009
"We have fixed-term contracts for the buying of property, cars and insurance, but there is only one contract available for marriage and it is for life. ... Is it time to consider introducing fixed-term marriage contracts?"

Montana assisted suicide decision under review

Posted on May 05, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "The Montana Supreme Court is considering whether to overturn a state judge?s ruling that Montana residents have a legal right to assisted suicide. On Thursday attorneys for the Chicago-based law firm Americans United for Life (AUL) filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of a bipartisan group of 28 Montana senators and representatives ...

?Perez Hilton Sends DMCA Takedown Over Anti-Gay-Marriage Ad?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Citizen Media Law Project: "The blogosphere is buzzing about Perez Hilton's recent foray into copyright bullying. Last week, the celebrity blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, sent a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube, claiming that a new advocacy ad from the National Organization for Marriage ("NOM") which was posted on the video-sharing site violated his copyright ...

Slovak pro-lifers filed suit after police clamp-down

Posted on May 05, 2009
Christian Telegraph: ?Christians and other pro-life advocates should not be discriminated against and silenced for expressing their beliefs and making people aware of the truth,? said Europe-based ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska, co-counsel in the case...

The Supreme Court Upholds the FCC?s Policy on ?Fleeting Expletives?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Warning: Dorf uses expletives. Michael Dorf writes at Findlaw: The Justices' substitution of the terms "S-Word" and "F-Word" in an opinion that is not likely to be read by more than a handful of minors, casts doubt on the claim that the underlying FCC policy, and the statute it interprets, are principally designed to protect children.

The Community Defense Reporter Online: Protecting Children and Their Neighborhoods

Posted on May 05, 2009
The March 2009 edition of the Community Defense Reporter is now available online via the Community Defense Counsel.

If GOP abandoned Christian Right, ?their party would crumble?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Sam Stein interviews James Carville at the Huffington Post: "In an interview with the Huffington Post, the longtime Clinton confidant proclaimed that recent overtures among Republican officials to rethink their social issues platform would not have the big-tent benefits some envision...

Thomas Sowell: ?Empathy? versus law

Posted on May 05, 2009
Thomas Sowell writing at Townhall: "That President Obama has made 'empathy' with certain groups one of his criteria for choosing a Supreme Court nominee is a dangerous sign of how much further the Supreme Court may be pushed away from the rule of law and toward even more arbitrary judicial edicts to advance the agenda of the left and set it in legal concrete, immune from the democratic process...

Massachusetts abortion-free speech buffer zone gets appeals court hearing

Posted on May 05, 2009
Lifenews: ?'We hope that the court will strike down this law so that our clients and other peaceful pro-life citizens can once again freely express their message with those contemplating abortion,' DePrimo added. 'This buffer zone was designed to take away their rights and censor speech guaranteed by the First Amendment...

The ELCA?s Widening Chasm Over Homosexuality

Posted on May 05, 2009
Christian Post: "It appears that the ELCA may have underestimated the true cost to pursuing this particular social justice agenda. 7 years is a long time to fight in a Church about homosexuality, no matter what side you are on. The damage already done may be irreversible...

?California Gay Marriage Backers Poised to Try Again in 2010?

Posted on May 05, 2009
ABC: "Same-sex marriage backers in California, anticipating a loss in court, are preparing to make their case at the ballot box in 2010 rather than waiting until 2012."

SC AG threatens Craigslist with prosecution

Posted on May 05, 2009
Boston Globe (AP): "South Carolina's top prosecutor on Tuesday called on the chief executive of popular online site Craigslist to take down ads related to prostitution and pornography or face prosecution himself."

Male ?contraceptive jab? closer: Enormous moral and social implications

Posted on May 05, 2009
"The monthly testosterone injection works by temporarily blocking sperm production and could revolutionise birth control, experts believe."

ACLU: ?End the Unauthorized Sterilization of Adults with Disabilities under Guardianship - SUPPORT HB 2290?

Posted on May 05, 2009
The ACLU of Illinois has issued this press release: "Our country has a long and shameful history of allowing the involuntary sterilization of people with disabilities, depriving them of their rights to privacy and bodily integrity, and to make their own decisions about whether or not to become a parent...

Obama Admin Terrorism Dictionary Calls Pro-Life Advocates Violent, Racist

Posted on May 05, 2009
LifeNews: "The latest report to cause national outrage is a document known as the 'Domestic Extremism Lexicon,' essentially a terrorism and political extremism dictionary for the Obama administration's internal use.

?People?s Veto? hopes to preserve marriage in Maine

Posted on May 05, 2009
One News Now: "Five citizens can take out a petition, and if they gather 60,000 signatures in 90 days, then there is automatically a statewide vote," he adds. "And if the vote goes in favor of the veto, then the law is repealed."

U.S. military destroys soldier?s Bibles

Posted on May 05, 2009
"The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan."

Man stoned to death in Iran for adultery: judiciary

Posted on May 05, 2009
Washington Post (Reuters): "A man was stoned to death in Iran for adultery but the woman involved in the case repented, the judiciary said on Tuesday, suggesting her life was spared."

Bush ?Day of Prayer? tradition to end with Obama

Posted on May 05, 2009
Michelle A. Vu reports in the Christian Post: "The Alliance Defense Fund has said it will defend the National Day of Prayer Task Force should the case be accepted by the District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The legal group argues that public prayer is part of the history and tradition of the country and Americans should be allowed to freely pray without people threatening to silence them...

Richard F. Duncan: Supreme Court benchmarks

Posted on May 05, 2009
Law Professor Richard F. Duncan writes at the Washington Times: "Non-originalists believe that the Constitution's meaning is not limited to what the Framers intended; rather, the meaning and application of constitutional provisions should evolve by interpretation...

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