Religion & Law

Dallas man takes Nevada county to court over brothel license

Posted on April 06, 2009
Dallas Morning News: "The main reason the board rejected the application: Kahn wasn't a resident of Nevada. Even his pledge to move there didn't sway the panel."

Iowa House vote on marriage amendment could be expected soon

Posted on April 06, 2009
Iowa Defense Alliance: " . . . there could be a vote in the Iowa House as early as Monday or Tuesday for a Marriage Amendment to be placed on the ballot."

Montana doctors won?t help with assisted suicide

Posted on April 06, 2009
Associated Press: "Four months after a District Court judge ruled that physician-assisted suicide is a right protected under the state's constitution, terminally ill patients say they're having trouble finding physicians willing to prescribe drugs that would hasten their deaths...

WSJ: Democrats ?sitting on evidence of voucher success?

Posted on April 06, 2009
"The decision to let 1,700 poor kids get tossed from private schools is a moral disgrace."

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

Illinois judge: OK for pharmacies not to sell Plan B

Posted on April 06, 2009
ACLJ: "On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Circuit Court in Springfield, Illinois issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Governor of Illinois and other state officials, ordering them not to enforce a 2005 administrative regulation that required all pharmacies to dispense Plan B and other forms of abortion producing drugs...

Same-sex ?marriage? colliding with parental rights, religious liberty around the country

Posted on April 06, 2009
Baptist Press: "Religious liberties and the homosexual agenda are on a collision course," said Napier, who grew up in Iowa and practiced law there for 16 years. " ... I don't think anybody should think this doesn't affect them. It will affect them, and it will affect them in a very deep way...

State Department legal nominee faces controversy over int?l law

Posted on April 06, 2009
Eric Posner: "Koh is best known for his defense of what he calls ?transnational legal process,? a somewhat ill-defined concept that refers to the process by which international legal norms enter domestic law. When the president ratifies a treaty with senate consent, the treaty becomes a part of American law; if the treaty is self-executing, courts will enforce its provisions...

Iowa marriage ruling puts New England in focus

Posted on April 06, 2009
"New England remains the nucleus of the same-sex marriage movement, with a campaign under way to extend marriage rights to gay men and lesbians in all six of the region?s states by 2012."

Calif. Supreme Court refuses to hear suit over Boy Scout lease

Posted on April 06, 2009
Metropolitan News-Enterprise: Metropolitan News-Enterprise: "The California Supreme Court has declined to involve itself in a dispute over whether the state Constitution allows public land to be leased to organizations that discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation...

Transnational Hindu Law Adoptions: Recognition and Treatment in Britain

Posted on April 06, 2009
International Journal of Law in Context: "This article examines how the adoption of children under Hindu law in India is regarded by British private international law and immigration law."

UAE: Fatwas to be brought under federal umbrella

Posted on April 06, 2009
The National: "The country?s principal religious body has drafted a law that aims to counter what some senior clerics are calling ?fatwa chaos? with the religious edicts coming from unqualified sources."

Marriage: A Hill to Die On

Posted on April 06, 2009
Robert Stacy McCain, writing at the American Spectator: "It is only by the activist rulings of judges and other officials, never at the behest of voters, that the radical crusade for same-sex marriage has advanced this far. We know which side the people are on...

?Christians: The new political lepers?

Posted on April 06, 2009
Pat Boone, writing at WorldNetDaily: "And now, Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund alerts us that the Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed two lawsuits to stop the dreaded ? National Day of Prayer."

?Gay couples making marriage plans after Iowa Supreme Court decision?

Posted on April 06, 2009
WCF Courier: "The Iowa marriage law was simple, settled and overwhelmingly supported by Iowans. There was simply no legitimate reason for the court to redefine marriage," said Napier, an Iowa attorney and ADF senior legal counsel. "The court stepped outside its proper role of interpreting the law and has instead overruled the will of the people and created new law...

Federal lawsuit claims Eastern Michigan University dismissed grad student from counseling program for her views on homosexuality

Posted on April 06, 2009
Ann Arbor News: "The Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom says student Julea Ward was dismissed from her graduate program in March after refusing to affirm a client's homosexual behavior prior to a counseling session, according to a press release from the group...

Christian Leaders Outraged by Iowa?s Gay Marriage Ruling

Posted on April 06, 2009
Felicia Mann writing at Charisma News Online: "The Iowa marriage law was simple, settled, and overwhelmingly supported by Iowans. There was simply no legitimate reason for the court to redefine marriage," said Douglas Napier, a Christian attorney and senior counsel for Alliance Defense Fund...

Exploring the Potential for American Death Tourism

Posted on April 06, 2009
Michigan State University Journal of Medicine & Law: "The United States, save for Oregon and Washington (and maybe Montana), has for the time being decided against legalizing life-ending procedures. As such, state and federal governments would probably take issue with Americans traveling to get help dying...

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Parental Preferences: Beyond Deadly Disease

Posted on April 06, 2009
Houston Health Journal of Law & Policy: "Numerous ethical questions exist about whether it is appropriate for parents to use PGD for this purpose. The ability to test for genetic sequences associated with diseases and other inherited characteristics is increasing, and currently, genetic tests for more than a thousand genetic diseases are either available or under development...

RLUIPA and Eminent Domain: How a Plain Reading of a Flawed Statute Creates an Absurd Result

Posted on April 06, 2009
Texas Review of Law & Politics: "This article addresses the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. It argues that while the courts hearing RLUIPA cases have correctly held that eminent domain is not land use regulation under RLUIPA, Congress intended eminent domain to be covered under RLUIPA, sound public policy holds that sacred property ought to be afforded special protection from burdensome government action, and Congress must cover eminent domain under RLUIPA in order to adequately protect religious liberty in the land use context...

Demographics and Distrust: The Eleventh Circuit on Graduation Prayer in Adler v. Duval County

Posted on April 06, 2009

Equality, Conscience, and the Liberty of the Church: Justifying the Controversiale Per Controversialius

Posted on April 06, 2009
Villanova Law Review: "The paper goes on to argue that while equality and conscience are concepts that are reasonably contested, Nussbaum illegitimately gives them priority over the also reasonably contested concept of the liberty of the church(es). The paper concludes by arguing, with the help of Jacques Maritain and William Galston, that the political sphere is better shaped (and limited) by robust respect for the equality of humans, freedom of conscience, and the liberty of the churches (and certain other groups), but without our either pretending that any of them is not reasonably contestable or attempting to mold churches (and certain other groups) in the image of the state...

?Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in Iowa Historic Ruling Hailed, Panned?

Posted on April 06, 2009
Rod Boshart reporting in the Cedar Rapids Gazette: However, Douglas Napier of the Alliance Defense Fund, an alliance of Christian attorneys and organizations, saw the case differently. "The Iowa marriage law was simple, settled and overwhelmingly supported by Iowans...

Catholic-School Comeback?

Posted on April 06, 2009
City Journal: "Instead of hitting up donors to cover deficits (the usual Catholic approach, which philanthropists find unattractive), [Mary McDonald] developed a fiscally sophisticated business plan. Seeing the Catholic schools as investments in Memphis?s future?lowering drop-out rates significantly reduces crime rates and dependence on social services?foundations and local businessmen, mostly non-Catholic, responded by providing over $70 million to date, enough for an endowment guaranteeing long-term survival...

Obama names anti-Catholic ?gay-rights activist? to faith-based council

Posted on April 06, 2009
CNSNews reports: "President Barack Obama has named to the federal government?s faith-based initiative a gay-rights activist who, last month, described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as ?discredited leaders? because of their opposition to same-sex marriage...

Orange County hopes to defund Planned Parenthood

Posted on April 06, 2009
OneNewsNow: "The unanimous vote cost the abortion provider more than $290,000 -- part of which that came from a tobacco lawsuit settlement. County Supervisor Bill Campbell tells OneNewsNow the supervisors have the votes to send the money to a more pro-life group -- if staff finds that it is legal -- based on the settlement...

Parental notification abortion bill introduced in Alaska senate

Posted on April 06, 2009
AP: "The measure would require that a parent or guardian be notified before a minor under the age of 17 can have an abortion, but their consent would not be required."

Shelters slowly adapt to help transgender homeless

Posted on April 06, 2009
AP: "Nationwide there are plenty of holes in the safety net of shelters that catches men and women who have fallen on hard times. Activists say help is even harder to find for the transgender homeless, whose nontraditional gender status raises questions about sleeping arrangements and shower facilities...

Iowa Gay Marriage Ruling Spurs Calls for Marriage Amendment

Posted on April 06, 2009
Katherine T. Phan reports in the Christian Post: "This (ruling) will catapult all of those states forward in the marriage amendment process," said Douglas Napier, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, according to the Associated Press.

?eHarmony launches website for gays?

Posted on April 06, 2009
Baptist Press: "Jim Campbell, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious liberty legal organization, told Baptist Press the case underscores the danger that anti-discrimination laws can pose to religious freedoms. Campbell, though, said eHarmony should have put up a tougher fight...

Homosexual bishop: Religious people a hindrance to ?gay rights?

Posted on April 06, 2009
Spero News: "According to a news release, Bishop Robinson said "Let's be honest, most of the discrimination . . . has come at the hands of religious people, and the greatest single hindrance to the achievement of full civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people can be laid at the doorstep of the three Abrahamic faiths ...

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