Religion & Law

The Strategic Content Model of Supreme Court Opinion Writing

Posted on April 02, 2009
Yonatan Lupu and James H. Fowler: "In this article we present a strategic content model of the judicial process, which demonstrates how opinion content results from the strategic interaction between justices during the Court's bargaining process."

Journalist argues abortion is a ?good decision? in a recession

Posted on April 02, 2009
Bonnie Erbe, contributing editor to U.S. News and World Report, writes: "But in the long run, can we not agree that an unwed couple's decision not to bring a fourth child into the world when they are having trouble feeding themselves and three children is no tragedy? It's actually a fact-based, rational decision that in the end benefits the three children they already have and society as well...

Founder of Swiss company plans assisted suicide of healthy woman

Posted on April 02, 2009
David Brown reports at the Times: "The founder of the Swiss assistedsuicide clinic Dignitas was criticised yesterday after revealing plans to help a healthy woman to die alongside her terminally ill husband."

ACLU applauds New York abortion clinic access law

Posted on April 02, 2009
NYACLU press release: "In anticipation of its passage later today, the New York Civil Liberties Union applauded the City Council for legislation that will close perceived loopholes in current law and safeguard women?s access to reproductive health care clinics while protecting the protest rights of abortion opponents...

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Iowa pro-life group says Planned Parenthood center now giving abortion drug

Posted on April 02, 2009
LifeNews reports: "The statewide pro-life group in Iowa says a Planned Parenthood facility that previously did not do abortions is now giving women the dangerous abortion drug. Mifepristone, also known as RU 486, has caused the deaths of more than a dozen women worldwide and injured thousands in the United States...

Iowa Supreme Court to issue ?gay marriage? decision Friday; N.Y. high court takes up case

Posted on April 02, 2009
Michael Foust writes in the Baptist Press: "Technically, neither of the cases involves Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson's 2008 directive ordering state agencies to recognize out-of-state "gay marriages." Campbell, though, said ADF will ask the court to issue a ruling covering Paterson's order and any similar ones statewide...

Calif. bride and groom, state settle suit over license language

Posted on April 02, 2009
Bill Lindelof reports in the Sacramento Bee: "The couple sued claiming their rights had been violated. Now, the attorney for Rachel and Gideon Codding says the state has agreed to accept the couple's marriage license and agreed to pay for attorney's fees...

Texas governor declares April ?Abortion Recovery Awareness Month?

Posted on April 02, 2009
From a Justice Foundation press release published at EarnedMedia: "The month of April has been designated as a time to highlight and reflect on the traumatic effects of abortion. At this time, I urge all Texans to learn about the lasting ramifications of abortion and the support and counseling options available after an abortion...

Congressman attacks Clinton?s Margaret Sanger speech

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Catholic News Agency reports: ?To our distinguished Secretary of State, I respectfully ask: Are you kidding? In ?awe? of Margaret Sanger, who said in 1921, ?Eugenics?is the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political, and social problems? and who also said in 1922, ?The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it??? asked Congressman Smith.

Muslim Dunkin? Donuts franchisee loses battle over pork

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Chicago Tribune (AP) reports: "A Muslim franchisee of a suburban Chicago Dunkin' Donuts has surrendered his longtime store ownership after losing a legal battle with the chain over religious objections to selling pork."

Muslim religious discrimination suit settled in Minn.

Posted on April 02, 2009
Chris Serres reports in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "A federal judge gave approval for Gold'n Plump Inc. and an employment agency to pay $1.35 million to settle lawsuits alleging religious discrimination against Muslims at a chicken processing plant in Cold Spring, Minn...

Texas Bar International Law Section Law Student Writing Competition

Posted on April 02, 2009
Inside Justice: "The International Law Section of the Texas State Bar invites papers from law students. Entries should address any area of international law. Papers should be three to ten double-spaced pages in length. Winning articles will be considered for publication in the Texas Transnational Law Quaterly...

Abortion made a non-issue in Sebelius confirmation process

Posted on April 02, 2009
Marc Ambinder (Atlantic) reports that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, nominee for Health & Human Services, is not encountering significant opposition from Republicans on her pro-abortion stance

New Hampshire Republicans look to halt same-sex ?marriage? bill

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Cabinet Journal reports: "Senate Republican leader Peter Bragdon of Milford said GOP senators will work to kill the gay marriage bill that was passed by the House last week."

eHarmony launches homosexual offering to satisfy ?discrimination? complaint

Posted on April 02, 2009
Alyssa Farah reporting at WorldNetDaily: "Compatible Partners has been put online by eHarmony, the result of a lawsuit settlement between eHarmony and the attorney general in New Jersey."

ACLU targets ?homophobic? high school

Posted on April 02, 2009
OneNewsNow reports: "The American Civil Liberties Union has sued [Corona del Mar High School] in California, alleging that it is cultivating a homophobic environment."

Conn. same-sex ?marriage? group to shut down

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Boston Herald (AP) reports: "Leaders at "Love Makes a Family" say the 10-year-old group wants to conclude its work on a victorious note in the wake of last fall?s state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage."

Chair of President?s Council on Bioethics to speak at Holy Cross

Posted on April 02, 2009
Holy Cross press release: "Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D., chairman of the President?s Council on Bioethics, will give a lecture titled ?What Does Ethics Have to Do with Medicine?? on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross...

UK Media regulator fines Playboy TV for sexually explicit content

Posted on April 02, 2009
Leigh Holmwood writing in The Guardian: "Media regulator Ofcom has fined Playboy TV £22,500 for "serious and repeated breaches" of the broadcasting code after it aired sexually explicit material unencrypted."

ACLU: Mich. funeral protest law unconstitutional

Posted on April 01, 2009
AP: "The American Civil Liberties Union says Michigan's 2006 law restricting protests at funerals is unconstitutional."

Notre Dame Appoints New Law School Dean Who Donated to Pro-Abortion Obama

Posted on April 01, 2009
LifeNews: "Adding insult to injury, the University of Notre Dame announced today the appointment of a new law school dean who made donations to pro-abortion candidates, including President Barack Obama. On Wednesday, Notre Dame officials announced that Nell Jessup Newton ...

What?s Left of the Constitution? U.S. Endorsement of U.N. Declaration on ?Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity?

Posted on April 01, 2009
Recently, the new administration signed a United Nations declaration that, according to some, merely called for countries to ?decriminalize? homosexual behavior. In truth, however, the declaration goes far beyond simply ?decriminalizing? homosexual behavior...

Christian Medical and Dental Assoc Video: Right of conscience - a dangerous issue

Posted on April 01, 2009
Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) has posted a video on YouTube featuring a number of interview fragments in which medical students, doctors, and nurses discuss the threat to their rights of conscience as healthcare providers.

Alan Chambers: ?Christians: The New Social Outcasts?

Posted on April 01, 2009
Alan Chambers of Exodus International writes in Charisma Magazine: "People of faith who choose to surrender their sexuality to Christ and who choose to live their lives in a way that is different than the culture's new normal are now the new social outcasts...

Holder overrules DOJ lawyers on constitutionality of DC voting rights bill

Posted on April 01, 2009
Washington Post: "Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional, according to sources briefed on the issue. But Attorney General Eric H...

Michael Novak on organ donation and the culture of life

Posted on April 01, 2009
Michael Novak writes at First Things: "For John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the invention of appropriate incentives for more frequent donations of organs is a noble endeavor. The U.S. Congress and the several states should take thought about this important task...

Montana Republicans accuse Dems of ?muzzling? abortion issue

Posted on April 01, 2009
Helena-IR reports: "Republican lawmakers opposed to abortion Tuesday blasted their Democratic colleagues at the Legislature for blocking several anti-abortion bills this past week, saying Democrats are allied with ?the big business of killing babies.?

UK: Pro-life advocates attack pregnancy advice ads

Posted on April 01, 2009
The Guardian reports: "[P]regnancy advice service Marie Stopes International, which also performs abortions, said today that it would consider running TV ads, although it was unlikely to have the budget to buy airtime around peak time evening shows."

Holland: Pro-life advocates can?t join in festival

Posted on April 01, 2009
AP: "Organizers of Holland's Tulip Time Festival have told Right to Life officials the anti-abortion group can't have a float in this year's parade."

Calif. councilman wants St. Helena to support same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on April 01, 2009
The St. Helena Star reports: "On April 14, at Sklar?s request, the council will discuss a resolution stating that ?the City does not support discrimination and finds that all people regardless of gender should be able to enter into the legal contract of marriage and receive the same social and legal benefits and recognition as conferred by the State of California...

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