Religion & Law

Why point the finger at home-educators?

Posted on March 31, 2009
"It is commonplace now to talk about the surveillance society. One agency after another becomes part of the mechanism, so we should not be surprised that schools are the latest instrument for checking up on families . . ."

Democrats in WV House of Delegates reject marriage amendment

Posted on March 30, 2009
"Delegates voted 67-30 to reject the attempt."

Jurodynamics of Islamic Law

Posted on March 30, 2009
Rutgers Law Review: "Jurodynamics is the study of Shariah norms in motion, signifying both stability and change. Jurodynamics recognizes the Shariah as the Basic Code, which empowers Islamic states to construct dynamic bonds with classical jurisprudence (fiqh), positive law (qanun), and international law (siyar)...

Sen. Grassley May Subpoena Records of One or Two Televangelists

Posted on March 30, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "BNA's Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] today reports that Sen. Charles Grassley says he may subpoena records from those televangelists who have failed to cooperate with him in his investigation of their financial dealings...

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British Government ready to alter legislation barring Catholics from throne and what about male primogeniture?

Posted on March 30, 2009
Catholic Culture reports: "British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced plans to amend the Act of Settlement, which bars Catholics or the spouses of Catholics from the throne. But it is not clear that the amended legislation would allow Catholics in the line of succession...

Catholic Church in America Has Bred Her Own Destroyers: Obama Exploiting it

Posted on March 30, 2009
George Neumayr writes at LifeSiteNews: "Imagine a reverse scenario, say a politician who supported the Church's moral teachings down the line but had some racist blot in his past. Would Jenkins honor him? No, he woudn't dare. But somehow Obama's formal cooperation in the injustice of destroying innocent lives just isn't so bad...

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Signs Bill Creating Choose Life License Plates

Posted on March 30, 2009
LifeNews: "After lobbying from advocates on both sides of the abortion debate, pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has sign a bill that would create Choose Life license plates."

Study: Abortions Cause Future Relationship Problems, More Domestic Violence

Posted on March 30, 2009
LifeNews: "Some women decide to have abortions because they think having a baby will contribute to problems in their relationship with their husband or boyfriend. However, a new national study finds abortion causes more future relationship problems than carrying the pregnancy to term and parenting...

The UN Resolution on ?Defamation of Religion? and the Influence of Repressive Regimes on International Human Rights Law

Posted on March 30, 2009
Ilya Somin, writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution supporting the suppression of speech that "defames" religion. The resolution is not considered to be binding international law in and of itself, but many experts claim that such resolutions should be considered in determining what counts as "customary international law...

Jury Finds Kansas Abortionist Not Guilty, but Investigations Are Not Over

Posted on March 30, 2009
CNSNews: "Soon after the verdict was announced, the state's Board of Healing Arts made public a complaint against Tiller that alleges, as prosecutors did, that Tiller and Neuhaus had financial or legal ties that violated the law regarding abortions performed in 2003...

Utah: Davis County officials angry over ?pole-dancing contest?

Posted on March 30, 2009
The Salt Lake City Tribune reports: "Davis County commissioners say they didn't know an adult fitness event approved for a county facility was actually a pole dancing competition . . . Burroughs said she expects about 500 to attend the competition. No children under age 12 are allowed...

Congress considers immigration rights for ?same-sex partners?

Posted on March 30, 2009
Mike Swift reporting in the Mercury News: "Congress is considering changing federal law to allow same-sex "permanent partners" the same immigration rights as opposite-sex married couples. U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who called Tan's situation "unacceptable," is among a group in Congress, including Democratic Sen...

Obama Should Move Towards Greater Engagement with International Criminal Court, Former GOP Congressman Says

Posted on March 30, 2009
CNSNews: "The Obama administration and Congress should consider working with the International Criminal Court (ICC), former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.) and other members of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) told CNSNews.com on Friday ...

The Pornographic Secondary Effects Doctrine

Posted on March 30, 2009
Alabama Law Review: "This article aims to re-evaluate the secondary effects doctrine in a way that is more transparent. Appreciating the functional basis of the secondary effects doctrine is useful for understanding the doctrine's limitations, as well as for analyzing new types of regulation that may arguably fall within its scope...

Of Persons and Prenatal Humans: Why the Constitution is Not Silent on Abortion

Posted on March 30, 2009
Lawrence J. Nelson: "The conclusion that the Constitution is silent on abortion is false because the Constitution, in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment pertaining to the basic rights of persons and their entitlement to the equal protection of the laws, does have something to say about abortion...

Conn. bill would update law for same-sex ?marriages?

Posted on March 30, 2009
Newsday: "A Connecticut legislative committee is considering ways to update state law to conform with a court ruling allowing same-sex marriages. "

W.Va. bullying bill to include online posts

Posted on March 30, 2009
AP: "An attempt to extend a West Virginia anti-harassment law to the Internet may have some long-reaching consequences."

Grandson of Indira Ghandi arrested for anti-Muslim speeches

Posted on March 30, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In India, the battle over the candidacy of Varun Sanjay Gandhi, grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, continues. Varun Ghandi, a member of the BJP, is a candidate for the lower house of India's Parliament, running from a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh...

Palin stands firm on consent

Posted on March 30, 2009
Anchorage Daily News: ". . . The compromise under discussion would be legislation that requires parental notification but not consent. That means parents would have to be told about their teenager's plan to have an abortion but wouldn't have to give their permission for it to happen...

Richard W. Garnett: We must guard our free speech fortress

Posted on March 30, 2009
Richard Garnett writes at USA Today: "Last month, in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, the justices ruled unanimously (and correctly) that the free-speech clause allows a city to adopt and display one privately donated monument while refusing another. When the government speaks, in other words, it gets (for the most part) to pick its own message...

Court won?t revive Va. anti-spam law

Posted on March 30, 2009
AP: "The court on Monday said it will leave in place a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that the law was unconstitutional because it prohibited political, religious and other messages in addition to commercial solicitations . . . The case is Virginia v...

Administration Delays Change to Military?s ?Don?t Ask Don?t Tell? Policy

Posted on March 30, 2009
Fox News: "A change to the controversial 'don't ask, don't tell' policy toward gays in the military will be delayed despite promises by the Obama administration to overturn the rule, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday. 'The president and I feel like we've got a lot on our plates right now and let's push that one down the road a little bit,' Gates told FOX News Sunday...

ADF willing to defend Ohio county?s adoption policy if reinstated

Posted on March 30, 2009
In a letter to the board Thursday, ADF attorneys explained that the policy, which lists in order the types of adoptive parents the county will consider when placing children for adoption, is completely constitutional, contrary to the opinion of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Pennsylvania: Toomey Announces Senate Run As ?Very, Very Likely?

Posted on March 30, 2009
The Bulletin: "Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey nearly, but not quite, announced his senatorial candidacy against Sen. Arlen Specter, R, Saturday at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference. 'It is very, very likely that very, very soon, I will be a candidate for the United States Senate,' the Republican former Lehigh Valley-area congressman told a mostly supportive audience of hundreds at Harrisburg?s Four Points Sheraton hotel...

Gallup: Catholics similar to mainstream on abortion, stem cells

Posted on March 30, 2009
Gallup: "Catholics are at least slightly more liberal than non-Catholics on the issues of gambling (an issue to which the Catholic church is not totally opposed), sex between an unmarried man and woman, homosexual relations, and having a baby out of wedlock...

Charter schools weathering the storm

Posted on March 30, 2009
Connie Llanos reporting in the Los Angeles Daily News: "Free from rigid union contracts, able to make spending decisions at the school-site level and continuing to see enrollment growth, charter schools can run their campuses like small businesses. At a time when the Los Angeles Unified School District faces layoffs of some 8,500 people and is dismantling popular programs to cut costs, some charter schools are actually hiring teachers...

Utah defends pro-life proposals

Posted on March 30, 2009
OneNewsNow reports: "One of the laws prohibits abortions after the baby becomes viable, except when the physical health of the mother is in danger or to save the mother's life. The second measure would require that full information on abortion be given to a woman seeking one, including the fact that the unborn child will feel pain after 20 weeks gestation...

Church, FEMA at odds over debris

Posted on March 30, 2009
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AP): "In a letter to FEMA, attorney Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian lawyers, said, "We are aware the trucks were not FEMA, but the companies contracted with FEMA to do cleanup work."

FEMA guilty of religious discrimination?

Posted on March 30, 2009
OneNewsNow reports: "The Alliance Defense Fund is concerned about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refusing to help churches in the aftermath of disasters. Paragould, Arkansas, was recently declared a disaster area after being hit by a severe ice storm...

Divorce and Homeschooling

Posted on March 30, 2009
Education Improvement Examiner: "Thousands of California families have educated their children successfully through homeschooling,? according to Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb from the Alliance Defense Fund. ?We're pleased with the court's decision, which protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again...

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