Religion & Law

CLS attorney disscuses religious student groups and nondiscrimination rules

Posted on March 24, 2009
The CLS blog reports and links to the radio interview between CLS attorney Casey Mattox and Alan J. Reinach on Freedom's Ring Radio.

Balancing science, morality

Posted on March 24, 2009
Dr. Frederick J. White writes at the Shreveport Times: "A science that does not value the moral bounds of society is a science that will ultimately devalue and bind that society."

Benjamin Cole: ?What marriage is ? and what it isn?t?

Posted on March 24, 2009
Benjamin Cole writes at the ABP: "The entire discussion, however, missed the fundamental problem with same-sex marriage: Namely, the nature of marriage itself. The reason that many conservatives do not approve of same-sex marriage is not because we wish to deny basic liberties to gays and lesbians...

Obama names lesbian as Chief of U.S. Claims Court

Posted on March 24, 2009
Washington Blade: "The White House announced Monday that President Obama has appointed a prominent lesbian attorney and ordained Episcopal priest as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims."

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Colo. ?Beneficiary agreements? bill passes Senate

Posted on March 24, 2009
Denver Post: "A bill that allows two adults to enter into 'beneficiary agreements' passed the Senate today, despite complaints from some Republicans that it is an attempt to give more rights to gay couples."

Robert Knight on Obama nomination: ?Somebody on the Republican side needs to find a spine?

Posted on March 24, 2009
Yahoo News (Bloomberg): ?Somebody on the Republican side needs to find a spine,? said Robert Knight, a senior writer and media critic with Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ?The GOP may still call itself the party of family values, but it can only talk economy...

Hawaii: Senate Democrats try to free deadlocked civil unions bill

Posted on March 24, 2009
Honolulu Star Bulletin: "Senate Democrats are meeting today to see whether they can resolve the deadlocked position on civil unions for same-sex couples. At issue is House Bill 444, which extends all the rights, privileges and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, without calling the partnership a marriage...

West Virginia: Church school faces expensive options

Posted on March 24, 2009
The Herald-Mail is reporting that state officials have shut down a Christian school over alleged fire, health and safety violations.

Florida: Defense accuses judge of pro-life bias in infanticide case

Posted on March 24, 2009
Palm Beach Post: "Defense lawyers on Monday accused a Broward County judge of injecting his 'personal, political and religious views' into an illegal abortion case and asked an appeals court to reduce the bail of a woman charged with aborting her teenage daughter's pregnancy...

Tennessee Senate Passes Amendment to Limit Expansive Court Ruling on Abortion

Posted on March 24, 2009
LifeNews: "The Tennessee state Senate has approved an amendment that would make the Tennessee Constitution abortion-neutral. The measure is necessary because the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled 4-1 in 2000 that the state constitution allows unlimited abortions...

Abortion bill ties up Missouri. Senate

Posted on March 24, 2009
KSPR.com (AP): "Legislation making it a crime to coerce someone to have an abortion in Missouri ties up the state Senate for hours . . . The bill would require a woman seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours before the procedure."

USCCB Calls on Administration to Retain HHS Regulation on Conscience Protectio

Posted on March 23, 2009
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued this press release on March 19th that reports: "The Obama Administration has a constitutional duty to enforce laws protecting religious freedom and the right of conscience, according to comments by Anthony Picarello and Michael Moses of the Office of General Counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)...

?Fusion Centers? Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members

Posted on March 23, 2009
FoxNews: "If you're an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group...

ADF poised to defend three pro-life bills signed by Utah governor

Posted on March 23, 2009
?No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless. Utah?s new laws are simply common-sense measures to protect innocent, viable children and their mothers in line with rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court,? said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H...

Dumbing Down Marriage

Posted on March 23, 2009
Allen Hunt writes at Townhall: "From the defective idea of 'same-sex marriage,' to the increasing disregard for marriage as the birthplace for children, and to a malformed desire to make marriage contractual and disposable at will, family and marriage stand battered and bruised by a ceaseless bombardment of attack...

Jeff Ventrella on the Zeb Bell Show: Speak up for morality

Posted on March 23, 2009
Jeff Ventrella, Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning and Training at ADF, appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss various legal and cultural issues. The mp3 file runs just under 15 minutes.

Ken Conner: America?s Faltering Faith

Posted on March 23, 2009
Ken Conner writes at Townhall: "Americans appear to be losing faith in God and in our cultural institutions. Is the loss of confidence in one related to a loss of confidence in the other? The answer is unequivocally yes."

Catholic Notre Dame University to Give Obama Honorary Degree on May 17, Against USCCB Policy

Posted on March 23, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "In 2004, the United States of Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a policy statement called 'Catholics in Political Life,' which says, with reference to pro-abortion politicians, 'They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their action...

More Internet predators are challenging agents

Posted on March 23, 2009
"'I don't think we've made significant progress at all,' Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said. 'Our community leaders don't even know how bad the problem is. The general population has no idea.'"

What Constitutional Rights Should Schoolchildren Have? Two Recent Cases Underscore the Ways in Which Children Are Not Simply Miniature Adults

Posted on March 23, 2009
Michael Dorff writes at Findlaw: "Although it has long been accepted that children have constitutional rights, the law also acknowledges that, contrary to their sometimes creepy depiction in medieval art, children are not simply miniature adults. Rather, children differ from adults along multiple dimensions, and thus children's constitutional rights should not simply be a 'lesser' version of adults' rights...

ACLU challenges Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools over removal of magazine from library

Posted on March 23, 2009
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "A principal's decision to remove a magazine from a middle-school library has drawn criticism for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board from the American Civil Liberties Union."

ACT UP calls Pope an ?Assassin,? protests outside Paris Cathedral over condoms

Posted on March 23, 2009
Catholic Culture reports: "Carrying signs that called Pope Benedict XVI an assassin, the militant activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) threw condoms as worshippers left Sunday Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral at Paris . . ."

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice: Make merit matter by adopting new system of selecting judges

Posted on March 23, 2009
The Hon. Wallace B. Jefferson writes at The Houston Chronicle: "We should adopt a system for judges that has two primary components. Judges should achieve office by merit rather than whim, and voters should hold judges accountable, based on their records, through subsequent retention elections ...

9th Circuit: School May Cut Off Proselytizing Graduation Speech

Posted on March 23, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In McComb v. Crehan, (9th Cir., March 20, 2009), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the action of Clark County, Nevada school officials in cutting off the microphone at high school graduation ceremonies when the class valedictorian departed from her approved speech and began reading from a version that contained religious and Biblical references...

5th Circuit Upholds Christian School?s Exclusion From Public School League

Posted on March 23, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In Cornerstone Christian Schools v. University Interscholastic League, (5th Cir., March 20, 2009), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit by a high schooler and his parents who claim that their free exercise, equal protection, and due process rights were infringed when UIL denied Cornerstone Christian Schools an opportunity to apply for league membership...

Christian song sparks lawsuit against Florida public school

Posted on March 23, 2009
The St. Augustine Record reports: Parents of two elementary school students last week filed a lawsuit against the St. Johns County School District, saying their children's constitutional rights were violated when teachers required them to rehearse a song that declares "there's no doubt" the United States is a Christian nation.

Cert. Denied In ?Understanding Evolution? Website Case

Posted on March 23, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition for certiorari filed in Caldwell v. Caldwell, (Docket No. 08-858). The suit challenged "certain content on an "Understanding Evolution" website created and maintained by the University of California Museum of Paleontology and funded in part by the National Science Foundation...

Family wants tougher laws against sexting

Posted on March 23, 2009
"Jessica Logan's nude cell-phone photo - meant for her boyfriend's eyes only - was sent to hundreds of teenagers last year in at least seven Greater Cincinnati high schools . . . On July 3, Jessie hanged herself in her bedroom. She was Albert and Cynthia Logan's only child ...

Baby in right-to-life battle dies

Posted on March 23, 2009
BBC: "A seriously ill baby, whose parents lost a court battle to keep him alive on a ventilator, has died."

Retired agent calls for harsher porn penalties

Posted on March 23, 2009
YumaSun: A retired FBI agent who specialized in obscenity and sexual crimes against children for 23 years while with the bureau, said the investigation and prosecution of illegal adult pornography in many instances could reduce the number of children getting sexually exploited ...

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