Religion & Law

Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: A Reconciliation

Posted on March 20, 2009
Brookings Institution: "In a recent New York Times op-ed, Brookings scholar Jonathan Rauch and co-author David Blankenhorn argue that linking federal civil unions to guarantees of religious freedom is a way to head off a long-term, scorched-earth debate over gay marriage and religious liberty...

Legal groups call for end to ?ideological exclusion? of scholars, others denied visas

Posted on March 20, 2009
Marcia Coyle writes at the National Law Journal: "The American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Society of American Law Teachers, the Constitution Project, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and more than 70 other legal, civil rights and human rights organizations are urging the Obama administration to end the practice of 'ideological exclusion,' under which foreign scholars, artists, and activists have been denied visas on the basis of their ideas, political views and associations...

Oprah Magazine: ?Why Women Are Leaving Men for Other Women?

Posted on March 20, 2009
Over the past several decades, scientists have struggled in fits and starts to get a handle on sexual orientation . . . Today, however, a new line of research is beginning to approach sexual orientation as much less fixed than previously thought, especially when it comes to women ...

9th Circuit: IDEA requires school district to fund child?s special ed during appeal

Posted on March 20, 2009
9th Circuit: Ultimately, refusing to enforce the stay put provision during the appeals process would force parents to choose between leaving their children in an education setting which potentially fails to meet minimum legal standards, and placing the child in private school at their own cost.

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The dangers of triple-X domains

Posted on March 20, 2009
OneNewsNow: "The proposal of a triple-X domain for Internet pornography is being negotiated. Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, notes ICM Registry has failed in the past, largely due to public pressure, but the idea is being reconsidered...

MN: ACLU to take church zoning case

Posted on March 20, 2009
Bemidji Pioneer: "The case will center on the ability for People?s Church to provide food and shelter to the homeless . . . The proposed expansion of People?s Church was denied, as was a requested Conditional Use Permit, by the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board last week...

In Defense of Ideology: A Principled Approach to the Supreme Court Confirmation Process

Posted on March 20, 2009
SSRN: "In this paper, Professor Ringhand offers a principled defense of an ideological approach to the Supreme Court justice confirmation process."

Praying for a Tax Break: Churches, Political Speech and the Loss of Section 501(C)(3) Tax Exempt Statu

Posted on March 20, 2009
SSRN: "This paper examines the issues involved in churches, political speeches and tax-exempt status. It will propose that a limited exception be created for churches so that they may speak freely on all issues to their congregants, including politics, during regularly scheduled religious services...

Detroit man sentenced in child prostitution ring

Posted on March 20, 2009
AP: "A Detroit man [Robert Daniels] convicted of operating an Internet child prostitution network has been sentenced to 35 years in prison." According to the report he was also posting child pornography on the Internet.

Egypt: Islamic tradition bucks court orders to admit transsexual to a medical school

Posted on March 20, 2009
International Herald Tribune: "Twenty-one years ago, Mursi, now 43, went through a sex-change operation as she was about to enter her fourth year at Al-Azhar's medical school, where classes are segregated by gender under Muslim traditions of piety. Al-Azhar officials expelled her, saying she couldn't go to the men's classes because she was impersonating a woman ? or to the women's classes because she was actually a man...

Penn. Court Says AA Meetings Are Not ?Exercise of Religion? Under RLUIPA

Posted on March 20, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In Glenside Center, Inc. v. Abington Township Zoning Hearing Board, (PA Commn. Ct., March 17, 2009), a Pennsylvania appellate court held that use of a building for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (and for meetings by other 12-step groups) is not an "exercise of religion" as that term is used in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act...

IHSA Asked To Overturn Reported Ban On Prayer At Games

Posted on March 20, 2009
http://www.wbbm780.com/IHSA-Asked-To-Overturn-Reported-Ban-On-Prayer-At-G/4048938: "Attorney David Cortman with the Alliance Defense Fund says it's unconstitutional to prohibit prayer or religious messages at private schools. "It's unnecessary overreaching by the...

The Pastor?s Weekly Briefing (March 20, 2009)

Posted on March 20, 2009
side-line: "The Alliance Defense Fund announced this week it has reached an agreement with the New York Department of Transportation to allow a tractor-trailer owned by Daniel Burritt to remain on his private property that sits beside a public highway...

I guess we can learn something from the proponents of cultural Marxism . . .

Posted on March 20, 2009
The Huffington Riposte: "Beth Sheeran, president of the censored pro-life club, has turned to the Alliance Defense Fund for help. Her First Amendment legal complaint contains shocking allegations. For example, the administrator in charge of dispersing student funds, Heather McKenzie, is alleged to have said that the state of Washington cannot fund ?non-pro choice? speech events because it is a ?pro-choice? state...

CHPP Daily Brief - March 19, 2009

Posted on March 20, 2009
Capitol Hill "Daily Brief": "Several Christian schools complained about the policy to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). "Not only does it not violate the Establishment Clause, but it violates the free-speech rights of private schools," said David Cortman, senior legal counsel for ADF...

Vermont Senate panel approves bill to redefine marriage

Posted on March 20, 2009
"A Vermont state Senate committee unanimously approved a gay marriage bill, moving the state one step closer to allowing same-sex couples to legally wed."

Wisconsin: Dodge County tables meeting prayer issue

Posted on March 20, 2009
Fond du lac Reporter:"A resolution to bring prayer back into the Dodge County Board Room has been tabled. The Dodge County Board of Supervisors voted 29 to 7 on Tuesday night to table a resolution crafted by Supervisor Eugene Wurtz that would allow a rotation of clergy to provide a non-sectarian invocation at the start of the meetings...

Court Denies Recognition to Christian Student Group

Posted on March 20, 2009
Citizen Link: Officials at the University of California-Hastings College of Law denied official recognition to the Christian Legal Society student chapter, claiming the group's Christian beliefs were discriminatory. CLS and the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit.

Religious Displays in Church-Owned Post Office Ruled Unconstitutional

Posted on March 20, 2009
CitizenLink: "Private Christian entities shouldn't be censored for displaying information about their own religious ministries, on their own properties, simply because they participate in contracts with the government," said ADF Senior Counsel Jeff Shafer...

European Union Pressures Serbia to Adopt ?Gender Identity? Legislation

Posted on March 20, 2009
LifeSite: Roger Kiska, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund and a close observer of the progress of the Serbian legislation, told C-Fam's Friday Fax that the law creates a category of rights far broader than any currently in force in the various nations of the EU...

?John Kerry seeks asylum for Brazilian gay man wed in Mass.?

Posted on March 20, 2009
AP: "Sen. John Kerry has asked the Obama administration to grant asylum to a gay man who was forced to return to Brazil after he was married to a U.S. citizen in Massachusetts. Genesio "Junior" Oliveira has been separated from his husband, Tim Coco, since August 2007, when he left the country after his request for asylum and an appeal were denied...

Ultra-Conservative ADF against .xxx domain

Posted on March 20, 2009
AVN Business: "Conservative Christian Group Alliance Defense Fund, which stands for prayer in schools and is anti-abortion and against gay rights, also is opposing the establishment of a .xxx domain extension. ADF special counsel Pat Trueman has attacked ICM Registry, which has long been lobbying for the domain name and calls a triple-X domain "a danger...

ACLU and ADF: Protecting Prisoners? Rights Together

Posted on March 20, 2009
ACLU Blog of Rights: "As the New York Times reported this week, the ACLU and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . are typically on opposite sides of contentious issues like religious expression in schools and same-sex marriage. But there is at least one thing that we can agree upon: the right of federal prisoners to have access to religious material while in prison...

Minnesota Introduces Marriage Amendment

Posted on March 20, 2009
Citizen Link: "Minnesota House members will introduce an amendment this week to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman."

All of Peter Robinson?s videotaped interview with Justice Antonin Scalia now online

Posted on March 20, 2009
How Appealing provides links to the interview.

Egypt lawyer calls for Christian adoption law

Posted on March 20, 2009
Christian Today: "A lawyer is calling on the Egyptian Government to pass a law allowing Christians to adopt children. Naguib Gobraiel is supporting a couple who have been imprisoned for fraud following their attempts to adopt a Christian boy in secret...

Harvard Aids expert supports Pope?s stance on contraception

Posted on March 20, 2009
Christian Today: "A leading Aids expert from Harvard University has come out in support of comments made by the Pope Benedict XVI suggesting that the distribution of contraception actually spreads rather than prevents Aids."

100 Iraqi Christians Begin New Life in Germany

Posted on March 20, 2009
Christian Post: "More than 100 Iraqi Christians arrived in Germany on Thursday to begin a new life away from the violence and persecution they endured back in their homeland . . . By year?s end, hundreds of more Iraqi refugees are expected to be flown to Hannover, Germany, as part of an asylum program coordinated by the U...

Los Angeles County Seal cross controversy comes up again

Posted on March 20, 2009
MSNBC: "It's a sore subject. And it's coming back in to the spotlight. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich wants to bring the image of the cross back to the official county seal. He tells the Daily News now that a long-missing cross is back on the historic San Gabriel Mission, it should come back to the seal ...

ACLJ & Members of Congress ask Federal Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging National Day of Prayer

Posted on March 20, 2009
ACLJ: "Representing 31 members of Congress, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) announced today it has filed an amicus brief asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the National Day of Prayer. The ACLJ brief contends that the establishment of the National Day of Prayer is 'deeply embedded in the tradition and history of this country' and that such a proclamation and observance does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment...

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