Religion & Law

Soros sees no bottom for world financial ?collapse?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Reuters: “Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

6th Circuit Upholds Porn Law Protecting Children

Posted on February 23, 2009
The Christian Post: A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law that requires pornographers who take photos of people engaged in sexually explicit acts to provide “proof of age,” a ruling that strengthens prevention on the exploitation of children by pornographers ...

China: ?Hillary pleas with communists to keep buying treasury bonds?

Posted on February 23, 2009
AFP: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday urged China to keep buying US debt as she wrapped up her first overseas trip, during which she agreed to work closely with Beijing on the financial crisis. Clinton made the plea shortly before leaving China, the final stop on a four-nation Asian tour that also took her to [...

Satanist inmate sues county

Posted on February 23, 2009
The Billings Gazette: A Billings man in prison for drug possession has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Yellowstone County for alleged civil-rights violations, including interference with his satanic religious practices. Jason Paul Indreland claims in the U...

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A Man Who Thinks Child Porn is Free Speech Is Not Fit for Justice

Posted on February 23, 2009
Cathy Ruse writes at Human Events: “President Barack Obama has nominated David Ogden for Deputy Attorney General.  It is another bad nomination that should not be confirmed.  Ogden is a hero to the porn industry for good reason. “ Visit Site » Share This

?Bunning: Justice Ginsburg likely will be dead in 9 months?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Courier-Journal: “U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning predicted over the weekend that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

FRC Policy Lecture: Why isn?t anyone telling our kids about the other dangers of casual sex?

Posted on February 23, 2009
FRC has issued this event invitation: WHY ISN’T ANYONE TELLING OUR KIDS ABOUT THE OTHER DANGERS OF CASUAL SEX? March 25, 2009 Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (ET) You are cordially invited to a Policy Lecture at the Family Research Council. “WHY ISN’T ANYONE TELLING OUR KIDS ABOUT THE OTHER DANGERS OF CASUAL SEX?” More than 900,000 unwanted pregnancies and [...

Judge orders restitution for porn victim

Posted on February 23, 2009
"A federal judge in Connecticut has ordered a man convicted of possessing child pornography to pay about $200,000 in restitution to a woman photographed as a child while being sexually abused . . . "

Florida Prosecutor Continues to Stonewall on Criminal Charges in Hialeah Baby Murder Case

Posted on February 23, 2009
LifeSiteNews: “Ignoring a letter signed by 44 members of the State House of Representatives Friday, Florida State Attorney Katherine Rundle issued a statement indicating that no decision has been made on the filing of criminal charges against abortionist Pierre Renelique and others involved in the intentional murder of a baby born alive during a botched [...

Arkansas Enshrines Partial-Birth Abortion Ban into State Law

Posted on February 23, 2009
LifeSiteNews: “Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe on Friday signed into law a state ban on partial-birth abortion, following the bill’s overwhelming support in both Congressional houses . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

Is The Endorsement Test Up for Grabs in New Supreme Court Case?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: Salazar v. Buono, which the Court agreed to hear today, involves a relatively unusual fact pattern . . . But resolving this question may well lead the Court to reconsider the deeper constitutional question — should the Establishment Clause be read as presumptively barring government speech that endorses religion? My [...

Montana Senate OKs Amdt Limiting Privacy Clause on Abortion, Goes to House

Posted on February 23, 2009
LifeNews: “The Montana Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would limit the misuse of the privacy clause in the state constitution to allow for unlimited abortions. Montana is one [...]

Alabama: Vote taken to change fidelity and chastity clause for Presbyterian clergy

Posted on February 23, 2009
CBS42.com: The controversial stance of keeping homosexuals from joining the Presbyterian clergy has just been dropped. A group representing the majority of Presbyterians in Alabama has cast a vote that could call for a big division within the denomination...

Montana: Plaintiff attys win fees in assisted suicide case

Posted on February 23, 2009
KXMC.com: “The judge who ruled that physician-assisted suicide is legal in Montana has ordered the state to pay attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs’ lawyers in an amount yet to be determined.” Visit Site » Share This

?Washington State Says Religious Group Can Refuse Gay Volunteers?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: “Page One Q reported yesterday on a decision handed down by the Washington State Human Rights Commission apparently allowing religious organizations to exclude gays and lesbians as volunteers. In March 2008, Tad Erichsen and John Footh were turned away as volunteers by His Supper Table, a meal program operating in Long Beach, [...

Justice Department Settles RLUIPA/ Housing Suit With Nashville, TN

Posted on February 23, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog: “The lawsuit claimed violations of the Fair Housing Act and of RLUIPA in Nashville’s denial of zoning approval for a residential treatment center to Teen Challenge, a Christian substance abuse program . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

Alan Sears: ?Welcome to ?Fantasy Island? ? ACLU Style?

Posted on February 23, 2009
ADF President and General Counsel Alan Sears writes at Townhall: Cuba remains the ACLU?s ?Fantasy Island,? where ? to hear them tell it ? happy Marxist children play together in perfect harmony, and the state makes sure its citizens are cared for from cradle to grave...

David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch: ?A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage?

Posted on February 23, 2009
David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch write at the NY Times: We take very different positions on gay marriage. We have had heated debates on the subject. Nonetheless, we agree that the time is ripe for a deal that could give each side what it most needs in the short run, while moving the debate onto [...

How Sexual Predators in (Your)Space Have Strategically Employed Existing Cyber-Laws to Outflank Their Prey

Posted on February 23, 2009
With the modern landscape of tech-savvy youths, today's sexual predators employ online social networking sites (?OSNs?) as the new frontier for clandestine hunting grounds. These faceless cyber-sharks--the illicit spawn of the robust shelters created by § 230 of the Communications Decency Act (?CDA?)--have rapidly adapted to the free reign enjoyed in the unbridled habitat that is the internet...

Chaos, Law, and God: The Religious Meanings of Homosexuality

Posted on February 23, 2009
In fact, NCR leaders are perhaps more right than they know, because liberated sexuality (especially, and symbolically, homosexuality) is indeed a threat to the mythic nomos of religion as they understand it. Part III rejects the claim that debates about homosexuality are merely about homophobia or the simplistic dichotomy of ?church and state...

A Proposal for Elevating the Status of Marriage By Narrowing Its Definition

Posted on February 23, 2009
This article proposes an approach that defines two legally recognized relationships. First, opposite-sex couples desiring a traditional marriage could choose the option that generally adopts portions of the covenant marriage law enacted thus far by three states...

Rethinking Visitation: From a Parental to a Relational Right

Posted on February 23, 2009
Visitation with children has been in the public and legal limelight for several decades. Despite the enormous interest evoked by this issue and the extensive concern with this right, confusion and dissatisfaction with existing legal rules surrounding visitation has only intensified...

De-Regulating and De-Criminalizing Innovations in Human Reproduction

Posted on February 23, 2009
Deciding to create a new human being as a member of one's family may be as quintessential an aspect of personal liberties implied in the Constitution as the right to privacy. Prior decisions by the Supreme Court about contraception, informed consent, and abortion, among many other decisions, imply a respect for an area where governments should not interfere with individuals' decisions concerning the creation of families.

Separate and Invisible: Alternative Education Programs and Our Educational Rights

Posted on February 23, 2009
This Note argues that many disciplinary alternative education programs (?AEPs?) violate both parents' fundamental right to control their child's education and students' as yet unrecognized fundamental right to receive a minimally adequate education. These programs infringe parents' fundamental right to guide their child's upbringing by removing both the child and the child's school from standards-based assessments, which confounds parents' ability to compare their child's education with their own values and to take action on the basis of that comparison...

Words to Live By: Public Health, The First Amendment, and Government Speech

Posted on February 23, 2009
This Article identifies three general categories of speech and health cases, represented by the three scenarios above, that illustrate how better to protect public health without compromising free speech.

UK: Muslim peer warns of ?sharp increase in polygamy?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Tory Baroness Sayeeda Warsi fears a sharp increase in polygamy in the UK is becoming a threat to community cohesion.

Idaho lawmakers reject sexual orientation discrimination bill

Posted on February 23, 2009
A state Senate committee on Friday rejected a proposal to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Florida: Destin to revisit sexually oriented business law

Posted on February 23, 2009
Less than a month after the City Council amended its adult-entertainment ordinances, the city is preparing for a do-over, City Manager Greg Kisela says.

William Saletan: ?A culture of life requires an ethic of contraception?

Posted on February 23, 2009
Conservatives, in turn, need to face the corollary truth: A culture of life requires an ethic of contraception. Birth control isn?t a sin or an offense against life, as so many girls and Catholic couples have been taught. It?s a loving, conscientious way to prevent the conception of a child you can?t bear to raise and don?t want to abort...

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to policy barring student from speaking against homosexual behavior

Posted on February 23, 2009
The School Law Blog reports: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of a Kentucky student who challenged a school policy that he believed barred him from speaking out against homosexuality . . . The justices declined without comment to hear the former student’s appeal in Morrison v...

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