Religion & Law

ACLU praises defunding of E-Verify citizenship verification program

Posted on February 17, 2009
ACLU press release: A requirement to use a flawed employment verification program (E-Verify) for all recipients of stimulus funding was stripped out of the conference report for the economic stimulus package on Capitol Hill today. The American Civil Liberties Union applauds this development, noting that if the E-Verify mandate had been included, the stimulus package could [...

Louisiana?s Angola prison, pressured by ACLU, removes religious references from monument

Posted on February 17, 2009
Dallas Morning News: Louisiana correctional officials have agreed to take a Bible citation and a prayer off a monument near the entrance to the state penitentiary at Angola. Visit Site » Share This

Islamic influence suspected in husband?s decapitation of wife

Posted on February 17, 2009
The Buffalo News: The gruesome death of Orchard Park resident Aasiya Zubair Hassan? who was found decapitated?and the arrest of her estranged husband are drawing widespread attention, as speculation roils about the role that the couple?s religion may have played...

Domestic partnership bill heading to New Mexico Senate

Posted on February 17, 2009
A proposal giving same-sex couples the same legal protections and benefits as married couples cleared a difficult legislative hurdle and is headed to the Senate for a vote.

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Catholic Church to explore benefits and dangers of genetics

Posted on February 17, 2009
Recognizing that the field of genetics contains both signs of promise and peril, the Vatican is hosting a congress this Friday and Saturday to examine the burgeoning field. "The aim of this congress is to verify whether, in the field genetic experimentation, there are aspects that tend towards - or effectively implement - eugenic practices," said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

Picture emerging of In Vitro Fertilization risks

Posted on February 17, 2009
The issues have nothing to do with the chances that a woman will have twins, triplets or even, as just happened in California, octuplets. Instead, they involve questions of whether there are changes in gene expression or in developmental patterns, which may or may not be obvious at birth.

Massachusetts top jurist says courts are in crisis

Posted on February 17, 2009
The economic downturn could have a devastating impact on the American justice system as courts are forced to lay off employees and cut down on court hours, Massachusetts' top judge said yesterday.

University of Chicago Law School Dean to step down

Posted on February 17, 2009
There will soon be an opening at the University of Chicago Law School. Dean Saul Levmore circulated an e-mail to the school yesterday announcing his decision to step down.

Mormons and national politics

Posted on February 17, 2009
If the polls are to be believed, Mormons rank among America?s most disliked religious denominations. Despite this animus, Mormons have achieved considerable success. Fourteen Mormons serve in the current Congress, including the Senate Majority leader.

Villanova Conference on Liberty of Conscience and Religious Equality

Posted on February 17, 2009
The theme of the conference is ?Liberty of Conscience and Religious Equality,? and the all-star speakers include Martha Nussbaum from the University of Chicago, Patrick M. Brennan from Villanova, Jesse Chopper from Berkeley, Rick Garnett from Notre Dame, Kent Greenawalt from Columbia, John McGreevey from Notre Dame, Roderick Hills from New York University, Very Rev...

Ohio man faces 55 child porn charges

Posted on February 17, 2009
A Montgomery County grand jury on Thursday, Feb. 12, indicted Edward Eckley, 46, on 55 felony counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. Florence, Ky., police arrested him Sunday after spotting his car in a motel parking lot there.

China blocks Christian and pornographic websites

Posted on February 17, 2009
The Chinese authorities continue to block many Catholic websites, like Radio Veritas of Asia, the website of the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference, all of the Catholic sites of Taiwan, and those of the diocese of Hong Kong. The government says that it wants to fight pornography on the internet, but it is systematically taking measures against sites with no pornographic content, which however present information not entirely in harmony with the version of the Communist Party.

NC: County commissioners seek marriage amendment

Posted on February 17, 2009
County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to support legislation seeking a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment declaring marriage between a man and woman the only legally recognized union.

Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Posted on February 16, 2009
The Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, centered on the theme "Never Again," will take place May 29 - 30, 2009 at the National Conference Center located at 18980 Upper Belmont Pl., Landsdowne Virginia, 20176, near the Washington DC, Dulles Airport.

Roberts sets off debate on judicial experience

Posted on February 16, 2009
For the first time in its history, every member of the United States Supreme Court is a former federal appeals court judge. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in a lively and surprising talk a couple of weeks ago, said that development may be a good thing.

Congress considers giving DC vote in House

Posted on February 16, 2009
Currently, D.C.'s only representation in Congress is one seat in the House of Representatives with voting rights on amendments to bills, but not as to their eventual passage or defeat. Today, that seat is held by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) who share Reid's optimism...

Archbishop of Canterbury: Same-sex relationships ?comparable to marriage?

Posted on February 16, 2009
"I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness," Dr. Williams wrote in one of the letters.

FCC discussing a return of the Fairness Doctrine

Posted on February 16, 2009
Senior FCC staff working for acting Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps held meetings last week with policy and legislative advisers to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman to discuss ways the committee can create openings for the FCC to put in place a form of the "Fairness Doctrine" without actually calling it such.

Textual misconduct: What to do about teens and ?sexting?

Posted on February 16, 2009
The real problem with criminalizing teen sexting as a form of child pornography is that the great majority of these kids are not predators and have no intention of producing or purveying kiddie porn. They think they're being brash and sexy, in the manner of brash, sexy Americans everywhere: by being undressed...

PA Judges plead guilty in scheme to jail youths for profit

Posted on February 16, 2009
The answers became a bit clearer on Thursday as the judge, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., and a colleague, Michael T. Conahan, appeared in federal court in Scranton, Pa., to plead guilty to wire fraud and income tax fraud for taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers run by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care.

Texas: Houston wants to shut down SOB ?arcade?

Posted on February 16, 2009
A major battle is brewing at the Harris County Civil Courthouse. The city of Houston wants to shut down what they call a sexually oriented business operating illegally and without license.

MI: Milford strip club closed due to community pressure

Posted on February 16, 2009
Coyotes Show Club in Milford Township closed its doors Feb. 7 after a year of poor business and legal pressure by the community and The King?s Men (TKM), an Oreland-based men?s organization dedicated to ending pornography. Univest Bank assumed the mortgage of the sexually oriented business at a sheriff sale Friday...

Nebraska: Zero tolerance for ?sexting? at school

Posted on February 16, 2009
School officials are also forced to adapt to the growing availability of technology that is literally at the fingertips of modern day students. An incident last week where a male high school student may have sent revealing photos of a female student to all of his friends forced school officials to adapt to the new world.

CA: Same-sex ?marriage? advocates protest Clinton speech

Posted on February 16, 2009
As many as 200 people have protested a speech by former President Bill Clinton at a San Diego hotel that became a boycott target when its owner donated money to pass a gay marriage ban in California.

Arizona: New pro-life bill may have enough votes

Posted on February 16, 2009
HB 2564 would: Require women to wait for 24 hours before terminating a pregnancy; allow health professionals, hospitals and pharmacists to refuse to perform abortions or provide "morning after" pills or even to "facilitate" a woman getting access to either; Specify what factors a judge may consider in determining if a minor is mature enough to have an abortion without first getting parental consent.

North Dakota looks to regulate sexually oriented businesses

Posted on February 16, 2009
The bill restricts the location of strip clubs, adults book stores or other sexually oriented places. It also prohibits alcohol from being served in the adult entertainment businesses and limits how late they can be open. Reed Soderstrom, a Minot attorney, says there are two strip clubs in Minot that are within a block of a Middle Schools...

Connecticut strip club owner looks to settle out of court

Posted on February 16, 2009
The owner of a Woodmont Road strip club, who is suing the city in federal court claiming its adult-entertainment ordinance is unconstitutional, wants to settle the case out of court.

Hurdles for a plan to turn closing Catholic classrooms into charter schools

Posted on February 16, 2009
They had unveiled a plan to convert four Catholic schools scheduled for closing into public charter schools, giving their students and teachers a soft landing and avoiding a crippling infusion of children into crowded neighborhood schools. But despite the celebratory air this month as Mr...

Florida: Foster benefits sought in homosexual adoption

Posted on February 16, 2009
Wayne Smith, a Key West, Fla., attorney, says that although a court overturned Florida's ban on gay adoptions last year, red tape has barred him from receiving benefits that other parents receive when they adopt a foster child.

India: Newspaper ditor arrested for ?outraging Muslims?

Posted on February 16, 2009
The editor and publisher of a major Indian newspaper have been arrested for "hurting the religious feelings" of Muslims after they reprinted an article from The Independent. Ravindra Kumar and Anand Sinha, the editor and publisher of the Kolkata-based English daily The Statesman, appeared in court yesterday charged under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code which forbids "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings".

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