Religion & Law

U. Texas Law Prof: ?Our defective state constitutions? (Or, does this crisis portend the end of what remains of robust federalism?)?

Posted on December 30, 2008
Sandy Levinson, law professor at the U. of Texas, writes on the Balkinization Blog: . . . “federalism” will have to be recognized even by members of the Federalist Society as the dessicated notion that it has become in the course of the past century and a half ...

?Advocates fear attack on gay adoption by Louisiana lawmaker?

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Times-Picayune reports: Louisiana government has since 2001 had a Commission on Marriage and Family, a sort of mom-and-apple-pie political concept that comes as no surprise in a socially conservative state. Perhaps the only astonishment is that the commission has done little since its inception under Gov...

Atheist Revolution: ?Could Gay Marriage Bring the End of Christian Extremism??

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Atheist Revolution Blog has this post that begins: I fully realize that I will not live to see the end of Christian extremism in the United States. Far from being a source of despair, this encourages me to do what I can while I’m here. In fact, I’m feeling a bit optimistic at this moment [...

Washington March for Life 2009 Conference and Activities Schedule

Posted on December 30, 2008
LifeSiteNews.com reports: - “To help pro-life pilgrims plan a schedule surrounding the enormous March for Life quickly approaching next month, LifeSiteNews.com has compiled a list of the various pro-life events that will take place in and around Washington D...

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Chicago School Reform Could Be a U.S. Model

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Washington Post reports: “. . . City schools chief executive Arne Duncan, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for education secretary, pushed that performance-pay plan and a host of other innovations to transform a school system once regarded as one of the country’s worst...

National, Ohio Medical Groups Help Planned Parenthood Hide Secret Abortions

Posted on December 30, 2008
LifeNews.com reports: “In what pro-life advocates are calling a case of misplaced priorities, national and Ohio medical groups are siding with Planned Parenthood against an Ohio couple that sued the abortion business for violating state law by failing to alert them when their daughter requested an abortion...

Northwestern Law Introduces Deferred Conditional Acceptances

Posted on December 30, 2008
Orin Kerr writes on the Volokh Conspiracy: “The goal being, presumably, to get students who they want but who have low numbers that might hurt the school’s US News ranking if they enrolled as 1Ls.” Visit Site » Share This

Newdow Lawsuit Challenges Inaugural Oath and Invocation

Posted on December 30, 2008
"The complaint . . . asks the court to enjoin the Chief Justice . . . from adding "so help me God" to the constitutionally prescribed presidential oath [and] to declare unconstitutional the use of clergy to deliver an invocation and benediction . . . "

Oregon Appeals Board Says Animist Church Must Be Permitted Under RLUIPA

Posted on December 30, 2008
Religion Clause Blog reports: “In Young v. Jackson County, (OR Land Use Bd. App., Dec. 23, 2008), the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals held that the “equal terms” provision of RLUIPA was violated when a county denied an application to operate a church in an existing dwelling on land zoned for farm use, but [...

Josephy Story, Louis D. Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, and William J. Brennan, Jr. will be commemorated on postage stamps

Posted on December 30, 2008
The U.S. Postal Service has issued this press release. Hat tip: How Appealing Share This

Phyllis Schlafly: Public Schools Change Young Evangelicals? Values

Posted on December 30, 2008
Phyllis Schlafly writes on Townhall: “What caused young evangelicals, the children of the so-called ‘religious right,’ to change their moral imperatives so dramatically? Most likely it’s the attitudes and decision-making they learned in the public schools, which 89 percent of U...

Canada: Pro-life caucus develops in Parliament from all parties, fate of liberals unclear

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Globe and Mail reports: Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is unwilling to say whether negative repercussions will befall members of his caucus who oppose legalized abortion. Rod Bruinooge, a Conservative MP from Winnipeg, told reporters this week that a secret parliamentary anti-abortion caucus had been established...

Judicial Review of Legislative Purpose

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Article proceeds to describe changes over time in the practice of judicial review. The history that emerges sheds light on myriad subjects, including the proper interpretation of various seminal precedents, the source of some of the apparent inconsistency in doctrines that implicate purpose-based restrictions on legislative power, and the ways in which uncodified aspects of judicial practice can affect the glosses that courts put on the Constitution's text.

Restitution and the Production of Legal Doctrine

Posted on December 30, 2008
Legal doctrine, particularly of the common law or judge-made variety, has long been the source of critique and ridicule. In the eyes of many legal historians, doctrinal evolution is a process whereby the law's initial rationale becomes subverted by further refinement and where lawyers cannot help but get lost in the morass of self-inflicted wounds.

Textualism and Jurisdiction

Posted on December 30, 2008
This Article seeks to test textualists' central claims--that their approach is most consistent with the faithful agent conception of the judicial role in statutory interpretation and more likely to constrain judges' capacity to do mischief under the guise of statutory interpretation--by critically examining the manner in which textualists have interpreted jurisdictional statutes.

The Constitutional Validity of Land Transfers in Escaping from Establishment Clause Violations

Posted on December 30, 2008
In Part II, this Note begins by summarizing the current state of Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Providing background in the Establishment Clause, Part III then discusses the split among the federal branches of government.

The Perspective of a Junior Circuit Judge on Judicial Modesty

Posted on December 30, 2008
I too welcome the call for an age of judicial modesty, and when you consider the contrast between the judiciary and the political branches, there is plenty about our unique branch that lends itself to the virtue of modesty.

NJ finds church discriminated by barring civil union ceremony

Posted on December 30, 2008
ADF attorney Brian Raum: "As the rights of same-sex couples increase, the tendency is to have it conflict with the First Amendment rights of religious organizations."

Obama could elect to shift course on marriage

Posted on December 30, 2008
Chuck Small writes on The News&Observer: “If Obama truly is dedicated to a more perfect union, is it too audacious to hope that this includes Americans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity? Maybe we could hear something like this on Jan...

AZ: ?Gay marriage foes failed to gather required info?

Posted on December 30, 2008
The East Valley Tribune reports: The backers of the successful ballot proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage did not get the occupations of the majority of those who contributed to the campaign despite a state law requiring them to gather that information...

ACLU may challenge Arkansas adoption measure today

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Arkansas chapter of ACLU, which has said it is considering filing a lawsuit to overturn the new law, planned a news conference tomorrow morning with a Little Rock attorney.

Soldier alleges military pattern of Christian bias

Posted on December 30, 2008
The AP reports: An atheist soldier suing over prayers at military formations claims a larger pattern of religious discrimination exists in the military, citing attempts to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and an evangelical bias in a suicide prevention manual...

Liberal legal group comes to the fore

Posted on December 29, 2008
Politico reports: “Sixteen appointees and advisers helping president-elect Barack Obama’s Justice Department transition efforts all recently sat on the board of an organization little known outside legal circles: The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy ...

Mainstream Media Seems Indifferent To Persecution Of Christians

Posted on December 29, 2008
Herb Denenberg writes in The Bulletin: This column has devoted more space to the subject of the worldwide persecution of Christians than the rest of the mainstream media put together. That?s easy, as the mainstream media, and for that matter most of the Western media, have ignored this story, one of the most important of our [...

UK: ?Christian care home loses funding over ?gay rights??

Posted on December 29, 2008
The Christian Institute reports: A Brighton care home for elderly Christians has lost thousands of pounds of funding from the local council because its religious beliefs on homosexuality. Brighton Council ? renowned for its political correctness ? wanted the home to ask its elderly Christian residents about their sexual orientation every three months ...

Donor Disclosure Has Its Downsides: Supporters of California?s Prop. 8 have faced a backlash.

Posted on December 29, 2008
The Wall Street Journal carries this commentary by John R. Lott Jr. and Bradley Smith: How would you like elections without secret ballots? To most people, this would be absurd. We have secret balloting for obvious reasons. Politics frequently generates hot tempers...

?U.S. Physicians Divided Over ?Right of Conscience? Bill?

Posted on December 29, 2008
Eric Young writes on the Christian Post: “When asked whether the government should be involved in protecting health workers who refuse to participate in care they find ethically, morally or religiously objectionable, 36 percent agreed, 31 percent disagreed, and the remaining 33 percent had no opinion ...

Utah Says States Should Decide Online Casinos Legality, Not Feds

Posted on December 29, 2008
The Online Casino Advisory reports: But to many Utah residents, federal acceptance of online gambling would be an ominous event. Legislators such as state Representative Sheryl Allen worry that US regulation of Internet gambling, and pacts with other countries cementing their right to compete, would force Utah to allow gambling ...

Papal denunciation?

Posted on December 29, 2008
Jeffrey T. Kuhner writes on the Washington Times: Pope Benedict XVI is being denounced as a homophobic reactionary, whose views on traditional marriage and heterosexual relations will lead to a new wave of violence against gays and lesbians. According to his critics, he is an intolerant bigot who is out of step with the times - [...

Abortion, A Doctor?s Conscience and Obama?s Lack of Campaign Commitment

Posted on December 29, 2008
Before passing away, Paul Weyrich wrote this commentary that appears on LifeNews.com: t is inconceivable to me that a majority in Congress can’t agree upon freedom of conscience. Counting [...]

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