Religion & Law

Pro-life organizations file brief to defend Ireland abortion ban

Posted on November 17, 2008
Three pro-life organizations filed a brief Friday with the European Court of Human Rights in defense of Ireland?s ban on abortion. In September, the court granted the Family Research Council, represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, the opportunity to defend the ban jointly with two other pro-life organizations.

Rick Garnett: ?Excluding Religion?: A Response

Posted on November 17, 2008
In a thorough and thoughtful article, Excluding Religion, Prof. Nelson Tebbe asks "whether the government may select religious entities for exclusion from its support programs?" and concludes that, sometimes, it may. "The government," he contends, "need not remain neutral toward religion in its support programs[...

Medellin: The New, New Formalism?

Posted on November 17, 2008
The Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Texas v. Medellin appears to represent a formalist turn in the Court's approach to foreign relations cases.

Constitutional Rights, Moral Controversy, and the Supreme Court

Posted on November 17, 2008
By focusing on the death penalty, abortion, and same-sex unions, I aim to provide new perspectives not only on moral controversies that implicate one or more constitutionally entrenched human rights, but also on the fundamental question of the Supreme Court's proper role in adjudicating such controversies.

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The Last Progressive: Justice Breyer, Heller, and ?Judicial Judgment?

Posted on November 17, 2008
This paper considers Justice Breyer's dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller - in which the Court established an individual right to bear arms - as a species of progressive jurisprudence.

Hearing in Kansas abortion case targets prosecutors

Posted on November 14, 2008
Before Dr. George Tiller goes to trial for allegedly violating a state law on late-term abortions, two former Kansas attorneys general will be in court to defend their actions -- one accused of being overzealous and the other of letting his mistress sway him.

Mom, ACLU sue school over religious ed class

Posted on November 14, 2008
A Huntington woman is suing the county school corporation for allowing religious instruction on school property.

Seattle debates ban on nudity in city parks

Posted on November 14, 2008
The proposed mass cover-up will be the subject of a public hearing in January, but the Times indicated that park authorities may get an earful from the nature-loving nudists who have become part of the city?s fabric.

Proposition 8 opponents release blacklists

Posted on November 14, 2008
Opponents of California's Proposition 8 have released blacklists with confidential information regarding donations in support of the ban on same-sex marriage.

Australian web filter to block 10,000 internet sites

Posted on November 14, 2008
AUSTRALIA'S mandatory net filter is being primed to block 10,000 websites as part of a blacklist of unspecified "unwanted content" ...

China trying to force 6-months? pregnant woman to abort

Posted on November 14, 2008
A Muslim Uighur woman who is more than six months' pregnant remained under watch in a hospital in China's far northwest Friday awaiting a forced abortion by authorities who don't want her to have a third child.

Chicago Transit Authority affirms right to preach on platforms

Posted on November 14, 2008
Mauck & Baker, LLC, and the Thomas More Society in Chicago have announced that they reached an out-of-court settlement after joining forces to preserve the constitutional right of Moody Bible student Matthew Rivera and his classmates to share the message of Jesus on Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train platforms.

El Salvador rejects anti-family, pro-abortion youth convention

Posted on November 14, 2008
The President of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, affirmed at an Ibero-American leaders? summit late last month that his country would not sign the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth (ICRY) , as it violated El Salvador?s Constitution.

Uruguayan president vetoes pro-abortion legislation

Posted on November 14, 2008
Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, a medical doctor, has today fulfilled his promise to veto pro-abortion legislation that was passed only three days ago by the Senate in a narrow vote of 17 in favor out of a total of 30 cast.

NC: Town to pay woman $275,000 for ?dirty dancing ban?

Posted on November 14, 2008
A small mountain town has agreed to pay $275,000 for banning her from a community hangout after residents complained about her dirty dancing.

Nebraska: 34th child abandoned under safe-haven law

Posted on November 14, 2008
A 5-year-old boy has been dropped off at an Omaha, Neb., hospital only a day before the state Legislature begins a meeting to change the state's safe-haven law.

Louisiana: City Council passes sex shop ordinances

Posted on November 14, 2008
The ordinances, 08-4183 and 08-4184, came under discussion after The Red Door, a local adult novelty chain, opened a Bastrop location in September. Both ordinances are based on a template used statewide for such businesses.

Concerns rise over ?sexting? among teens

Posted on November 14, 2008
Wayne County sheriff's investigators say Sciabica enticed a 15-year-old girl into texting him sexually explicit photos and a movie of herself. They say he forwarded them to friends. They charged him as an adult with crimes that carry maximum penalties of 4 and 7 years in state prison.

Freedom of Conscience: Among the Blessings of our Christian Nation

Posted on November 14, 2008
The check on promulgation of religious beliefs was not meant to be secularization of civil authority but respect for freedom of conscience, an American Christian theological principle that established a condition necessary for effective evangelization, a condition that civil authorities were charged with protecting.

Senator Boxer aide accused of distributing child porn

Posted on November 14, 2008
An aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has been charged in federal court in Virginia with receiving and distributing child pornography.

Becket Fund releases study on same-sex ?marriage? and religious freedom

Posted on November 14, 2008
Over 350 separate state anti-discrimination laws would likely be affected by the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, according to a new study by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

President Bush speaks on religious freedom at UN

Posted on November 14, 2008
Freedom is God's gift to every man, woman, and child -- and that freedom includes the right of all people to worship as they see fit.

Michigan House OKs broader ?hate? crime law

Posted on November 14, 2008
Under the bill, a person could be charged with a bias-related offense for a crime based on disability, sexual identity or expression. That's in addition to characteristics covered by existing law, such as race, gender and religion.

D.C. Council to hold hearing on ?hate? crimes

Posted on November 14, 2008
D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) announced this week plans to hold a hearing Dec. 12 to discuss ?hate crimes in the District of Columbia,? with a focus on anti-gay hate crimes.

Group sues Colorado governor over ?Day of Prayer?

Posted on November 14, 2008
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has sued Gov. Bill Ritter and the state of Colorado to end its designation of a state- sanctioned official "Day of Prayer," which took place in 2007 and again on May 1, 2008.

Same-sex ?marriage? advocate files complaint against Mormon church

Posted on November 14, 2008
"A California gay rights activist filed a complaint Thursday accusing the Mormon church of failing to report the full value of the work it did to support the state's new ban on same-sex marriage."

ADF attorney available to media after hearing in Modesto Christian speech case

Posted on November 14, 2008
Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Staff Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker will be available for media interviews following the continuation of oral arguments in federal court Monday in Borden v. City of Modesto. ADF attorneys filed suit on behalf of Kevin Borden in July after the city of Modesto restricted him and his friends from peacefully sharing their faith in a public plaza on Saturday evenings.

California Supreme Court requests AG reply in Proposition 8 suits

Posted on November 14, 2008
The California Supreme Court has asked state Attorney General Jerry Brown to reply by Monday to lawsuits challenging the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage - a sign that the justices are taking the cases seriously and will not dispose of them quickly.

UK: ?Crown Prosecution drops lewd Jesus statue case?

Posted on November 14, 2008
A Christian woman has accused the Crown Prosecution Service of ?pandering to a secularist agenda? and overseeing a ?miscarriage of justice? after her private criminal prosecution over a statue of Christ with an erection was administratively transferred to the CPS, only to be dropped six weeks later.

UK: Christian Media Group opposes human trafficking budget cuts

Posted on November 14, 2008
Premier Christian Media Group is calling on the Home Office to reconsider budget cuts that will lead to the closure of the largest police unit in the country dedicated solely to catching the criminals behind the illegal trade of men, women and children.

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