Religion & Law

FL: Orange County ponders price of domestic-partner benefits

Posted on January 17, 2011
Orlando Sentinel: "A push by gay-rights activists for Orange County to offer domestic-partner benefits will likely come down to costs ? a significant worry as local governments face harsh budget realities. But city and county governments in Florida that offer similar same-sex benefits show relatively low annual costs to taxpayers ? about the same amount Orange commissioners awarded in staff bonuses during better times...

As Vietnam booms, Communist Party struggles to keep up

Posted on January 17, 2011
Reuters: "Vietnam's ruling Communists are replenishing their aging ranks with younger, better-educated policymakers and entrepreneurs as the 81-year-old party founded by Marxist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh struggles to stay relevant."

Breakdown of tradition family causing Japanese birth rate decline, not lack of interest in sex

Posted on January 17, 2011
Kotaku: "The birthrate in Japan is declining, leaving a big question mark on the country's future. This didn't begin when young males started reading comics or playing video games, but with the breakdown of the traditional family structure in the years after World War II, which meant that grandparents not longer lived with their children, putting an increasing burden on new mothers...

WV: Grieving Parents Act would allow parents to bury stillborn, miscarried children

Posted on January 17, 2011
Engage Family Blog: "The Family Policy Council of West Virginia (FPCVW) announced Monday that it is asking West Virginia lawmakers to support proposed legislation, the 'Grieving Parents Act,' which will close a legal loophole that has prevented parents of the legal means they need in order to bury, and properly grieve for, their stillborn or miscarried child...

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UK: Meltdown on our maternity wards

Posted on January 17, 2011
Telegraph: "It was a bitterly cold night in January when Geraldine Weller gave birth in the car park of a London hospital. Three hours earlier, the maternity unit had sent her away. Midwives who said they were short-staffed had confidently told her that it would be 'ages yet' before she went into labour...

MT: Legislature to take up assisted suicide bills

Posted on January 17, 2011
"[Lawmakers] are being asked to consider two competing measures: one that would create rules for doctors who are asked to write a prescription for a lethal dose of medication and another that would ban assisted suicide altogether."

OR: Competing rallies mark anniversary of abortion ruling

Posted on January 17, 2011
Statesman-Journal: "Protesters from both sides of the abortion debate are rallying today in Salem to mark the upcoming anniversary of Roe v. Wade."

TN: Pro-lifers watch 2014 for shift in state legislation

Posted on January 17, 2011
The Commercial Appeal: "Tennesseeans will likely be able to decide whether there should be a 'fundamental right' to abortion in 2014 when a constitutional amendment proposed by state lawmakers could reach the ballot."

Ruth Institute launches contest to promote positive views of lifelong marriage

Posted on January 17, 2011
Ruth Institute: "The Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, announces its first annual Reel Love Challenge, a video contest for young adults, aged 18-30. The contest is open to all young adults, married or single, male or female, in college, out of college, or never been anywhere near a college...

Union campaign to boost image of public workers

Posted on January 14, 2011
Associated Press: "Union leaders plan to launch a multimillion dollar campaign to boost the image of government workers and fend off pay cuts and benefit rollbacks in states under fiscal siege."

EU study finds UK parents do the most to protect children online

Posted on January 14, 2011
ISPreview: "A new Europe-wide study ('EUKidsOnline') by the London School of Economics (LSE), which looked at the use of parental controls and internet filtering, has revealed that UK parents lead the rest of Europe with 54% blocking or filtering their children's internet access...

Death of female partner puts Cozen firm in center of same-sex marriage comity case

Posted on January 14, 2011
"The death of a female partner of Cozen O'Connor has put the law firm in the center of a dispute over a cutting-edge same-sex marriage issue?whether a marriage that is legal in one jurisdiction should be recognized as valid in another in which the parties would not have a right to wed...

WI: 43 year old Evansville man sentenced to 15 years in child porn case

Posted on January 14, 2011
Gazette Extra: "Richard A. Granzow, 43, was sentenced in Rock County Court on five felony charges of possession of child pornography."

SD: Arrest warrant issued for 21 year old man charged with child porn

Posted on January 14, 2011
Rapid City Journal: "Police have issued a felony arrest warrant for Jacob Lavern Whiting, 21, charging him with possession, manufacturing and distributing child pornography."

Iowa man snared in online child porn sting pleads guilty in TX

Posted on January 14, 2011
KWTX: "Timothy Allen Gerholdt of Cedar Falls Iowa pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Waco to distribution of child pornography charges stemming from an online undercover sting in 2010."

TX: Corpus Christi man sentenced to 18 years for possessing child pornography

Posted on January 14, 2011
MMD Newswire: "A Corpus Christi man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for possessing child pornography announced United States Attorney José Angel Moreno on Wednesday. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)...

NY: LeRoy man accused of using child in sex video

Posted on January 14, 2011
Democrat and Chronicle: "Stephen M. Smith of Elm Street, Le Roy, was charged Tuesday with possessing a sexual performance by a child, promoting a sexual performance by a child, and use of a child in a sexual performance, all felonies, said Le Roy Police Detective John Condidorio...

MN: 40 year old former St. Paul Park man indicted for producing child porn

Posted on January 14, 2011
Pioneer Press: "The 40-year-old Texas man was charged in Minneapolis with producing pornographic images of four girls on 17 occasions over a three-year period."

NJ: 35 year old Hammonton man indicted for child pornography on his cell phone

Posted on January 14, 2011
Press of Atlantic City: "Anthony Giacoppo, 35, was arrested in September after Hammonton police saw child pornography on his cell phone, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said."

NC: 63 year old Randolph man sentenced for trading child porn

Posted on January 14, 2011
digtriad.com: "Joseph Ptacin, 63, of Trinity, was sentenced to 48 months in prison with 20 years of supervised probation to follow."

MS: 23 year old Ocean Springs man jailed on child porn charges

Posted on January 14, 2011
Sun Herald: "Officers with Ocean Springs and Jackson County seized downloads of child pornography, as well as a large amount of computer hardware and software, at an Ocean Springs residence where Francis Austin Hawkins, 23, was living after moving to the Coast from Texas...

FL: 22 year old man arrested on child pornography charges

Posted on January 14, 2011
Tallahassee.com: "Tallahassee resident, Josember Wilfredo Portillo, 22, was arrested Thursday on child pornography charges, said Susan Newhouse, Tallahassee Police Department spokesperson."

KY: 27-year-old Louisville man indicted for child porn

Posted on January 14, 2011
WAVE: "A federal grand jury in Louisville has indicted 27-year-old Jeremiah Oldham for distributing and possessing child pornography. The indictment comes after an investigation that started with Attorney General Jack Conway's Cybercrimes Unit."

MN: Ex-church youth leader admits fleeing to avoid 15-year prison term for child porn distribution

Posted on January 14, 2011
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "A former Twin Cities church youth director admitted on Thursday that he shed his electronic ankle bracelet and fled to California days before he was to begin serving 15 years in prison for distributing hundreds of pornographic images of boys and men on the Internet...

Kansas man sentenced on child pornography charges in ND

Posted on January 14, 2011
Grand Forks Herald: "Kenneth Mahoney Jr., Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty in October after he was stopped in Pembina, N.D., at the U.S.-Canada port of entry."

PA: Former West Chester teacher faces federal porn charges

Posted on January 14, 2011
Daily Local News: "Former West Chester teacher David Devine, made his initial appearance in federal court Thursday, entering a not guilty plea on charges he possessed hundreds of images of child pornography."

PA: 69 year old Clearfield man arrested for possession of child porn

Posted on January 14, 2011
Gant Daily: "Clearfield County District Attorney, William A. Shaw, Jr., announced Thursday that charges have been filed against a Clearfield man for possession of child pornography. Shaw identified the defendant as Jerry Kovach, Sr., age 69, of Walnut Street, Clearfield...

WA: Man held without bail in child pornography case

Posted on January 14, 2011
The Spokesman-Review: "John Alan Harmon, 57, was ordered held without bail Thursday on federal allegations that he distributed child pornography last January and in October 2009. The sex offender left prison in 2005 after serving about three years for the same crime...

TX: Odessa woman sentenced for making child pornography with her toddler

Posted on January 14, 2011
NewsWest 9: "Ariel Brunson was sentenced in Midland on Wednesday."

WA: Bremerton man charged with child porn possession

Posted on January 14, 2011
Kitsap Sun: "Kitsap County prosecutors on Thursday charged James M. Persinger of Bremerton with one count of first-degree possession of child pornography, according to documents filed in Kitsap County District Court."

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