Religion & Law

Mormons donate $5M to fight marriage redefinition

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Daily Herald reports: Church members, mostly from California, have made individual donations close to $5 million in support of Proposition 8, counting only donations of more than $1,000, according to one Web site. Visit Site » Share This

Bahrain Charges U.S. Teacher with Insulting the Prophet

Posted on September 16, 2008
ABC reports that an American teacher has been charged with insulting Muhammad, because she displayed a picture to university students that depicts him in the classroom in “ragged clothing.” Visit Site » Share This

Supreme Court Justice Scalia: Nothing Qualifies Judge to Create Abortion Right

Posted on September 16, 2008
LifeNews.com reports: “Justice Antonin Scalia is one of the most outspoken jurists on the Supreme Court when it comes to talking about abortion. Scalia repeated the mantra on Monday that he’s presented to college students and community forums about how the high court doesn’t have the power to declare a right to abortion...

The Internationalization of Crimes

Posted on September 16, 2008
The chapter discusses the various approaches to "internationalization" (focusing on issues of identity, transnationalism, human dignity, global stability, etc.) and concludes that international crimes lack a coherent unifying justification.

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

The Method and Role of Comparative Law

Posted on September 16, 2008
In this article, I argue that we must reassess the role and methodology of comparative law so that we can come up with a sound methodological framework to understand better the role of law in different countries as a way of promoting insight and knowledge and, hopefully, a measure of common understanding.

On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right

Posted on September 16, 2008
The fact is, the bill?s intention was to mandate that issues like contraception and the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases be included in sex-education classes for children before the sixth grade, and as early as kindergarten.

Why the Democratic Abortion Strategy is Worse

Posted on September 16, 2008
Government funding of abortion increases rather than decreases the abortion rate.

UK: Voluntary Sharia courts re-classed as judicial tribunals under British law

Posted on September 16, 2008
The rulings of a network of five Sharia courts are enforceable with the full authority of the judicial system as they are now classed as tribunal hearings under British law.

Sacramento mayoral candidate flip-flops on same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on September 16, 2008
At a Sept. 9 press conference, Johnson announced he is opposed to Proposition 8, the iniative that would undo the May 15 California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages in the state.

Rick Garnett: Misreading Cardinal George

Posted on September 16, 2008
Still, on the basic point addressed by Cardinal George, Obama?s position is clear: Unborn children ought not to be protected by law, and the choice for abortion ought to be legally protected.

Symbolic Expression in Late 1700s and Early 1800s Speech Restriction Law

Posted on September 16, 2008
Eugene Volokh writes on the Volokh Conspiracy:  Let us begin our view of symbolic expression in Framing-era law by looking at speech restrictions. We’ll get to speech protections in coming posts, but the law of speech restrictions is relevant because speech restrictions and speech protections were seen as closely related during the era: The restrictions were [...

Abortion, Sarah Palin?s Amniocentesis, and the Pro-Life View of Sex

Posted on September 16, 2008
Sherry F. Colb has this commentary on Findlaw that begins: Defenders of a right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy usually rely on one or both of two independent rationales. The first is that a zygote, embryo, or fetus (hereinafter “a fetus”) is not a “person” in possession of human rights, including the right not to be killed...

Florida Supreme Court Issues Opinion On Exclusion of Ballot Issues

Posted on September 16, 2008
Religion Clause reports that the Florida Supreme Court has issued an opinion in support of its earlier injunction that “enjoined state officials from including on the November ballot two proposed state constitutional amendments– one that would have eliminated Florida’s Blaine Amendment and assured equal participation in public programs by religious organizations, the other that would have [...

Texas High School Student Told Rosary Is ?Gang Symbol?

Posted on September 16, 2008
Fox News reports: “A Texas teen claims she is forbidden from wearing a rosary around her neck in school because the Catholic prayer beads are a gang symbol, MyFOXDFW.com reported.” Visit Site » Share This

The politics of Jesus

Posted on September 16, 2008
Les Kinsolving has this commentary on WorldNetDaily that discusses ADF’s Pulpit Initiative.  . . . The Alliance Defense Fund wants to challenge an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code, dating back to 1954, which says non-profit, tax-exempt entities (including churches) may not ‘participate in, or intervene in … any political campaign on behalf of any political candidate...

Back-to-School Students Called to Use Clothing to Express Religious Freedom

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Christian Post reports:  Students returning back to school should not be afraid to express their Christian faith through their apparel, says the founder of a popular T-shirt brand. Vic Kennett, president of Kerusso, is encouraging students to exercise their religious freedom by praying, discussing Christianity with others and by proudly displaying their faith on T-shirts...

Born Alive Abortion Survivor targets Obama on Hannity & Colmes

Posted on September 16, 2008
  This link is to You Tube video.  Warning: You Tube may carry objectionable content. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uYDxZlRqx4 Visit Site » Share This

Scalia says judges need to interpret, not rewrite Constitution

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Salt Lake Tribune reports:  In recent years, American judges have taken to “abstract moralizing” at the expense of their real job, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Monday.  As a result, judicial selection has become mired in a political snakepit because people expect new appellate judges to “rewrite” the U...

Florida Judge: Riviera Beach ?saggy pants? ban unconstitutional

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Palm Beach Post reports:  judge says Riviera Beach’s “saggy pants” law is unconstitutional in the case of a 17-year-old who spent a night in jail for having his underwear showing. And a public defender said her office wants to get the law tossed altogether ...

Pennsylvania: Judge Upholds Student?s Suspension for Fake MySpace Page

Posted on September 16, 2008
[Warning: vulgar language] Shannon P. Duffy reports on the Legal Intelligencer:  An eighth-grade student who was suspended for 10 days after she created a fake page on MySpace.com that depicted her principal as a pedophile and a sex addict has lost her civil rights suit now that a federal judge has ruled that the discipline was proper [...

Nigerian with 86 wives arrested under Sharia laws

Posted on September 16, 2008
The AP reports:  . . . Muslim principles forbid men to take more than four wives. Around half of Nigeria’s 140 million people are Muslim, and Niger was one of twelve majority-Muslim states that adopted the Islamic Sharia criminal code after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999...

Kan. abortion provider seeks dismissal of charges

Posted on September 15, 2008
The AP carries this report that begins:   Above the law or victim of a prosecutor’s obsession? Dr. George Tiller, who is among the nation’s few late-term abortion providers, filed papers Monday seeking to suppress evidence in a criminal case against him, claiming outrageous conduct by former state Attorney General Phill Kline...

Harvard Raises Near-Record $651 Million, Stanford Nets 832 Million

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Harvard Crimson reports: “Harvard officials announced Friday that the University raked in $651 million in the most recent fiscal year, a number that represents the second largest annual fundraising total in history and is six percent higher than the previous year?s ...

Organization advocates against same-sex marriage

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Daily Princetonian reports:  In an effort to fulfill what they perceived as a need for a national conservative organization devoted solely to marriage issues, politics professor Robert George and conservative author Maggie Gallagher founded the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in 2007...

?Lesson One: Your Gender is Your Destiny ? The Constitutionality of Teaching Sex Stereotypes in Abstinence-Only Programs?

Posted on September 15, 2008
The American Constitution Society has issued a guide titled: Lesson One: Your Gender is Your Destiny — The Constitutionality of Teaching Sex Stereotypes in Abstinence-Only Programs.“ Visit Site » Share This

Texas: Underage forced-sex rings a challenge for police, agencies

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Star-Telegram reports:  North Texas agencies should better identify victims of underage forced sex rings and prosecute their pimps on trafficking charges, according an assessment released last week. Some minors caught engaging in prostitution are treated as juvenile delinquents or criminals rather than as victims, said Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International, a Washington D...

Texas group pursues ?Choose Life? license plate

Posted on September 15, 2008
OneNewsNow.com reports: “A Texas pro-life group has launched a statewide effort to promote a license plate it says promotes real choice for women. Texas Alliance for Life has launched the ‘Choose Life Texas Tour’ to drum up support for a Choose Life specialty license plate...

McCain, RNC Advertise Intent to Spend ?Millions More? on Stem Cell Research

Posted on September 15, 2008
CNSNews reports:  Sen. John McCain?s Republican presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee released a radio ad yesterday advertising McCain?s intention to join with his ?Congressional allies? in spending millions in additional tax dollars on stem cell research...

Top Saudi Judge Says It?s Okay to Kill Broadcasters ?Calling for Corrupt Beliefs?

Posted on September 15, 2008
CNSNews reports: “Saudi Arabia’s top judiciary official has issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content.” Visit Site » Share This

Atheists ?Evangelize? on College Campuses

Posted on September 15, 2008
The Christian Post reports:  At least one Christian club or group can be found on most public college and university campuses today. One prominent Christian campus ministry, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, has staff working on 580 U.S. college campuses alone...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.