Religion & Law

Schumer reaches for 60

Posted on August 28, 2008
The Hill reports: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) inched ever closer Wednesday to declaring a 60-seat Democratic majority in 2009 to be a distinct possibility. Asked what the likelihood was that his party would pick up the required nine seats in November, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) chairman sought the right words for a moment before saying [...

?$1.2M Grant Aims to Add Gay-Affirming Churches?

Posted on August 28, 2008
Citizen Link reports: “The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and five partner organizations have received a $1.2 million grant to increase the number of churches that affirm homosexuality, bisexuality and “transgenderism.” Related: NGLTF: ?Task Force announces $1...

Tom Minnery: ?Wedge Issue? of Abortion Won?t Go Away

Posted on August 28, 2008
A small group of pro-lifers gathered at the Democratic convention - "mostly Catholics struggling to square their church with their party. If they can somehow square that circle, it truly would be a monumental achievement. "

Phila. sees surge in ?persistently dangerous? schools

Posted on August 28, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: A surging number of Philadelphia schools have been labeled “persistently dangerous” - so unsafe that parents have a right to send their children elsewhere. The new list, released yesterday by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, shows a 67 percent increase in schools deemed persistently dangerous, a designation under the federal No Child [...

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The GOP?s Alaska meltdown

Posted on August 28, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports on how scandals may cause the Alaska GOP to lose its seats in Congress in the next election cycle. It concludes: With Republicans in danger of falling below 41 Senate seats (from the current 49) and thus being unable to sustain a filibuster, Mr...

A New William The Conqueror

Posted on August 28, 2008
Andrew Roberts has this book review in the Wall Street Journal that begins: It is well known that the American Founding Fathers were profoundly influenced by England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, which had overthrown a reactionary British monarch in the name of Enlightenment principles, religious liberty and representative institutions...

Top Mexico court shows support for abortion law

Posted on August 27, 2008
The Supreme Court indicated Wednesday it will uphold a Mexico City law allowing abortion that has divided the country.

Everything?s bigger in TX ? including abortion mills

Posted on August 27, 2008
In Houston, Planned Parenthood is planning what could be the largest freestanding abortion facility in the Western hemisphere. Located along a major freeway in a strategic area for an abortion facility, the building stands seven stories high.

ACLU files religious freedom lawsuit against Florida school officials

Posted on August 27, 2008
The lawsuit reveals a repeated pattern by school officials - including Santa Rosa County School Board members and Pace High School Principal H. Frank Lay - of promoting and endorsing prayers at graduation ceremonies and other school events, of sponsoring religious ceremonies and holding official school events at churches.

Rebooting Originalism

Posted on August 27, 2008
Rebooting Originalism Stephen M. Griffin, 2008 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1185 (2008) (An excerpt is below. To view the full text, please use Westlaw, Lexis, a law library or alternative source.) In this article, I provide a critique of the new originalism. It is worth noting that the objections presented here were advanced in the 1990s, but I [...

Justified Interference with Religious Freedom: The European Court of Human Rights and the Need for Mediating Doctrine Under Article 9(2)

Posted on August 27, 2008
As a limitations clause, Article 9(2) sets out the necessary conditions for a state party's legitimate interference with or restriction of religious freedom.

Originalism and Pragmatism: False Friends

Posted on August 27, 2008
Therefore, it seems better for those who care about promoting democracy to abandon these abstract, and ultimately unproductive, methodological debates and to embrace openly a tradition of bipartisan judicial restraint.

PA: Ruling won?t stop local home-school families

Posted on August 27, 2008
Six Christian families across Pennsylvania intend to continue their federal court battle in hopes of receiving an exception from state law mandating that they supply their local school districts with documentation about the home-schooling of their children.

Missouri: ?Anti-porn group wants teen books under wraps?

Posted on August 27, 2008
A citizens anti-pornography group wants certain books in the St. Louis County Library's teen section segregated from younger eyes and placed in the adult section....

Married moms and dads ? what a novel concept

Posted on August 27, 2008
"The measure doesn't distinguish between homosexuals or heterosexuals," he points out. "It simply says if you're cohabitating with a sexual partner out of wedlock, then you are not allowed to adopt a child or be a foster parent in the state of Arkansas...

Throckmorton - Abortion: A mental health risk?

Posted on August 27, 2008
After reviewing the APA final report, Dr. Fergusson pointed out that the APA task force primarily relied on one study for their conclusions. It seems incredible that the APA would use just one study to make conclusions...

Protecting the Unborn: A Step-By-Step Approach

Posted on August 27, 2008
n 1973, in the era before 4-D ultrasounds made their way into the lives of ordinary American couples, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to specify when life began in the historic case known as Roe v. Wade.

Calif. Dept. of Corrections developing policies on gay marriage

Posted on August 27, 2008
The California Department of Corrections is preparing new guidelines for gay marriages in prisons in response to the court ruling that legalized gay marriage in California.

How the Democratic Party is adjusting its approach to abortion

Posted on August 27, 2008
For pro-life Democrats, Hillary Clinton's was not the only "unity" speech last night. When pro-life Sen. Bob Casey Jr. mounted the podium that had been denied to his father in 1992, the Democrats were, in effect, putting out the welcome mat for the many Catholics who agree with the Democrats on most other issues but who have felt ignored, or worse, by the party's pro-choice stridency of recent years.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: Wrestling over Judges

Posted on August 27, 2008
Dwayne ?The Rock? Johnson may be called on to play John Roberts in Bush?s Court: The Movie. That?s the impression I got, anyhow, when Hillary Clinton referred to the nation?s highest Court as being in ?a right-wing headlock? on Tuesday night, during her long-awaited speech to the Democratic convention here.

Canada: Conservative MP Epp Will Not Scrap Unborn Victims Bill

Posted on August 27, 2008
Today, Conservative MP Ken Epp announced he will continue to champion his unborn victims of crime bill despite yesterday's announcement by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson that the Conservative Government will introduce similar legislation ? a decision criticized as an obvious attempt to sink Epp's Bill C-484.

UN reports calls South Asia hot-bed of Child Trafficking

Posted on August 27, 2008
Launching a report on Preventing and Responding to Child Trafficking in South Asia, UNICEFs Child protection specialist Lena Karlsson said, child trafficking is a neglected form of human trafficking as children risk being picked out as undocumented migrants, juvenile delinquents or unaccompanied minors.

Federal obscenity case, filed 5 years ago, has stalled

Posted on August 27, 2008
But in the five years since, the case has languished. There had been no entries in the case docket since Aug. 17, 2007, until a reporter called the judge's chambers last week to inquire about the case. Early yesterday morning, the docket was updated to show that a telephone status conference will be held Sept...

NBC to ?Gay? Journalists: ?Your Victories Are Our Victories?

Posted on August 27, 2008
The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) just held its annual convention here in Washington D.C., attracting hundreds of journalists ? and ringing endorsements ? from virtually every major publication and broadcaster in the news media.

Arkansas: Forrest City Council may address ?adult entertainment?

Posted on August 27, 2008
The city council may soon be deliberating over an ordinance designed to severely limit so-called ?adult entertainment? or ?sexually-oriented businesses? in Forrest City.

Chino weighs possibility of displaying ?In God We Trust?

Posted on August 27, 2008
CHINO - The city is studying the possibility of displaying "In God We Trust" in its Council Chambers.

Billboard intended to remind people that religion?s not for everyone

Posted on August 27, 2008
When he paid for the sign about a month ago in support of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, his goal never was to change people's minds. It was to get people thinking and talking. And maybe, just maybe, get a few more members for the foundation, which fights for the separation of church and state.

?Anti-gay marriage group stays out of latest petition drive?

Posted on August 27, 2008
The group that has led opposition to gay marriage says it will not participate in a petition drive to block out-of-state, same-sex couples from being married in Massachusetts.

California Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Federal Defense of Marriage Act

Posted on August 27, 2008
During a court hearing yesterday, federal district court Judge David O. Carter announced that he is dismissing a last-ditch effort by "same-sex marriage" proponents to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

WSJ: ?Gay Activists Target Businesses?

Posted on August 27, 2008
As gay-rights activists attempt to defeat the upcoming ballot initiative, called Proposition 8, they are going after not just individuals, but also companies to which they are connected, however tenuously.

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