Religion & Law

Designing Targeted Educational Voucher Schemes for the Poor in Developing Countries

Posted on June 18, 2008
The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education offers this study: Targeted educational voucher schemes [TEVS] are often proposed for poor children in developing countries. This paper explores the design of an effective TEVS using three policy instruments: regulation, support services, and finance...

Mixed Speech: When Speech is Both Private and Governmental

Posted on June 18, 2008
However, speech is often neither purely private nor purely governmental but rather a combination of the two. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has not yet recognized mixed speech as a distinct category of speech.

The Court McCain Wants

Posted on June 18, 2008
Ruth Marcus has this article on the Washington Post. She begins: Conservatives, seizing on the Supreme Court’s ruling last week on Guantanamo detainees, want to turn the court into election fodder. I hope they succeed. No issue in this campaign is as simultaneously neglected and important...

Pittsburgh City Council approves creation of domestic partner registry

Posted on June 18, 2008
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports: Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved creating a registry for domestic partners, both gay and straight. The bill, which Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to sign, allows unmarried couples older than 18 who aren’t blood relatives to register as partners for $25...

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Justice Department OKs Benefits for Lesbian Couple?s Child

Posted on June 18, 2008
"According to the opinion, federal law does not prohibit the Social Security Administration from paying insurance benefits to the nonbiological child of a partner in a Vermont civil union."

?The Sky Is Not Falling? - Yet

Posted on June 17, 2008
Robert Knight has this article on the Culture and Media Institute. He writes: Now that the media have shared with us their joy over the advent of homosexual ?marriage? in California, here?s the other shoe that will drop in the next few weeks. Get used to this term: ?The sky is not falling...

La. Senate Approves Bill Promoting Critical Analysis of Evolution

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Christian Post reports: “Louisiana’s state senate unanimously voted to pass a landmark academic freedom bill that would protect the right of teachers to discuss scientific theories supporting and critiquing evolution.” Visit Site » Share This

?Gay men, straight women share brain detail: report?

Posted on June 17, 2008
Reuters reports: Gay men and straight women share some characteristics in the area of the brain responsible for emotion, mood and anxiety, researchers said on Monday in a study highlighting the potential biological underpinning of sexuality. Brain scans also showed the same symmetry among lesbians and straight men, the researchers [from Sweden's Karolinska Institute] wrote in the [...

New Filing: Petitioner?s Brief in Pleasant Grove v. Summum

Posted on June 17, 2008
Steven Wu has this post on SCOTUS Blog discussing the Pleasant Grove case: On Monday, the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah, filed this opening brief with the Supreme Court in the case of Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, No. 07-665. The issue in the case is whether the city violated a private group?s free speech rights [...

School Choice for Children: The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program gives disadvantaged children a chance at a private education.

Posted on June 17, 2008
Virginia Walden Ford, Executive Director of DC Parents for School Choice, Inc., has this article on National Review. She reports that former DC Mayor Marion Berry long opposed school choice has recently written in support of school choice. Why? “‘Moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and other guardians in my community tell me that these programs [...

Maggie Gallagher: Redefinition Revolution

Posted on June 17, 2008
Today, California same-sex couples are rushing to the altar. But this November, California voters will have their chance to say ?I do? or ?I do not? to gay marriage.

LA Times: ?Opponents of gay marriage stay mostly quiet ? for now?

Posted on June 17, 2008
The LA Times reports: Opponents of gay marriage made a pointed effort today to keep a low profile on the first full day of same-sex ceremonies. Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, wrote in an e-mail to supporters that they will battle in November with a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage ...

?Lambda Legal Applauds Introduction of Ordinance Amendment to Preserve Domestic Partner Benefits in Chicago?

Posted on June 17, 2008
Lambda Legal has issued this press release that begins: “Lambda Legal issued the following statement today concerning the introduction by Alderman Tom Tunney of a proposed amendment to the Chicago domestic partnership ordinance that will preserve benefits for city employees who marry their same-sex partners in other states or countries...

?Ohio Appeals Court Issues Ruling in Lambda Legal Case Representing Lesbian Mother: Validity of Shared Custody Agreements May Not Be Attacked Years Later?

Posted on June 17, 2008
Lambda Legal has issued this press release that begins: “The Tenth District Ohio Appeals Court ruled, on June 10, 2008, that lesbian mother Denise Fairchild should never have been permitted to attack the enforceability of a shared custody agreement with her former partner Therese Leach...

LA Times: ?Gay couples are emphasizing low-key weddings?

Posted on June 17, 2008
The LA Times reports: During the campaign for Proposition 22, the successful 2000 initiative that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, Quinn said many Californians were appalled by images of groups like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of gay male activists who dressed up like nuns...

Moscow ban on ?gay pride? parade challenged in European court

Posted on June 17, 2008
Interfax reports: “Organizers of the Moscow gay pride parade have sent a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Starsbourg, asking to compel the Russian authorities to pay compensation of 30,000 euro for denying them the right to stage an event in June 2007...

Cal. Appeals court refuses to stop ?gay weddings?

Posted on June 17, 2008
Saying the Cal. Supreme Court had made its intentions clear, the AP reports: “An appeals court has rejected a conservative group’s latest effort to stop gay marriages in California before the November election.” Liberty Counsel has issued this press release: California Court of Appeal Denies Petition for Stay of Same-Sex Marriage Licenses...

CBS Poll: Changing Views On Marriage redefinition

Posted on June 17, 2008
CBS has issued this report discussing a new poll on American attitudes on marriage redefinition. The report begins: “Most Americans continue to think there should be some legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples, and 30 percent say same-sex couples should be allowed to marry - the highest number since CBS News began asking this [...

Same-sex ?Marriage? Ruling Prompts Call for Day of Prayer on June 17

Posted on June 17, 2008
Concerned Women for America has issued this press release: Concerned Women for America (CWA) is calling for a Day of Prayer and Fasting to ask God?s intervention to protect marriage. Tuesday, June 17, is the first full day that California will begin allowing same-sex ?marriages,? opening the floodgates of legal chaos to further undermine marriage [...

?Opponents of Oregon gay rights law abandon repeal effort?

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Oregonian reports: “Social conservatives and church groups are admitting defeat in their efforts to collect signatures for initiatives to repeal two Oregon gay rights laws in this November’s election.” Visit Site » Share This

New ?Pro-Life Pharmacies? Defend Religious, Moral Objections

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Christian Post reports: . . . That case, like dozens of other similar cases that have dotted the nation, have spurred the development of a growing number of new ?pro-life pharmacies? that cater specifically to guarding the religious objections of pharmacists opposed to contraceptives and abortion drugs ...

Man will face child sex tourism charges in Calif.

Posted on June 17, 2008
The AP reports: “A 61-year-old man is headed to California to face federal charges he traveled abroad to abuse a Costa Rican girl.” Visit Site » Share This

Vietnamese Boat People Denied Religious Freedom in Plano

Posted on June 17, 2008
Liberty Legal Institute has issued this press release: LIBERTY LEGAL INSTITUTE Headquarters: 903 East 18th Street, Suite 230 * Plano, TX 75074 Phone: 972-423-8889 ext 102, Fax: (972) 423-8899 MEDIA CONTACT: Nicole Hay 972-423-8889 ext 102 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2008 Vietnamese Boat People Denied Religious Freedom in Plano Plano, TX- Today, The Plano Vietnamese Baptist Church (PVBC) is suing the City of Plano [...

At Vermont lake, new controversy over nude beach

Posted on June 17, 2008
The AP reports: From the beach of Lake Willoughby’s Southwest Cove, the sheer cliffs of Mount Pisgah tower over the deep, frigid water. Across the narrows, Mount Hor’s peak completes the look of a Scandinavian fjord. In the summertime, the beach offers a different view: naked sunbathers...

NJ Supreme Court: Cohabitation not needed to get palimony

Posted on June 17, 2008
"Two people don't have to live together for one to be eligible for palimony when the relationship ends, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday."

Bishops among protesters as ?gay marriages? begin

Posted on June 17, 2008
The AP reports on OneNewsNow: “The seven Roman Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles say “the church cannot approve of redefining marriage” to include same-sex couples.” The Bishops’ statement is online here...

The Equal Parenting Movement Meets Reality

Posted on June 17, 2008
Albert Mohler has this post commenting on the roles of husband and wife.  He concludes: . . . One key and unavoidable insight of all this research is the fact that egalitarianism doesn’t end up being very egalitarian in reality. Mothers are still mothers, and fathers are still fathers — and there is still a difference...

Georgia: Sex store fights to re-open in Augusta

Posted on June 17, 2008
NBC Augusta reports: Tuesday owners of X-Mart will protest a recent decision by city leaders to deny the company a business license. Opponents of the adult entertainment store also plan to protest. Many opponents of the store will appear at the Augusta’s county commission meeting to voice their disapproval and hold a prayer vigil ...

Pa. man: Sex with girl lawful, kids wrongly taken

Posted on June 17, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: A man is not being allowed to see his three children because he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old , a relationship that he says was legal, but a county agency called sexual abuse, according to a lawsuit filed Monday...

Michael Medved interview with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal: School Choice, Prayer, Taxation, Economics and More

Posted on June 17, 2008
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appeared on the Michael Medved show to discuss various initiatives in the state of Louisiana including school choice and other issues. The link to the broadcast is on Townhall. The broadcast runs just over 26 minutes. Visit Site » Share This

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