Religion & Law

David French: Judge John Roll

Posted on January 10, 2011
ADF attorney David French writing at National Review Online / Bench Memos: "While I can?t claim to have known Judge Roll as well as many other attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund did (our headquarters is in Arizona), I did speak with him several times and knew him by reputation...

State Dept modifies gender-neutral parentage stance

Posted on January 10, 2011
"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered the State Department to amend a bureaucratic change that would have replaced the terms 'mother' and 'father' with the gender-neutral term 'parent' in reports of overseas births."

Australia: Parents want right to choose their child?s gender

Posted on January 10, 2011
"A couple so desperate for a girl that they terminated twin boys want the right to choose the sex of their next child. The couple have three sons but are grieving for a daughter who died several days after birth."

Artist Damien Hirst offends bereaved parents by using baby?s skull for ?disturbing? new work

Posted on January 10, 2011
Telegraph: "Damien Hirst has used an infant's skull to create his latest work, For Heaven's Sake. The skull, which is believed to be that of a child who died before it was two weeks old, is cast in platinum and studded with more than 8,000 pink and white diamonds by the royal jewellers Bentley & Skinner...

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

Former porn actress to men: Stop looking at porn or you will destroy your life

Posted on January 10, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Jennifer Case left the sex industry three years ago by the grace of God, she says, and her message to men is very clear: 'There is a real person on the other side of the images you are seeing, and you are destroying her life and the lives of her children...

In Iran, ?scores of Christians? were arrested Dec. 25

Posted on January 10, 2011
Baptist Press: "'Scores of Christians' have been detained since Christmas in Tehran, according to a statement protesting the action by Iranian authorities issued by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Jan. 7."

John Anthony Simmons on the Vicki McKenna Show: Religious freedom for homeschoolers in NH?

Posted on January 10, 2011
Last week, ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on the Vicki McKenna Show to provide an update on this case: In the Matter of Kurowski and Kurowski (Voydatch). | MP3 audio 17:50 mins

Palm Beach State College agrees to lift literature distribution ban while ADF lawsuit proceeds

Posted on January 10, 2011
Palm Beach State College officials agreed Monday to a court order that requires them to permit two members of Young Americans for Freedom to ?disseminate leaflets and/or converse with the general public? several days per month while an Alliance Defense Fund lawsuit moves forward.

Outsiders trying to install Muslim in power in Ivory Coast

Posted on January 10, 2011
WorldNetDaily: "The Ivory Coast is on the verge of civil war over an attempt by a Muslim to unseat a Christian president who was ruled the election winner by a constitutional council after it determined there was vote-rigging in the Muslim-dominated regions of the African nation, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin...

Lost religious liberty around the world

Posted on January 10, 2011
Doug Bandow writing at The Center for Vision & Values: "There is more than enough bad news to fill the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom?s latest annual report. Worst of all were the conditions in 13 'countries of particular concern...

Why thinking gov?t should exclude religion is wrong

Posted on January 10, 2011
Shane Vander Hart writing at Caffeinated Thoughts: "I started to read over the weekend a new book by Dr. Wayne Grudem, professor of systematic theology at Phoenix Seminary called Politics According to the Bible. In the first chapter he discusses five wrong views about Christians and government...

IN: Wabash courthouse nativity scene at center of debate

Posted on January 10, 2011
WANE: "Every year a near life-size nativity scene it set up in the courthouse lawn. Last month, someone in Wabash wrote the national organization Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). That group then sent Wabash leaders a letter saying the display needed to come down...

Washington Post: End this war on judges

Posted on January 10, 2011
Washington Post: "For more than 200 years, a safety barrier has protected our nation's courts and our democracy. No matter how controversial the case or unpopular the ruling, no state or federal judge has been impeached for an opinion issued from the bench ...

Iowa: Upmeyer says no decision on justice impeachment

Posted on January 10, 2011
Chicago Tribune: "A key Republican legislative leader said Friday that no decision has been made on whether lawmakers will try to impeach the remaining four justices on the Iowa Supreme Court, but if they do, a top Democrat promised 'a fight of epic proportions...

Rebecca Hagelin: Women at risk donating eggs

Posted on January 10, 2011
Rebecca Hagelin writing in the Washington Times: "Next month, Ms. Lahl's award-winning documentary, 'Eggsploitation,' will play on college campuses, warning young women about the dangers of egg donation. The film follows several young women who underwent egg donation as a way to pay tuition or dig themselves out of debt ? they also welcomed the emotional payoff of helping an infertile couple have a child...

Iowa Dems will shut down House to stop judicial impeachment

Posted on January 10, 2011
"Impeachment would be 'beyond the realm of reasonableness,' State Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, told The Cedar Rapids Gazette Editorial Board on Friday."

Rebecca Hagelin: Women at risk donating eggs

Posted on January 10, 2011
Rebecca Hagelin writing in the Washington Times: "Next month, Ms. Lahl's award-winning documentary, 'Eggsploitation,' will play on college campuses, warning young women about the dangers of egg donation. The film follows several young women who underwent egg donation as a way to pay tuition or dig themselves out of debt ? they also welcomed the emotional payoff of helping an infertile couple have a child...

Ed Whelan on Judge Reinhardt?s non-recusal in Prop. 8 case

Posted on January 10, 2011
Ed Whelan has a five part analysis of Judge Reinhardt's memorandum opinion explaining his decision not to recuse himself in Prop 8 case. | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Book Review: The Fetal Position: A Rational Approach to the Abortion Issue

Posted on January 10, 2011
At Public Discourse, Christopher Kaczor reviews The Fetal Position: A Rational Approach to the Abortion Issue by Chris Meyers: "Unfortunately, The Fetal Position fails in its stated goal because it caricatures the most common defenses of the pro-life view...

Statement from ADF on tragic death of Chief Judge John Roll

Posted on January 09, 2011
Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears offered the following comments Sunday regarding the shooting death Chief Judge John McCarthy Roll of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona . . .

KY: Bill to introduce charter schools and give parents the right to send their children to a neighborhood school advances

Posted on January 07, 2011
Bluegrass Policy Blog: "Senate Bill 3 from the current legislative session was voted out of the Senate Education Committee this afternoon and now heads to the Senate floor for consideration tomorrow."

FRC: Sticking up for the ?C? in CPAC

Posted on January 07, 2011
FRC Washington Update: "[W]e are not 'boycotting' CPAC. We're simply not participating. FRC has chosen not to partner with a 'conservative' event that places the protection of marriage on the same plane as redefining it . . . We recognize that some organizations represented at CPAC are silent on the issue of homosexuality...

Protests over ?gays-only? toilets in Brazil

Posted on January 07, 2011
AFP: "As Brazil gears up for its annual carnival festivities, a row has broken out over toilets for the exclusive use of gays and transvestites in samba schools readying for the event."

TX: Travis County ?lesbian divorce? stands under appellate ruling

Posted on January 07, 2011
"An appellate court ruled today that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott may not intervene in a Travis County same-sex divorce case, a finding that lets stand for now the divorce of two women who were married out of state but does not affect Texas' ban on gay marriage...

Man behind ?anti-gay? leaflets to challenge Saskatchewan Human Rights Code

Posted on January 07, 2011
Winnipeg Free Press: "The Supreme Court of Canada says a man who distributed anti-gay pamphlets can challenge the constitutionality of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code."

Bishop Tobin criticizes RI push for redefinition of marriage

Posted on January 07, 2011
Providence Journal: "Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhode Island on Friday denounced as 'morally wrong' legislation recognizing same-sex marriage that has been introduced in the General Assembly."

Nancy Pearcey: CPAC, homosexuality, and the crack-up of conservatism

Posted on January 07, 2011
The Daily Caller: "The conservative coalition has always been unstable. And homosexuality may be the issue on which it shatters . . . Peter Wehner says that these groups could give the impression 'that they do not have the arguments needed to win on the merits' ...

Death of the pro-life Democrat

Posted on January 07, 2011
Paul Kengor writing in The American Spectator: "As the 112th Congress is sworn in, an already endangered species is nearing extinction in the Capitol Building: the pro-life Democrat. This increasingly rare bird is in the process of committing political suicide...

House takes first step toward health care repeal

Posted on January 07, 2011
Washington Examiner: "Confronting President Barack Obama, the new Republican-led House took a first step Friday toward a symbolic vote to repeal his landmark health care overhaul law, which would provide coverage to more than 30 million now uninsured...

Kentucky Senate passes informed consent abortion bill

Posted on January 07, 2011
Louisville Courier Journal: "The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Thursday that requires a woman seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus before the procedure takes place. Senate Bill 9, which also requires that information about abortion be given to the woman at a face-to-face meeting the day before the procedure, passed on a 32-5 vote...

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