Religion & Law

Catholic teachers union vs. Ontario bishops: ?who will win on gay clubs??

Posted on January 07, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association?s open support of homosexual clubs in Catholic schools has put them at odds with an explicit directive from the Ontario bishops."

RI: Chafee, Fox affirm commitment to redefining marriage

Posted on January 07, 2011
Providence Journal: "Responding to criticism from the Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, Governor Lincoln D. Chafee promised on Friday that if passed by the General Assembly this session, he would sign legislation recognizing same-sex marriage."

CPAC Chair David Keene responds to Social Conservatives

Posted on January 07, 2011
Politics Daily: "Part of the problem, says Keene, is that 'everyone thinks their issue is more important than everyone else's [issue].' Keene says there are some issues conservatives have come to a consensus on: 'I think opposition to gay marriage is a consensus issue, now...

Kyrgyz crack down on Islamists

Posted on January 07, 2011
Telegraph: "The new government of Kyrgyzstan has launched a crackdown on militants it claims are linked to extreme Islamic groups."

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Mich. gov: Supreme Court pick will be ?rule of law justice?

Posted on January 07, 2011
Detroit Free Enterprise: "When Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan leaves the bench Jan. 14, Gov. Rick Snyder will have many possible choices to fill her spot. Conventional wisdom suggests he will look for a jurist with Republican roots who can plausibly win a nomination at a GOP convention in 2012 and the general election...

Attempt fails to block Okla. governor from making high court pick

Posted on January 07, 2011
The Oklahoman: "The state Supreme Court tossed aside a request to block Gov. Brad Henry from filling a vacancy on the high court before he leaves office Monday. Supreme Court justices voted 6-1 to reject a stay sought by state Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, to prevent the Democratic governor from making a record sixth appointment to the high court...

CA: Gov. Brown gets chance to name high court justice following Moreno?s resignation

Posted on January 07, 2011
San Francisco Chronicle (AP): "Gov. Jerry Brown will have an early opportunity to shape California's high court following the surprise announcement that its only Latino justice is stepping down next month. Justice Carlos Moreno, the only Democratic appointee on the state Supreme Court, submitted his resignation to California's new governor on Wednesday and said his last day will be Feb...

Iowa: Case made for changes in justice selection

Posted on January 07, 2011
Des Moines Register: "A conservative group that wants to change the way Iowa Supreme Court justices are selected argued Thursday that seven lawyer members on the panel that picks finalists should be directly elected by voters."

Pence introduces bill to deny federal funding to Planned Parenthood with 122 cosponsors

Posted on January 07, 2011
"It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. It is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad."

Grassley inquiry leads to church tax policy proposals

Posted on January 07, 2011
The Tampa Tribune: "Requiring churches to file the same detailed tax information as other nonprofits is one of several proposals to be addressed by a national commission created in the wake of an inquiry into six televangelist ministries, including Without Walls International Church in Tampa...

NPR: The lasting impact of the King James Bible, 400 years later

Posted on January 07, 2011
NPR: "The most widely published text in the English language, the King James Bible, was first released 400 years ago, this year. This version of the bible has had a lasting impact, not only on the Christian faith, but on the way English is spoken and written today...

Abortion drug used in up to 80 percent of Finnish early-term abortions

Posted on January 06, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "RU-486 abortions are allowing more and more women in Finland to abort their children at home, a practice that has become a nationwide trend, Finnish authorities said this week."

Virginia legislator: McDonnell wrong about ?gays? in National Guard

Posted on January 06, 2011
Hampton Roads: "During an appearance on FOX & Friends this morning to discuss his bill to ban 'active homosexuals' from the Virginia National Guard, Del. Bob Marshall said that Gov. Bob McDonnell is incorrect in concluding that the Guard must abide by Defense Department regulations on gays in the military...

ACLJ: Inappropriate involvement between NYC Mayor?s Office & Ground Zero mosque developers

Posted on January 06, 2011
Jay Sekulow's Trial Notebook: "Our attorneys are now reviewing the documents which validate the substance of our suit and reveal an inappropriate involvement between the Mayor's Office and developers of the mosque."

ACLJ: Pro-life victory in Alabama

Posted on January 06, 2011
ACLJ: "There's been an important victory in a case that we've been involved with out of Alabama . . . For over ten years, a federal court injunction against a small group of activists had been used by the clinic and the Birmingham police to intimidate others from standing on the adjacent sidewalks...

WV district court upholds Stolen Valor Act against First Amendment challenge

Posted on January 06, 2011
Eugene Volokh: "This happened in Monday?s United States v. Robbins (W.D. Va.); the court disagreed with the district court in Strandlof and the Ninth Circuit panel in Alvarez, which held that the statute violates the First Amendment."

Articles suggest religious liberty trends for next decade

Posted on January 06, 2011
Religion Clause: "Associated Baptist Press yesterday carried three interesting pieces projecting future trends in religious liberty and church-state matters."

Irish politicians using European Court ruling to push for abortion legalization

Posted on January 06, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Labour Party health spokesman Jan O?Sullivan said that legislation must now be introduced to provide for 'the right to the termination of a pregnancy' in the very limited circumstances specified in the judgment. O?Sullivan said the absence of legislation providing for abortion in circumstances where the mother?s life was at risk left those with crisis pregnancies and doctors in an 'impossible position...

Netherlands: Coalition furious at police chief?s burqa comments

Posted on January 06, 2011
Dutch News: "MPs from the three-party ruling alliance have reacted furiously to comments from Amsterdam police chief Bernard Welten in which he said his officers would not necessarily arrest a woman wearing a burqa, once a ban is brought in. MPs from the ruling VVD have called on Welten to take back the statement, while Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam PVV said the police chief should ?pack his things and go? if he refuses to uphold the law...

Same-sex ?marriage? challenge already in the works in NM

Posted on January 06, 2011
Albuquerque Journal: "Outlawing gay marriage already was headed to the Legislature's inbox, but [an attorney general's opinion] supporting the validity of some same-sex unions could give the issue a higher profile . . . Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, said Wednesday that King's opinion has galvanized opponents of same-sex marriage and could help his efforts to get a measure through the 2011 session making such marriages illegal...

Poll: Michigan voters oppose marriage redefinition

Posted on January 06, 2011
Click on Detroit: "By a margin of 38.5%-50.2%, Michigan voters oppose allowing gay men and lesbians to get married. 54.9% of Democratic voters support gay marriage, 42.3% of Independent voters support gay marriage, but only 19.6% of Republican voters support gay marriage...

Rhode Island: Marriage redefinition bill to be introduced Thursday in most Catholic State

Posted on January 06, 2011
"In a brief interview on Wednesday, Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, said he had already lined up 27 co-sponsors and was hoping for more, but would introduce the bill no matter what the number on Thursday in hopes of spurring an early-session hearing and vote on the measure...

Pew Forum: The religious composition of the 112th Congress

Posted on January 06, 2011
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "Of the 535 members of the new Congress, 304 ? or 57% ? are Protestants, which is slightly higher than the share of Protestants in the U.S. adult population (51%). Compared with the previous Congress, the 112th Congress has added 12 Protestants, an increase of roughly two percentage points...

Lesbian feminist joins Germany?s highest court

Posted on January 06, 2011
Deutsche Welle: "Susanne Baer is Germany's most famous female lawyer, known for addressing equal opportunity and discrimination issues. In 2011 Germany will, for the first time, have a self-confessed feminist sitting as a judge in the country?s highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court...

German bishops demand protection for Christians against rising violence

Posted on January 06, 2011
Deutsche Welle: "'We ask that Christians and others religious minorities be able to live in security and dignity in their homeland, where they and their ancestors have lived for hundreds, and in some cases thousands of years,' Karl Juesten, prelate and head of the Commissariat of German Bishops, told the Hannoversche Allgemeine daily...

German university breaks new ground with Islamic studies program

Posted on January 06, 2011
Deutsche Welle: "Frankfurt's Goethe University has introduced a three-year bachelor's degree in Islamic studies, the first such course in Germany. The program places Islamic theology on the same footing as Christian and Jewish theology at German universities...

Experts unveil so-called ?cost-effective, safe abortion method for Nigeria?

Posted on January 06, 2011
Daily Independent: "Results of a study by a group of researchers have identified the use of Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) as a cost-effective and safe abortion procedure for Nigeria. They, however, note that the procedure must be carried out in during the first trimester and in a certified clinic operated by highly trained health experts...

NJ: Gov. Christie signs ?anti-bullying bill of rights?

Posted on January 06, 2011
Star-Ledger: "Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill advocates say gives New Jersey the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation. Christie signed the 'Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights,' according to a press release from Garden State Equality, the state?s largest gay rights organization, which advocated for the bill...

NARAL launches anti-Boehner effort

Posted on January 06, 2011
The Hill: "The abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America on Wednesday launched a new website called StandUpToBoehner.org. The site allows supporters to take an oath to support abortion rights and have their location pinpointed on a map of the U.S...

Kentucky Senate panel backs informed consent abortion bill

Posted on January 06, 2011
Louisville Courier Journal: "The Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee Thursday morning approved a bill requiring a woman seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus before the procedure takes place."

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