Religion & Law

Maryland High Court Rules Organist Does Not Fall Within Title VII Ministerial Exception

Posted on June 18, 2007
Religion Clause blog provides a brief summary of the Maryland High Court's ruling in Archdiocese of Washington v. Moerson, No. 69 (Md. June 14, 2007)...(read more)

More on the Davenport, Union fees ruling

Posted on June 15, 2007
Jason Harrow provides this summary of the case on the SCOTUS Blog...(read more)

And the Scandal is What? The Justice Department Hires Lawyers from Religious Schools

Posted on June 14, 2007
Today the NY Times has this piece arguing that the U.S. Dept. of Justice has increased its hiring of attorneys from religious law schools at the expense of its civil rights mission.   Fortunately, over at the Volokh Conspiracy, David Bernstein provides some clarity of perspective in response to the NY Times piece on DOJ hiring practices...

Massachussetts Legislators Defeat the Marriage Amendment

Posted on June 14, 2007
The Boston Globe carries this report on the vote: A joint session of the Legislature swiftly defeated a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by a vote of 151 to 45, eliminating any chances of getting it on the ballot in November 2008. And, the Globe carries this report on the last minute maneuvering for votes: Among those who said they would switch their votes are two Democrats: Representative James Vallee of Franklin and Representative Paul Kujawksi of Webster...

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SCOTUS Bingo Works Again, Mattox Nails It

Posted on June 14, 2007
See our earlier post.  It looks like Casey Mattax over at CLS nailed it in the latest round of SCOTUS bingo.  Scalia did in fact write the Davenport opinion....(read more)

U.S. Supreme Court Rules in National Right to Work Foundation?s Case: Union Officials Have No Constitutional Right to Spend Employees? Forced Dues for Politics

Posted on June 14, 2007
That is the title of this press release from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in response to today's Davenport ruling.  The PR also links to various case resources concerning the case. ...(read more)

"What Davenport Should Mean for Wisconsin Right to Life"

Posted on June 14, 2007
That is the title of this post by Marty Lederman over at the SCOTUS Blog....(read more)

A Summary of Today's Union Fees Ruling in Davenport v. Washington Education Association

Posted on June 14, 2007
Justice Scalia delivered the unanimous ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Davenport v. Washington Education Association, No. 05-1589 (June 14, 2007). Justice Breyer joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Alito issued a separate concurrence declining to join a portion of the opinion by Scalia...

Unions Lose on Political Fee Issue

Posted on June 14, 2007
That is the headline of this AP report on today's U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Davenport v. Washington Education Association, No. 05-1589...(read more)

"Greg Baylor discusses the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and Religious Organizations on the Albert Mohler Show"

Posted on June 13, 2007
That is the title of this post over at the CLS blog. CLS is also reporting on a new article by Professor Carl Esbeck: When Accommodations for Religion Violate the Establishment Clause: Regularizing the Supreme Court's Analysis....(read more)

7th Circuit Rules Against Church in RLUIPA Zoning Case

Posted on June 07, 2007
Today, the seventh circuit issued an opinion in Petra Presbyterian Church v. Village of Northbrook, No. 06-1329 (7th Cir.  June 7, 2007). In 2000, Petra Presbyterian Church sought to purchase a warehouse to use for church services on a property zoned industrial...

Absence of Enforcement Equals "Porn in the Mainstream"

Posted on June 06, 2007
Brent Hopkins has an article in the LA Daily News titled: Porn in the Mainstream: Industry has made inroads into everyday life It is sad to say but the title of this article reflects the Bush Administration's legacy.  Yes, President Clinton all but halted obscenity prosecutions for eight years...

FCC Chairman on "Fleeting Expletives" Ruling: 2nd Circuit is "Divorced from Reality"

Posted on June 04, 2007
Over at the How Appealing blog, Howard Bashman links to several news reports and today's 2nd Circuit ruling in Fox Television Stations, Inc. v. FCC.. which strikes down FCC rules regulating "fleeting expletives." In response to the ruling, the FCC Chairman has issued this press release in which he notes: The court even says the Commission is ?divorced from reality...

Is Scalia Writing the Opinion in Davenport v. Washington Education Ass'n, the teacher's unions case?

Posted on June 04, 2007
Over at the CLS Blog, Casey Mattox thinks so and for good reason. You may recall that Davenport poses these questions: 1. Do labor union officials have a First Amendment right to seize and use for politics the wages of employees who have chosen not to become union members? 2...

U.S. Supreme Court Rules No Attorney's Fees for PI Win Without Final Victory in a Case

Posted on June 04, 2007
The SCOTUS blog links to today's ruling in Sole v. Wyner: In Sole v. Wyner (06-531), the Court ruled unanimously -- in an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- that a party that files a civil rights case cannot recover attorneys' fees under federal law if that party had won a preliminary injunction in the case, but ultimately lost the case on the merits...

Parental rights reborn? Maryland high court may adopt stronger view of Troxel

Posted on May 29, 2007
The court has the opportunity in this case to continue a reform of Maryland law it began earlier this year, toward greater protection for the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children, protected by the U. S. Constitution and recognized by the U...

District Court Misapplies Locke v. Davey in Colorado Christian University case

Posted on May 25, 2007
I was in London when this opinion came down, so I did not read the decision in the Colorado Christian University case until I returned to the colonies this week. Wow! What a bad decision! There so many points of defective reasoning in this decision . I hope the Tenth Circuit straightens out this opinion's messy thinking...

Are libraries becoming unfriendly to families?

Posted on May 25, 2007
In many locations, the answer is, ?yes.?  Because of the policy of the American Library Association regarding pornography, many libraries either do not block pornography from computers or have a lax policy to do so.  The result is that those with bad motives are attracted to libraries where they know porn is available...

Tracking News and Decisions in Georgia Appellate Courts and the 11th Circuit

Posted on May 24, 2007
A friend just forwarded a link to the "Notice of Appeal" blog by the law firm, Bondurant, Mixson, and Elmore, LLP.  "Notice of Appeal" is: "Commenting on decisions and news from the 11th Circuit and the Georgia Appellate Courts."  It looks like this might be a very useful resource...

New Video Series: Defending Abstinence

Posted on May 24, 2007
CitizenLink has created a new video series called Stoplight with Stuart Shepard.  This segment offers a defense of abstinence funding in Congress. ...(read more)

ACLU Becoming Selective in What It Considers Student Speech

Posted on May 23, 2007
In today's Wall Street Opinion Journal, Wendy Caminer has an article titled: The ACLU is becoming very selective about what it considers "free" speech. ADF Attorney David French discusses Wendy's article and the problem on the National Review Phi Beta Cons blog...

One of America?s First University Speech Codes?

Posted on May 18, 2007
That is the title of this post on ADF's Center for Academic Freedom Blog by ADF Attorney David Hacker.  David discusses a speech code that existed at Yale University in 1741 and was used to expel the famous missionary of the Great Awakening, David Brainerd...

Legal Analysis of the Twin Efforts to Revive the Equal Rights Amendment

Posted on May 17, 2007
         Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment are mounting a two-pronged effort to resurrect that proposal and get it ratified to the Constitution. The amendment reads: ?Equality of rights under law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex...

U.S. Supreme Court: First Amendment Rulings Awaited

Posted on May 17, 2007
That is the title of this article on the First Amendment center website.  The article provides a summary of cases for which an opinion is expected soon: Morse v. Frederick - "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" student speech case Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assoc...

We the People or Not: Massachusetts to Decide

Posted on May 16, 2007
The Opine Editorials blog has a post titled "protracted, hard-fought litigation" and lawyers -- Oh My!  The post discusses the potential showdown over recent statements by Massachusetts' AG claim that it would be unconstitutional for the people of that state to reverse the Goodridge ruling through enactment of a Constitutional marriage amendment...

Radical Islam: Why Europe is Important

Posted on May 16, 2007
Today's Focus on the Family Radio Broadast is titled: Insights on Radical Islam.  Here are a few insights from the broadcast: Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. By 2021, Muslims will be the majority in France. There are approx...

Pennsylvania Federal District Court Brings Attention to Woefully Inadequate Number of Obscenity Prosecutions

Posted on May 14, 2007
In February, Patrick Trueman reported on this blog that there has been great resistance to prosecution of obscenity scrimes in certain sectors of our nation's law enforcement community. In March, CWA reported: Obscenity: A Failure of Federal Prosecution...

Massachusetts AG Vows to Fight Marriage Amendment If It Passes

Posted on May 14, 2007
Megan Woolhouse reports in Saturday's Boston Globe here: Attorney General Martha Coakley said last night that if Massachusetts voters were to approve a ban on same-sex marriages, she would back any efforts to challenge the measure on constitutional grounds...

"Rethinking Gender": Do We Really Need to Figure Out What it Means to Be Male and Female?

Posted on May 14, 2007
Newsweek has this article on MSNBC.  It is subtitled: A growing number of Americans are taking their private struggles with their identities into the public realm. How those who believe they were born with the wrong bodies are forcing us to re-examine what it means to be male and female...

ENDA Religious Exemptions - Not

Posted on May 11, 2007
Over on the CLS Blog, Greg Baylor has a couple of posts discussing the religious exemptions in the pending ENDA legislation.   Folks, who care about religious freedom, need to sit up and pay attention. ENDA is a very grave threat...

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