Religion & Law

Kudos to the Denver Archbishop! Pay Attention Pro-Family Advocates - Difference Between Domestic Partnerships as a Legal Status Versus Merely Granting Benefits Explained

Posted on November 17, 2006
Kudos to Denver's Catholic Archbishop Chaput!  In the November 15th Denver Catholic Register Archbishop's weekly column, the Archbishop explains the difference between domestic partnerships as a legal status versus merely granting benefits to unmarried people...

Real Christianity is Loving and Embraces Homosexual Conduct, So Says a Well Oiled Media Machine

Posted on November 16, 2006
On Monday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released two new documents pertaining to marriage and homosexuality: Married Love and the Gift of Life and Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care...

Rick Esenberg: A Tale of Two Campuses

Posted on November 15, 2006
Recently, the University of Wisconsin embarked on a campaign it calls "Think."  The idea is to encourage students to be more respectful of each other in a variety of ways, including the manner in which the views of others are respected. According to Chancellor John D...

Support for Marriage Remains High, But Token Bones Thrown to Social Conservatives Just Won't Cut It

Posted on November 14, 2006
CBS has posted this article, titled: "Gay Marriage Policy No Linchpin for GOP". The article acknowledges that state marriage amendments continued to pass overwhelmingly during this most recent election cycle and some by significant percentages, but Republicans did not necessarily benefit from the presence of the amendments on state ballots...

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Neo-Paganism: The Left's Unacknowledged Philosophy

Posted on November 13, 2006
Transgenderism. Animal rights. No fault divorce. Same-sex "marriage." Non-discrimination codes. The Left "campaigns" for all of these things. Usually, they are wrapped in rhetoric calling for "equality," "civil rights," "individual liberty," et al. The real driving force for such antics, however is not "liberty" or "eliminating discrimination...

There's Just Something (Weird) About New York City!

Posted on November 13, 2006
Commuting in NYC just got a bit more "interesting." The Metropolitan Transit Authority recently settled a complaint against it because it allegedly discriminates against transsexuals. How so? Well, the MTA--until enlightened by this lawsuit--had the radical idea that well, men should use the men's restroom, and women should use the women's restroom...

Protestor Disrupts Supreme Court Hearing on Partial Birth Abortion

Posted on November 13, 2006
I saw a protestor interrupt a Supreme Court hearing during the oral arguments in the partial birth abortion cases  last week.  I was sitting very close to him.  I understand his passion for the prolife cause, but his actions did not help the effort to convince the justices to uphold the federal law banning partial birth abortions...

Mike Manno: Will ?Defense of Marriage? Statutes Go for Naught? The Rise of Transgenderism

Posted on November 13, 2006
Lost in the run up to the election was a small item from New York City that may make ?defense of marriage? statutes irrelevant.  It seems that the city?s board of health is considering a rule that would allow anyone born in the city to change the sex on their birth certificates at will...

Massachusetts Legislature Arrogantly Refuses to Allow Vote on Marriage Amendment Despite the People

Posted on November 10, 2006
The Boston Globe story here indicates: Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday again avoided taking a formal stand on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, recessing a constitutional convention instead of taking up the thorny issue ...

Supreme Court Debates Best Method to Execute a Baby

Posted on November 10, 2006
That is the title of Matt Bowman's commentary today on Human Events Online.  ...(read more)

Report on Today's Partial Birth Abortion Arguments

Posted on November 08, 2006
My conclusion, as well as that of many others, is cautious optimism that the Supreme Court will uphold the law and take a step away from its judicial activism in the area of abortion . . . The fact that the justices examined so much medical data indicates that abortion regulation is not a matter of constitutional law for courts to decide, but a matter of public policy for elected lawmakers to decide...

Pro-Aborts are Taking the Credit, But did Pro-Lifers Really Kill South Dakota's Abortion Ban?

Posted on November 08, 2006
ADF's position is that human life is sacred from conception to death. The identity of one's mom or dad does not change that fact. But, this does not mean that tactics should never adapt to practical realities in the overall effort to advance the pro-life principles...

Yelling During Supreme Court Partial Birth Abortion Arguments! Stay tuned.

Posted on November 08, 2006
If you listened to the live sound broadcast of today's partial birth abortion arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court, you heard the yelling that occurred at one point during the arguments.   Apparently, an abortion protester was present in the courtroom...

Rick Esenberg: The Marriage Vote in Wisconsin

Posted on November 07, 2006
The polls here in Wisconsin close in a bit less than three hours. I believe that the marriage amendment will pass based in part on an automated calling campaign intitiated over the past two days by amendment opponents. Only desparate people would do this...

Frank D. Mylar: Maryland Court of Special Appeals Decimates Fundamental and Constitutional Parental Rights

Posted on November 06, 2006
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals at first blush appears to have upheld the fundamental rights of parents, secured by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, by holding that a third party non-marital partner cannot be awarded physical custody of a minor child absent some unfitness of the natural or adoptive parent...

Is the Supreme Court Preparing to Hear a Student Free Speech Case?

Posted on November 06, 2006
The Supreme Court's orders list for today did not address two cases involving the First Amendment rights of students, Lyle Dennison at SCOTUSblog has an interesting  thought as to what this might mean:   The Court also took no action on a significant test case on students' rights, Morse v...

ADF Files Motion for Expedited Consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court in "Homosexuality is Shameful" T-Shirt Case, Harper v. Poway Unified School District

Posted on November 02, 2006
The Alliance Defense Fund today filed a motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to expedite its consideration of ADF's cert petition filed in Harper v. Poway Unified School District, concerning the school district's censorship of a student's T-shirt with the home-made message, "homosexuality is shameful...

Prop 107: Arizona's Proposed Marriage Amendment Proves the Outcome in New Jersey Was Easily Predicted

Posted on November 02, 2006
Unfortunately, there has been little or no media coverage of the real reason for prohibiting a legal status similar to marriage. If Proponents of Proposition 107 had not included that language in the Proposition, it is likely polls would show the measure passing by an overwhelming percentage...

Rick Esenberg: Why Does Wisconsin's Proposed Marriage Amendment Forbid Any Legal Status Substantially Similar to Marriage?

Posted on November 02, 2006
The Court slid right down that slippery slope and essentially held that having gone most of the way, the New Jersey legislature must now go all of the way, save for, perhaps, using the term "marriage" for same-sex unions . . . Ironically, the case may also demonstrate that marriage amendments (at both the state and federal level) are essential if states who wish to preserve traditional marriage also wish to provide more limited benefits for same-sex couples...

Glen Lavy: New Jersey Ruling Ignores Primary Rationale for Protecting Marriage

Posted on October 30, 2006
That is the title of Glen's commentary today on Townhall. ...(read more)

Alan Sears: The ACLU's Crusade Against Public Religion Doesn't Deserve State

Posted on October 30, 2006
Alan E. Sears, President of ADF, has this commentary on the Legal Times today, wherein, he argues in favor of "The Veterans? Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religions Protection Act," passed by the House on Sept...

Oh Please, Spare Us! "Neutral" New Jersey Rejects Federal Abstinence Funding

Posted on October 30, 2006
New Jersey health and education officials on Tuesday sent a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt saying that the state will not accept about $800,000 in federal abstinence education funds because requirements tied to the money violate the standards of the state's sex education and HIV/AIDS education programs, the Newark Star-Ledger reports...

Will Cert. be Granted? Good Chance in Harper v. Poway, the Student T-Shirt Case

Posted on October 27, 2006
The Alliance Defense Fund today filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, Harper v. Poway Unified School District. The Ninth Circuit, in a controversial 2-1 decision by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, ruled that the school district did not violate a student's First Amendment rights for forcing him to take off a T-shirt stating the message, "homosexuality is shameful...

No Limits to Expansive Reading of Non-Existent Constitutional Provisions

Posted on October 27, 2006
It must be convenient not to have to deal with the constraints of actual constitutional language when judicially revolutionizing social policy....(read more)

Glen Lavy: Judicial Oligarchy, or Balanced Republican Government?

Posted on October 27, 2006
Today, ADF Attorney Glen Lavy has this post on The Hill's Congress Blog....(read more)

FRC's William Saunders: Partial Birth Abortion on Trial, Let the Abortionists Speak for Themselves

Posted on October 26, 2006
On November 8th the Supreme Court is due to hear oral arguments in the case Gonzales v. Carhart.    In this case the Court will consider the constitutionality of the federal law (2003) prohibiting the practice known as partial birth abortion...

Imperial NJ Supreme Court Mandates Same-Sex "Marriage" or Equivalent

Posted on October 25, 2006
The New Jersey Supreme Court today declared that "committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples." This decision makes the upcoming ballot measures to protect marriage throughout the country even more critical than they were just a few hours ago ...

NJ Supreme Court to Rule on Same-Sex "Marriage" TODAY, OCT. 25, by 3 PM

Posted on October 24, 2006
From the NJ Supreme Court web page. UPDATE: When the opinion comes out, look for it at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/index.htm...(read more)

Vigilant Citizens Should Closely Monitor Nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals: A Response to Howard Bashman

Posted on October 23, 2006
Along with a link to an article by Ann Althouse (to which Jordan Lorence has responded), Howard Bashman over at How Appealing has resurrected a post that he authored on November 10, 2002 titled, "Judicial activism" -- easy to criticize, but hard to define and identify...

Rick Esenberg: Who Would've Guessed? The Roman Catholic Church Opposes Same Sex "Marriage" in Wisconsin!

Posted on October 23, 2006
Here in Wisconsin, voters are considering a referendum on amending our state's constitution to limit marriage to one man and one woman. In Madison, a number of Roman Catholic churches have distributed leaflets to their parishioners drawing attention to the rather obvious connection between Church teaching on human sexuality and the prospect of same-sex "marriage...

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