Religion & Law

Appeals Court: Khat is illegal in Minnesota

Posted on November 24, 2010
West Central Tribune: "The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that it is illegal to possess khat, a plant commonly used in East Africa and parts of the Arabian peninsula that can give users a high when chewed . . . Attorneys for Ahmed and Adam, who are both East African, also argued that prosecution for possessing khat violated their clients? religious freedoms...

NC city mulls lottery for religious flag display

Posted on November 24, 2010
WNCT (AP): "The policy is being developed with assistance from the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group."

Pence for President?

Posted on November 24, 2010
Katrina Trinko writing at National Review Online: "Pence identifies himself as a fiscal and social conservative and has the voting record to prove it. Elected in 2000, when compassionate conservatism was trendy, he has never been afraid to play the Grinch, voting against big-spending initiatives such as No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, and TARP...

Eliminating 100% of earmarks cuts federal spending less than 0.5%

Posted on November 23, 2010
CNS News: "Whether you use the Office of Management and Budget?s earmark numbers or Citizens Against Government Waste?s earmark numbers, eliminating 100 percent of earmarks in fiscal 2010 would have cut the federal budget by less than one-half of one percent...

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Southern Poverty Law Ctr. demonizes Christian supporters of traditional marriage

Posted on November 23, 2010
William A. Jacobson writing at Legal Insurrection: "SPLC is at it again, with a list of 18, 'anti-gay' groups, 13 of whom also will make SPLC's upcoming 'hate group' list . . . All these groups, with one exception below, were included for having a fundamentalist Christian view of homosexuality and gay marriage...

European Parliament favors report calling for recognition of civil status documents

Posted on November 23, 2010
"Today the European Parliament voted in favour of a report calling for mutual recognition of civil status documents. This means that the current discrimination against same-sex couples in the form of non-recognition of their marriages/partnerships should be removed when a same-sex couple is exercising their freedom of movement within the European Union...

RI: Chafee stands by Assembly deciding on marriage redefinition

Posted on November 23, 2010
Providence Journal / Projo 7 to 7 News Blog: "Same-sex marriage opponents mounted a post-election effort to try to change Gov.-elect Lincoln D. Chafee's mind . . . 'The governor elect feels that the issue should be addressed as soon as possible by the General Assembly, and does not believe that the question should be decided by a ballot referendum ...

Idaho ?transgender? community outraged over prosecutor?s remarks

Posted on November 23, 2010
Boise Weekly / City Desk: "Ross, 37, is accused of representing herself as a doctor and performed breast exams on two women in local night clubs. Ross also happens to be a transgender woman. How her gender identity was portrayed in court, and subsequently by local media, is what has the trans-community upset...

Same-sex couple ?married? via Skype sue Dallas paper for not publishing announcement

Posted on November 23, 2010
Dallas Voice: "A gay couple has filed a discrimination complaint against The Dallas Morning News for refusing to publish their same-sex wedding announcement. Mark Reed-Walkup and Dante Walkup, who were legally married in Washington, D.C., in October, filed the complaint on Friday...

TIME: Are the courts ahead of the public on ?gay rights??

Posted on November 23, 2010
Michael A. Lindenberger writing at TIME: "Are federal courts the best hope for gay rights? Even with Harry Reid promising to bring the repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' to a Senate vote after Thanksgiving, many activists feel the judiciary is still their best avenue to win change...

Russia could shun European rights court?top judge

Posted on November 23, 2010
Reuters: "Russia's top judge said it may no longer honor judgments handed down by Europe's influential Court of Human Rights, but a Kremlin official played down the idea, calling it a 'backwards' step."

Uganda judge extends media ban on outing ?gays?

Posted on November 23, 2010
In-depth Africa: "A Ugandan high court judge on Tuesday extended a ban on the publication in the media of pictures identifying people as homosexuals, sparking the ire of a leading anti-gay pastor."

Columbus, OH: Benefits OK?d for domestic partners of city workers

Posted on November 23, 2010
The Columbus Dispatch: "On the night the Columbus City Council approved extending health benefits to the gay and unmarried partners of city employees, more people showed up to talk about the Columbus Clippers."

Fate of same-sex ?marriage? linked to NY Senate races

Posted on November 23, 2010
Crain's New York Business: "The push for gay marriage in New York has a lot riding on the three undecided state Senate races . . . [The] Republican opponents [are not] expected to support marriage equality . . . Even if Democrats won the undecided races, marriage equality would still lose, 33 to 29, if every other senator voted the same as in 2009...

Australian Human Rights Commission to hear same-sex ?marriage? ban challenge

Posted on November 23, 2010
Star Observer: "The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) will hear a complaint challenging the Australian Government?s ban on same-sex marriage. Community activist and International Lesbian and Gay Association representative for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Simon Margan, submitted the complaint on Wednesday...

Minn. judge rejects bid to oust ACLU?s attorneys in suit against charter school

Posted on November 23, 2010
Pioneer Press: "The ACLU is suing the Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy, or TiZA, in federal court, alleging the school blurs the boundary between religion and public education. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank dismissed a motion by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, or MAS-MN, to disqualify Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney from representing the ACLU in the case...

Next pro-life battle centers on abortions at military bases

Posted on November 23, 2010
LifeNews: "When members of the Senate return from their Thanksgiving break, the pro-life movement will immediately face a key legislative showdown over the issue of abortions at military bases. The Senate will consider the legislation funding the Defense Department, which currently contains the Burris amendment, a measure that overturns the longstanding pro-life policy against abortions at taxpayer-funded military bases...

Gov?t report calls for end to homosexualist ?safe school czar?s? office

Posted on November 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A draft report from President Obama?s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has concluded that the entire office under controversial 'safe schools czar' Kevin Jennings, a radical leader in the homosexualist movement, is a financial waste and should be dissolved...

UN sees global AIDS epidemic starting to turn

Posted on November 23, 2010
Reuters: "An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide have the HIV virus that causes AIDS, but the global health community is starting to slow down and even turn the epidemic around, a United Nations report said on Tuesday."

Chinese human rights advocate disappears again

Posted on November 23, 2010
OneNewsNow: "With the second disappearance of a human rights attorney in China, family members are concerned and are hoping to find help in the U.S. The Jubilee Campaign has been working on the case of Gao Zhisheng since he was taken captive and held incommunicado for more than a year by the Chinese government in 2009...

AK: ACLU challenges parental notification law

Posted on November 23, 2010
ACLU Blog of Rights: "On Friday, the ACLU joined with Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights in challenging a law that requires a teen to notify a parent or go to court before having an abortion. It is critical that laws like this don't go unchallenged...

UK: More than half of young people have never heard of the King James Bible

Posted on November 23, 2010
Daily Mail: "More than half of younger people have never heard of the King James Bible, a survey shows. Fifty-one per cent of under-35s did not know what the Authorised Version was, compared with 28 per cent of over-55s. The Authorised King James Version, which will be 400 years old next year, took the English language around the world and is thought to be the biggest-selling book ever...

Ed West: Don?t blame Muslim schools for Britain?s social problems

Posted on November 23, 2010
Ed West writing in the Telegraph: "Last night?s Panorama about Islamist schools in Britain was disturbing and necessary, and a vital reminder of what public service broadcasting is all about . . . Contrast this with what they can learn in 'normal schools', such as the 'sex' qualification for 11-year-olds that asks 'outline two things it?s important to remember when using a condom'...

The Pope and condoms: Who, exactly, is incapable of fidelity?

Posted on November 23, 2010
David Lindsay writing at The American Conservative / Post Right: "Certain people might consider applying some journalistic or scientific objectivity to the question of where in Africa the condom use relentlessly promoted by Western NGOs and compliant governments has ever arrested, never mind reversed, the rate of HIV infection...

Book review: America?s war on Christianity

Posted on November 23, 2010
Tim Bueler reviews America's War on Christianity at EducationNews.org: "A timely and well-documented new book, 'America's War on Christianity,' presents compelling evidence that the continuing attacks on America's Christian values constitute a real and present danger to one of our bedrock principles...

UK: A plan to tackle extremism in the classroom

Posted on November 23, 2010
Telegraph: "The report draws on best practices by liberal democracies like Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands which are way ahead of us in grasping this extremist nettle. Among its sensible suggestions are the establishment of a due diligence unit with counter-extremist expertise ? accountable to the Secretary of State ? to vet those seeking to set up schools and academies and impose on them 'a commitment to core British values of democracy, tolerance and patriotism'...

The negative consequences of government expenditure

Posted on November 23, 2010
Jeffrey Miron of the Mercatus Center, via NCPA: "The U.S. national debt currently stands at 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- its highest level since WWII. Under plausible assumptions, this ratio will rise to at least 80 percent and possibly 185 percent of GDP by 2035 and continue increasing thereafter...

Why is the bankrupt US providing $4.5 million to fund Sierra Leone trial of Charles Taylor?

Posted on November 23, 2010
US Department of State: "On November 22 the Department of State released a $4.5 million grant for FY2011 to the Special Court of Sierra Leone. This grant demonstrates the U.S. commitment to ensuring that those most responsible for the atrocities committed during the war in Sierra Leone are brought to justice...

Australia: NT Labor urges marriage redefinition

Posted on November 23, 2010
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: "The Northern Territory branch of the Labor Party is urging the Federal Government to support gay marriage."

New twist to attorney billing

Posted on November 23, 2010
Baltimore Sun: "Under the plan, clients choose to pay $350 or $550 a month ? depending on the level of service they want ? and get unlimited access to legal advice through phone calls, e-mail and correspondence."

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