Religion & Law

NY Times: Justice Thomas and His Wife

Posted on October 13, 2010
NY Times: "Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, is the founder and chief executive of Liberty Central, a nonprofit organization set up to 'restore the greatness of America,' in part by opposing the leftist ?tyranny? of President Obama and Democrats in Congress...

9th Circuit upholds Washington?s campaign-disclosure laws

Posted on October 13, 2010
"A federal appeals court upheld Washington state's campaign-disclosure laws Tuesday, saying the requirements don't violate the First Amendment rights of a group that didn't want to reveal its donors in a 2008 opposition campaign to an assisted-suicide ballot measure...

Ohio: Congressman Driehaus uses criminal complaint in attempt to gag critics; NRLC refutes his claims with sworn affidavit and documents

Posted on October 13, 2010
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has produced a sworn affidavit, submitted today to the Ohio Elections Commission, demonstrating that the Obama health care law does in fact provide federal subsidies for elective abortion."

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Vaccine Case Against Wyeth

Posted on October 13, 2010
NY Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday struggled to divine the balance Congress had meant to strike in a 1986 law that established a system to compensate people injured by vaccines while barring some, but not all, lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers...

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Italy?s Tax Breaks for Catholic Church Are Subject of EU Regulatory Probe

Posted on October 13, 2010
Bloomberg: "European Union regulators opened a probe into Italian tax breaks on real estate granted to the Catholic Church, saying they may distort competition."

Supreme Court Refuses Review in One Case; Permits SG to Argue in Another

Posted on October 13, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "It denied certiorari in Association of Christian Schools v. Stearns, (Docket No. 90-1461). In the case, the 9th Circuit rejected constitutional challenges to the University of California's admissions policy . . .  In Garriott v...

Swastikas, Burning Crosses, and ?God Hates Fags?

Posted on October 13, 2010
Public Discourse: "But the law was not always thought to be so wanting in the standards of judgment, and the judges expounding the law were not compelled to absorb, ever more deeply with each case, the premises of moral relativism. Until the 1970?s the cases on speech, and the harms inflicted through speech, were governed by the classic case of Chaplinsky v...

The Offshore Oil Drilling Moratorium Doesn?t End Till the Permits Begin

Posted on October 13, 2010
Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog: "The White House got the headlines they wanted today . . . Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters on a conference call yesterday: 'We are open for business.' Don?t believe the White House or Salazar for a second...

?Forsyth Commissioners?

Posted on October 13, 2010
Winston-Salem Journal: "Dean said the prayer issue could have been resolved with a policy that gives more room for all faiths to give the invocations. But the court fight to continue sectarian prayer at the meetings could well turn out to be a waste of taxpayers? money, he said...

Courts Uphold Teen?s Piercing, Religious License Plates ? News

Posted on October 13, 2010
BeliefNet.com: "Shawn Byrne of West Rutland applied for a personalized license plate with the letters and numbers "JN36TN" referring to the Bible verse John 3:16. A month later, the DMV denied his application because the message was "deemed to be a combination that refers to deity," according to a statement from the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed suit on behalf of Byrne in 2005...

CA: Principal sues Goleta district over prayer video

Posted on October 13, 2010
Mercury News (AP): "An elementary school principal in the Santa Barbara area filed a lawsuit against his school district Tuesday, saying he has been punished and threatened with firing for appearing in a video that promoted a prayer breakfast to praise teachers...

Film Portrays Bible as O.K. with Homosexuality

Posted on October 13, 2010
Christian Web News: "Barham explains, 'It claimed that those who believe that the Bible teaches against homosexual conduct...have a -- quote -- 'fifth-grade understanding of God'. The First Amendment is quite clear. Going back all the way to the Founding Fathers, the clearest command of the First Amendment is that government cannot prefer certain religious views over others and certain religious denominations over others...

Iowa pastor preaches politics to oust 3 justices who backed gay marriage

Posted on October 13, 2010
USA Today: "Gordon said he has recruited leaders at more than 100 churches . . . The Liberty Institute, a socially conservative nonprofit group in Texas, has promised free legal protection to any church that joins the campaign. Gordon's plan is one of several efforts by conservative churches to challenge the IRS on a law they view as unconstitutional...

?D.C. Gay Marriage Issue Heads to High Court?

Posted on October 13, 2010
CBN:"Religious opponents of same-sex marriage in Washington, D.C. represented by the Alliance Defense Fund have appealed the issue of gay marriage in the nation's capital city to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Norway slams restrictions on Nobel winner?s wife

Posted on October 13, 2010
AP: "Norway has urged China to lift restrictions imposed on the wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo after Norwegian diplomats were barred from visiting her in Beijing."

?Transgender? woman sues LPGA for birth rule

Posted on October 13, 2010
AP: "A transgender woman is suing the LPGA over a requirement which states all competitors must be "female at birth."

Chinese Communist elders issue free speech appeal

Posted on October 13, 2010
AP: "A group of eminent Chinese Communist Party elders has issued a bold call to end the country's wide-ranging restrictions on free speech, just days after the government reacted angrily to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo"

What?s really behind the proposed NYC mosque?

Posted on October 13, 2010
William Wagner writes at writes at Baptist Press: "The Muslim strategy to change the world in the next century is impressive. The strategy includes four prongs, which are . . . "

Iowa anti-judge push blasted, but who is really on the side of law?

Posted on October 13, 2010
Omaha.com: "On Wednesday, Vander Plaats said being a servant of the law, 'doesn't give the Iowa Supreme Court the authority to legislate from the bench, execute from the bench or attempt to amend the Constitution.'"

Obama Considers Fast Appeal of Gays-Military Order | CNSnews.com

Posted on October 13, 2010
CNSNews: "The White House weighed a quick appeal of a judge's order abruptly allowing gays to serve openly in the military as Pentagon chief Robert Gates warned on Wednesday of "enormous consequences" for men and women in uniform if the ruling stands...

California?s Democrats and Republicans Surprisingly Agree on Marriage Issues

Posted on October 13, 2010
PR Newswire: "While California liberals and conservatives have spent two years on opposing sides of the marriage definition issue, a new analysis released by California Healthy Marriages Coalition (CHMC) reveals that Californians with differing political party affiliations overwhelmingly agree on a number of marriage and divorce-related issues...

Expert says media dangerously ignore mental illness in coverage of ?gay? teen suicides

Posted on October 13, 2010
Yahoo News: "That's what worries Ann Haas, research director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. By putting forth bullying as a "cause" of suicide and ignoring underlying mental-health issues that are present in 90 percent of people who die by suicide, the national media may be "normalizing" suicide as a rational response to bullying...

Group Takes D.C. Marriage Battle to Supreme Court

Posted on October 13, 2010
Charisma News: ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks said the D.C. Charter, which serves as a constitution for the district, guarantees citizens the right to initiate and vote on legislation, except for measures appropriating funds and other initiatives beyond the council's scope...

Calif. school district threatens to terminate principal for endorsing prayer breakfast

Posted on October 13, 2010
An ADF-allied attorney filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of an elementary school principal against the Goleta Union School District after it threatened to end his contract for appearing in a short video promoting the 52nd Annual Community Prayer Breakfast to honor teachers.

ADF, Stand4MarriageDC appeal marriage initiative case to U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on October 13, 2010
Alliance Defense Fund and Stand4MarriageDC attorneys filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday asking the justices to weigh in on the right of District of Columbia residents to vote on the legal definition of marriage.

Wyoming Governor Candidates Split On Marriage Definition

Posted on October 13, 2010
http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Wyoming.governor.candidates.2.1959616.html

?Republicans? stance on gay marriage quietly shifting?

Posted on October 13, 2010
John Cowan and Evan Wolfson write at the LA Times: The GOP isn't displaying its usual anti-gay election-year demagoguery, and not just in the "Pledge to America."

Number of atheists and non-believers increases

Posted on October 13, 2010
Utah Statesman: "Silk, who currently teaches Religion in Public Life at Trinity College, said people across the country, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and New England, are increasingly holding an atheist view. Silk also offered some reasons why an increasing number of people may share these views...

Federal judge orders ?don?t ask, don?t tell? injunction

Posted on October 12, 2010
A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell"; policy . . .

FL: Vernon Council Mulls Over Prayer & Canning Center

Posted on October 12, 2010
Foster Folly News: "Attorney states the City of Vernon in his opinion has no obligation to become involved in the question of prayer as it regards the Holmes County Pee Wee Football Association."

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