Religion & Law

TN: Lawsuit seeks to halt mosque

Posted on September 20, 2010
Tennessean: "Contending their lives could be harmed by the risk of Islamic terrorism, proselytizing and Shariah law, four Rutherford County residents are asking for a temporary restraining order to halt work on a new mosque."

New poll surveys attitudes on church-state issues

Posted on September 20, 2010
First Amendment Center: "A clear majority of Americans ? even those who don?t practice a particular faith ? say public school students should have more latitude to express their religious faith in school, according to the latest State of the First Amendment poll conducted by the First Amendment Center...

Women, abortion, and the brain

Posted on September 20, 2010
Evelyn Birge Vitz and Paul C. Vitz writing at Public Discourse: "Women are hard-wired for relationships?and a woman?s relationship to her baby is one of the most powerful of all, whether she realizes it or not. The hard-wiring of the brain may explain many women?s disturbing post-abortion feelings...

State might not address UNC abortion opt-out plan

Posted on September 20, 2010
The Daily Tar Heel: "Concerns from students about the abortion benefit in the UNC-system health insurance plan might go unaddressed by the state government. As part of advocacy efforts to remove the abortion benefit in the student insurance plan, members of Students for Life of America wrote a letter to Gov...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Congressman Bart Stupak claims Obama has upheld order on abortion funding in health care

Posted on September 20, 2010
LifeNews: "Congressman Bart Stupak, who pro-life advocates say betrayed the movement when he voted for a government-run health care bill that includes massive abortion funding, says he believes President Barack Obama has upheld his executive order that claimed to confirm no abortion funding but pro-life groups said had significant loopholes...

Erik Stanley on the Zeb Bell Show: Pulpit Freedom Sunday ? Sept. 26th

Posted on September 20, 2010
ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 21:27 mins

New records show DOJ lied about New Black Panther dismissal

Posted on September 20, 2010
J. Christian Adams writing at Pajamas Media: "Judicial Watch made an explosive announcement today about the Justice Department?s stonewalling in the New Black Panther voter intimidation case dismissal. Forced to bring a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit after DOJ rebuffed its public records request (so much for transparency), Judicial Watch obtained a privilege log from the DOJ last week...

Congressman Paul Ryan latest to call for truce on pro-life, social issues

Posted on September 20, 2010
LifeNews: "Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin became the latest potential presidential candidate and Republican with a national profile to call for a 'truce' on social issues. He joins Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour, who called for Republicans to back down on pro-life issues...

Republicans will unveil new ?Contract? on Thursday in Virginia

Posted on September 20, 2010
The Hill: "Republicans will unveil their new 'Contract with America' in Virginia on Thursday, less than two months before election day . . . The new contract, modeled after the 1994 'Contract with America,' is intended to highlight what the Republican party would stand for if it returns to power in Congress...

Welcome to the police state: Farmers fear dust rules

Posted on September 20, 2010
Associated Press: "As they begin the fall harvest, wary farmers are watching a federal debate over whether to clamp down on one of rural life's constant companions - the dust clouds that farm machinery kick up in fields and along unpaved roads."

Nevada unemployment rises to all-time high 14.4 percent

Posted on September 20, 2010
Las Vegas Review-Journal: "The construction sector, restaurants and professional firms all added jobs in the month, but declines in Census jobs and other public-sector cuts offset that hiring to push statewide unemployment to an all-time high of 14.4 percent, the state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation said this morning...

A generation gap in understanding porn of today

Posted on September 20, 2010
Deseret News: "In essence, she said, comparing many adults' mind-set about pornography to today's reality is similar to comparing Pong to video games of today. 'There is a huge generation gap in understanding what today's generation are exposed to and have access to,' [Jill C...

Rubio calls election ?referendum on national identity? at tea party rally

Posted on September 20, 2010
McClatchy: "Thousands of determined tea party activists converged in a park in America's oldest city Saturday and heard a succession of Republican candidates promise to heed their demands for less government and lower taxes . . . 'This election is nothing less than a referendum of our identity as a nation and as a people," Rubio said, calling 2010 an historic moment 'when people were pushed to the brink...

Cong. Mike Pence wins GOP presidential straw poll at pro-life Values Voters Summit

Posted on September 20, 2010
LifeNews: "Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana won the 2012 presidential straw poll at the pro-life Values Voters Summit today in the nation's capital. Pence, considered one of the pro-life leaders in the House of Representatives, finished ahead of other Republicans in the vice-presidential straw poll as well, showing his attraction to social conservatives...

Rep. Mike Pence defends Christine O?Donnell

Posted on September 20, 2010
Associated Press: "Rep. Mike Pence tells ABC's 'Good Morning America' any verdict on O'Donnell's fitness to serve in the Senate is 'up to the voters of Delaware.' The Indiana Republican says there's a welling up of anger and a demand for political leaders who will 'put our fiscal house in order...

Judges? disclosures hard to get

Posted on September 20, 2010
Associated Press: "If you're looking for a senator's most recent report on personal finances, you can walk into an office in the Capitol complex, sit down at a computer and print out the report in a matter of minutes . . . But if you want to see a federal judge's disclosure, be prepared to wait ...

Wall Street?s profit engines slow down

Posted on September 20, 2010
The New York Times: "Even after taxpayer bailouts restored bankers? profits and pay, the great Wall Street money machine is decelerating. Big financial institutions, including commercial banks, are still making a lot of money. But given unease in the financial markets and the economy, brokerages and investment banks are not making nearly as much as their executives, employees and investors had hoped...

Defenders of marriage, initiative process in Calif. file opening brief on appeal

Posted on September 20, 2010
Attorneys defending marriage in California filed their opening brief Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in defense of the state?s voter-approved constitutional amendment that protects marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Thomas More Society notches new victories in ongoing ND88 proceedings

Posted on September 20, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Sparks flew in St. Joseph County Circuit Court yesterday as the Thomas More Society won several key victories against the prosecution in the case of the 'ND88,' the individuals arrested in connection with President Barack Obama's appearance at the University of Notre Dame Commencement in 2009 ...

Americans United, allies urge federal appeals court to rehear case challenging religiously based hiring bias

Posted on September 20, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "Americans United for Separation of Church and State and allied groups have asked a federal appellate court to reconsider a decision dealing with religious bias in hiring at publicly funded 'faith-based' charities...

DeMint: ?It?s going to take a few years? to repeal ObamaCare

Posted on September 20, 2010
CNSNews: "Washington (CNSNews.com) ? Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C) said it could take years to repeal the Democrats' $1-trillion health care overhaul mandating the individual purchase of health insurance."

Proposal to end military abortion ban complicates defense budget bill

Posted on September 20, 2010
FOX News: "An amendment from Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., to end a longstanding ban on abortions at U.S. military hospitals overseas is attached to the defense authorization bill set to come up for a vote in the Senate. The move has been widely opposed by social conservatives and only further complicates the debate over the defense spending package...

Iowa: Catholic Conference backs constitutional convention to ban same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on September 20, 2010
Iowa Independent: "The Iowa Catholic Conference, the political and policy arm of the state?s four Catholic dioceses, announced Monday that it is urging Iowans to convene a constitutional convention in order to eventually ban same-sex marriage."

USCCB official objects to Planned Parenthood plan to add contraceptives to health reform

Posted on September 20, 2010
Susan Wills, assistant director for education and outreach, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, writing at LifeNews: "Planned Parenthood is organizing a national effort to have contraceptives included among the free 'preventive services' health plans must provide under the new health care reform law (Press Release, 7-14-10) ...

Ross Douthat: Why we have a culture war

Posted on September 20, 2010
Ross Douthat writing at his New York Times blog: "Can we officially retire the notion that liberals don?t like the culture war? That it?s something foisted on them by knuckle-dragging conservatives? That they would prefer to only talk about Very Serious Economic Policies, and that they hate the way the right wing keeps dragging the conversation around to sex and God and all the rest of it? ...

USCCB officials urge HHS not to require coverage of contraception and sterilization

Posted on September 20, 2010
USCCB: "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should not require coverage of contraception or sterilization in group and individual health plans as part of 'preventive' services for women, said representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as HHS continued its deliberations on a final list of required preventive services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)...

Peter Sprigg: Do Senators understand truth behind homosexuals? military service?

Posted on September 20, 2010
Peter Sprigg writing at Townhall: "Let's hope that these senators understand the latter issue better than U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who recently declared the 1993 law unconstitutional . . . First, the issue is homosexual conduct, not 'identity' ...

Mexico abortion sentences reveal social collision

Posted on September 20, 2010
Reuters: "Authorities in almost all of Mexico's conservative states have fought back against Mexico City's abortion policies, among the most permissive in largely Catholic Latin America, by making examples of specific women and tightening laws . . . While jail terms for illegal abortions are between six months and three years in most Mexican states, activists...

Military caught in middle of political brawl over social issues

Posted on September 20, 2010
FOX News: "What should have been a routine budget bill for the Pentagon is now a political cauldron brimming with proposed policy changes over abortion, gay rights and illegal immigration. Senate Democrats have folded, or attempted to fold, all those issues into a single defense package, leading to accusations that the Senate is needlessly politicizing its annual obligation to fund the military...

Homosexual couple awarded $13.4K for Baptist?s rental refusal

Posted on September 20, 2010
"A gay couple in Yellowknife have been awarded $13,400 in compensation because a landlord would not rent them an apartment on the basis of their sexual orientation . . . "

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.