Religion & Law

Ground Zero mosque to boost ?shariah-compliant investing?

Posted on September 16, 2010
Dallas Blog: "In a surprise e-mail to the Dallas Blog, Ron Robins, founder and analyst of 'Investing for the Soul,' reveals that the motivation to construct a new and controversial mosque nearby Ground Zero in New York City is to promote Islamic finance and 'Shariah-compliant investing...

Wilmer, former client spar over ?Don?t Ask? lawsuit

Posted on September 16, 2010
Law.com: "Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is battling with a former client, who claims the firm cost him an opportunity to have his challenge to the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy heard by the U.S. Supreme Court."

Muslim networks and movements in Western Europe

Posted on September 16, 2010
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: "Over the past two decades, the number of Muslims living in Western Europe has steadily grown, rising from less than 10 million in 1990 to approximately 17 million in 2010.1 The continuing growth in Europe's Muslim population is raising a host of political and social questions...

Australia to allow transgender soldiers

Posted on September 16, 2010
Edge Boston: "While the United States grapples with the question of allowing openly gay soldiers to serve in its armed forces, the Australian has removed a final barrier to admitting sexual minorities into the ranks of its servicemembers by striking down a ban on transgendered troops...

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ADF asks full 10th Circuit to rehear ruling against roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers

Posted on September 16, 2010
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys are asking a full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to rehear a ruling issued last month by a three-judge panel that struck down roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers as unconstitutional.

Court, White House team up against ?gay? ban

Posted on September 15, 2010
Chad Groening writing at OneNewsNow: "A conservative military watchdog argues that the controversial Ninth Circuit has created a situation that will make it more difficult for the U.S. military to defend its decision to kick a lesbian nurse out of the Air Force Reserve...

Georgia voters favor pro-life Governor candidate Nathan Deal over Barnes

Posted on September 15, 2010
LifeNews: "Georgia voters favor pro-life gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal over his challenger, Democrat Roy Barnes. A new Survey USA poll shows Deal has the backing of 49 percent to 38 percent for Barnes and Libertarian candidate John Monds had 9 percent...

Court temporarily lifts ban on stem cell funding

Posted on September 15, 2010
CBN News (video): "Steven Aden, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, discussed the immediate impact of the ruling and more on the Friday, September 10 edition of CBN Newschannel's Morning program."

Wisconsin: Pro-life candidates Johnson, Walker get nods for Senate, Governor

Posted on September 15, 2010
LifeNews: "Two Wisconsin pro-life candidates won their respective primary election races on Tuesday and now head to general election contests that will pit them against abortion advocates. Scott Walker won the GOP nomination for governor and Ron Johnson became the Republican Senate candidate...

Pro-life candidates defeat abortion backers in Delaware, New Hampshire

Posted on September 15, 2010
LifeNews: "'Christine O?Donnell?s win, combined with the successes of Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle, continues building momentum for 2010 to be remembered as the "Year of the Pro-life Woman,"' SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser told LifeNews.com...

WSJ: Cheating charter schools

Posted on September 15, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial, "Cheating Charter Schools" [full text via Google News]: "President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have made charter schools a big part of their reform agenda, but the pushback from unions has been fierce. Perhaps that explains why the new $10 billion federal teacher bailout will be dispensed in a way that discriminates against charters...

Christine O?Donnell opposes porn, MSM screams extreme

Posted on September 15, 2010
Greg Gutfeld writing at Big Hollywood: "On the CBS Early Show, Nancy Cordes portrayed O'Donnell as weird, because she quote, 'crusaded for abstinence and against porn.' Christine also wrote that 'when a married person uses pornography, it compromises the spouse?s purity' ...

Texas education board to consider rule on Islam?s portrayal in textbooks

Posted on September 15, 2010
Dallas Morning News: "The board will consider a resolution next week that would warn publishers not to push a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoint in world history textbooks."

Federal District Court Rules South Carolina?s Political Committee Law is Unconstitutional

Posted on September 15, 2010
Yesterday, a federal court ruled that South Carolina cannot force advocacy groups to become political committees simply because they spend more than $500 "to influence the outcome of an elective office."

Prioritizing judicial vacancies ? Obama virtually matching or passing Bush on successful judicial nominations

Posted on September 15, 2010
Jason Mazzone writing at Balkinization: "With respect to nominations to the appellate courts, Obama has done very well. 10 Obama nominees have been confirmed to the federal circuit courts to date. At the same point in George W. Bush?s presidency (September 13, 2002), 13 of his nominees had been confirmed to the circuit courts...

David French on the Mike Gallagher Show: Matching grant to defend religious liberty on campus

Posted on September 15, 2010
ADF attorney David French appeared on the Mike Gallagher Show to discuss the ongoing efforts to defend religious freedom on campuses. | MP3 audio 12:16 mins | Speak Up Movement: Universities

David French on the Janet Mefferd Show: How ADF is standing up for religious liberty on campuses

Posted on September 15, 2010
ADF attorney David French appeared on the Janet Meffered Show to discuss how ADF is standing up for religious liberty on campuses. | MP3 audio 18:48 mins | Speak Up Movement: Universities

More women than men got PhDs last year

Posted on September 15, 2010
Washington Post: "The number of women at every level of academia has been rising for decades. Women now hold a nearly 3-to-2 majority in undergraduate and graduate education. Doctoral study was the last holdout - the only remaining area of higher education that still had an enduring male majority...

Rangel wins primary amid ethics cloud

Posted on September 15, 2010
The Hill: "After being dogged by allegations of ethical misconduct for much of the past year, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) easily beat back his first primary challenge in nearly 20 years Tuesday."

Law Review: The Legitimacy of International Human Rights Review: The Case of the European Court of Human Rights

Posted on September 15, 2010
Andreas Follesdal, The Legitimacy of International Human Rights Review: The Case of the European Court of Human Rights (December 1, 2009). Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 595-607, Winter 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1652238 "The literature concerning judicial review reveals a long list of misgivings of such constraints on domestic democratic decision making...

Book: ?World Rule: Accountability, Legitimacy, and the Design of Global Governance?

Posted on September 15, 2010
International Law Reporter: "Jonathan G.S. Koppell (Arizona State Univ. - Public Affairs) has published World Rule: Accountability, Legitimacy, and the Design of Global Governance (Univ. of Chicago Press 2010). Here's the abstract: . . . 'Analyzing four aspects of GGO organization in depth?representation and administration, the rulemaking process, adherence and enforcement, and interest group participation?Koppell describes variation systemically, identifies patterns, and offers explanations that link GGO design to the fundamental challenge of accountability in global governance...

Law Review: How Should the Third World See Constitutionalism in International Law?

Posted on September 15, 2010
Prabhakar Singh, How Should the Third World See Constitutionalism in International Law? (July 20, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1645720 "A survey of international law scholarship throws up three kinds of approaches: constitutional, pluralistic and global administrative law (GAL)...

ACLU announces historic fundraising success

Posted on September 15, 2010
ACLU: "Through its Leading Freedom Forward campaign, the ACLU raised $407 million over the last five years, far surpassing its original goal of $250 million. The campaign was launched in January 2005 with the goal of raising $100 million in cash gifts and $150 million in planned giving...

NY: Menorah may stay, but without public money, court rules

Posted on September 15, 2010
Poughkeepsie Journal: "An 18-foot menorah that has adorned downtown Poughkeepsie for the past 20 holiday seasons may remain on city property when it goes up again this year, a state appellate court has affirmed. But the court also ruled the city may not spend public funds to help Rabbi Yacov Borenstein assemble the menorah or take it down...

Comes a Horseman: Roosevelt versus the Supreme Court

Posted on September 15, 2010
Timothy Sandefur writing at National Review Online: "Franklin Roosevelt?s clash with the Supreme Court is one of history's greatest legal dramas, but it has generated an unfair and misleading mythology. In this legend, the Court greeted the New Deal with a blast of reactionary decisions in 1935 and 1936 ...

NY: Activists cry foul over ultra-Orthodox chicken ritual

Posted on September 15, 2010
The Oklahoman (RNS): "Animal rights activists, health officials and mainstream Jews all cry foul over a sacrificial rite conducted by ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities every fall, but most practitioners remain unruffled by the outcry." Via Religion Clause.

Chinese think tank warns US it will emerge as loser in trade war

Posted on September 15, 2010
Telegraph: "A State Council think-tank in China has warned Washington that the US will come off worst in a trade war if it imposes sanctions against Beijing over the two nations' currency spat."

Chinese opposition activist released from prison

Posted on September 15, 2010
Associated Press: "Wu Yilong was one of dozens of dissidents detained in 1998 after attempting to register the China Democracy Party in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The attempt was crushed six months later with leading organizers sentenced to up to 13 years in prison, most on the vaguely defined charge of incitement to subvert state power...

German book channels public?s immigrant angst

Posted on September 15, 2010
Associated Press: "Thilo Sarrazin was a board member of Germany's august central bank until he wrote a book claiming German society was being made 'dumber' by Muslim immigrants. It's a runaway best-seller, but has cost him his job . . . his core argument resonates among many ordinary Germans, who fear that their language, culture and generosity are being abused by welfare-dependent newcomers, many of them Muslims...

5 killed as India looks to end unrest in Kashmir

Posted on September 15, 2010
Associated Press: "Indian police opened fire Wednesday on Muslim demonstrators in a town near Kashmir, killing four people and wounding 30 as leaders of India's main political parties debated how to end months of separatist protests in the region."

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