Religion & Law

2 men sentenced in Ind. for online child porn ring

Posted on August 19, 2010
Associated Press: "A Baltimore man who helped run an online message board where members shared millions of child pornography images insisted Wednesday that he only took part so he could bust the ring . . . He was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday along with another ring member...

New York?s ban on Sunday service of process only applies if service interrupts person?s Sabbath

Posted on August 19, 2010
Religion Clause: "New York's General Business Law, Sec. 11, prohibits service of process in civil cases on Sundays. However in Carbon Capital Management, LLC v American Express Co., (Sup. Ct. NY Nassau, July 29, 2010), a New York trial court upheld the validity of service on Sunday on the concierge in defendant's apartment builiding...

President bypasses Senate, appoints openly ?gay? man to HHS

Posted on August 19, 2010
HRC: Today President Obama appointed Richard Sorian as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services. | White House press release

Bioethics Defense Fund: Louisiana Court Victory for Ultrasound Before Abortion Act

Posted on August 19, 2010
"Yesterday, a Temporary Restraining Order entered against the Louisiana ?Ultrasound Before Abortion Act? at the request of New York abortion lawyers was dissolved by order of a federal court judge. Bioethics Defense Fund, a public-interest legal organization that drafted the legislation and provided legal consultation in the court proceedings, applauded the court?s ruling allowing the ultrasound law to into effect immediately...

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GA: Virtual school denials upheld

Posted on August 19, 2010
Morris News Service: "The State Board of Education upheld the denial of two online schools Tuesday, frustrating parents seeking options for their children. The board met to allow members to consider granting charters for Georgia Virtual Academy and Mercury Online Academy, which the Georgia Charter Schools Commission denied in June...

Luxembourg: Minister of Justice proposes opening marriage to same-sex couples

Posted on August 19, 2010
GGG.at [Google translation]: "The government proposal for a new marriage law in Luxembourg provides an opening of marriage for lesbians and gay men in the Grand Duchy. In the presentation, the Minister of Justice François Biltgen on 10 August has brought into Parliament, it says in the article of the Civil Code: 'Two persons of opposite or same sex may enter into a marriage...

David Limbaugh: The judiciary?s culturally sanctioned allergy to Christianity flourishes

Posted on August 19, 2010
St. Louis Globe and Democrat: "One very recent example is the ruling by a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that memorial crosses erected and displayed along Utah public roads to honor fallen state highway troopers must be removed as unconstitutional ...

Justice Department: NY school ?gay-bias? suit is valid

Posted on August 19, 2010
Watertown Daily Times: "The Justice Department has filed motion in U.S. District Court to participate in the case as an 'amicus curiae,' or friend of the court, essentially volunteering to help the court decide whether federal discrimination claims by former student Charles P...

CNN: Shifting attitudes take ?gay rights? fight across globe, experts say

Posted on August 19, 2010
CNN: "The trend is similar abroad, especially among younger people, said Suzanne Goldberg, a Columbia University law professor who heads the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. The center has handled asylum cases for gay people fleeing persecution in countries including Jamaica, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Ivory Coast...

MA: Amended judgment entered in GLAD?s DOMA challenge

Posted on August 19, 2010
San Diego Gay and Lesbian News: "An amended judgment was entered on Aug. 18 in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). Simultaneously, a stay was issued pending any appeal by the government to the U...

PA: Doylestown bans sex-orientation discrimination

Posted on August 19, 2010
The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Doylestown Borough has become the 17th government in Pennsylvania to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. By a unanimous, 9-0 vote, the Borough Council passed a law Monday night protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations...

Wisconsin: Citizens speak out against Healthy Youth Act in Mauston

Posted on August 19, 2010
Juneau County Star Times: "The controversial bill, signed into law by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle in February, requires schools that choose to teach human growth and development education provide students with a comprehensive curriculum - one that includes contraceptive devices and sexually transmitted diseases...

White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily

Posted on August 19, 2010
Associated Press: "The White House says President Barack Obama is a Christian who prays daily."

Argentinean bishops list concerns about impact of same-sex ?marriage? on schools

Posted on August 19, 2010
Catholic News Agency: ?'The law poses new challenges to the Church: how to confront this new reality in education, particularly in Catholic schools, with teachers and with students.  And also how to address the issue in families,' the priest said."

MSNBC rejects anti-Target ad from MoveOn.org

Posted on August 19, 2010
Associated Press: "MSNBC rejected a TV ad calling for a boycott of Target Corp. after the retail giant made a political donation in Minnesota, continuing the controversy over corporate involvement in elections."

CA: Deputies remove Prop 8 protesters from clerk?s office

Posted on August 19, 2010
"San Diego sheriff?s deputies cuffed and removed several protesters at the County Clerk?s Office on the day that same-sex marriages were supposed to resume . . . Three people sat in front of one door and blocked several heterosexual couples from entering...

UK: Pupils given condoms in goodie bags

Posted on August 19, 2010
UKPA: "Pupils collecting their A-level results were given goodie bags containing condoms and chlamydia tests at schools. The 'summer savvy' bag put together by NHS Northamptonshire was aimed at reducing the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)...

UK court condemns council?s low-IQ forced contraception plan

Posted on August 19, 2010
UKPA: "A council's plan to force contraception upon a woman with a low IQ was 'essentially a horrendous prospect' that has 'shades of social engineering', a judge has said . . . The judge's decision was published by the Court of Protection . . . The council, which also cannot be named, originally wanted to force contraception on a married woman who has an IQ of 53...

AR: El Dorado registered nurse charged with unlawful abortion waives first court appearance

Posted on August 19, 2010
El Dorado News-Times: "The El Dorado registered nurse who has been charged with performing an unlawful abortion on a 20-year-old El Dorado resident waived her first appearance Wednesday in Union County District Court."

Human Rights Watch incorrectly charges Argentina with treaty violations over abortion

Posted on August 19, 2010
C-FAM: "A report released last week by the human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch promotes abortion in Argentina and criticizes Argentina for not complying with international law . . . The report erroneously cites several international human rights treaties and committees ...

UK: Ruling could force RC adoption agency closure

Posted on August 19, 2010
The Christian Institute: "[T]he Charity Commission has rejected Catholic Care?s case and told it to either close down its adoption service or alter its stance on same-sex adoption . . . The decision is the latest development in a long running legal battle to protect the agency?s religious liberty ...

How 1997 ruling might thwart Prop. 8 appeal

Posted on August 18, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle: "Hardly anyone noticed when the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1997 that it had 'grave doubts' that the sponsors of a ballot measure - in that case, an English-only initiative for government agencies in Arizona - had the right to defend the law in federal court...

Green Bay OKs Velp Avenue site for mosque

Posted on August 18, 2010
Green Bay Press Gazette: "After a sharp debate about religious freedom, the Green Bay City Council agreed Tuesday to allow a mosque in a former bait-and-tackle shop on Velp Avenue."

Congressional candidate: Islam is against everything America stands for

Posted on August 18, 2010
Northwest Florida Daily News: "'I'm totally against it. If I had my way, it would pretty much be over my dead body,' said Ron McNeil, a candidate for the U.S. House District 2 seat, who was referring to a controversial plan to build an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City...

Islam sign disappears from mosque site

Posted on August 18, 2010
Fox News: "A sign that said 'Islam is welcome here' has mysteriously disappeared from the planned site of the Muslim mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan."

US spending $16,000 for imam?s Mideast tour

Posted on August 18, 2010
Associated Press: "The State Department says it will spend about $16,000 on a religious outreach trip to the Middle East for the imam behind plans for a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks."

ADF files suit to stop violation of Wis. marriage amendment

Posted on August 18, 2010
"Alliance Defense Fund attorneys together with allied attorneys representing Wisconsin Family Action officers and board members filed suit in state court Wednesday to stop the governor and state legislature from skirting a voter-approved constitutional amendment protecting marriage...

Danes see Islam as obstacle to society?survey

Posted on August 18, 2010
Global Nation: "A majority of Danes fear Islam is an obstacle for social cohesion, despite one in two believing that immigration is positive for Danish society, according to a study published Tuesday. In a survey by the Ramboell institute, some 54.9 percent believe that Islam hinders social harmony, while 39...

David J. Theroux: C. S. Lewis on mere liberty and the evils of statism, part 1

Posted on August 18, 2010
David J. Theroux writing at Patheos: "For decades, some Christians, both 'conservative' and 'liberal,' have unfortunately embraced an ill-conceived 'progressive' (i.e., authoritarian) vision to wield intrusive government powers as an unquestionable and even sanctified calling for both domestic and international matters, abandoning the Christian, natural-law tradition in moral ethics and economics...

Coptic blogger in Egypt released from prison after being held two years without charge

Posted on August 18, 2010
Religion News Blog (Compass News Direct): "A Coptic Christian blogger arrested in Egypt on false charges of insulting Islam, then held for almost two years without charge under the country?s Emergency Law, has been released from prison."

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