Religion & Law

Court rules NY town can open public meetings with prayer

Posted on August 06, 2010
ADF attorneys secure favorable decision in legal attack filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Nominee for 4th Circuit among handful of judges confirmed

Posted on August 06, 2010
The Blog of LegalTimes: "As one of its last acts before skipping out of Washington for a month, the U.S. Senate late Thursday confirmed James Wynn Jr., a North Carolina state judge, to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. It also confirmed three district court judges and nine U...

Southern Baptist minister in runoff for U.S. House in Georgia?s 7th District

Posted on August 06, 2010
Macon.com (AP): "[Jody Hice] finished second in Georgia's July 20 primary, when he faced seven other Republicans competing for a chance to succeed retiring GOP Rep. John Linder. As the runner-up, he advances to a Tuesday runoff against front-runner Rob Woodall, Linder's former chief of staff ...

Ken Blackwell: Marriage and the Constitution

Posted on August 06, 2010
Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski writing at Townhall: "Although not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, marriage is an implied fundamental right. The test for whether a right is a fundamental right is whether it is rooted in the history and tradition of the American people, and essential to an Anglo-American scheme of ordered liberty ...

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Pat Buchanan: The Mosque at Ground Zero

Posted on August 06, 2010
Pat Buchanan writing at Townhall: "But the issue here is not religious tolerance. There are a hundred mosques in New York City. The issue here is the appalling insensitivity, if not calculated insult, of erecting a mosque two blocks from a World Trade Center where 3,000 Americans were massacred by Islamic fanatics whose Muslim religion was integral to their identity and mission...

Suits against Scientology by 2 Sea Org members dismissed under ministerial exception

Posted on August 06, 2010
Religion Clause: In Claire Headley v. Church of Scientology International, (CD CA, Aug. 5, 2010), plaintiff was a member of Scientology's Sea Org. Sea Org members live communally, are assigned physically difficult tasks, and are subject to strict discipline...

Hugh Hewitt: The ?who decides? election

Posted on August 06, 2010
"August is off to an interesting start, with liberal elites telling large majorities of Americans that they are bigots if they oppose a mosque at Ground Zero or same sex marriage in California."

ACS: Dramatic victory for same-sex ?marriage? in California . . . but what?s next?

Posted on August 06, 2010
American Constitution Society: "If upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, which almost certainly wouldn't address this case for at least two years (if it hears an appeal in this case at all), the legal approach taken by Judge Walker would have a dramatic impact across the nation...

California Governor: Brown (D) 43%, Whitman (R) 41%

Posted on August 06, 2010
Rasmussen: "The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Brown with 43% support and Whitman earning 41% of the vote. Six percent (6%) prefer another candidate, and 10% are undecided."

Marriage before nation?s largest appeals court ? panel draw could decide the case

Posted on August 06, 2010
Associated Press: "They said the political makeup of the three-judge panel will make all the difference, playing even a bigger role than Walker's opinion in shaping the future of gay marriage. Legal experts said the case could easily end with a politically conservative panel of the 9th Circuit reinstating the marriage ban and the U...

TX: Care Net National Pregnancy Center Conference Sept. 8-11

Posted on August 06, 2010
Care Net National Pregnancy Center Conference

Ariz. pastors indicted for not reporting sex abuse

Posted on August 06, 2010
Associated Press: "Two Phoenix pastors have been indicted for not reporting that a girl told them her father was sexually abusing her and her sister."

Judge?s personal life debated after marriage ruling

Posted on August 06, 2010
Associated Press: "Rumors have circulated for months that Walker is gay, fueled by the blogosphere and a San Francisco Chronicle column that stated his sexual orientation was an 'open secret' in legal and gay activism circles."

American religious right group invited into the UN

Posted on August 06, 2010
National Secular Society (UK): "ADF lawyer [Roger Kiska], who is located in Croatia, said . . . 'It means that we become players with all of the draft committees on conventions and treaties, from things like the international criminal court statutes to things potentially like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, where we as legal experts can come in and provide input on the things that we feel are important...

SC town adopts ADF-recommended prayer policy in wake of threats from atheist group

Posted on August 06, 2010
The city of Woodruff adopted an invocations policy Tuesday recommended by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, which ensures local officials can continue their constitutionally protected practice of prayer before public meetings despite recent threats from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Austin R. Nimocks: Federal court declares most Americans a bunch of bigots

Posted on August 06, 2010
"Judge Vaughn Walker ruled, among other things, that not one single person who voted for Proposition 8 had any rational reason for so doing. Yes, if you voted in favor of marriage in any of the states that have taken up this question, you?ve now been officially labeled as an irrational bigot, your voice being 'nothing more than a fear or unarticulated dislike of same-sex couples,' according to Judge Walker...

California?s Proposition 8 overturned, Christian leaders respond

Posted on August 06, 2010
Crosswalk: "'It's not just marriage that was put on trial,' said [Daniel Blomerg], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, 'but the fundamental freedom of having your vote count and having the liberty to express and live by your religious beliefs...

Judge Vaughn Walker rules Proposition 8 unconstitutional

Posted on August 06, 2010
Daily Bruin: "'Essentially, in America, we respect the right for free people to make policy choices through the democratic system ? in this case, defining marriage between a man and a woman,' said Sara Tappen, litigation counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal alliance that defended the proposition in court...

Prop. 8 judge must now decide whether to lift his own stay

Posted on August 06, 2010
Chicago Pride: "Attorneys with the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund said they will go to the Supreme Court if necessary to keep the stay in place while Walker's decision is appealed."

School reinstates professor after firing him over Catholic teachings on sexuality

Posted on August 06, 2010
The Christian Post: "'A university cannot censor professors? speech ? including classroom speech related to the topic of the class ? merely because certain ideas ?offend? an anonymous student,' commented ADF Senior Counsel [David French]."

After marriage ruling, uncertainty still lingers

Posted on August 06, 2010
New York Times: "'We?re working very closely with the county clerk?s office to make sure that everybody who wants to get married Friday, if the stay is removed, can do so,' Mr. Ting said Thursday in an interview . . . [Jim Campbell], a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, which defended Proposition 8, said that if a stay was not issued, 'uncertainty' from any same-sex marriages would be 'harmful to the public interest' while the case was under appeal...

Prop 8 judge could hold off longer on enforcing decision

Posted on August 06, 2010
Sacramento Bee: "Judge Vaughn R. Walker ? who found the measure unconstitutional ? may take additional time to decide whether to keep a temporary stay on his judgment in place . . . 'We'll even go up to the U.S. Supreme Court to get a stay,' said [Austin Nimocks], attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona group that helped defend Proposition 8 before Walker...

ABA does not speak for all lawyers on same-sex ?marriage,? says ADF

Posted on August 06, 2010
The Christian Post: "'The fact that ADF and other lawyers disagree with ABA on a number of controversial issues demonstrates the gross inaccuracy of ABA?s claim that it speaks for the U.S. legal profession,' remarked ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Doug Napier], who resigned from the ABA because of its stance on controversial political issues...

Louisiana Abortion Providers Challenge New Ultrasound and Malpractice Law

Posted on August 06, 2010
Center for Reproductive Rights: "Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a federal challenge against two abortion restrictions recently passed by the Louisiana state legislature. One measure excludes doctors who perform abortion services from participating in a medical malpractice fund administered by the state even though that coverage is provided to all other medical professionals...

CA: Schwarzenegger, AG call for resumption of same-sex weddings

Posted on August 06, 2010
"California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown filed motions Friday calling for resumption of same-sex weddings in the state."

Army gags officer challenging Obama eligibility

Posted on August 06, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "A decorated military officer who is challenging ? in military court ? President Obama's eligibility to be president was taken into custody and escorted under guard back to Walter Reed Army Base today after a hearing, apparently so he could not talk to the press or his attorney about his case, according to his defense attorney...

Peter Sprigg: Does Lawrence v. Texas imply a right to same-sex ?marriage??

Posted on August 06, 2010
Peter Sprigg writing at the FRC Blog: "This week San Francisco federal Judge Vaughn Walker, in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects a right of same-sex couples to 'marry.' This has sparked speculation about how the case might fare on appeal if and when it reaches the Supreme Court...

?Gay and lesbian market in the U.S.?? $743 billion in estimated 2010 buying power

Posted on August 06, 2010
PR-USA.net: "Gay and lesbian consumers are more optimistic than many Americans about the overall direction of the country, its future economic growth, the job market and their own personal financial condition, according to survey results published in 'Gay and Lesbian Market in the U...

Iceland: ?Reykjavik?s mayor opens gay pride in drag?

Posted on August 06, 2010
Yahoo (AFP): "Reykjavik's comedian-turned-politician mayor, Jon Gnarr, opened the Icelandic capital's gay pride festival this week in drag, in a blond wig and with bright red lipstick."

Dan McLaughlin: Judge Walker is trying to have it both ways

Posted on August 06, 2010
The New Ledger: "(1) Judge Walker?s decision is internally, logically inconsistent in its treatment of the worth of cultural values, arguing that morality and tradition are not a valid basis for supporting the legal status of marriage, but at the same time finding a Constitutional violation from the fact that the same-sex alternative (domestic partnerships) lacks the social and cultural status that marriage has ...

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