Religion & Law

Chile senator, a socialist, to sponsor bill to redefine marriage

Posted on August 02, 2010
Reuters: "The head of Chile's Socialist party, Fulvio Rossi, told reporters on Sunday that he planned to sponsor a bill to legalize gay marriage in the country, as occurred last month in neighboring Argentina."

FDA OKs first embryonic stem cell research trial on humans, despite concerns

Posted on July 30, 2010
LifeNews: "The Obama administration has approved the bid by cloning company Geron to undertake the first trial involving the use of embryonic stem cells in humans. They have never been used before in people because the cells cause tumors and have immune system rejection issues when tried in animals...

China becomes second biggest world economy

Posted on July 30, 2010
CNBC: "China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty."

Philippines: Parents drop sex-ed suit

Posted on July 30, 2010
Manila Standard Today: "The legal battle over the Education Department?s plan to introduce sex education in public schools is over, at least for now, after Church-based oppositors withdrew their suit Thursday."

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UK: Christian zoo approved for school trips

Posted on July 30, 2010
Telegraph: "Noah?s Ark Zoo Farm, near Bristol, which supports the view that life was created by a divine force, is among a series of attractions to be awarded an official education kitemark. The zoo?s website says science has attempted to 'remove any notion of God from our understanding of life'...

NJ: Hebrew charter school gets go-ahead from state

Posted on July 30, 2010
New Jersey Jewish News: "New Jersey?s first Hebrew-language charter school has been given the final go-ahead by the state to open in September."

WI: Grand Rapids looks to regulate sexually oriented businesses

Posted on July 30, 2010
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: "Members of the Grand Rapids Legislative Committee are drafting an ordinance to regulate adult entertainment and adult-oriented businesses, Town Board Chairman Don Bohn said."

WV: Judge denies sexually oriented businesses appeal for liquor license

Posted on July 30, 2010
The Charleston Gazette: "On Tuesday, Kanawha Circuit Judge Carrie Webster upheld a 2009 ruling by the Kanawha County Board of Zoning Appeals, which denied the club's efforts to get its liquor license reinstated."

Gamer sends boy porn over Xbox

Posted on July 30, 2010
First Coast News: "A Texas mother is outraged after her 11-year-old son was sent pornography by an online gamer he met while playing his Xbox."

No Christianity please, we?re academics

Posted on July 30, 2010
Timothy Larsen writing at Inside Higher Ed: "[S]cholars ought to be concerned that Christians often report that the academy is a hostile environment. Are academics generally glad that such a perception exists? If not, how might it be dispelled? If it is based on genuine experiences, what can be done about a climate that tolerates religious discrimination? If the two stories presented here are merely assailable, anecdotal evidence, then why not gather information on this issue more systematically? Do academic institutions ever try to discover if their Christian students or scholars experience discrimination?"

David French: A victory for academic freedom at the University of Illinois

Posted on July 30, 2010
ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: "Yesterday afternoon, the University of Illinois reinstated Prof. Kenneth Howell and made clear that he could teach the same class, Introduction to Catholicism, that he taught before he was fired. NRO readers will recall that the university fired Professor Howell after he taught his class about Catholic beliefs regarding sexual morality...

D.C. promotes free female condoms in Metrobus ads

Posted on July 30, 2010
Washington Examiner: "The District has become one of the first cities in the nation to distribute female condoms for free, and the Washington AIDS Partnership has rolled out a campaign to use the condoms as a way to combat the spread of HIV."

India?s surrogate mothers face new rules

Posted on July 30, 2010
Guardian: "The Confederation of Indian Industry predicts [surrogacy] will generate $2.3bn (£1.5bn) annually by 2012. A recent report by the Indian Law Commission described it as a 'pot of gold'. Radical legislation is to be introduced to bring some order to this booming but almost unregulated sector...

Muslim court clause brings spotlight in Kenya vote

Posted on July 30, 2010
Associated Press: "A draft constitution that Kenya votes on next week guarantees women the same rights as men - unless a judge in a Muslim family court decrees otherwise."

Minority Islamic sect under fire in Indonesia

Posted on July 30, 2010
Associated Press: "A minority Islamic sect told followers Friday to prepare for war after rock-throwing mobs attacked one of their mosques in central Indonesia, calling its members heretics."

6th Circuit denies en banc review in Ten Commandments case

Posted on July 30, 2010
Religion Clause: "The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday denied en banc review in ACLU of Kentucky v. McCreary County (full text of court order). In the case, a majority of a 6th Circuit panel (see prior posting) approved issuance of a permanent injunction against display of the 10 Commandments along with other historical documents that refer to God in two Kentucky county court houses...

?Judge?s ruling allows dismissal of homophobic counseling student?

Posted on July 30, 2010
SDGLN: "A group of Christian lawyers helping to represent Ward, the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement on Tuesday that they plan to appeal the judge?s ruling. 'Christian students shouldn?t be penalized for holding to their beliefs,' ADF Senior Counsel David French said, according to AllianceDefenseFund...

University of Illinois reinstates Dr. Kenneth Howell

Posted on July 30, 2010
Peoria Catholicism Examiner: "The Alliance Defense Fund received a letter from University of Illinois officials Thursday confirming that Dr. Kenneth Howell will be reinstated as an adjunct professor for the Fall of 2010."

UI offers Kenneth Howell teaching job again

Posted on July 30, 2010
The News Gazette: "'We're extremely pleased that Dr. Howell is back in the classroom,' said [David Hacker], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund. 'But we'll be watching carefully to make sure his academic freedom is protected through this ongoing process...

?Open season? leaving Christians? rights unprotected

Posted on July 30, 2010
OneNewsNow: "[Jordan Lorence], senior counsel with ADF, is disappointed by the federal judge's decision [in Ward v. Eastern Michigan University] because, as he says, 'it basically has no respect for the right of conscience of Christians or other people who have sincere beliefs about the proper definition of marriage and whether certain sexual behaviors can be immoral...

U. of I. instructor fired over Catholic church teachings offered another job

Posted on July 30, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times: "'We're extremely pleased that Dr. Howell is back in the classroom,' [David Hacker] said. 'But we'll be watching carefully to make sure his academic freedom is protected through this ongoing process.'"

LA college district tries to use UC Hastings ruling in its free-speech case

Posted on July 30, 2010
California Watch: "The Los Angeles Community College District is trying to use the Hastings ruling to bolster its defense in a speech code case, in which a college professor mocked a student who was speaking about his Christian faith in class . . . [David Hacker], an attorney for Alliance Defense Fund who is representing Jonathan Lopez, responded with a letter of his own, saying the college district had misinterpreted the Hastings ruling...

A separation and a return at U of I

Posted on July 30, 2010
Inside Higher Ed: "A lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, a group that defends religious students and faculty members, and that is representing Howell, said that the organization was much more concerned about his continued teaching than about the link between the university and the Newman Center ...

Fired for being Catholic? ? Update

Posted on July 30, 2010
First Things / First Thoughts: "Dr. Kenneth Howell, the professor from the University of Illinois who lost his job for his explanation to his Introduction to Catholicism class of the Catholic Church?s teaching on homosexuality, will be allowed to continue teaching the course this fall, according to a letter, dated July 28, from the University to the Alliance Defense Fund...

Adjunct professor Howell offered reinstatement

Posted on July 30, 2010
Daily Illini: "'We?re extremely pleased that Dr. Howell is back in the classroom and will be teaching this fall,' said [David Hacker], litigation staff counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which has been providing support for Howell since his dismissal...

U. of I. reinstates Catholic professor

Posted on July 30, 2010
Chicago Tribune: "[Jordan Lorence], an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal consortium representing Howell, commended university officials for reconsidering their actions and reinstating the associate professor. 'The university has righted the wrong by letting Ken Howell back into the classroom,' Lorence said...

U. of Illinois retains controversial Catholicism instructor but ends church role in hiring

Posted on July 30, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers that has represented Mr. Howell, issued a statement in which its senior counsel, [David French], said, 'We greatly appreciate the university's move to put Professor Howell back in the classroom, but we will be watching carefully to make sure that his academic freedom is protected throughout the university's ongoing process...

Mayors urged to resist atheists? demands to drop invocations

Posted on July 30, 2010
Christian Post: "Attorneys with a Christian legal firm have urged mayors in South Carolina and Florida not to give in to the demands of atheists by removing Christian invocations from their council meetings. '[W]e write to assure you that the Constitution clearly still protects the cherished practice of opening invocations,' Brett Harvey, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, wrote in a letter to Mayor Gow Fields of Lakeland, Fla...

Fired Catholic professor reinstated at University of Illinois

Posted on July 30, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "In Howell's defense, the ADF declared that the First Amendment exists to keep controversial ideas from being suppressed. 'A university cannot censor professors' speech--including classroom speech related to the topic of the class--merely because certain ideas "offend" an anonymous student,' said ADF Senior Counsel [David French]...

David Hacker: University of Illinois reinstates Dr. Kenneth Howell

Posted on July 30, 2010
ADF Attorney David J. Hacker, writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "The University?s letter warns that Dr. Howell may not 'violate the Constitutional principles precluding the "establishment of religion" in a public university context.' It seems the University has not yet learned its lesson...

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