Religion & Law

UK: ?Bishop on same-sex marriage: not now, not ever??

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Herald: "The Catholic Church will never celebrate same-sex unions ? 'not now, not in the future, not ever' ? even if the law changes to allow religious celebrants to conduct gay marriages, the Bishop of Paisley, Philip Tartaglia, has told the Prime Minister...

Texas mom challenges transgender widow?s marriage

Posted on July 23, 2010
MSNBC (AP): "The family of a southeast Texas firefighter killed in a July 4 blaze has sued to void his marriage to his transgender widow and prevent her from getting his death benefits because she was born a man and Texas doesn't recognize same-sex marriages...

Erik Stanley: Poll: 48% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the church

Posted on July 23, 2010
ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "A new Gallup poll shows how much confidence Americans have in their institutions. The big news from the poll is the very low confidence rating Americans have in Congress ? only a shocking 11% of those polled have great confidence in Congress as an institution...

College punished her for anti-gay views, student claims

Posted on July 23, 2010
Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Keeton is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian attorneys. The suit accuses Augusta State officials of violating Keeton's First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion...

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David Hacker: Professor receives $100,000, exoneration in settlement; court rejects Garcetti?s application to faculty speech

Posted on July 23, 2010
ADF Attorney David Hacker writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "So while the District promised freedom, it still wanted the right to censor and punish faculty for speech it disliked. This is a dangerous position that all faculty should be concerned about, lest they fall into the same trap as Professor Sheldon...

At closing arguments, Log Cabin Republicans ask for halt to ?don?t ask, don?t tell?

Posted on July 23, 2010
Associated Press: "Lawyers for a Republican gay rights organization asked a federal judge Friday to issue an injunction halting the military's ban on openly gay service members. Government lawyers countered by warning U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips not to overstep her bounds while ruling on the lawsuit by the Log Cabin Republicans...

What do the White House?s faith offices do, exactly?

Posted on July 23, 2010
Michelle Boorstein writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: "I've been requesting access to even a few of these offices for more than six months, but am getting nowhere with the White House. And the people who run the offices aren't allowed to say three words to a reporter...

NJ: Church sues Pemberton Borough over zoning restriction

Posted on July 23, 2010
Courier-Post: "In a lawsuit filed on July 16, the Apostolic Church of Deliverance accuses the borough of violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. ... The complaint asserts that the borough permits only those uses outlined under the municipal zoning code...

Kansas AG highlighting new child porn restitution law

Posted on July 23, 2010
KansasCity.com (AP): "The law was approved by the 2010 Legislature and paves the way for victims of child porn to sue those who exploited them. Victims can seek damages of at least $150,000 from those involved in producing, promoting and possessing the pornography...

Defense officials investigated for child porn

Posted on July 23, 2010
CNN: "Several dozen current, former and contracted employees of the U.S. Defense Department may have put national security at risk by accessing and purchasing child pornography, government documents showed Friday."

U.S. same-sex couples banned from adopting Russian children

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Moscow Times: "A new round of U.S.-Russian negotiations on child adoptions that started Wednesday in Moscow swiftly decided that same-sex U.S. couples would be banned from adopting Russian children. Only heterosexual married couples will be permitted to adopt children, as Russia does not recognize same-sex marriages, said Alina Levitskaya, a senior official at the Education and Science Ministry, Interfax reported...

State board votes to tap Texas? public education fund to help build charter schools

Posted on July 23, 2010
Dallas Morning News: "A sharply divided State Board of Education opened the door today to tapping the state's education trust fund for charter school facilities, despite warnings that the action could harm the fund. Pushed by the board's social conservative bloc, the decision could allow up to $100 million of the Permanent School Fund to be used to construct or purchase buildings that would be leased to some of the state's 460 independent charter schools...

Nevada Sen. Ensign opposing Kagan for high court

Posted on July 23, 2010
Las Vegas Sun: "Citing a lack of support for the U.S. military and 'demonstrated hostility' toward gun rights, Sen. John Ensign said Friday he will vote against the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Maine Republican Sen. Collins to back Kagan

Posted on July 23, 2010
Associated Press: "Republican Senator Susan Collins says she'll vote to confirm Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court justice."

Tory MP: ?Christians have had enough?

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Christians have had enough of being treated as second class citizens, a Conservative MP has warned during a Parliamentary debate. The stark warning from Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, is likely to be welcomed by many Christians who feel that their faith is often marginalised in the public sphere...

Ofsted report: schools not talking to parents about sex ed

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Parents are 'rarely' consulted about their children?s lessons involving sex education, a new Ofsted report has said. The study, by the Government?s schools inspectorate, found that some schools were failing to help children to 'say no' to sex, in their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons...

UK: MSP launches new plan to outlaw prostitution

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "New plans to criminalise prostitution in Scotland will be launched in the autumn, following a consultation with relevant groups. Trish Godman, Labour MSP for West Renfrewshire, has asked clerks to draw up a list of agencies that should be consulted ahead of a bill being drafted...

?The time has come for the Supreme Court to carefully examine the ?ministerial exception??

Posted on July 23, 2010
Marci A. Hamilton writing at FindLaw: "[T]his is a doctrine that pits anti-discrimination laws (that is, Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and their state counterparts) against religious-liberty claims. There is now a significant split among the courts regarding several aspects of the doctrine, and, therefore, it is time for the Court to weigh in...

NJ: Christie vetoes bill restoring $7.5M grant for family planning

Posted on July 23, 2010
NJ.com: "Gov. Chris Christie vetoed legislation today that would have restored $7.5 million in grants for 58 clinics providing birth control and basic health care to uninsured people, a decision some Democrats lawmakers say they intend to overturn."

Popularity of morning-after pills fuels concerns in India

Posted on July 23, 2010
AFP: "Heavy use of 'morning-after' pills is causing concern in India where the government has banned ads criticised for promoting them as a primary contraceptive rather than an emergency measure."

FactCheck.org confirms: Obamacare dollars were set to fund abortions before controversy

Posted on July 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The non-partisan fact-checking site FactCheck.org has vindicated the National Right to Life Committee's (NRLC) claim that federal monies were on the brink of funding abortions in state high-risk insurance pools before the matter was exposed by NRLC, prompting the Obama administration to retroactively enforce Hyde-amendment restrictions...

ABC Family has second highest proportion of ?gay friendly? hours

Posted on July 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "ABC Family, which was founded in 1977 as an extension of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcast Network, has earned a 'good' rating from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for its 'LGBT-inclusive' programming, which took up 37% of its original prime time programming over the 2009-2010 season...

PA: Two Brigham clinics cease abortion operations

Posted on July 23, 2010
Operation Rescue: "A representative of the Pennsylvania Health Department contacted Operation Rescue today with additional information on the status of the ordered closure of four Pennsylvania abortion clinics operated by disgraced abortionist Steven Chase Brigham...

Canadian politicians seek positive alternatives to euthanasia and assisted suicide

Posted on July 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Following the sound defeat of a bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada?s Parliament this spring, dozens of the country?s MPs ? representing all parties ? have come together to address the root causes that lead some of Canada?s vulnerable to desire their own deaths...

UK: Bideford Council accepts legal firm?s offer in prayers row

Posted on July 23, 2010
North Devon Gazette (July 15): "Bideford Town Council has agreed to accept an offer from a Manchester-based law firm to act on its behalf free of charge if a battle over the saying of prayers at meetings goes to court. The firm of Aughton Ainsworth made the offer after the National Secular Society announced its intention to seek a Judicial Review to end the saying of prayers as part of the Bideford council meetings...

House liberals slam abortion limits in high-risk pools

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Hill: "A group of 21 liberal House Democrats on Friday warned the Obama administration that new limits on abortion coverage in high-risk pools will put vulnerable women in jeopardy of losing needed care. ... Earlier this month, the White House made waves by announcing that high-risk insurance pools ? designed to cover sick Americans who have been denied private insurance ? can?t cover elective abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother?s life is threatened by the pregnancy...

Nebraska AG may not fully defend new abortion screening law

Posted on July 23, 2010
LifeNews: "Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said in a radio interview today that he may not fully defend a new state law that helps women obtain more information about abortion risks. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed a lawsuit against a bill supported by pro-life advocates...

GOP candidates for GA gov clash on abortion taxes

Posted on July 23, 2010
Rome News-Tribune (AP): "The responses from former Secretary of State Karen Handel and former Congressman Nathan Deal before a group of Republican women offered a preview of the campaign ahead of an Aug. 10 runoff. Unofficial results show Handel winning 34 percent of the GOP vote on Tuesday, while Deal garnered nearly 23 percent...

Freedom of conscience in a Catholic hospital

Posted on July 22, 2010
Susan Jacoby writing at Big Questions Online: "[My mother] has explicitly told my brother and me, who have the legal power to make her health-care decisions if she is no longer able to do so, that she wants nothing done to keep her alive if her mind is gone...

Robert Wright v. Robert George on moral reasoning and the natural law

Posted on July 22, 2010
Big Questions Online: "In the first installment of his monthly 'diavlog' for BQO, Robert Wright discusses how we reason about the human good with Robert P. George of Princeton University, a leading scholar of modern natural law theory. Their hour-long conversation covers: Chapter 1: Natural law vs...

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