Religion & Law

?In Argentina, dueling protests over gay marriage?

Posted on July 14, 2010
AP:  "Thousands of demonstrators opposed to same-sex marriage have gathered outside Argentina's congress ahead of a key vote by lawmakers . . . "

Opponents pack hearing on mosque near ground zero

Posted on July 14, 2010
AP: "Dozens of opponents and some supporters of a mosque planned near ground zero attended a raucous hearing Tuesday about whether the building where the Muslim place of worship would be created warrants designation as a city landmark and should be protected from development...

Four cases potentially headed to the Court including FCC ruling

Posted on July 14, 2010
SCOTUS Blog has this coverage yesterday's ruling in Fox News Television, Inc. v. FCC. It includes a brief summary of the case history. The Blog also posted this analysis of the ruling yesterday.

Alliance Defense Fund Demands U of Illinois Reinstate Catholic Professor

Posted on July 14, 2010
Catholic Tide: "Go straight to: Alliance Defense Fund Demands U of Illinois Reinstate Catholic Professor 'In relieving Dr. Howell of his teaching responsibilities, the University is firing him for teaching ?" (links to more coverage of the situation)

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Amtrak using taxpayer money to recruit homosexual passengers

Posted on July 14, 2010
FRC Action: "If there was ever proof that the Obama Administration has gone off the rails, it's Amtrak. For the first time in the train service's history, Amtrak has decided to spend a quarter-million dollars recruiting homosexual passengers. As you may know, Amtrak isn't a private business...

Texas: Marble Falls Library policy under fire

Posted on July 14, 2010
Austin News KXAN.com: "Burnet County Commissioners voted in favor of changing a Marble Falls Public Library policy this afternoon that states, 'Meetings in which a religious worship service are held are not permitted," after the Alliance Defense Fund , a non-profit Christian organization, charged it was religiously discriminatory...

Right Leaning Video Targets Three Senate Votes on Kagan

Posted on July 14, 2010
Political Cortex: "Now that Alabama Senate Republican Jeff Sessions has won a weeklong delay on the final vote to confirm Soliciter General Elena Kagan as a supreme court justice, a right leaning. tea party affiliated organization called Judicial Action Group or Jag, also based in Session's home state, is reportedly buying up commercial time for a new video ad aimed at swaying three important senate votes to 'no on Kagan...

Dems pick 3-bill plan

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Hill: "Democrats agreed to send the Wall Street reform conference report, an extension of unemployment benefits and legislation bolstering credit for small businesses to Obama?s desk in the next two weeks."

Cap and Ban

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog:  "The front page of USA Today claims: 'President Obama?s attempt to use the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to help propel comprehensive energy legislation has failed.' Don?t believe it for a second. On Monday the Obama administration reissued a ban on offshore oil drilling in the gulf after federal courts twice invalidated the first ban, calling it ?arbitrary and capricious...

Aiken, SC: City Council questioned on use of prayer

Posted on July 14, 2010
AikenStandard.com: "The Aiken City Council meeting on Monday night began a little differently - instead of the usual prayer said by a council member, a moment of silence was held. Mayor Fred Cavanaugh explained to the audience that they were having a silent prayer that evening because of a 'possible litigation,' and after their regular meeting, they were going into an executive session to discuss it ...

Religious clashes in eastern Nigeria kill four

Posted on July 14, 2010
Reuters: "At least four people have been killed in the northeastern Nigerian state of Taraba after security forces opened fire to quell clashes between Christian and Muslim youths, witnesses said on Wednesday."

Patients? health, pharmacists? conscience protected in Wash., court agrees to halt trial

Posted on July 14, 2010
The court issued the stay after the state pharmacy board agreed to propose revisions to its rules to allow what the pharmacists have sought from the beginning: to be allowed to refer patients seeking drugs that risk taking human life to other pharmacies.

NBC and CBS nix Ground Zero Mosque Ad

Posted on July 14, 2010
Powerline (ad video at the link): "From Ben Smith at Politico, we learn that NBC and CBS have refused to air a provocative ad by the National Republican Trust PAC that calls on Americans to oppose the building of a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site ...

Factbox: Senate poll averages by Real Clear Politics

Posted on July 14, 2010
Reuters: "Republicans must sweep nearly all of the competitive races to pick up the 10 seats needed for a majority in the Senate, where Democrats now hold a 58-41 edge . . . The polls show Republicans gaining seven seats in November. That would give Democrats a narrow 51-48 edge, with independent Charlie Crist winning in Florida ...

NPR: Health Law Sparks Abortion Fight In Pennsylvania

Posted on July 14, 2010
NPR: "The National Right to Life Committee, Family Research Council, and House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R-OH) are up in arms about what they contend is Pennsylvania's plan to provide abortion coverage to people who sign up for the state's new high-risk health insurance plan ...

Richard Epstein and John Yoo on the Bar Exam

Posted on July 14, 2010
Ilya Somin reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: "Richard Epstein and John Yoo have responded to Elizabeth Wurtzel?s critique of the bar exam, which I previously commented on here."

Brazil kids? bill would outlaw parental spankings

Posted on July 14, 2010
AP: "President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent a bill to Congress on Wednesday proposing that Brazil join the two dozen or so countries around the world that have moved to curb spanking."

USCCB: Fabric of Society Depends on Basic Legal Definition of Marriage Position Protects Roles of Fathers, Mothers Marriage Existed Before State, Not Open To Redefinition

Posted on July 14, 2010
USCCB: ?'To claim that defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman is somehow irrational, prejudiced, or even bigoted, is a great disservice not only to truth but to the good of our nation,' Archbishop Kurtz said. 'Marriage exists prior to the state and is not open to redefinition by the state...

Missouri Gov. Nixon allows abortion law to take effect

Posted on July 14, 2010
"Gov. Jay Nixon has allowed new requirements for Missouri abortion clinics to become law without his signature on the bill."

Firing of Illinois prof is further evidence of a culture intent on denying reality

Posted on July 14, 2010
Natural Moral Theory says that if we are to have healthy sexual lives, we must return to a connection between procreation and sex. Why? Because that is what is REAL. It is based on human sexual anatomy and physiology. Human sexuality is inherently unitive and procreative...

Orthodox Patriarchate in Turkey Wins One Battle, Still Faces Struggle for Survival

Posted on July 14, 2010
Eurasianet.org: "The legal hurdles still threatening the Patriarchate's existence are formidable, and in an interview last December, the church?s leader, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, told the Milliyet newspaper: 'We are without oxygen. The Patriarchate is dying...

?Pentagon: Gay Soldier Survey Won?t Lead to Segregation?

Posted on July 13, 2010
CBS: "The Pentagon today strongly pushed back against an allegation from a prominent political blogger that the military could segregate gay and straight servicemembers if and when lawmakers repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy."

10th Circuit rules in favor of Tulsa Catholic Diocese in Title VII suit

Posted on July 13, 2010
Skrzypczak v. Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, No. 09-5089 (10th Cir. June 13, 2010) In this case we consider whether the district court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa on a former employee?s federal employment law claims, based on the ministerial exception to Title VII...

Judge Will Hear Government?s Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging the Federal ?Hate Crimes? Act

Posted on July 13, 2010
Thomas More Law Center: "On Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., Federal District Court Judge Thomas L. Ludington will hear Attorney General Eric Holder?s motion to dismiss the first court challenge to the federal 'Hate Crimes Act.' The hearing will take place in Courtroom 214, 1000 Washington Avenue, in Bay City, Michigan...

FCC indecency rule struck down by appeals court

Posted on July 13, 2010
"A three-judge panel in New York says a rule on unscripted expletives on live broadcast TV and radio creates a 'chilling effect' in violation of the 1st Amendment."

Spanish archbishop calls for civil disobedience of new abortion law

Posted on July 13, 2010
CNA: ?'Let?s be clear: this law is not a law, although it is presented as such by some politicians and lawmakers. It is no law because nobody has the right to take the life of an innocent human being. For this reason it is not obligatory. Moreover, it demands direct opposition without distinction,' the archbishop said in a letter...

?Calif. Community College Should Not Impose Religion at Public Events, Americans United Tells Appeals Court?

Posted on July 13, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked a federal appeals court to stop a Southern California community college from proselytizing and imposing prayers at public events." | Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellants,  Westphal v...

ACLU, Internet groups sue Mass. over obscenity law that covers IMs, text messages, e-mail

Posted on July 13, 2010
Star Tribune: "A coalition of booksellers and Internet content providers has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Massachusetts law that outlaws the sending of sexually graphic instant messages to minors. The new law was designed to close a loophole that prompted a court to overturn the conviction of a man accused of sending explicit instant messages to a 13-year-old...

Backlash grows vs. full-body scanners: Fliers worry about privacy, health risks

Posted on July 13, 2010
USA Today: "Opposition to new full-body imaging machines to screen passengers and the government's deployment of them at most major airports is growing. Many frequent fliers complain they're time-consuming or invade their privacy . . . The machines ? dubbed by some fliers as virtual strip searches ? were installed at many airports in March after a Christmas Day airline bombing attempt...

?They So Despise Her Politics? ? Do Conservative Faculty Candidates Get a Fair Shake?

Posted on July 13, 2010
Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne write at the National Association of Scholars: "Teresa Wagner, a lawyer and former adjunct professor of law at George Mason, applied unsuccessfully in 2006 for a position as a full-time writing instructor at the University of Iowa College of Law...

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