Religion & Law

The GOP?s passion problem

Posted on July 06, 2010
Politico: "[T]he GOP has more than just a math problem with Kagan. It has a passion problem ? the party, which has used judicial nominations to stoke the culture wars for more than a decade, appears to have lost its edge on judges. ... some Republicans griped privately over what they saw as Sessions?s largely unfocused attacks, which failed to provide a compelling counternarrative about her nomination...

Poland?s liberals dominate after dead president?s twin defeated

Posted on July 06, 2010
Telegraph: "Mr Komorowski, a mild-mannered former teacher, secured 53.01 per cent of votes compared to 46.99 per cent for his conservative rival Jaroslaw Kaczynski following Sunday's run-off, sparked by the April plane crash death of the former president...

Report focuses on restrictions limiting feeding of homeless

Posted on July 06, 2010
National Coalition for the Homeless: "National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty today released A Place at the Table: Prohibitions on Sharing Food with People Experiencing Homelessness. The report focuses on cities that have created ordinances, policies and tactics to limit groups from sharing food with homeless people...

7th Circuit en banc interprets equal terms provision of RLUIPA

Posted on July 06, 2010
"In River of Life Kingdom Ministries v. Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois, (7th Cir en banc, July 2, 2010), the 7th Circuit in an en banc decision interpreted the equal terms provision of RLUIPA by creating a modified version of the test used by the 3rd Circuit...

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Iran takes the scissors to Western hairstyles

Posted on July 06, 2010
Aol.news: "Worried that Western ideas might be seeping into -- and onto -- the heads of their nation's young men, Iran's religious leaders have issued a catalog of acceptable "Islamic" male haircuts. Ponytails, spikes, mullets and Mohawks are now forbidden, but Elvis-style locks, floppy fringes and Simon Cowell-esque flattops get the ayatollahs' seal of approval...

Faith under fire: ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? and religious liberty

Posted on July 06, 2010
Speak Up Movement / Church: "To fully understand how overturning 'Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell' would threaten chaplains? rights to free speech and religious liberty, we encourage you to study the resources provided below. These resources clearly make the case that removing don?t ask, don?t tell would have a harmful effect on the military and would likely damage religious freedom throughout our great nation...

TSA to block ?controversial opinion? on the web

Posted on July 06, 2010
CBS: "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is blocking certain websites from the federal agency's computers, including halting access by staffers to any Internet pages that contain a 'controversial opinion,' according to an internal email obtained by CBS News...

Feds to file lawsuit over Arizona immigration law

Posted on July 06, 2010
Yahoo (AP): "The U.S. Justice Department is filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigrants, setting the stage for a clash between the federal government and state over the nation's toughest immigration crackdown...

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds marriage protection amendment

Posted on July 06, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "A lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin constitutional amendment which protected the definition of marriage failed to persuade the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which unanimously rejected its arguments. ... The ADF filed an amicus brief in the case...

PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: Supreme Court update on CLS v. Martinez

Posted on July 06, 2010
PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly [video at link]: "[GREG BAYLOR] (Attorney, Christian Legal Society): What we?re talking about here is the ability of a group to preserve its message, and it doesn?t make sense for a public university to say to a private student group you have to give up your Christian faith in order to get the same privileges that other groups have...

Joel Oster on the Jody Hice Show: Equal access to public facilities

Posted on July 06, 2010
ADF attorney Joel Oster appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss equal access to public facilities. | MP3 15:54 mins.

Insights on PBS Hawaii: Civil unions

Posted on July 06, 2010
PBS Hawaii: "On June 21, Governor Lingle placed the House Bill 444 on her potential veto list, giving her until July 6 to make her final decision. This week on Insights, a panel representing both sides of the civil unions issue will discuss the possible economic impact, employment benefits, property rights, and concerns of the bill that promotes same-sex marriage...

Health law may boost contraceptive prescriptions

Posted on July 06, 2010
NPR: "Preventive care moves to the head of the class in the health care overhaul law, because starting this fall, new health plans will have to begin providing certain preventive medical services free of charge. If women?s health advocates get their way, prescription contraceptives will be included...

MD: Baltimore County Council enacts ban on adult businesses

Posted on July 06, 2010
Baltimore Sun: "The Baltimore County Council unanimously enacted tougher zoning on businesses that stock adult entertainment products at its legislative session Tuesday. The new law will require those businesses to scale back total adult inventory from 20 to 15 percent or relocate to a less visible location...

Archbishop warns Argentinean government is pressuring senators to vote for ?gay marriage?

Posted on July 06, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata in Argentina has denounced the government for pressuring some senators, who had said they would vote against homosexual ?marriage,? to skip debate on the measure or to abstain during the vote...

Philippines: ?Reproductive health bill rises from the dead?

Posted on July 06, 2010
Inquirer: "Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin has filed another version of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that includes mandated government care for those with HIV and AIDS, as well as those suffering from complications from abortion. Garin?s bill comes a few days after Albay Rep...

MI: Holland Council to hear request on protecting LGBT residents

Posted on July 06, 2010
Michigan Radio: "A chaplain in Holland is pushing for a new city ordinance to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. ... Sixteen Michigan cities now have laws on the books to protect against that kind of discrimination. And Chaplain Bill Freeman says he wants to add Holland to the list...

?Mexico City sees 271 gay weddings in 4 months?

Posted on July 06, 2010
Associated Press: "Mexico City has seen 271 gay and lesbian couples get married since the capital enacted the first law in Latin America explicitly allowing same-sex marriages."

VA: Pro-life display vandalized at Franklin church

Posted on July 06, 2010
WTKR: "Vandals have targeted a Franklin church, snapping dozens of crosses designed to send a message about abortion. Rows upon rows of crosses were placed in the grass - about 275 in all. Now many of them have been pulled to the ground and broken in half...

Northern Ireland: Protestant teacher awarded £8,250 over firing

Posted on July 06, 2010
Irish Times: "A teacher who claimed she was selected for redundancy from a Co Derry primary school because she was a Protestant has won an award of £8,250 in a Fair Employment Tribunal case. ... Of the 15 teachers, 10 were Protestant and five were Catholic but of the four selected for redundancy, all were Protestant...

DE: Family presses appeal of prayer ruling

Posted on July 06, 2010
The Daily Times: "Attorneys representing an anonymous Jewish family who sued the Indian River School District over the school board's practice of opening its meetings with an explicitly Christian prayer -- and lost -- have appealed to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals...

State rep blasts arrests of Christian missionaries at Arab fest

Posted on July 06, 2010
Detroit News: "State Rep. Tom McMillin is asking the Attorney General's Office to investigate an incident involving four Christian missionaries who were arrested at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn after talking to festivalgoers about religion...

Plans for mosques divide New Yorkers

Posted on July 06, 2010
Washington Times: "Three separate plans to build Muslim worship centers in New York City have proven more difficult and contentious than expected, igniting protests by local residents and anti-jihad activists and prompting charges of 'Islamophobia' and bigotry...

Melanie Phillips: Leftist ideology is replacing the rule of law in Britain and America

Posted on July 06, 2010
Melanie Phillips in the Wall Street Journal, "Lynch-Mob Justice," available via Google News: "In both Britain and America, ideological prejudices are coming to undermine the rule of law. In a number of incidents, people who have committed criminal acts have been acquitted or had their cases dismissed purely because they represent a politically correct cause or belong to a 'powerless' victim group...

UK: Faith schools should be open to all, says Labour candidate Burnham

Posted on July 06, 2010
Ekklesia: "Andy Burnham, the only Christian amongst the five candidates standing for the Labour leadership, has said that faith schools 'should be open to all'. He said it was wrong for any faith school to expect all its students to share the school's religion...

Arizona AG: FLDS discriminated against disabled man

Posted on July 06, 2010
Salt Lake Tribune: "The Arizona Attorney General?s Office alleges in a newly filed lawsuit that officials in an FLDS-run polygamous community violated a disabled man?s civil rights by denying him power and water service because he does not belong to the faith...

Israeli University sacks professor for same-sex parenting comments

Posted on July 06, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Officials at the prestigious Ben Gurion University in Israel say that they believe in academic freedom, but apparently draw the line when a professor comments negatively on homosexuality. Professor Yeruham Leavitt found this out the hard way, after he affirmed a student?s concern that homosexual parenting would deprive a child of a 'normal' family upbringing during his lecture?s question-answer session for pharmacological students...

Rubio opposes Elena Kagan?s nomination to the Supreme Court

Posted on July 06, 2010
Sunshine State News: "The leading Republican candidate in the race for U.S. Senate, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, announced Tuesday that he opposes President Barack Obama?s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States...

Michigan Supreme Court punishes 2 judges

Posted on July 06, 2010
Detroit Free Press: "The court ordered a public reprimand and 14-day suspension without pay for Wayne County Circuit Judge Richard Halloran Jr. for dismissing 30 divorce cases to avoid violating the 364-day deadline for handling such matters. The court ordered a public reprimand for Grand Rapids District Judge Benjamin Logan II for personally intervening to arrange the release from custody of Kent County Commissioner James Vaughn, who had been arrested and eventually was convicted of assaulting a woman...

Afghanistan: NGOs awaiting ruling on ?proselytizing? case

Posted on July 06, 2010
The Frontier Post: "More than a month has passed since the Afghan government suspended the work of two international NGOs on charges of Christian 'proselytizing', but formal investigations have been shrouded in secrecy and seem to have become mired in bureaucracy...

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