Religion & Law

GM?s auto sales in China top US for first time

Posted on July 02, 2010
CNBC (Reuters): "General Motors' first-half sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, exceeded sales in its home U.S. market for the first time, according to data released on Friday. GM's China auto sales jumped 48.5 percent to 1.21 million units in January through June, compared with the 1...

Jeremy Tedesco on the Vicki McKenna Show and Reality Check Live: Christian student persecuted for opposing the homosexual agenda

Posted on July 02, 2010
ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on radio to discuss the case of a Christian counseling student persecuted for opposing the homosexual agenda.  | The Vicki McKenna Show here: MP3 12:39 mins | Reality Check Live here: MP3 13:29 mins | ADF Media Information resource page

5th Circuit rules against Plano principals in candy cane case

Posted on July 02, 2010
"[The 5th Circuit] ruled Wednesday that the principals could be held liable for taking away [students' 'Christian-themed materials']"

ACLJ wins 9th Circuit appeal in massive fraud case against Planned Parenthood affiliates in California

Posted on July 02, 2010
ACLJ: "The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in favor of the American Center for Law and Justice?s (ACLJ) client in a multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood (PP) affiliates in California. ... The allegation in this case is that PP affiliates in California illegally marked up the supposed cost of various birth control drugs when seeking government reimbursement, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of overbilling ? at taxpayer expense...

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Greg Baylor discusses the CLS ruling on the Michael Medved Show and KWTO with Mary Richards

Posted on July 02, 2010
ADF attorney Greg Baylor appeared on radio to discuss the CLS ruling. | The Michael Medved Show here: MP3 34:55 mins| KWTO Radio with Mary Richards guest hosting here: MP3 12:29 mins

Planned Parenthood files suit over Nebraska abortion law

Posted on July 02, 2010
Journal Star: "Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Nebraska leaders, claiming a state law passed in April places requirements on abortion providers that are unconstitutional and impossible to meet . . . Dave Bydalek, executive director of Family First, said LB594 protects women by requiring doctors to screen them to determine whether they were pressured into getting abortions...

Erik Stanley: Pulpit Initiative featured on research on religion podcast

Posted on July 02, 2010
ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "I recently recorded a podcast on the Pulpit Initiative with professor Anthony Gill who is professor of political science at the University of Washington and non-resident scholar at Baylor University?s Institute for Studies of Religon...

Town of Richmond to pay St. Benedict Center in discrimination case

Posted on July 02, 2010
SentinelSource.com: "'Churches shouldn?t be singled out for discrimination and penalized by a city?s zoning restrictions because of their religious viewpoint,' said [Doug Napier], senior legal counsel for the group. 'It was right that Saint Benedict Center was compensated for years of unconstitutional restrictions that made it impossible to finish the construction of its church and school building...

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! God Save This Honorable Court: Limited religious liberty ruling

Posted on July 02, 2010
Christianity Today (see page 2): "[Gregory Baylor] of the Alliance Defense Fund said the constitutional issues at stake are still up for debate. 'The conflict still exists,' said Baylor. 'The Hastings policy actually requires CLS to allow atheists to lead its Bible studies and the College Democrats to accept the election of Republican officers in order for the groups to be recognized on campus...

Greg Baylor: Court undercuts student rights

Posted on July 02, 2010
ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing in The Washington Times: "Groups with unpopular messages are most at risk under Hastings' policy. Majorities can undermine or even take over small organizations with unpopular messages. Lacking the power to deny leadership positions to individuals who reject their countercultural messages, unpopular groups are perpetually at the mercy of those espousing the dominant viewpoints...

Christian teen outreach for Oxendine draws ethical questions

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Oklahoman: "Republican John Oxendine paid his former campaign manager's consulting firm to dispatch Christian teenage volunteers door-to-door promoting his bid for Georgia governor, a move that raises ethical and legal questions about the mingling of politics and nonprofit groups...

Thomas More Society brief key to upholding Texas conviction for murder of an unborn child

Posted on July 02, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "The highest court for criminal appeals in Texas has upheld the capital conviction of Adrian Estrada, found guilty for murdering both 17-year old Stephanie Sanchez and her thirteen-week old unborn child, citing a Thomas More Society 'friend of the court' brief in its decision...

ABA: Clear Consensus That Kagan?s Legal Skills are ?Of the Highest Level? ? Republicans ask how?

Posted on July 02, 2010
"In his opening statement on Monday, Sen. Kyl said that he did not see how Kagan could get a 'well qualified' rating when she, in his view, lacks the requisite experience in the practice of law."

Hatch to vote against Kagan?s nomination

Posted on July 02, 2010
"'The law must control the judge; the judge must not control the law,' Hatch said. 'I have concluded that, based on evidence rather than blind faith, General Kagan regrettably does not meet this standard . . . '"

Law Review: The Power of the Parental Trump Card: How and Why Frazier v. Winn Got It Right

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Power of the Parental Trump Card: How and Why Frazier v. Winn Got It Right Jocelyn Floyd, 85 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 791 (2010) "This note will analyze various precedents regarding both freedom of speech and parents' fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children...

Missouri fights adult entertainment and wins

Posted on July 02, 2010
National Catholic Register: "Last week, when Missouri?s governor signed a bill sharply restricting the adult entertainment business, the state?s Catholic bishops, along with their religious and secular allies, applauded the culmination of a long battle against a corrosive local industry...

Secularists issue their ruling: No Kagan on high court

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Salk Lake Tribune: "While Kagan, a Democrat, has faced the greatest scrutiny on her views of abortion and gay rights, some atheist, agnostic and secularist groups aren?t convinced she is the best choice for the court. Part of the reason: She is poised to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the court?s strongest voices for a strict separation of church and state...

India: Housing allotment on religious ground unconstitutional, says high court

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Financial Express: "A division Bench of Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice B Bhattacharjee hearing a PIL held that there was no provision for reservation [of housing built by a government agency according to religious affiliation] in the Constitution...

Kagan?s influential medical opinion

Posted on July 02, 2010
Shannen Coffin writing at National Review Online / The Corner: "Elena Kagan?s explanation of her involvement in editing ACOG?s statement of policy on the abortion method was that she was merely helping ACOG put into words what they had been expressing all along in meetings with the White House...

Nebraska: Another state board rejects sexual orientation change

Posted on July 02, 2010
Lincoln Journal Star: "The state board overseeing Nebraska's mental health counselors has decided to live with its current rules, rather than compromise on an ethics code relating to sexual orientation. That makes two licensing groups unwilling to compromise with the Nebraska Catholic Conference on the sexual orientation issue -- despite assurances from the state's chief medical officer she will delay rule proposals until a compromise is reached...

White House announces new pregnancy assistance fund, ties it to ?common ground? abortion plan

Posted on July 02, 2010
CNN / Belief blog: "The Health and Human Services Department announced Friday that it is making $25 million available to states to support pregnant women and teen parents, in an initiative that the White House is framing as a way to find common ground on abortion...

India: Catholics graves vandalized at Goa Velha cemetery

Posted on July 02, 2010
Times of India: "Two graves in a Roman Catholic cemetery at Goa Velha were vandalised, prompting the police to register a case of hurting religious feelings against unknown persons on Friday."

Canada: Church foes use tax breaks as club

Posted on July 02, 2010
Paul Schratz writing a blog of the Archdiocese of Vancouver: "Unable to push the Church around to change many of its teachings, its foes are trotting out a simplistic argument that calls for ending any tax breaks for religious entities. It?s particularly rearing its head on education issues in Canada...

UK: Civil ceremonies may be reformed

Posted on July 02, 2010
UKPA: "The Government is considering allowing same-sex couples to include hymn singing and religious readings in civil partnership ceremonies, a coalition minister said. Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister, disclosed that the Government was committed to talks on 'what the next stage should be for civil partnerships'...

New York Legislature passes no-fault divorce

Posted on July 02, 2010
"New York state legislators have finished making it easier to receive a divorce. The state Assembly and Senate approved a package . . . [that] . . . establishes what?s called no-fault divorce?making New York the final state in the country to offer such a path to end a marriage...

U.N. creates new body on women, gender equality

Posted on July 02, 2010
Reuters: "The new body will be known officially as the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, although officials say it will be referred to as U.N. Women (www.unwomen.org). It will consolidate four separate U.N. divisions now dealing with women's and gender issues...

Liberty and Justice: Churches, ministries and employment law

Posted on July 02, 2010
Associated Baptist Press: "While houses of worship and other nonprofit religious organizations often are granted some exceptions and exemptions to legal standards that apply to other corporate entities, they still must follow legal standards in many areas...

Liberty and Justice: What is the future of U.S. religious liberty?

Posted on July 02, 2010
Associated Baptist Press: "As the United States enters the second decade of the 21st century, some experts in religious freedom predict challenges coming to the fore likely will cluster around a handful of new issues. One, they said, is maintaining respect for religious freedom and expression amid ever-increasing pluralism, including the rising proportion of Americans who identify with no particular religious faith, as well as the rise in Islam...

US military deaths in Afghan region at 1,063

Posted on July 02, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "As of Friday, July 2, 2010, at least 1,063 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count."

When the aristocrat met democracy: Review of ?Toqueville?s Discovery of America?

Posted on July 02, 2010
Claire Gillen reviews Leo Damrosch's Toqueville's Discovery of America in The Washington Times: "For Tocqueville, democracy could not be reduced to a mere form of government; rather, he described it as 'a state of mind as much as a political system,' consisting both of institutional structure and 'habits of the heart...

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