Religion & Law

On the future of family structure

Posted on July 02, 2010
Reihan Salaam writing at National Review Online / The Agenda: "In a thought-provoking essay at io9, Annalee Newitz offers thoughts on how family structure will evolve: ... 'Today the revolution has to do with child rearing. Now that women can have children without needing a man to support them, it is going to become more common for women to have children outside marriage...

Three GOP senators say they?ll vote against Kagan

Posted on July 02, 2010
Breitbart: "Republican Leader Mitch McConnell saying that he wasn't sure she could 'constrain the ardent political advocacy that has marked much of her adult life.' ... One member of the committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced Friday that he would be voting against Kagan, despite his approval of her as solicitor general last year...

Fort Wayne parents challenge religious ed program

Posted on July 02, 2010
Chicago Tribune: "A Fort Wayne third-grader's parents have sued the school district, claiming she was sent to a religious instruction program on school grounds without their permission. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which filed the lawsuit for the parents this week in federal court in Fort Wayne, is asking a judge to declare the program unconstitutional and ban it from operating on school property...

UK: Top Prof warns of danger posed by assisted suicide

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Legalising assisted suicide will lead to vulnerable people being killed without their consent, a leading bioethicist has warned. Professor David Jones? warning adds to concerns that any move to legalise assisted suicide in the UK could expose vulnerable people to danger...

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London Times op-ed: Abortion is killing but women?s rights rule

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Christian Institute: "In a shocking comment piece for The Times newspaper Antonia Senior explains how, despite her belief that life begins at conception, she is still a firm believer in abortion. ... The commentator goes on to describe the pro-choice movement?s denial of the essential humanity of unborn children as a 'convenient lie'...

UK gov?t: no plans to allow Roman Catholic monarch

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The coalition Government has shelved controversial plans to overhaul the monarchy which would have allowed Roman Catholics to ascend to the throne. Last year former Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared his intention to abolish the 309-year-old law that bans heirs to the throne from marrying Roman Catholics...

Scottish Parliament passes new ?abusive speech? law

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Christian Institute: "On the face of it, such a law holds little fear for Christians who express biblical truth in public or private. The Government Minister, Kenny MacAskill, told Parliament that the law ought not limit reasonable expression of religious belief...

Will the .xxx suffix be available for adult web sites soon?

Posted on July 02, 2010
FindLaw / Technologist: "Press reports indicate that ICM has received 110,000 pre-reservations for sites seeking to implement the .xxx designation. Use of the .xxx designation would be voluntary, not mandatory, for adult Web sites, and each such domain name would cost about $60...

What the CLS v. Martinez ruling reveals about the Supreme Court?s processes

Posted on July 02, 2010
Vikram David Amar writing at FindLaw: "While I am obviously pleased (and perhaps a tad surprised) that the Supreme Court embraced the position that [Michael Dorf] expertly crafted, I will attempt, as best I can, to be more detached in the observations I offer in this column...

Leahy schedules Kagan Judiciary Committee vote for July 13

Posted on July 02, 2010
"Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has scheduled a committee vote for Tuesday, July 13, according to a notice sent to reporters this afternoon."

Video: Tony Perkins testifying at Elena Kagan confirmation hearing

Posted on July 02, 2010
FRC Blog: "'As has been pointed out while Dean of the law school she defied the requirements of a federal law, known as the Solomon Amendment. Her violation of this federal law was motivated by her vehement opposition to the military?s prohibition against open homosexuality...

Pelosi: End the filibuster ? Senate Dems eye January

Posted on July 02, 2010
Huffington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has some advice for her Senate counterparts: Try majority rule for a change. Pelosi, in an interview with the Huffington Post, called for an end to the filibuster, which she labeled 'the 60-vote stranglehold on the future...

Hustler, Paris Hilton sex site see .xxx porn ghetto

Posted on July 02, 2010
BusinessWeek: "'.xxx would basically be an avenue for authorities to try and push all adult websites into a certain segment and then get rid of .com,' Michael Klein, the president of Hustler, the brand behind websites like Barelylegal.com, said from his Los Angeles office...

Glenn Beck, David Barton, Jim Garlow, Ralph Reed, Robert George and Pastors ? Richard Lee, Dave Stone, Tom Mullins, John Hagee: State of religion in America

Posted on July 02, 2010
Rush transcript of Glenn Beck's panel on "Religion in America." Panelists include David Barton, founder and president of WallBuilders; Jim Garlow, chairman of Renewing American Leadership; Richard Lee, founding pastor of First Redeeming Church in Cumming, Georgia; Robert George, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and the founder of American Principles Project; Dave Stone, senior minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky; Tom Mullins, a senior pastor and founder of Christ Fellowship Church in Florida; Ralph Reed, chairman of Faith and Freedom Coalition; and John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas...

Louisiana: Teachers unions sue over law that lets schools waive rules

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Advocate: "Several teachers unions filed suit Thursday to block a new Louisiana law that lets school districts seek four-year waivers from some education laws and rules in an effort to improve student achievement."

21 killed in Mexican gang shootout near U.S. border

Posted on July 02, 2010
CNSNews: "A massive gun battle between rival drug and migrant trafficking gangs near the U.S. border Thursday left 21 people dead and at least six others wounded, prosecutors said. The fire fight occurred in a sparsely populated area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Arizona border, near the city of Nogales, that is considered a prime corridor for immigrant and drug smuggling...

Ireland?s Dáil passes civil partnership legislation without conscience clause

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Last night Irish politicians in the Dáil passed a controversial civil partnership bill which will leave registrars open to a fine and prison sentence for refusing to carry out same-sex civil partnerships. The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill, as it is now called, was passed by TDs in the Dáil, the lower house of representatives, without a vote...

Chuck Colson: Redefining the first freedom

Posted on July 02, 2010
Christian Post: "In a speech at Georgetown University, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech on human rights. Not only did she talk about the right 'to love in the way you choose,' (an obvious attempt at making protecting gay rights a top priority for the U...

David Livingstone letter deciphered at last

Posted on July 02, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "The contents of a long-illegible letter written by famed 19th century explorer David Livingstone have finally been deciphered, a British university said Friday, nearly 140 years after he wrote of his despair at ever leaving Africa alive...

Albert Mohler says farewell to live radio

Posted on July 02, 2010
Christian Post: "Known for 'intelligent Christian conversation,' prominent theologian and cultural commentator Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is hosting his final live radio program Friday. ... 'As I'm now struggling with issues related to my other responsibilities it has become very clear that I'm going to be unable to continue a live radio broadcast like this on the same terms and schedule that I've experienced for the last several years,' he said...

TN ?Religious Freedom Act? may help Murfreesboro mosque

Posted on July 01, 2010
The Daily News Journal: "The Tennessee Religious Freedom Protection Act recognizes rights beyond land uses for mosques, churches, temples and other places of worship, lawyers said. ... The law's land use rights mirror the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed by Congress in 2000...

Florida school district bans Bibles on Religious Freedom Day

Posted on July 01, 2010
Orlando Sentinel: "Maitland-based Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit Thursday to overturn a ban on Bible distribution on public school campuses in Collier County. According to the Liberty Counsel, the Collier County School Board allowed World Changers to distribute free Bibles to students during off-school hours on Religious Freedom Day, but now the school officials claim that Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and the distribution should stop...

Britain delays new EU airport security rules over Sikh concerns

Posted on July 01, 2010
Hindustan Times: "Britain has delayed implementation of new European Union (EU) airport security rules for hand searches of passengers after concerns from the Sikh community that this could also mean searches of their religious headgear, officials on Thursday said...

MN abortions fall for third year to new low; pro-lifers elated

Posted on July 01, 2010
LifeNews: "The latest report on abortion issued today by the Minnesota Department of Health reveals the decrease is part of a three-year trend of fewer abortions statewide since the Positive Alternatives program has funded efforts to help pregnant women in need...

Just cause and natural family planning

Posted on July 01, 2010
E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil., Senior Fellow in Ethics at the Culture of Life Foundation: "Some may believe that only extraordinary situations can constitute legitimate reasons for practicing NFP to defer pregnancy (e.g., severe illness of a spouse; extreme financial difficulties; mental breakdown, etc...

Video of Grassley to Kagan: Is marriage reserved to the states? Is Baker v. Nelson settled law?

Posted on July 01, 2010
"Charles Grassley (R-IA) asked, 'Do you believe that marriage is a question reserved for the states to decide?' This question, Kagan pointed out, was the subject of a high-profile suit now in the courts, making comment improper. Then Grassley asked whether she considered a 1970 case on the issue, Baker v...

WA: Ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not bar negligent supervision claim against church

Posted on July 01, 2010
Religion Clause: "In Erdman v. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, (WA Ct. App., June 29, 2010), a Washington state appellate court held that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not bar a church employee's claim for negligent supervision and retention claims against a church based on alleged physical intimidation and verbal abuse by its pastor...

Overly broad zoning ordinance is prior restraint on expressive religious use of land

Posted on July 01, 2010
Adhi Parasakthi Charitable, Medical, Educational and Cultural Society of North America v. Township of West Pikeland, (ED PA, June 23, 2010) | Google Viewer Religion Clause: "A Pennsylvania federal district court held that 'in granting an overly broad amount of discretion to its Zoning Board in deciding whether to allow expressive religious use of land within the Township, Defendant has created a prior restraint on speech in violation of Plaintiff's First Amendment rights...

?ACLU Asks Government To Ensure That Religiously-Affiliated Hospitals Provide Emergency Reproductive Health Services?

Posted on July 01, 2010
ACLU / Blog of Rights: "A Catholic-owned hospital in Arizona recently made national headlines for demoting a nun for approving an abortion for a pregnant mother of four to save her life. While most of us would like to think this was an isolated incident, based on the Catholic Church's response and other reports, it wasn't and it won't be...

Kagan evasive on partial-birth abortion memo

Posted on July 01, 2010
National Right to Life News: "What we know for sure is, as NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson once put it, 'The bottom line is that thousands of additional babies were mostly delivered alive and then stabbed through the back of the head, thanks to the deceptive but successful political strategy, to which Elena Kagan lent all of her considerable talents, that blocked the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act from becoming law during the Clinton Administration...

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