Religion & Law

NARAL wants pregnancy centers removed from internet directories

Posted on July 01, 2010
LifeNews: "They say they support choice, but the pro-abortion activists at NARAL want to leave women in unplanned pregnancy situations with one option: abortion. In a letter to its members today, NARAL president Nancy Keenan announced she is asking two Internet directories to remove pregnancy center listings...

G8 countries launch global initiative on maternal health without reference to abortion

Posted on July 01, 2010
C-FAM: "The Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial countries held their annual forum here last week and, following the lead of the Canadian government, launched a new global initiative on maternal and child health. ... While the host government was successful in keeping references to abortion out of the final document, the initiative calls for G8 countries to 'commit to promote integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health, rights and services within the broader context of strengthening health systems...

Majority of citizens in four Latin American countries oppose abortion

Posted on July 01, 2010
Buenos Aires Herald: "The majority of citizens in Nicaragua (81.6 percent), Brazil (72.7percent), Mexico (70.8 percent), and Chile (66.2 percent) are opposed to legalizing abortion in their countries, where it is prohibited in almost all its forms, according to a survey by Flacso...

Reframing the abortion debate: focus on fetus

Posted on July 01, 2010
GPB News: "More than 350 bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year to restrict abortion. At least two dozen new laws have passed. In many states, the fierce debate over abortion now centers directly on the fetus. Eighteen states now have laws requiring either that doctors perform ultrasounds before an abortion, or that women be allowed to see one...

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Concerned lawyers form Chinese Rights Defense Association to protect petitioners

Posted on July 01, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "From Shanghai to Beijing, rights defense lawyers have witnessed the harassment of petitioners, Chinese citizens who bring community concerns of the people to their designated higher authorities in government. ... In response, a group of Chinese human rights lawyers have joined together to form the Chinese Petitioners' Rights Defense Association, a group of legal defenders who are committed to protecting the rights of petitioners, and promoting rule of law throughout China...

NRA: Kagan ?should not serve on any court?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Wall Street Journal / Washington Wire: "After the Supreme Court?s Monday decision extending gun rights nationwide, the Second Amendment front moved to the Senate, where the National Rifle Association and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence squared off over Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama?s nominee to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens...

Lindsey Graham to New York Times: ?I ain?t gay?

Posted on July 01, 2010
WLTX: "Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham addressed rumors that he is a homosexual in an interview with the New York Times, telling the Times that 'I ain't gay.'"

High Court rules against Christian group at California law school

Posted on July 01, 2010
The New American: "[Gregory S. Baylor] of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a legal organization that helped to defend the CLS before the Supreme Court, said that the latest ruling does not settle what he called the 'core constitutional issue' of whether non-discrimination policies can compel religious student groups to allow members with divergent beliefs to lead their groups...

Keynes vs. Hayek: The great debate continues

Posted on July 01, 2010
Mario Rizzo writing at the Christian Science Monitor / ThinkMarkets: "My friend economist Richard Ebeling has discovered two extremely important letters. (Click the link above.) In 1932 before John Maynard Keynes?s General Theory was written, these letters appeared in The Times of London regarding the appropriate economic policies for Britain to follow during the slump...

Australian Catholic Weekly: Same-sex adoption risks child?s rights

Posted on July 01, 2010
The Catholic Weekly: "The Church has 'grave reservations' about allowing same-sex couples to adopt children with its opposition based on three considerations: to safeguard traditional marriage; to protect the wellbeing of children; and to ensure stability in society, says Bishop Julian Porteous, auxiliary Bishop of Sydney...

?Gay U.S. citizens seek to claim residency for foreign spouses?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Miami Herald: "Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who last December introduced the first immigration reform bill of the current congressional session, announced in May that he intends to add provisions that would include same-sex couples and their families...

Human Rights Campaign endorses Kagan

Posted on July 01, 2010
Human Rights Campaign Press Release: "Elena Kagan?s record indicates she may be more familiar with how laws and policies affect the LGBT community than any individual previously nominated to serve on the Supreme Court."

Vatican lawyer Jeffrey Lena on immunity and responsibility

Posted on July 01, 2010
Vatican Radio interviews Jeffrey Lena, the California-based attorney currently representing the Holy See in the Oregon case of Holy See vs John Doe: "What the Supreme Court did was decide that it wasn?t going to address a question which we had wished to bring before it...

CA: Log Cabin Republican?s case challenges DADT

Posted on July 01, 2010
Associated Press: "A judge has agreed to hear a case challenging the U.S. government's "don't ask, don't tell' policy against openly gay soldiers. Lawyer Dan Woods says U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside, Calif. agreed Monday to send the case to trial July 13...

RI: Carcieri vetoes ?hate crimes? expansion

Posted on July 01, 2010
Providence Journal / Projo Politics Blog: "In addition to his closely-watched veto of this year's casino bill, Governor Carcieri has also vetoed bills to shut off access to new home-care licenses, require the recording of criminals' confessions and expand the state's list of hate crimes ...

School choice in the Republic of Georgia

Posted on July 01, 2010
Rick Hess writing at Education Week: "I've just spent the better part of three weeks lending a hand to school reform efforts in the Republic of Georgia. ... Saakashvili and his libertarian-leaning allies took school choice seriously when they waded into education policy...

FL: Chaplain link on fire district?s website must include disclaimer

Posted on July 01, 2010
Hernando Today: "If the chaplain is to have a link on the fire district's website, it must have a disclaimer. That was the legal opinion of Assistant Attorney General Lagran Saunders in a letter to Andrew Salzman, the attorney who represents the Spring Hill Board of Fire Commissioners...

Federal judge rules that a PA blasphemy law is unconstitutional

Posted on July 01, 2010
"A federal judge has ruled that a Pennsylvania law banning blasphemy from the names of corporations is unconstitutional."

WI Supreme Court rejects single subject challenge to marriage amendment

Posted on July 01, 2010
Leonard Link: "The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that the state?s anti-marriage constitutional amendment . . . does not violate the 'single subject' rule. Although this was a private voter lawsuit rather than an action instigated by LGBT public interest groups, the case attracted organization amicus briefs on both sides of the issue...

Casey Mattox: Kagan and ACOG were wrong

Posted on July 01, 2010
ADF Attorney Casey Mattox writing at The Christian Post / Advancing Religious Liberty: "The predictions of those, including Elena Kagan, who said banning partial-birth abortion would result in harm to women have not come true. Three years of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act has resulted in more than 7,000 partial birth abortions that have NOT been performed and zero proof that this has harmed women's health...

New Swedish school law sharply restricts freedom

Posted on July 01, 2010
At First Things / First Thoughts, David Mills posts a report from Christopher Barnekov, director of Scandinavia House in Fort Wayne, Indiana: "Sweden?s Riksdag adopted a complex, 1500 page school law on June 22. Only vague outlines have appeared in the press, but the reports are alarming...

Law Review: Your Conscience, Your Right: A History of Efforts to Violate Pro-Life Medical Conscience, and the Laws That Stand in the Way

Posted on July 01, 2010
M. Casey Mattox and Matthew S. Bowman, Your Conscience, Your Right: A History of Efforts to Violate Pro-Life Medical Conscience, and the Laws That Stand in the Way, The Linacre Quarterly 77(2) (May 2010): 187?197. Attacks on the conscience rights of health-care professionals are increasing...

Jeff Ventrella on the Hugh Hewitt Show: The Blackstone Legal Fellowship, the DISCLOSE Act, and Common Sense in the Law

Posted on July 01, 2010
ADF attorney Jeff Ventrella to discuss the Blackstone Legal Fellowship. This was recorded last week.| MP3 5:27 mins

Greg Baylor discusses the CLS ruling on the Hugh Hewitt and Janet Mefferd Shows

Posted on July 01, 2010
ADF attorney Greg Baylor appeared on several radio shows to discuss the ruling in CLS v. Martinez. | The Hugh Hewitt Show here: MP3 6:19 mins| The Janet Mefferd Show here: MP3 17:34 mins

Rep. Paul?s audit the Fed bill fails, 229-198

Posted on July 01, 2010
Victoria Advocate: "A motion to add a provision that would 'audit the Fed' to the financial overhaul bill failed Thursday. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul sponsored the audit the Fed bill previously supported by 320 members of the House. But the audit add-on failed by a vote of 229-198...

Burma clamps down on travelling monks

Posted on July 01, 2010
Eurasia Review: "Suspension of passports for monks in Burma has begun amid suggestions that the Burmese government is attempting to block the influential community from going abroad in the run-up to elections."

Islamically-correct ?Made in Italy? products

Posted on July 01, 2010
Europe News: "Islamically-correct 'Made in Italy' products that can be exported to Muslim countries and follow Italian gastronomic excellence - including tortelloni and lasagne - but also the most advanced drugs and the best cosmetic specialist products...

Kevin Theriot: Court rescues mission from religious attack

Posted on July 01, 2010
ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "The federal court in Idaho recently rejected an attempt to restrict the religious freedom of the Boise Rescue Mission. ... The federal court summarily ruled for the Rescue Mission in a well-reasoned opinion that does a great job of protecting religious freedom...

Italy confident in crucifix appeal

Posted on July 01, 2010
UPI: "Italian authorities said they expect a 'positive result' in their appeal of a court ruling that banned the display of crucifixes in schools."

Sotomayor targets guns now: Justice?s dissent contradicts confirmation testimony

Posted on June 30, 2010
"Ominously, Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the Breyer dissent - contradicting what she told the U.S. Senate and the American people last summer."

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