Religion & Law

Critics blast U. of Iowa deal with abortion doctor

Posted on February 28, 2011
Chicago Tribune: "The University of Iowa allowed one of its doctors to violate the school's non-compete agreement to resign to work for Planned Parenthood as long as she continued to train students on abortion and other procedures, according to a legal agreement released to The Associated Press...

Boehner: House likely to defend DOMA in court

Posted on February 28, 2011
I'd be very surprised if the House didn't decide that they were going to defend law," Boehner said . . .

UK: High Court suggests Christian beliefs harmful to children in foster case

Posted on February 28, 2011
"A British court has ruled that a Christian couple cannot care for foster children because they disapprove of homosexuality."

5th Circuit: Video of minor in tanning salon not child pornography

Posted on February 28, 2011
In a decision released Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the video discovered on Alan Ray Steen's camera was not sexually explicit and didn't rise to the federal legal definitions that would have made the video warrant the charge...

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Iowa Poll: 30% say they ?just don?t care much about marriage?

Posted on February 28, 2011
"Asked whether they favored or opposed the recent Iowa Supreme Court decision that allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry in Iowa, 30 percent told the Iowa Poll they just don't care much one way or the other, while 37 percent opposed or strongly opposed the court ruling and 32 percent favored it or strongly favored it...

Supreme Court confronts conflict between constitutional rights and protecting children

Posted on February 28, 2011
Washington Post: But the other side of the question is represented by 18 amicus briefs joined by 70 groups across the political spectrum arguing that the 9th Circuit should be upheld. The case raises important questions about parental rights and the rights of children, they said...

Obama?s ?risky move? in Florida

Posted on February 28, 2011
Politico: "U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has already dealt the Obama administration a staggering blow on health reform, and this week the administration may get another one from the fiery Florida judge."

Iowa: With three new justices, some say rest of court safe

Posted on February 28, 2011
GlobeGazette.com: "With the Iowa Supreme Court set to return to its full complement of seven members, some are wondering whether efforts to oust justices who supported a gay marriage ruling will resume."

LA Times: ?Same-sex weddings, now?

Posted on February 28, 2011
The LA Times carries this editorial that argues: "Gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry while the Proposition 8 case works its way through the system."

Legal system doesn?t work for ordinary people, top judge says

Posted on February 28, 2011
Vancouver Sun: In a startlingly frank speech at a University of Toronto legal conference, Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin last week was especially critical of high legal fees -now averaging nearly $340 an hour. "Do we have adequate access to justice?" Justice McLachlin asked.

Obama backtracks on health mandate, allows opt-out from start

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Hill: "The law allows states to request a waiver for the requirement in 2017, but Obama said he will support moving the date up to 2014, when the so-called individual mandate goes into effect."

Indiana U. eliminates policy that excluded religious student groups from student fee funding

Posted on February 28, 2011
After receiving a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund, Indiana University-Bloomington officials have eliminated a policy that excluded funding for student group activities that involve ?religious proselytizing? or ?sectarian events (ceremonies, services, and religious rites)...

David French: ?Presidents and Constitutionality: Thinking Through the DOMA Decision?

Posted on February 28, 2011
David French writes at National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog: "The outrage of the administration?s DOMA decision comes not from articulating this principle but from its declaration that, essentially, there are no reasonable constitutional arguments in support of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act...

Pro-family groups: Obama disregarding duty to defend federal law

Posted on February 28, 2011
Christian Post: Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Austin Nimocks said the administration is ?playing politics with marriage? and has left DOMA virtually defenseless. ?With the Department of Justice now refusing to defend any and all lawsuits against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the federal definition of marriage has been placed in great legal peril,? he declared...

County clerk launches defense of Prop 8 traditional marriage

Posted on February 28, 2011
WorldNetDaily: " . . . "Politicians should not be able to nullify a democratic act of the people by refusing their duty to defend it," said ADF Litigation Counsel Jim Campbell. "The people of California have the right to be defended, and thus the official proponents of Proposition 8 must have standing to defend that law...

ADF statement in response to Defense of Marriage Act

Posted on February 28, 2011
Waxahachie Daily Light (Subscription): "In response to a letter from the US Department of Justice informing the speaker of the House that the DOJ and President Obama will no longer defend a key component of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Alliance Defense Fund is ...

Chuck Colson: Obama and DOMA

Posted on February 28, 2011
Chuck Colson writes at the Christian Post: . . . you can get the link to it at our website, breakpoint.org. You can also get at breakpoint.org a link to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is doing some heroic work in this area and has produced a brilliant and insightful paper...

Rasmussen: 58% Favor Government Shutdown Until Spending Cuts Are Agreed Upon

Posted on February 28, 2011
Rasmussen: "Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters would rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year. Fifty-eight percent (58%) says it?s better to have a partial shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut...

ADF defending Carleton pro-lifers

Posted on February 28, 2011
One News Now: ADF attorney David French reports that when a small number of pro-life students were denied access to the campus, they continued their demonstration anyway, "doing nothing but holding signs." "Then it seemed like a literal squad of police officers descended upon them, and as [a] student literally read from the school's handbook, [which] promised her free speech, they arrested her," French continues...

PJI Pledges to Represent Union Objectors

Posted on February 28, 2011
Pacific Justice Institute: "In light of the recent protests by public employee unions in Wisconsin and several other states, the Pacific Justice Institute is renewing its pledge to represent employees who seek to disassociate from their unions for religious reasons...

RI union tells mayor: Don?t fire all the teachers

Posted on February 28, 2011
AP: "A union representing teachers in the state's financially troubled capital city says it has met with the mayor to discuss the decision to send them all termination notices."

Unions vs. the Right to Work

Posted on February 28, 2011
Robert Barro writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty."

Delay urged on military DADT ruling

Posted on February 28, 2011
SCOTUS Blog: "The Obama Administration, making only a tepid defense of the military?s ban on gays serving openly in the services, urged a federal appeals court on Friday not to issue any ruling and thus allow time for the Pentagon to carry out the new law passed by Congress that will repeal the ban, probably sometime this year...

Gerard V. Bradley: Obama?s Unreasonable Abandonment of DOMA

Posted on February 28, 2011
Law Professor Gerard V. Bradley writes at Public Discourse: Most tellingly, the Attorney General advanced no argument??professionally responsible? or otherwise?for the Department?s rejection of (what he called) ?procreational responsibility? as a justification for traditional marriage...

3M chief warns Obama over business regulation

Posted on February 28, 2011
FT.com: Mr Buckley, who has run the diversified manufacturer since 2005, said: ?There is a sense among companies that this is a difficult place to do business. It is about regulation, taxation, seemingly anti-business policies in Washington, attitudes towards science...

Marriage amendment dies in Wyo. House

Posted on February 28, 2011
NECN: "A proposed amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would specify the state wouldn't recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere died Friday when it missed a procedural deadline in the state Legislature."

Cantor Says House Will Defend Marriage Act

Posted on February 28, 2011
"With Republicans upset at the Obama administration?s abandonment of the Defense of Marriage Act, Representative Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican and majority leader, said on Monday that the House would take action by the end of the week to make certain the law is defended against legal challenges...

Colombian bishops stress protection of adopted children

Posted on February 28, 2011
CNA: "The Bishops? Conference of Colombia is calling on the country?s Constitutional Court to reject arguments in favor of the adoption of children by same-sex couples."

WI: Employee union files unfair labor complaint against state

Posted on February 28, 2011
BizTimes.com: "The Wisconsin State Employees Union (WSEU), representing thousands of public employees, has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the state and Gov. Scott Walker.The complaint was filed by the WSEU, a unit of the AFSCME Council 24, AFL-CIO, with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) today on behalf of the members of the union...

Canada reopens probe of polygamist sect

Posted on February 28, 2011
UPI: "She said investigators received troubling evidence last week that eight girls, some as young as 12, were sent to the United States to marry older men."

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