Religion & Law

?Shady? porn site practices put visitors at risk

Posted on June 11, 2010
BBC: "Visitors to porn sites are at serious risk of being exploited by cyber criminals, a study has suggested. It found that many sites harboured malware or used "shady" practices to squeeze money out of their visitors."

Portugal?s first ?gay newlyweds? vow to fight for parenting rights

Posted on June 11, 2010
The Portugal News: "A lesbian couple who have become Portugal?s first same-sex couple to wed in an official ceremony, since the passing of the law allowing gay marriage last month, have now vowed that the next step in their fight for equality will be to tackle parenting rights, including the issue of adoption by same-sex couples...

Abortion Facility in Alabama Placed on Probation for Violations Shutting Down

Posted on June 11, 2010
LifeNews: "The Beacon Women's Center, placed on temporary probation in 2007 after health problems state inspectors encountered, will close down permanently next week."

Women who have had abortions urge Crist to sign HB 1143

Posted on June 11, 2010
Florida Baptist Witness: "Dozens of Florida women held a news conference in Tallahassee today to urge Gov. Charlie Crist to sign HB 1143, a health care bill with pro-life provisions awaiting the governor?s action, according to a news release from the group...

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Mike Huckabee Takes Issue With Mich Daniels? Call for ?Truce? on Abortion

Posted on June 11, 2010
LifeNews: "Today, Huckabee released a statement to Politico saying he took exception to the 'truce' comment. He said pro-life issues 'are not bargaining chips nor or they political issues. They are moral issues.'"

European nations seal divorce law pact

Posted on June 11, 2010
AFP: "Couples of different European nationalities will be able to choose which divorce laws will apply under a new deal struck between 14 countries on Friday . . . "

?Growing number of gays on ballot in Maryland?

Posted on June 11, 2010
Washington Blade: "'The prospect of having an unprecedented number of openly LGBT folks in the legislature demonstrates just how far we have come,' said Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of Equality Maryland . . . "

?Out candidates win from California to Maine?

Posted on June 11, 2010
GayPolitics.com: "Openly LGBT candidates won political races literally from coast to coast last night, with key wins in California, Montana and Maine. 17 of the Victory Fund?s 21 endorsed candidates on the ballot yesterday either won their races outright or advanced to general elections ...

Kagan took broad view of religious freedom

Posted on June 11, 2010
New York Times: "As a young White House lawyer, Elena Kagan wrote that it was 'quite outrageous' for the government to force a landlord to rent an apartment to an unwed couple if doing so violated the landlord?s religious beliefs against cohabitation outside the bonds of marriage...

Nicaragua ignores international pressure to revise total abortion ban

Posted on June 11, 2010
Amnesty International: "Amnesty International has expressed great disappointment at the Nicaragua government?s decision to reject the recommendations made by 12 States urging a change to the country?s law imposing a total ban on abortion . . . Currently only four countries in the world have a complete ban on abortion: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile and Malta...

Jordan Lorence on the Janet Mefferd Show: NASA specialist demoted over Intelligent Design views

Posted on June 11, 2010
ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss the case of a NASA specialist demoted for his Intelligent Design views. | MP3 17:37 mins | ADF Media information

Joel Oster on Talk from the Heart: Equal Access in public libraries

Posted on June 11, 2010
ADF attorney Joel Oster appeared on Talk from the Heart with Rich Buhler to discuss equal access in public libraries. | MP3 8:43 mins | ADF Media: ADF seeks to end religious discrimination policies at more than 750 government-run facilities

U.S. Nears Racial Milestone: Whites Are on Verge of Becoming a Minority Among Newborns in Long-Expected Shift

Posted on June 11, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "The Census reported Thursday that nonwhite minorities accounted for 48.6% of the children born in the U.S. between July 2008 and July 2009, gaining ground from 46.8% two years earlier. The trajectory suggests that minority births will soon eclipse births of whites of European ancestry...

Iceland passes same-sex ?marriage? law in unanimous vote

Posted on June 11, 2010
Reuters: "The Althingi parliament voted 49 to zero to change the wording of marriage legislation to include matrimony between "man and man, woman and woman," in addition to unions between men and women."

?Gay couples gain under Violence Against Women Act?

Posted on June 11, 2010
New York Times: "The Justice Department has decided that federal prosecutors should enforce criminal provisions in the Violence Against Women Act in cases involving gay and lesbian relationships, a newly disclosed memorandum shows. In a seven-page legal analysis, David J...

Judge banishes family?s custody lawyer in Swedish homeschooling case

Posted on June 11, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "An internationally known human rights lawyer [Rudy Harrold-Claesson, the president of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights] who had agreed to work on the case of a Swedish family whose son was taken into custody by agents of the government social services program for being homeschooled says she has been banished from the case ...

Why Is the MSM Still Ignoring Obama?s Radical Past?

Posted on June 11, 2010
Diana West writes at Townhall: "These ladies and gents of the Fourth Estate didn't just want to ignore the Klein-Elliott book about Barack Obama's radical ties, they wanted to denigrate it, and some quite angrily, which is an out-of-sync reaction to a book that last week debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at No...

President Obama Names James E. Graves, Jr. to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Posted on June 11, 2010
WhiteHouse.gov: "James E. Graves, Jr. is a distinguished and experienced Mississippi jurist, who was an attorney in private practice and public service before taking the bench. The only African-American currently serving on the Mississippi Supreme Court, Justice Graves takes a keen interest in the administration of his state?s court system, and has been active in national, state and local bar associations...

No TV for closing arguments in Prop. 8 trial

Posted on June 11, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle: "The only members of the public who will get to watch next week's closing arguments in the trial over same-sex marriage in California will be the ones who make it to the courthouse."

WA: Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Bars Court From Deciding Governance Dispute

Posted on June 11, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Rentz v. Werner, (WA App., June 7, 2010), a Washington state appellate court held that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine precludes the court from adjudicating a dispute between former members of the Aquarian Foundation, a spiritualist church headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and the church?s current minister ...

Critical Nampa Classical Academy hearing today

Posted on June 11, 2010
Idaho Press-Tribune: "The Idaho Public Charter School Commission will conduct a hearing in Boise today to discuss revoking Nampa Classical Academy?s charter. A hearing officer will . . . present his findings on a possible charter revocation to Charter Commission board members at their June 24 regular meeting ...

Indiana County considering whether to hire pro-life group to defend law

Posted on June 11, 2010
LifeNews: "Allen County commissioners this week will consider whether to allow the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group, to defend the county in a lawsuit challenging a local ordinance."

NC: Court Rejects Landowner?s RLUIPA Challenge To Mixed Use Zoning Ordinance

Posted on June 11, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The court held that while a landowner who intends to rent his property to a Christian church has standing to bring a 'substantial burden' claim under RLUIPA, the exclusion of churches from one area does not place a substantial burden on free exercise when other ares in the Town are available for churches...

Daniel Blomberg and Welton Gaddy debate DADT and the effect of repeal on religious speech

Posted on June 11, 2010
ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg and Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance, debate the effect of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal on religious liberty in the military on Interfaith Voices Radio. | MP3 38:49

Danish government cuts funding for IVF

Posted on June 11, 2010
BioNews: "Political consensus in Denmark has resulted in an amendment to legislation governing IVF (in vitro fertilisation) funding. According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), free public health services will no longer extend towards assisted reproduction treatments (ART)...

MA: ?Choose Life? license plate causes controversy

Posted on June 11, 2010
WHDH: "The new plate, which costs an extra $40 above the normal registration fee features a mother cradling a child and reads 'Choose Life' on the bottom. The group behind the plates, Choose Life Incorporated, said a portion of the money will go towards pregnancy crisis centers in Massachusetts ...

IL: Atheist anticipates court battle over Cross grant

Posted on June 11, 2010
Southern.com: "The atheist challenging a $20,000 grant for Bald Knob Cross from the state to a fundraising group says he's moving forward with plans to bring the battle to the courtroom."

French Interior Minister suggests stripping polygamists of citizenship

Posted on June 11, 2010
Irish Times: "The French interior minister has suggested amending the law to enable the state to strip polygamists of their French citizenship. Brice Hortefeux was speaking after a judge filed preliminary charges of fraud against an Algerian-born man whom the authorities suspect of polygamy...

WI: Group remains concerned about Janesville charter school

Posted on June 11, 2010
Janesville Gazette: "Although the CRES Academy has removed all materials suggesting it requires its students to complete a faith-based recovery program, the Freedom From Religion Foundation claims the school continues to violate the separation of church and state...

Minn. man barred from ND bike tour over prayer

Posted on June 11, 2010
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "A Minnesota man has been barred from an annual bike tour in North Dakota after objecting to a prayer said during the event. Morgan Christian, 54, of St. Paul, rode the 500-mile CANDISC tour three consecutive years. He objected last summer to a prayer said before a meal at a public high school gym in Turtle Lake, one of several host communities along the route ...

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