Religion & Law

Lungren criticizes ?Defense of Marriage? decision, warns of oversight

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Hill: "Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), the sixth-ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said the Obama administration's decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act is a "dereliction of duty," and indicated that congressional oversight may be coming...

Ontario hospital may sue over ?defamatory? comments over terminally ill baby

Posted on February 28, 2011
Vancouver Sun: "The Ontario hospital housing terminally ill Windsor baby Joseph Maraachli is considering taking legal action to defend its doctors? reputations in a case that has sparked public outcry."

Arizona House to Apprves Abortion Bills

Posted on February 28, 2011
AZ Republic: "The Arizona House has given preliminary approval to two bills that would impact the state's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood Arizona."

WV: Advice for Planned Parenthood to Balance Their Budget By

Posted on February 28, 2011
Jeremy Dys writes at the Engage Family Blog: "Downtown, 134 lawmakers took the time to affirm the life-saving, women?s health-loving, family-supporting work of the thousands of staff and volunteers who support their local PCC (maybe you call them Crisis Pregnancy Centers)...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Homosexual protesters swarm Chicago cathedral, police do nothing

Posted on February 28, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "The Gay Liberation Network staged the rally on the eve of Valentine?s Day, shouting and chanting loudly as churchgoers entered to celebrate Sunday Mass. The demonstration?s primary target was Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who has spoken out in defense of traditional marriage between a man and a woman...

Boehner Tells Religious Broadcasters National Debt a Moral Issue

Posted on February 28, 2011
Christian Post: "House Speaker John Boehner told Christian media leaders Sunday that the national debt is a moral threat to the country."

?More Americans Support than Oppose Same-Sex Marriage for First Time?

Posted on February 28, 2011
Sarah Posner writes at Religion Dispatches: "Sociologist Darren Sherkat of Southern Illinois University has taken a close look at the General Social Survey data and found that in 2010, for the first time, more Americans support than oppose same-sex marriage...

Albert Mohler, Jr.: ?How Did this Happen? Why Same-Sex Marriage Makes Sense to So Many?

Posted on February 28, 2011
Albert Mohler, Jr. writes at the Christian Post: "Why does same-sex marriage make sense to so many people? The momentum toward the full legalization of same-sex marriage seems to intensify with every passing month - or even faster. The moral divide in this nation is now seen most clearly in the distance between those for whom marriage is exclusively heterosexual and thus a settled issue and, on the other hand, those who honestly see the legalization of same-sex marriage as a moral mandate required by justice...

The Nation: How Dead Is DOMA, Really?

Posted on February 28, 2011
E.J. Graff writes at NPR: "But the headlines missed the technical but important note in Holder's announcement: the Obama administration believes that any law affecting lesbians and gay men deserves "heightened scrutiny" by the courts. That obscure legal term means that the Obama administration believes ? and will argue officially ? that the federal and state governments can't treat lesbians and gay men any less well than it treats our heterosexual siblings without giving an exceptionally good reason...

Video: Wisconsin Assembly Dems Yell ?Shame? After Budget Vote

Posted on February 25, 2011
The Video is on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f0VProvuAo

Duplicity revealed in DOMA decision?

Posted on February 25, 2011
One News Now: "Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), says the declaration contradicts Defense Secretary Robert Gates' pledge to Congress and the military service chiefs last year, when he said DOMA's existence would prevent the military from providing housing and benefits for same-sex couples who live together as "married" or "committed partners" on military bases...

Pro-life Kansas AG shames inquisitors

Posted on February 25, 2011
World Net Daily: Only one allegation shook Kline out of his studied cool. When Hazlett asked him to confirm whether he had launched his investigation without a definitive complaint, Kline answered in the sarcastic affirmative, "Yes, a child has not come forward and reported that my rape had not been reported by Dr...

ABC: ?First Openly-Gay Man Chosen as the New White House Social Secretary?

Posted on February 25, 2011
ABC News: "Jeremy Bernard, who is openly-gay, will be named Special Assistant to the President and Social Secretary."

?Maryland to approve same-sex marriage; no exemption for Catholic adoption agencies?

Posted on February 25, 2011
Catholic Culture: ?Measures were defeated that sought to allow religiously affiliated adoption agencies to refuse services to same-sex couples, to allow clerks of courts to refuse to conduct marriages based on religious objections and to exempt public school teachers from teaching materials that ?promote? gay unions,? the Washington Post reported.

As U.S. groups rush to aid baby Joseph, lawyers seek to broker deal

Posted on February 25, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "The family of dying one-year-old Joseph Maraachli, whose hospital is seeking to remove his life support against his parents? wishes, announced this afternoon that their lawyer is working to broker a deal with the hospital. The legal fees covered by Euthanasia Prevention Coalition are mounting quickly...

USCCB Decries Refusal to Support Defense of Marriage Act

Posted on February 25, 2011
The USCCB has issued this statement.

Louisiana Law Shutting Down Abortion Center Upheld in Court

Posted on February 25, 2011
LifeNews: Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group, served as co-counsel with lawyers from the Louisiana Department of Health to defend the law in court. ?A patient?s health is more important than an abortionist?s bottom line,? said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H...

Tax-Subsidized Abortions on College Campuses Must be Stopped

Posted on February 25, 2011
LifeNews: "Last spring, reports indicated that anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of privately held insurance plans cover abortion services. Even worse, a recently released study by Students for Life of America (SFLA) indicates that abortion is covered by many student insurance plans offered by leading colleges and universities...

Pennsylvania court reviewing teen?s abortion case

Posted on February 25, 2011
Philly.com: "For the first time, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has acknowledged it is reviewing the case of a pregnant teenager who was denied permission for an abortion by a county judge. Pennsylvania's 17-year-old abortion law requires girls under 18 to get consent for an abortion from a parent or, if she wants to bypass her parents, from a judge...

Candidates Say Public Campaign Funds Chill Their 1st Amendment Rights

Posted on February 25, 2011
ABA Journal: "The justices are scheduled to hear arguments March 28 in Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, combined with the related case of McComish v. Bennett."

Refusal To Delay Civil Trail For Plaintiff?s Religious Observance Was Abuse of Discretion

Posted on February 25, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: "In Neustadter v. Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Inc., (MD Ct. App., Feb. 24, 2011), Maryland's Court of Appeals-- the state's highest court-- held that a trial court abused its discretion when it refused to suspend a civil medical malpractice trial for two days when plaintiff and his attorney could not attend because of religious obligations imposed by the Jewish holiday of Shavuot...

Federal Court Says Utah?s Reformation of FLDS Trust Violates Establishment Clause

Posted on February 25, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: "In a surprising decision yesterday, a Utah federal district court held unconstitutional the five years of state court proceedings aimed at reforming the polygamous FLDS Church's United Effort Plan Trust . . .In Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v...

Al-Qaida No. 2 blast Coptic church in Egypt

Posted on February 25, 2011
AP: "The deputy to Osama bin Laden issued al-Qaida's second message since the Egyptian uprising, accusing the nation's Christian leadership of inciting interfaith tensions and denying that the terror network was behind last month's bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria that killed 21 and sparked protests...

Ad company pulls NYC anti-abortion billboard

Posted on February 25, 2011
AP: An outdoor advertising company has taken down an anti-abortion billboard that pictured a black girl along with the tagline, "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb."

Jailed Christian convert is freed in Afghanistan

Posted on February 25, 2011
AP: "An Afghan man who was jailed for nine months for converting to Christianity has been released after an intense campaign by international diplomatic missions and Christian activists, an official said Friday."

Abdullah Saeed: The Quranic Case Against Killing Apostates

Posted on February 25, 2011
Abdullah Saeed writes at Public Discourse: "For many in the West this case again highlights how ?Islam? appears to be in conflict with ?our? values today?including freedom of religion. The common perception is that because of this law of apostasy and the death penalty associated with it, Islam restricts religious freedom and punishes converts from Islam with death...

Heritage Foundation: Next step in Congress? fight for marriage

Posted on February 25, 2011
"There is one silver lining in the President?s decision to call the vast majority of Americans who believe in traditional marriage bigots: Congress now has the opportunity to offer a real defense of marriage in court."

It?s Time To Fight ? Alliance Defense Fund speaks out on USDOJ refusal to protect law.

Posted on February 25, 2011
ADF President and General Counsel Alan Sears writes at the Chuck Colson Center: "We wanted to update you on the litigation involving the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA ? which essentially is the law that defines marriage to include one man and one woman for federal government purposes, and allows each state to define marriage without imposing any re-definition on another), and especially the impact of Eric Holder?s unprecedented announcement yesterday that the Department of Justice will no longer defend the law (and in fact actively oppose it) ...

Imperial County, Calif., renews marriage fight

Posted on February 25, 2011
California's Imperial County is renewing its effort to defend the state's gay marriage ban in a federal lawsuit . . . Now the county has elected a new clerk, and Chuck Storey filed papers Friday seeking to join the defendants."

46% View Unionized Teachers As a Bad Thing, 37% Disagree

Posted on February 25, 2011
Rasmussen Reports: "Thirty-seven percent (37%) say, in terms of its impact on the nation, it?s a good thing that most teachers belong to public employee unions. Forty-six percent (46%) disagree and say it?s a bad thing that most teachers are unionized...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.