Religion & Law

John Finnis: Does Free Exercise of Religion Deserve Constitutional Mention?

Posted on February 10, 2010
Does Free Exercise of Religion Deserve Constitutional Mention? John Finnis, 54 Am. J. Juris. 41 (2009) "[S]ome contemporary American legal and constitutional theorists hold that there is nothing about religion or its free exercise that calls for particular respect, or any mention in constitutional bills of rights...

Law Review: A Social and Cultural History of Federal Healthcare Conscience Protections

Posted on February 10, 2010
Beyond Politics: A Social and Cultural History of Federal Healthcare Conscience Protections Kimberly A. Parr, 35 Am. J.L. & Med. 620 (2009) "This Note will proceed in three parts. Part II will lay the conceptual framework for a substantive discussion of 'conscience clauses,' articulating a working definition of the term and introducing elements pertinent to the ongoing debate over their validity...

Law Review: Disestablishing Deism: Advocating Free Exercise Challenges to State-Induced Invocations of God

Posted on February 10, 2010
Disestablishing Deism: Advocating Free Exercise Challenges to State-Induced Invocations of God Michael Blank, 31 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 157 (2009) "Section A of Part I examines the evolution of the definition of religion and asserts that Atheism is a religion for First Amendment purposes...

Law Review: The Constitutionality of Teacher Certification Requirements for Home-Schooling Parents

Posted on February 10, 2010
The Constitutionality of Teacher Certification Requirements for Home-Schooling Parents: Why the Original Rachel L. Decision was Valid Haley J. Conard, 2 Drexel L. Rev. 206 (2009) "This Note argues that, had the Court of Appeal retained its original interpretation, a requirement that parents must be certified by the state to teach their children at home would, in most circumstances, withstand a constitutional challenge...

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Law Review: The Law Clerk Proxy Wars: Secrecy, Accountability, and Ideology on the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on February 10, 2010
The Law Clerk Proxy Wars: Secrecy, Accountability, and Ideology on the U.S. Supreme Court Carolyn Shapiro, 37 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 101 (2009) "This essay argues that the particular interest in Supreme Court law clerks reveals a fault line in the Court?s legitimacy...

Law Review: Rights, Social Goals and the First Amendment in the Context of the Child Online Protection Act

Posted on February 10, 2010
Protecting Childhood: Rights, Social Goals and the First Amendment in the Context of the Child Online Protection Act Elizabeth Blanks Hindman, 15 Comm. L. & Pol'y 1 (2010) "Through the prism of collectivist and individualist political philosophies, this article examines how three levels of federal courts articulated the conflict between individuals' rights to speak and to access pornography and society's need to protect children from harmful material...

Law Review: The Role of Precedent at the European Court of Human Rights

Posted on February 10, 2010
Yonatan Lupu and Erik Voeten, The Role of Precedent at the European Court of Human Rights: A Network Analysis of Case Citations (February 8, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1549947 "While political scientists have become increasingly interested in the output of international courts, they have paid little attention to the manner by which these courts justify their decisions and develop legal norms...

Law Review: Judicial Review, Judicial Activism, Queer Rights, and Literature

Posted on February 10, 2010
Judicial Review, Judicial Activism, Queer Rights, and Literature: A Conversation Between the Honorable Michael Kirby and Professor Ruthann Robson 43 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 89 (2009) "This issue will deal with a very important set of topics: judicial review, judicial activism, gay rights and literature, and these topics will not be explored in the traditional manner--i...

?U.S. Voters Say Openly Gay Service Members Won?t Hurt Military?

Posted on February 10, 2010
Bloomberg: "In the survey by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, 65 percent said ending the current policy of 'don?t ask, don?t tell' that lets gays serve as long as they don?t reveal their sexual orientation, wouldn?t be divisive or hurt combat effectiveness...

Prop. 8 defenders say plaintiffs attacked ?orthodox religious beliefs?

Posted on February 10, 2010
Wall Street Journal Law Blog: "Brian Raum, the head of marriage litigation for the Alliance Defense Fund, has accused the plaintiffs and their lead lawyers, David Boies and Ted Olson, of unfairly attacking religion. In an email, Raum wrote to us ... 'Specifically, they presented the teachings of the Catholic, Evangelical, Greek Orthodox, and Orthodox Jewish faiths as evidence for their cause in an attempt to demonstrate that such teachings are bigoted, irrational, and?yes?unconstitutional...

Consensus for marriage vote in DC

Posted on February 10, 2010
Heritage Foundation, The Foundry blog: "If the Board?s decision is upheld by the D.C. Superior Court and appeals fail, only the U.S. Congress will be able to ensure that a vote occurs before the same-sex marriage law approved by the D.C. Council takes effect early next month...

Free speech prohibited on sidewalk

Posted on February 10, 2010
Christian Web News: "'Christians shouldn?t be prohibited from expressing their beliefs in a clearly public area. Our courts should understand this more than anyone else,' said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. 'This man was doing nothing other than exercising his First Amendment right to peacefully share his faith with people willing to interact with him or accept his religious literature...

Planned Parenthood group watches as abortion debate plays out in Canada

Posted on February 10, 2010
Montreal Gazette: "The International Planned Parenthood Federation is drawing on reserve funds for some programs while a decision on its application for $18 million from the Canadian government appears delayed by an abortion debate."

Alabama puts Planned Parenthood clinic on probation after undercover sting

Posted on February 10, 2010
FOX News: "A Planned Parenthood clinic in Alabama has been put on probation by the state after an undercover sting helped reveal that underage teens had been receiving abortions there without parental consent."

CA: Fresno teachers union against new charter school

Posted on February 10, 2010
CBS 47: "Members of the Fresno Teachers Association plan to speak out at a Fresno Unified meeting on Wednesday."

Illinois: Wheaton to adopt guidelines for religious invocations

Posted on February 10, 2010
Daily Herald: "Wheaton is poised to adopt written guidelines for its long-standing tradition of offering religious invocations before city council meetings. But the Freedom From Religion Foundation warns the proposed guidelines don't go far enough to prevent the pre-meeting prayers from violating the First Amendment...

GA: Another lawsuit against state on charter school funding likely

Posted on February 10, 2010
Georgia Public Broadcasting: "The State Board of Education is reconsidering decisions made by the state?s controversial Charter School Commission. The board?s vote tomorrow could result in another lawsuit against the state regarding charter school funding...

David French on the Michael Medved Show: Singling Out Religious Organizations for Exclusion on Campus

Posted on February 10, 2010
ADF attorney David French appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss Christian Legal Society v. Martinez and rights of association on campus. The MP3 runs approximately 35 minutes.

Dawn Johnsen May Receive Recess Appointment, Perhaps Supreme Court Seat

Posted on February 10, 2010
LifeNews: "Dawn Johnsen has been on the top of the list of pro-abortion appointees from President Barack Obama that the pro-life movement has opposed. Now, it appears Johnsen, who could become a top assistant attorney general who advises Obama on legal matters, could receive a recess appointment...

SF schools to offer extra services to ?gay? students

Posted on February 10, 2010
Mercury News: "The district will add a new position to manage 'lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning' issues at an estimated annual cost of $120,000."

Nude dancing not ground for deportation, 9th Circuit rules

Posted on February 10, 2010
"Nude dancing is not necessarily a crime of 'moral turpitude' warranting deportation, a divided federal appeals court ruled."

Why Reducing Fees and Putting on A Pretty Pink Dress Won?t Bring Solos Back to the ABA

Posted on February 10, 2010
Susan Cartier Liebel writes at the Building a Solo Practice Blog: "When I graduated law school I never joined the ABA. It didn?t offer the new solo trying to get started anything of significant value for its dues. Sixteen years later it still doesn?t for the majority...

Sex traffickers ensnared more than 1,000 youths in Ohio last year

Posted on February 10, 2010
Columbus Dispatch: "More than 1,000 youngsters under the age of 18 were sex-trafficking victims in Ohio during the past year, according to the first-ever statewide report on the subject by the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission."

District Court Nominees to Wait Another Day

Posted on February 10, 2010
Blog of the Legal Times: "Lawmakers have postponed almost all meetings on Capitol Hill today because of the second Washington blizzard in less than a week. The Senate Judiciary Committee was among the last hold-outs, waiting until mid-morning to postpone a confirmation hearing for judicial nominees...

The limits of bioethics: Where the profession ends and politics begins

Posted on February 10, 2010
Sally Satel writing in the Hoover Institution's Policy Review: "Does being a bioethicist entitle one to any such moral authority, edifying the rest of us about right and wrong? Is this what society should expect of its 'ethics experts'? . . . It is hard to gauge how much impact organized bioethics has had on society...

India: Gujarat High Court says gov?t must repair religious buildings hit in riots

Posted on February 09, 2010
DNA: "Gujarat High Court has observed that the state government is accountable for renovation of religious structures damaged in communal riots. The court has also said that the government is also accountable for giving compensation to such structures...

Va. Senate votes to bar ?anti-gay? discrimination in state jobs

Posted on February 09, 2010
Washington Examiner: "In a 23-17 vote, the Democrat-majority chamber passed legislation that would add protections for sexual orientation to the state's anti-discrimination statute. The bill likely will face a greater challenge in the Republican-led House...

Kazakhstan: Women?s prayers lead to massive fine

Posted on February 09, 2010
Forum 18: "Kazakhstan has fined Zhanna-Tereza Raudovich 100 times the minimum monthly wage for hosting a Sunday morning worship service in her home, attended by local Baptist women and their children, Forum 18 News Service has learned. Police who raided Raudovich's home drew up an official record that 'they had discovered an illegally functioning religious community', local Baptists complained to Forum 18...

?Gay, lesbian, bisexual higher suicide risk?

Posted on February 09, 2010
UPI: ". . . Dr. Brett Thombs of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital and co-author Dr. Richard Montoro of the McGill University Health Centre found those teens who self-identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, or who were unsure of their sexual identity, were at higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts...

Chinese Military: Sell bonds to punish Washington

Posted on February 09, 2010
Reuters: "Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan."

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