Religion & Law

Pelosi vows huge fight against GOP over public funding for abortion

Posted on February 10, 2011
Washington Post: Pelosi described the GOP push as the "most radical assault" on women's reproductive rights "in our lifetimes." And she was equally blunt in her assessment of right-wing assaults on family planning. "They are at a different philosophical place," she said, characterizing their view as: "all engagement has to result in a child...

USA Today: Catholic college faces crisis of faith, labor laws

Posted on February 10, 2011
USA Today: Meanwhile, observers are debating what lessons religious colleges should derive from Manhattan College's experience. "I'm not that concerned about this ruling because there's an easy way to avoid it: stay true to your religious mission and don't drift away from it," said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which provides legal representation in religious liberty cases...

Homosexual groups petition Iowa House Speaker to resist efforts to impeach remaining Justices

Posted on February 10, 2011
Chicago Tribune: "Gay rights advocates delivered petitions with 3,248 signatures to House Speaker Kraig Paulsen's office urging him to resist efforts to impeach the remaining four justices on the Iowa Supreme Court."

Arizona to countersue feds over immigration issues

Posted on February 10, 2011
Az Republic: "Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she plans to file a counter-lawsuit against the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws."

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European Court Trumps UK Parliament

Posted on February 10, 2011
The Epoch Times: "UK should cut ties with EU human rights court that has effectively become the nation's supreme court, says think tank."

Radical Muslim Cleric Captured Crossing US Border ? Border Security IS National Security

Posted on February 10, 2011
Europe News: "A radical Muslim Imam, Said Jaziri, was captured recently crossing the US/Mexico border in southern California according to LA Times and the UK Daily Mail, once again proving the point that border security is as much about national security as it is about illegal immigration...

UK Mosque Fight Reveals New Mood

Posted on February 10, 2011
Europe News: "A local council's effort to evict a mosque from an abandoned industrial site here demonstrates Britain's shifting appetite for multiculturalism, a concept the U.K. prime minister has said should be rejected."

Parliament set to defy Europe on prisoner votes

Posted on February 10, 2011
ePolitix.com: MPs are not just unhappy with the substance of the court's ruling. When making their bid for a debate on backbench time to the backbench business committee Straw said the courts ruling raised fundamental constitutional questions."This is about a court without the checks and balances of the Supreme Court telling a democratically elected Parliament and parliamentarians what to think," he said.

Hawaii House votes to keep prayer in Capitol

Posted on February 10, 2011
KHON2.com: "The Hawaii House of Representatives will continue to hold prayers before daily session, unlike the state Senate, which canceled them last month."

RI ACLU weighs-in on Pawtucket athletic field use

Posted on February 10, 2011
Turnto10.com: "The ACLU wants to put an end to the practice of giving preferential treatment to parochial schools over public schools in the use of city athletic fields."

Law, Law, Law, Law, Law: Elite profs answer constitutional arguments by sticking their fingers in their ears.

Posted on February 10, 2011
James Taranto writes at the Wall Street Journal: Akhil Reed Amar of Yale, in the Los Angeles Times, and Laurence Tribe of Harvard, in the New York Times. Both profs claim ObamaCare is constitutional . . . Rather than grapple with a novel legal issue in a serious scholarly way, it's as if they stick their fingers in their ears and sing "Law law law law law...

Shaking up 2012: US senators who aren?t running for reelection

Posted on February 10, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: So far, five senators have announced that they will retire at the end of of their terms rather than seek reelection. With the 2012 campaigns not far off, the departures of these incumbents are shaking things up. Here's how."

R.I. same-sex marriage debate on 3 fronts Wednesday

Posted on February 09, 2011
Providence Journal Blog: "Speakers will include Maggie Gallagher, the chairwoman of the National Organization for Marriage, Christopher Plante, the executive director of the local NOM chapter, Austin Nimocks, who is identified as the "Senior Counsel Alliance Defense Fund,''' Dr...

Pro-Abortion Virginia Sen. Webb to Quit, Opens Door for Allen

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifeNews: "First-term Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia announced today he will retire instead of seeking re-election in the 2012 election cycle. The news is good for pro-life advocates upset with his pro-abortion voting record."

Overview of Supreme Court?s cert. before judgment practice

Posted on February 09, 2011
SCOTUS Blog: "With Virginia seeking to bypass the court of appeals in its bid to overturn the new federal health-care law, we look at the rules governing cert. before judgment and the Court?s past uses of the procedure."

?Poll shows support for NH gay marriage law?

Posted on February 09, 2011
Boston Herald: "But House leaders have asked that the fight to repeal gay marriage be postponed until next year, and the latest WMUR Granite State Poll shows only 29 percent of New Hampshire adults support repealing the law, compared to 62 who want to leave it in place...

MA: State Could End Alimony For Life Law

Posted on February 09, 2011
TheBostonChannel.com (includes video): "If you live in the state of Massachusetts, there's one thing that never ends: alimony. It's a life-long financial obligation that can turn lives and finances upside down. Now a new legislative proposal could radically change that mandate...

NC Dept. Of Revenue, Amazon Reach Settlement In Privacy Case

Posted on February 09, 2011
NBC17.com: "The NC Department of Revenue does not need access to private customer records that reveal which specific customers in North Carolina have ordered which specific books, music, or movies in order to complete its audit of Amazon and collect any taxes owed," said Jennifer Rudinger, Executive Director of the ACLU of North Carolina in a press release.

Baby clings to life after being abandoned in S.C. arena toilet

Posted on February 09, 2011
CNN: "A baby boy is clinging to life at a South Carolina hospital, three days after being abandoned in an arena toilet after a circus show, police said."

Chicago Hospital offers help for women who want to halt abortions

Posted on February 09, 2011
"A Chicago medical center has become one of the nation's first Roman Catholic hospitals to adopt a practice of halting second-trimester abortions for women who change their minds after the multiday medical procedure has begun."

Maryland Democrat: Brochin reconsidering stand on same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on February 09, 2011
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County Sen. James Brochin found the testimony Tuesday by opponents of gay marriage "troubling," and said this morning that he may support the bill. The Baltimore County Democrat had previously said he was against same-sex marriage.

Saskatchewan Justice Minister: Commissioners must ?marry? homosexuals

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifesiteNews: Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan has advised MP Maurice Vellacott that though he has considered other options for marriage commissioners who do not want to perform ceremonies for homosexual couples, such as the ?single entry point? system used in Ontario, he has ?found no workable options...

Portugal?s abortion problem worse than ever after four years of decriminalization, pro-lifers say

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "The Portuguese Federation for Life (FPV) is calling for a revision of the nation?s abortion legislation after a nurse was given a suspended sentence of three years years in prison for running an illegal and clandestine abortion clinic in the city of Matosinhos...

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb won?t run for re-election in 2012

Posted on February 09, 2011
USA Today: "Webb won one of the closest Senate races of 2006, defeating incumbent Republican George Allen. The GOP senator made one of the more memorable gaffes of that campaign season, calling a Webb campaign volunteer "macaca" -- a derogatory term that means monkey in some countries...

?House of Horrors? abortionist made over $1.8 million/year, now claims to be broke

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifeNews: "Authorities investigating the activities of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who is accused of the murder of viable infants born alive in his Philadelphia clinic, are also putting together the pieces of his corrupt financial practices, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday...

Paul Linton: Pro-Life Groups Should Note Abortion-Fetal Pain Legal Issues

Posted on February 09, 2011
Paul Linton writes at LifeNews: Yesterday, Mary Balch responded to my article (posted on the Human Life Review?s website) criticizing the National Right to Life Committee?s ?Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,? which would ban virtually all abortions during and after the twentieth week of pregnancy, including abortions of children who are not viable.

Pittsburgh Settles Lawsuit With Pro-Life Advocate on Speech

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifeNews: "U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer, this summer, granted a request from pro-life advocate Mary Kathryn Brown and ordered the city to pay $209,276 in attorney fees and costs, mostly to attorneys from The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group that represented Brown...

Massive Media Bias in Coverage of Planned Parenthood Videos

Posted on February 09, 2011
LifeNews: "The networks refused to acknowledge these stings. But it?s not a matter of journalistic principle, objecting to hidden cameras. It?s all about politics."

Iowa: Look at justice candidates? backgrounds, Branstad told

Posted on February 09, 2011
Des Moines Register: "The list of nine finalists for the court includes five judges, three private attorneys and a University of Iowa law professor. Scholars and court-watchers say the group reflects a mix of legal experience from trial and appellate courts, academia and judgeships...

Scalia and the Commerce Clause: Could a conservative judge vote to uphold Obamacare?

Posted on February 09, 2011
Robert Verbruggen writes at National Review: "As the challenge to Obamacare?s constitutionality approaches the Supreme Court, the question on everyone?s mind is: How will Anthony Kennedy vote? But perhaps we should also ask: How will Antonin Scalia vote? Scalia is known as one of the Court?s most conservative justices, but a concurrence he wrote in a 2005 case should give opponents of the health-care law pause...

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