Religion & Law

Virginia: Strip club cited for anti-ballpark sign

Posted on February 05, 2009
Richmond Times Dispatch: The debate over a ballpark in Shockoe Bottom is getting louder, especially at 15th and East Main streets. A large, bright yellow sign, exclaiming “No Stadium in Shockoe,” hangs from the side of the building above the neon-lit Club Velvet strip club...

Wyoming: Council approves liquor licenses for strip clubs

Posted on February 05, 2009
The Casper Journal: The liquor licenses for Natrona County?s two strip clubs were approved for another year by the Natrona County Commission on Feb. 3 . . . Commissioner Barb Peryam acknowledged the valid points made by the speakers, but said she could not deny the licenses without evidence of police calls or community harm ...

What the Mexico City Policy does to your money

Posted on February 05, 2009
They will be able to take your money and use it to promote the legalization of abortion ? at all stages of pregnancy ? in countries that heretofore have banned the procedure. They will now have deep pockets ? because of your paychecks, my fellow Americans, and fellow American Catholics ? to drastically outspend far poorer pro-life groups within those countries...

Kansas City: Strategy changes in fight against child prostitution

Posted on February 05, 2009
The charges mark the first time in the nation that the U.S. Justice Department has used a federal human-trafficking law to prosecute customers who allegedly tried to pay for sex with children, U.S. Attorney John Wood said.

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NY Congressman calls for ?federal hotline for hate crimes?

Posted on February 05, 2009
Rep. Steve Israel Thursday visited the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center in Bay Shore, and announced legislation that would create a federal hotline for hate crimes.

PA: ?Public Schools may expand sex education curriculum?

Posted on February 05, 2009
Pittsburgh Public Schools administrators last night proposed moving from an "abstinence-only" sex education curriculum to a "comprehensive" curriculum that would include discussion of abstinence, contraception and alternative lifestyles.

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion

Posted on February 05, 2009
What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police chaplain prayer bill passes Va. House

Posted on February 05, 2009
The legislation passed the House 66-30 Wednesday with 14 Democrats and both independents joining 50 Republicans in support. All votes against it were from Democrats.

Ireland: State argues embryos do not share rights of preborn

Posted on February 05, 2009
An embryo created as a result of fertility treatment has no legal status here, is not entitled to constitutional protection unless it is implanted in a woman?s womb, and may be legally destroyed prior to any such implantation, lawyers for the State have told the Supreme Court.

FL: Chiefland sexually oriented business ordinance should get final approval

Posted on February 05, 2009
The City Commission has approved on first reading what is expected to be the final versions of two ordinances regulating adult entertainment businesses and expects to give final approval to them in late February.

?Gays hope for out-of-the-closet judges?

Posted on February 05, 2009
"Of more than 1,300 federal judges, close to zero are openly gay. That's absurd." Robert Raben wrote last August on 365gay.com. He is a former legal adviser to Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and founder of a lobbying and consulting firm that bears his name.

This Lemon Comes as a Lemon: The Lemon Test, Legislative History, and the Pursuit of a Statute?s Secular Purpose

Posted on February 05, 2009
I conclude by making two modest proposals to modify the Lemon test. First, the purpose prong of the Lemon test should mean what it says. Rather than trying to construe the intent of the legislature, the Courts should focus on the statute, and its text...

Legislative Prayer and the Secret Costs of Religious Endorsements

Posted on February 05, 2009
For over fifty years, the Establishment Clause has generally required the government to be neutral on religious questions. That principle, however, has become more controversial with time. Many quite moderate judges and commentators have come, in varying degrees, to reject it...

Discerning the religious spirit of secular states in Asia

Posted on February 05, 2009
In form, all modern East and Southeast Asian governments are secular in the first sense of the term defined by Taylor. They are based on constitutions that do not ground the state?s legitimacy on beliefs in realities that transcend this world and do not privilege any particular kind of religious belief...

Has the pro-life movement failed? How?

Posted on February 05, 2009
Are we prepared to consider the possibility that abortion is not itself an isolated evil, but a deeper symptom - pernicious and malevolent, yes - of a deeper philosophical, theological and cultural crisis?

Bankrupt California buys ads for ?gay? adoptions

Posted on February 05, 2009
WorldNetDaily: “Facing a $42 billion deficit and a state debt that grows by $28,000 every minute, California has managed to find enough room in its budget to sponsor an elaborate statewide campaign to promote homosexual adoption . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

Colorado domestic partner and ?benefit-sharing? bills to be introduced

Posted on February 05, 2009
Denver Post: [Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver. ] . . bill, to be filed later this week, would give couples the option of dropping by their local county clerk’s office and filling out a check-off form stating which rights they want their partners to have...

UK: CLC supports Christian nurse suspended for prayer offer

Posted on February 05, 2009
The Christian Legal Centre has issued a press release that reports: Caroline Petrie, the nurse from Weston-super-Mare who was suspended without pay for asking a patient whether she would like to be prayed for, has tonight been reinstated by North Somerset Primary Care Trust, the Christian Legal Centre which represented her can reveal ...

Delaware Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Lesbian Co-Parent Custody Claim

Posted on February 05, 2009
Leonard Link: The five-member Delaware Supreme Court unanimously ruled on February 3 in Smith v. Gordon, 2009 Westlaw 243030, that the unmarried co-parent of a child adopted by her partner did not have standing to seek custody or visitation when she and her partner ended their relationship thirteen months after her partner adopted their child...

Women and Medical Professionals Intervene in Federal Case to Protect the Right to Conscience

Posted on February 04, 2009
Advocates International has issued this press release on the Christian Newswire that report: Representing Concerned Women for America, America’s largest women’s advocacy group and four other groups of pro-life medical professionals, attorneys with Advocates International filed a motion to intervene yesterday in three lawsuits commenced on January 15 that seek to invalidate a federal law protecting [...

Maine Marriage Rally Announced

Posted on February 04, 2009
Maine’s Family Policy Council has announced a rally to defeat same-sex “marriage” on February 15th. Visit Site » Share This

?Stimulus? Package Will Stimulate Discrimination Against People of Faith

Posted on February 04, 2009
Liberty Counsel: The highly controversial ?stimulus? package is a monolithic spending bill containing language designed to stimulate the narrow interests of extreme left-wing activist organizations. The latest political payback tucked away in the estimated 1...

Connecticut Federal Judge Quits, Citing the Lack of a Cost of Living Adjustment as the Reason

Posted on February 04, 2009
David Stras writes on Balkinization: . . . a reader sent me an article from the Connecticut Post reporting that a senior federal district court judge from Connecticut, Alan Nevas, made a decision to retire from the federal judiciary and cited the lack of cost-of-living increases from Congress as the reason for his decision ...

Illinois: Law would ban booze at strip clubs

Posted on February 04, 2009
Naperville Sun: “Patrons who drink a beer at Diamonds Gentlemen’s Club could soon be kicked out, if the DuPage County Board passes a new law prohibiting the alcohol consumption at adult business establishments . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

ACLJ Calls on Senate to Remove Discriminatory Provision From Stimulus Package that Targets Religious Activity at Colleges & Universities

Posted on February 04, 2009
ACLJ: The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, today called on the U.S. Senate to remove a discriminatory provision in the economic stimulus package that unfairly targets religious activity at universities and colleges that receive federal stimulus funds...

Sudan expels US aid group over bibles - state media

Posted on February 04, 2009
Reuters: “A United States aid group has been thrown out of Sudan’s Darfur region after officials found thousands of Arabic-language bibles stacked in its office, state media reported on Saturday . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

Wisconsin: Dodge County board won?t pray after complaint

Posted on February 04, 2009
Chicago Tribune: The Dodge County Board of Supervisors will hold a moment of silence to begin board meetings starting Feb. 10 instead of a prayer after a complaint. Dodge County Board Chairman Russell Kottke received a letter in January from the Freedom from Religion Foundation notifying him that a prayer referencing Christianity was unconstitutional ...

South Dakota: Winner residents question ACLU case vs. school

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Daily Republic: More than 70 people attended an informational meeting designed to explain the Winner School District?s 2007 settlement agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union, with some audience members strongly voicing their concerns about the plan...

Can Religious Faith Justify Reckless Homicide?

Posted on February 04, 2009
Sherry F. Colb writes at Findlaw: In March of last year, an eleven-year-old girl died of untreated diabetes, while her parents prayed for her recovery and chose not to consult a medical professional. The medical consensus is that Madeline Kara Neumann (who was known by her middle name) probably took about a month to die ? [...

Walter Williams: The National Ponzie Scheme

Posted on February 04, 2009
Townhall: According to Social Security trustee estimates, around 2016 the amount of Social Security benefits paid will exceed taxes collected. That means one of two things, or both, must happen: Congress will raise taxes and/or slash promised Social Security benefits...

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