Religion & Law

Judge gives more time for Blagojevich indictment

Posted on January 05, 2009
The AP reports: “A federal judge on Monday gave prosecutors an additional three months to obtain a corruption indictment against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, saying the complexity of the case against him makes it ‘unreasonable’ to expect the indictment sooner...

French UN ?Sexual Orientation? Push Linked to Radical Yogyakarta Principles

Posted on January 05, 2009
LifeSiteNews.com reports: A statement promoted by the government of France and issued jointly in December by 66 United Nations (UN) member states on ?sexual orientation and gender identity? advances an agenda set forth in a highly controversial 2006 document called the ?Yogyakarta Principles...

Vatican Newspaper Publishes Article Detailing Birth Control Pill as Cause of Abortion and Cancer

Posted on January 05, 2009
LifeSiteNews.com reports: The Vatican?s official newspaper has caused a media storm in the European press with an article asserting the abortifacient and carcinogenic effects of hormonal contraceptives . . . The report also notes that the International Agency for Research of Cancer, an agency of the World Health Organization, reported in July 2005 that the oral preparations [...

Four Late-Breaking ?Hot Topics? Announced for 2009 AALS Annual Meeting

Posted on January 05, 2009
AALS has posted this report on the PR Newswire: The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has announced four programs devoted to late-breaking legal issues. These “hot topics” programs will take place Thursday and Friday, January 8-9, 2009 in San Diego ...

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Wesley J. Smith: ?Human-Chimp Hybrid Cloning Proponents at it Again, Devalue Human Life?

Posted on January 05, 2009
I suspect they believe . . . it would undermine Judeo/Christian moral philosophy . . . This desire leads some . . . scientists to find (or create) a human/chimpanzee hybrid . . . and thereby "break the species" barrier . . .

Barack Obama Finalizes Appointment of Pro-Abortion Lawyer as Legal Counsel

Posted on January 05, 2009
LifeNews.com reports: “Incoming president Barack Obama today finalized the appointment of a leading pro-abortion lawyer as his top legal counsel. Dawn Johnsen, a former NARAL attorney, will serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration ...

Barack Obama Picks Pro-Abortion Gov. Tim Kaine to Head Democratic Party

Posted on January 05, 2009
LifeNews.com reports: “Barack Obama is adding to the pro-abortion record he is building as the incoming president and he has tapped pro-abortion Virginia. Gov. Tim Kaine to be the [...]

Washington: ?Same-sex rights might expand: Lawmakers work on 1,900 page draft of partnership bill?

Posted on January 05, 2009
The Olympian reports: Another battle over the rights of same-sex couples is headed to the state Legislature this year as activists try to expand rights available under Washington’s 11/2-year-old domestic-partnership registry . . . Democratic Sen...

Bob Barr: Federal DOMA should be repealed

Posted on January 05, 2009
Former Congressman Bob Barr writes in the LA Times: . . . In 2006, when then-Sen. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he said, ?Decisions about marriage should be left to the states.? He was right then; and as I have come to realize, he is right now in concluding that DOMA has to go...

San Francisco: Prop 8 protestors vandalize Catholic church

Posted on January 05, 2009
ABC reports: “Vandals spray-painted swastikas on a Catholic church in San Francisco’s Castro District Saturday night . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

California Supreme Court Says Episcopal Church Owns Property of Break-Away Parish

Posted on January 05, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog reports: “Today in Episcopal Church Cases, (CA Sup. Ct., Jan. 5, 2009), the California Supreme Court held that building and property of the St. James Parish in Los Angeles belongs to the Episcopal Church, not the parish, once the parish broke away and affiliated with the more conservative Anglican Church of [...

CA: Benicia may adopt rules for sexually oriented businesses

Posted on January 05, 2009
On Tuesday night, the City Council is expected to approve an ordinance that's been more than a year in the making - and should serve as a substantial hurdle to entrepreneurs hoping to bring adult entertainment closer to residents.

China targets Google in crackdown on pornography

Posted on January 05, 2009
The AP reports: China launched a major crackdown on Internet pornography Monday targeting popular online portals and major search engines such as Google. Seven government agencies will work together on the campaign to “purify the Internet’s cultural environment and protect the healthy development of minors,” according to an announcement on the government’s official Chinese-language Web site, china...

Obama likely to retool Bush?s faith-based initiative

Posted on January 05, 2009
The Christian Science Monitor reports: . . . The most controversial issue is whether religious groups should be allowed to hire only people of their own faith as staff in federally funded projects . . . Obama, in announcing his own plan in July to reform the faith-based initiative, included among his principles: ?If you get a [...

What Will Obama Administration Do With the U.S. Attorneys?

Posted on January 05, 2009
Joe Palazzolo reports in the Legal Times: “In a meeting last month with Barack Obama’s transition staff, representatives of the nation’s top prosecutors caught a glimpse of the president-elect’s thinking on the politically fraught issue of what to do with the the current 93 U...

Psychologists say marriages benefit when children fly coop

Posted on January 05, 2009
The AZ Republic reports: Don’t send the kids away just yet, but new research shows that an empty nest can help mom and dad’s marriage. It’s not that spending more time together makes the difference. Instead, the study by University of California-Berkeley psychologists found that an empty nest benefits the marriage because couples have more fun during [...

Pro Bono Increasingly Seen as an Investment, Not a Cost

Posted on January 05, 2009
The National Law Journal reports: That’s the counterintuitive conclusion we draw from our research for The National Law Journal’s annual Pro Bono Awards. The towers of finance and industry are toppling, knocking over law firms on their way down...

Some Catholic agencies accept ?gay adoption rights?

Posted on January 02, 2009
50% of the Catholic adoption agencies that threatened to close if forced to work with gay couples have adopted the new equality law.

?Abortion Hurts Women? billboard erected at San Francisco Bay Bridge

Posted on January 02, 2009
A pro-life billboard declaring "Abortion Hurts Women" was erected alongside one of the busiest bridges in the country this week ahead of the annual Walk for Life event.

Vatican Breaks from Italian Law

Posted on January 02, 2009
The Vatican announced this week that it will no longer automatically adopt laws passed by the Italian Parliament. . . . The Papal office said there were too many laws in the Italian civil and criminal codes and that many of them conflicted with the Church?s principles.

Poll: Plurality of Americans want all or most abortions illegal

Posted on January 02, 2009
A new Harris Poll finds a plurality of Americans want all or most abortions to be illegal and overwhelming majorities of Americans want more abortion limits in law. The nationwide poll showed just 9 percent said abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy -- Barack Obama's position.

Indiana: Sex shop must close, pay fines

Posted on January 02, 2009
In the latest development in a three-year legal battle with Spencer County, a judge there has found 231 Adult Plaza in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction.

Houston gets court victory in battle against strip clubs

Posted on January 02, 2009
The city of Houston claimed a significant victory Wednesday in its effort to stamp out strip clubs and pornographic boutiques that have set up shop too close to neighborhoods.

The California Attorney General?s Brief in the California Supreme Court Case Challenging Proposition 8: The Questions It Raised, and Why It Surprised Many Observers

Posted on January 02, 2009
Vikram David Amar and Alan Brownstein write: This is the fourth in a multi-part series of columns on the California Supreme Court’s recent decision to address the validity of Proposition 8, the voter-enacted alteration to the California constitution, foreclosing same-sex marriage, that was approved by state voters in November...

?Cleveland council votes to enact domestic partner registry for gay, straight couples?

Posted on January 02, 2009
The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland City Council voted Monday to create a domestic partner registry for same- and opposite-sex couples, ending weeks of emotional, behind-the-scenes lobbying on both sides of the controversial issue . . . But several council members reported intense pressure from local pastors, who oppose domestic partner benefits on religious grounds...

Cornyn promises filibuster on Franken seating

Posted on January 02, 2009
The Hills reports: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) threatened Friday to filibuster any attempt to seat Democratic Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken next week. The newly minted National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman said he had not whipped votes in the GOP caucus, but added that he could not imagine any members defecting and seating Franken without [...

Florida Gov. Crist to cave on third Supreme Court Judicial Appointment?

Posted on January 02, 2009
National Review Bench Memos reports: “The rumored appointee is Jorge LaBarga, whom my source describes as a ‘journeyman trial judge’ who ‘has shown no evidence of having a well-formed conservative judicial philosophy.’? Visit Site » Share This

New York: Planning Board unsure if new store is ?adult?

Posted on January 02, 2009
The Watertown Daily Times reports: Is it adult entertainment or just small retail? The Jefferson County Planning Board looked at the application for a retail store at routes 342 and 283 in the town of LeRay that would sell novelty items and lingerie. The site is in a business-residential 2 district, which does not allow businesses that fall [...

NY Democratic Senators who oppose marriage redefinition targeted

Posted on January 02, 2009
ChoosetheHero.com blog reports: “. . . In recent days, the gay community has taken to targeting Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz ? the pro-life pentecostal minister who extracted the gay marriage pledge from Smith. They have deluged his office with phone calls ? some of them threatening...

100 years of free Bibles

Posted on January 02, 2009
ABC reports: “The Gideons are celebrating a century of handing out Bibles . . . But several school districts throughout the U.S. have been sued or threatened with legal action by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, which argue that distribution of Bibles at public schools is unconstitutional...

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