Religion & Law

Justice Department submits ?deficient? appeal to challenges against DOMA

Posted on January 14, 2011
Christian Post: "The Department of Justice on Thursday filed an appeal in two cases in defense of the federal Defense of Marriage Act . . . Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel [Dale Schowengerdt] criticized DOJ?s defense as 'deficient.' 'The administration refuses to make the argument that the Congress made [when establishing DOMA],' asserted Schowengerdt...

Dire Straits? song banned in Canada over ?homophobic slur?

Posted on January 14, 2011
Billboard: "The CBSC's Atlantic Regional Panel determined the use of the word 'faggot' in the song's lyrics contravenes the Human Rights Clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code. The word appears three times in the song...

Homeland Security axes Bush-era ?virtual fence? project

Posted on January 14, 2011
ABC News: "ABC News' Jason Ryan reports: The Department of Homeland Security today officially scrapped a Bush-era program designed to use radar technology to detect illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DHS official and a congressional source...

Abortion lobby gives America a ?D? grade for ?reproductive rights?

Posted on January 14, 2011
CNSNews: "In the report, The Status of Women?s Reproductive Rights in the United States, is a 'report card' where each state and the nation as a whole are graded using a point system based on 'anti-choice' and 'pro-choice' governors, laws, access to contraceptives and abortions, spousal and parental consent and 'post viability abortion restriction' on abortion...

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Is there really a debt limit? Ten Congressional increases in ten years

Posted on January 14, 2011
Mercatus Center: "In the last decade, Congress raised the debt limit ten times. This data provides evidence that the debt limit, far from providing its intended fiscal discipline, has recently served as a symbolic cap which Congress will push higher and higher as spending increases dictate...

Justice Department files opening brief in DOMA appeal

Posted on January 14, 2011
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday told a federal appellate court that the Defense of Marriage Act does not violate the constitutional rights of same-sex married couples or their survivors and is a constitutional exercise of authority by Congress.

Panel says women should be allowed in combat units

Posted on January 14, 2011
"A military advisory commission is recommending that the Pentagon do away with a policy that bans women from serving in combat units, breathing new life into a long-simmering debate."

Ireland: Same-sex couples to enter civil partnership

Posted on January 14, 2011
Irish Times: "More than 80 same-sex couples have indicated to the General Registrar Office that they wish to enter into a civil partnership."

Michael Steele withdraws from RNC race

Posted on January 14, 2011
CNN: "Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele dropped his re-election bid Friday and endorsed former Bush administration official Maria Cino to succeed him."

Defending marriage against New Mexico AG?s opinion

Posted on January 14, 2011
OneNewsNow: "A conservative attorney thinks now might be a good time for New Mexico to amend its constitution so that traditional marriage is protected . . . "clearly, to recognize a so-called 'gay marriage' from another state as legally binding would be a first in that state and would run afoul of New Mexico's history, laws, and public policy,' contends Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel...

MD: Bill would legalize civil unions regardless of sexuality

Posted on January 14, 2011
"His proposal, which he detailed in an interview Wednesday prior to issuing a news release, would grant same-sex couples the same rights and benefits extended to heterosexual couples."

Kansas seeks to join anti-Obamacare lawsuit; now includes 26 states

Posted on January 14, 2011
Ilya Somin writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "The state of Kansas recently asked to join the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care plan filed by 20 state governments and the National Federation of Independent Business. Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are also seeking to join the multistate lawsuit, while Virginia and Oklahoma have filed separate challenges to the law...

Ohio University will allow men and women to live together in residence hall rooms

Posted on January 14, 2011
Cleveland Plain Dealer Blog: U joins more than 50 institutions, including Oberlin College and Miami University, in offering the option called"gender-neutral." While such housing is aimed at gay and transgender students it is also for friends or even brothers and sisters.

Utah: Weber County sheriff removes Facebook posting referencing service to God

Posted on January 14, 2011
Deseret News: "A controversial posting by the Weber County sheriff referencing service to God was removed from the department's main Facebook page . . . An employee . . . didn't feel the letter was appropriate and complained to Salt Lake-based civil rights attorney Brian Barnard...

FFRF contests Colorado invocations

Posted on January 14, 2011
Freedom From Religion Foundation: "'Because Littleton?s appeal was not a policy item, informal agreement by at least three commissioners propelled it into motion,' the Gazette reported. 'And because the commission chair has authority over agendas, it?s a done deal...

Rising gasoline prices sour U.S. consumer mood

Posted on January 14, 2011
Reuters: "Rising gasoline prices beat down U.S. consumer sentiment in early January, overshadowing an improved job outlook and passage of temporary federal tax breaks, a survey released on Friday showed."

Pa. district wants bus-stop evangelism put to end

Posted on January 14, 2011
phillyburbs.com (AP): "A central Pennsylvania school district wants a self-styled street preacher barred from approaching students at bus stops."

MT: Bill would create ?Choose Life? license plates

Posted on January 14, 2011
MinnPost: "Sixteen Republicans in the Minnesota House introduced a bill Thursday that would offer 'Choose Life' license plates as an option for vehicle owners. HF91, if passed (and there is no Senate version yet), would require the vanity plates to have a brightly colored, crayon-like image of children and the words 'Choose Life...

UK: Divorced people over-represented in psychiatric hospitals

Posted on January 13, 2011
Iona Institute: "Divorced people had the highest rate of hospitalisation in psychiatric units last year, according to new figures from the Health Research Board (HRB). The figures show that the rate of hospitalisation for divorced people was 115.9 per 100,000, nearly twice the national average of 66...

Chick-fil-A Head Responds to Marriage Event Controversy

Posted on January 13, 2011
Christian Post: "The president of Chick-fil-A recently defended a local operator?s decision to donate food to a marriage seminar despite petitions and criticisms from gay rights advocates."

Ohio: Judge choice thrown into chaos as federal court conflicts with state court

Posted on January 13, 2011
Cincinnati.com: "A federal judge ordered Hamilton County election officials on Wednesday to count more than 150 disputed ballots in the race for juvenile court judge ? more than enough to potentially change the outcome."

Arthur B. Laffer: A Price for Raising the Debt Ceiling

Posted on January 13, 2011
Aurthur B. Laffer writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Republicans should attach provisions repealing the worst aspects of ObamaCare and financial reform to spending that the president absolutely needs."

Heritage Foundation: No Debt Ceiling Raise Without Spending Cuts

Posted on January 13, 2011
Heritage Foundation Morning Bell: His Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, sent a letter to Congress last week claiming that unless they raised the debt ceiling by ?the end of the first quarter of 2011,? the ?full faith and credit of the United States? would be ?called into question? and there would be ?catastrophic damage to the economy...

NCPA: The U.S. Loses Ground on Economic Freedom

Posted on January 13, 2011
NCPA Policy Digest: "Economies that stuck to the principles of economic freedom are recovering more quickly from the recession and financial crisis, and growing faster than countries whose governments tried to spend their way out of trouble."

Church is Employer of Parish School Custodian for Workers? Comp Purposes

Posted on January 13, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: In Bravo v. Church of the Annunciation at Manhattanville, (S. Ct. NY, Jan. 10, 2011), a New York state trial court held that a Catholic Church exercised complete domination and control over a parish school so that the Church will be seen as the employer of  a custodian at the Annunciation School.

Liberty Counsel: El Paso City Officials Ignore Voters and Force Domestic Partnership Benefits

Posted on January 13, 2011
Liberty Counsel: Liberty Counsel has filed a motion to intervene in a case being heard today involving benefits for homosexual partners of city employees. Liberty Counsel represents El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values (EPTFV) and several city voters who oppose the city?s repeated attacks on marriage and family...

N.J. Supreme Court Justice Rivera-Soto tempers stance on abstention

Posted on January 13, 2011
NJ.com: "But now Rivera-Soto says he will vote on cases where Stern does not affect the outcome. That includes situations like the decision on a property dispute released Wednesday, where the vote was 6-1 vote ? with Rivera-Soto dissenting."

Iowa: Vander Plaats kicks off his 99-county tour

Posted on January 13, 2011
Des Moines Register: The former Republican candidate for governor insisted his 11-week statewide tour isn't intended to focus solely on same-sex marriage. The purpose is to introduce Iowans to the Family Leader - a new umbrella advocacy group that Vander Plaats leads and that includes the Iowa Family Policy Center - and to build statewide support for all "pro-family" government policies, from restricting abortion to fostering economic growth to limiting government, he said.

Guttmacher: Abortions Up?Except Where Pro-Life Is Most Active

Posted on January 13, 2011
Pro-Life Action League: The fact is, abortion rates haven?t gone up in the region of the country where pro-life activism is most common: the Midwest, where 85% of abortion providers report ?harassment? (i.e., life-saving pro-life activism). Rates there have declined 6%...

Six more states to join fight against ObamaCare

Posted on January 13, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Attorneys general in Kansas, Ohio, Wyoming, and Wisconsin have requested to join the lawsuit filed by 20 other state attorneys general led by Florida attorney general (AG) Bill McCollum against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)...

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