Religion & Law

Jordan Lorence: 9/11 and Bronx Household of Faith

Posted on September 13, 2010
ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "The 9/11 anniversary reminds me that nine years ago this month, I completed the legal pleadings for a lawsuit on behalf of a small church named Bronx Household of Faith against the Board of Education of the City of New York...

NIH to resume funding stem cell research for now

Posted on September 13, 2010
Associated Press: "The government said Friday it's back in the business of funding embryonic stem cell research ? at least for now ? after an appeals court temporarily lifted a judge's ban . . . 'We believe it's a shame that they would rush to push funding of embryonic stem cell research, and a waste of taxpayer money,' said [Steven H...

NRA backs Tea Party candidate in Delaware

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Hill: "The National Rifle Association endorsed conservative commentator Christine O'Donnell Friday in Delaware's Republican Senate primary. The Tea Party-backed O'Donnell is looking to upset Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) on Tuesday."

Pat Buchanan: The bonfire of the Korans

Posted on September 13, 2010
"The questions raised by his deliberate provocation are not so much about him, then, as they are about us. Are we a serious nation? Is Obama up to being a war president?"

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Mich. child care workers sue to break from union

Posted on September 13, 2010
Forbes: "Peggy Mashke tends up to 12 children for 12 hours a day at her home, so she was surprised to get a letter welcoming her to the United Auto Workers union . . . Mashke has given up about $100 this year, and while she says it's not a huge amount of money, she's among a small group of home-based providers suing in federal court to break free from organized labor ...

Pope?s address to German envoy: ?Marriage is . . . between a man and a woman?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Zenit: "[T]he Church sees with concern the growing attempt to eliminate the Christian concept of marriage and the family from the conscience of society. Marriage is manifested as a lasting union of love between a man and a woman, which is also directed to the transmission of human life...

Russia: ?Parents organizations urge to bar sexual minorities? march in Petersburg?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Interfax: "Representatives of parent organizations ask authorities to ban gay pride parade planned by sex minorities for September 16-25 in Petersburg."

NC: Police investigate case involving infant?s body found outside Planned Parenthood

Posted on September 13, 2010
Winston-Salem Journal: "An infant girl found dead outside Planned Parenthood Saturday was alive when she was born and did not have any bruising on her body, a Forsyth County medical examiner said yesterday. But it will take at least three weeks before a cause of death is determined, said Dr...

Christine O?Donnell roiling Delaware?s GOP establishment

Posted on September 13, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "The contest in Delaware has become a battle pitting O'Donnell's fervent grassroots supporters against Republican heavyweights. The race is shaping up to be a measure of the anti-establishment sentiment that views incumbency as a handicap and political inexperience as a valued quality...

Santorum: ?Separation of church and state? meant to protect church from gov?t, not vice versa

Posted on September 13, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "In a speech last Thursday at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas Santorum contemplated the consequences of Kennedy's famous words, just before the fiftieth anniversary of the late president's address. His remarks were published in full by Catholic Online Monday ...

Senate plans to tackle ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? next week

Posted on September 13, 2010
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring to the Senate floor next week the 2011 defense authorization bill that includes a repeal of the Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell policy, aides said today."

US sues Calif. city for denying Buddhist permit

Posted on September 13, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "The U.S. Justice Department has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the Southern California city of Walnut, claiming it unfairly denied a permit to a group seeking to build and run a Buddhist center."

Mike Castle trailing Christine O?Donnell in poll: What?s going on?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Mike Castle might lose the Delaware Republican Senate primary Tuesday night. That?s what a new poll suggests, anyway. The Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey shows 'tea party' choice Christine O?Donnell holding a three-point lead over Castle, 47 to 44 percent ...

Law Review: How Senate Confirmation Hearings Should Better Educate Senators and the American Public

Posted on September 13, 2010
How Senate Confirmation Hearings Should Better Educate Senators and the American Public: The Instructional Necessity of Case-Specific Questioning Vikram David Amar, 61 Hastings L.J. 1407 (2010) "This Article undertakes a systematic rebuttal to the arguments made by Supreme Court nominees and others that Court nominees are constrained, in their Senate hearings on possible confirmation, from expressing their specific views on legal issues and cases of the day...

Parents sue Catholic school for denying admission to their unvaccinated son

Posted on September 13, 2010
Fox News: "A New York couple is suing a Catholic high school for refusing to grant a religious exemption that would allow their 14-year-old son to enroll in ninth grade without state-required vaccinations, claiming immunizations are a 'violation of God's supreme authority...

Senator Specter pushes bill legalizing stem cell research

Posted on September 13, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "Sen. Arlen Specter on Monday initiated a drive to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, superseding conflicting court decisions that he said are slowing critical work to find cures for crippling diseases."

Christian school in Kashmir attacked over reported Koran desecrations

Posted on September 13, 2010
Christian Post: "Hundreds of Muslims in the divided region of Kashmir took to the streets Monday night in violent protest over the reported desecration of Qurans in the United States. Over a dozen people have reportedly died in the clash that ensued between police and protesters, and a Christian private school was set ablaze in the volatile Himalayan region...

Catholic marriages plummet in Britain

Posted on September 13, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "In the lead-up to the pope?s visit, the Catholic bishops have striven to create a positive spin on the situation of the Catholic Church in Britain, but statistics have shown dramatic drops in most indicators of Catholic life since the 1982 visit of Pope John Paul II...

Colorado?s Personhood Amendment 62 organizers answer critics, invite scrutiny of petition signatures

Posted on September 13, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Colorado Statesman reporters brought a recent meeting of the Secretary of State's 'Best Practices & Vision Commission' to the attention of Amendment 62 sponsors today. According to The Statesman, commission members discussed an unnamed recent initiative and the 'possibility' that signatures may have been illegally duplicated to qualify for the ballot during the 15 day curing period...

Personhood conference deemed a success, participants look forward to personhood victory

Posted on September 13, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Pro-life advocates from ten states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin gathered in Wichita, Kansas last Saturday, September 11th for the Midwest Personhood Pro-life Conference...

Malta: ?Gay rights activist uncertain about cohabitation law?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Malta Independent: "As Members of the European Parliament called for more rights for same-sex couples in Europe, gay rights activist Patrick Attard is uncertain about the proposed cohabitation law, which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said will be enacted by the end of the year...

Law Review: The Montana Supreme Court Legalizes Assisted Suicide

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Montana Supreme Court Legalizes Assisted Suicide August 31, 2010 William L. Saunders A dozen years after the United States Supreme Court penned [its decision] Washington v. Glucksberg, Montana became the third state where physician assisted suicide is 'legal...

J. Christian Adams: The rule of law suffers another blow from the DOJ

Posted on September 13, 2010
Pajamas Media: "I have written extensively in many outlets including Pajamas Media about the outright lawlessness emanating from the Civil Rights Division under Eric Holder?s leadership at the Justice Department. Whether it involves rewriting military voter protections, refusing to sue defendants because of their race, or ignoring the Motor Voter requirements, the rule of law is endangered by this DOJ...

Search continues for Legal Services Corp. president

Posted on September 13, 2010
Blog of LegalTimes: "The Legal Services Corp.?s search for a new president is drawing to a close. Those interested in the position have until Oct. 15 to submit their applications. LSC is a nonprofit organization set up by Congress that distributes grants to legal service providers who represent low-income clients across the country...

Law Review: Catch or Release? The Employment Non-Discrimination Act?s Exemption for Religious Organizations

Posted on September 13, 2010
Catch or Release? The Employment Non-Discrimination Act's Exemption for Religious Organizations August 31, 2010 Steven H. Aden, Stanley Carlson-Thies, 11 Engage 4 (Sept. 2010) The ?Employment Non-Discrimination Act? (?ENDA?) currently under consideration in Congress would in effect expand Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to add ?sexual orientation? and ?gender identity?(transgender status) to the list of statuses protected under federal law from employment discrimination...

Group alleges liberal effort to change judicial elections

Posted on September 13, 2010
Federalist Society Blog: "The American Justice Partnership (AJP), a small conservative organization, has issued a report claiming that George Soros's Open Society Institute has been backing "a highly coordinated, well-funded campaign" to alter state judicial elections in order to have more liberals placed on the bench, according to The Washington Post ...

?Gay Cairns dads pay Indian women $80k for surrogate babies?

Posted on September 13, 2010
Courier Mail: "A gay couple in Cairns are so desperate to have children they are paying two women in India $300 for every day of pregnancy to give birth to the couple's surrogate babies. They are believed to be the first gay dads in Queensland to pay Indian women to carry their children, with the total bill costing up to $80,000...

?California sperm donor stalks lesbian mother?

Posted on September 13, 2010
"After the birth, Daniel insisted Karen get a passport for the boy, so he could visit his native Brazil. When she refused, Daniel sued her for joint legal and physical custody."

?My daughter?s sperm donor died?

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Globe and Mail: "My two-year-old daughter?s biological father died recently in an accident. The feeling of loss I have experienced in the days since has been unsettling to me, her biological mother. How can you mourn someone you?ve never even met? I am a 36-year-old lesbian...

Catholic church will not ordain women, says Scotland?s senior cardinal

Posted on September 13, 2010
Guardian: "One of Britain's most senior Catholics has ruled out ordaining women as priests or giving women an increased role in the church, as preparations were finalised for this week's state visit by the pope. Cardinal Keith O'Brien said liberalising Roman Catholic teachings on allowing women to join the priesthood 'isn't even considered by us' as it directly contradicted the church's long held traditions that only men could be ordained...

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