Religion & Law

Hitmen kill 25 in bloodiest day on Mexico-U.S. border

Posted on September 10, 2010
Reuters: "The murders of 25 people by suspected drug hitmen on the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday was the bloodiest day in almost three years in an area gripped by an escalating drug war, officials said on Friday."

Obama?s DADT Problem

Posted on September 10, 2010
"A federal judge in California puts the White House on the spot."

Mosque furor, Koran burning: Anti-Islamic fervor mobilizes US Muslims

Posted on September 10, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "American Muslims are stepping up public-relations efforts to counter what many observers see as a growing anti-Islam fervor. The campaigns are not coordinated. Rather, the renewed efforts reflect a sense across various Muslim communities that nearly a decade after 9/11, anti-Islam sentiment is a growing threat that must be taken seriously...

Ground Zero mosque?s eerie echo of ancient terror ? the rabat

Posted on September 10, 2010
Amir Taheri writing in The New York Post: Islam is a religion, not a culture. Each of the 57 Muslim-majority nations has its own distinct culture -- and the Bengali culture has little in common with the Nigerian. Then, too, most of those countries have their own cultural offices in the US, especially in New York ...

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Web host kicks church sites to the curb for ?hate speech?

Posted on September 10, 2010
Adotas: "Rackspace Hosting, web host to a plethora of websites, including two sites run by Dove World Outreach Center (pastor Terry Jones? church) has announced that both of those sites have been shut down . . . Having used the church?s websites to gain publicity for the event by using the domain name 'Islam is of the Devil,' Dan Goodgame, spokesman for Rackspace said the church violated the 'hate speech' provisions of its contract with the web host...

7th Circuit: Wisconsin?s State Bar public image campaign survives First Amendment challenge

Posted on September 09, 2010
"Because the public image campaign at issue in this case is germane to those constitutionally legitimate purposes, however, we affirm the judgment in favor of the state bar."

5th Circuit: San Antonio can impose and waive fees or march organizers

Posted on September 09, 2010
International Women's Day March Planning Committee v. City of San Antonio, No. 09-50692 (5th Cir. Sept 8, 2010) "We find that San Antonio is not engaging in content or viewpoint-based discrimination, at least not by waiving fees for the limited number of events under consideration in this case ...

A church?s Koran burning would flout US strategy on Islam as ?religion of peace?

Posted on September 09, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Soon after the 9/11 attacks, President George Bush made a strategic decision that the United States would embrace an interpretation of Islam as a peaceful religion . . . Those who support a burning of the Koran ? as the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla...

FL: Gainesville officials to bill minister for security at Koran burning

Posted on September 09, 2010
The Tampa Tribune: "The pastor with a plan to torch more than 200 copies of the Quran on Saturday will get a bill from city officials for the cost of policing the event at the Dove World Outreach Center, according to the Gainesville Sun."

MD: Dem. Gov. O?Malley suggests he would sign same-sex ?marriage? bill if reelected

Posted on September 09, 2010
Washington Post: "Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Thursday suggested that he would sign a bill supporting gay marriage if reelected and one passed the state's General Assembly, which has so far been reluctant to do so."

FL: Koran burning simply a publicity stunt, local Muslims say

Posted on September 09, 2010
CNN: "The Muslim community in Gainesville, Florida, has been largely quiet on the hot-button issue of the planned Quran burning on Saturday that has triggered reactions from across the world. They are not staging a massive rally, hesitant to give Pastor Terry Jones any bigger platform than he already has...

Obama added more to national debt in first 19 months than all presidents from Washington through Reagan combined, says gov?t data

Posted on September 09, 2010
CNSNews: "At the end of fiscal year 1989, which ended eight months after President Reagan left office, the total federal debt held by the public was $2.1907 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That means all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan had accumulated only that much publicly held debt on behalf of American taxpayers...

Issue before N.Y. court: When is bondage prostitution?

Posted on September 09, 2010
Law.com: "A Manhattan judge has ordered the New York City Police Department to shine a light on the hazy legal line separating bondage, domination and sadomasochism from prostitution. In a decision last week, New York County Supreme Court Justice Carol R...

MT: ?Big Sky Tea Party members resign in wake of anti-gay Facebook comments?

Posted on September 09, 2010
KBZK: "Several members of the Big Sky Tea Party Association have resigned after the weekend removal of the group's president. The association's board voted to remove president Tim Ravndal after a Facebook exchange appeared to condone violence against homosexuals...

?New gay Colorado Supreme Court justice sees mix of praise, criticism?

Posted on September 09, 2010
KDVR (AP): "Relief and skepticism both are greeting Colorado's next member of the state Supreme Court. Monica Marquez is the first Latina and the first openly gay jurist on the state's high court."

Federal judge picks immigration question for Nebraska high court

Posted on September 09, 2010
Fremont Tribune: "U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp filed documents Tuesday establishing the wording for a question she will submit to the Nebraska Supreme Court regarding Fremont's illegal immigration ordinance . . . Smith Camp wrote in Tuesday's filing that if the supreme court determines the ordinance is valid under state law, she will then exercise jurisdiction over the federal questions presented...

Canada: ?Gay Ontario man loses blood donation negligence suit?

Posted on September 09, 2010
CBC: "A gay Toronto man who concealed his sexual history on a blood donor questionnaire and was sued for negligence by Canadian Blood Services has lost in Ontario Superior Court. In a decision released Thursday, the court sided with CBS in its suit against Kyle Freeman for 'negligent misrepresentation...

9th Circuit dismisses ACLU case asserting torture by C.I.A.

Posted on September 09, 2010
New York Times: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that former prisoners of the C.I.A. could not sue over their alleged torture in overseas prisons because such a lawsuit might expose secret government information." Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc...

E. Christian Brugger: More on marriage and contraception

Posted on September 09, 2010
E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil, writing at the Culture of Life Foundation: "To be consummative (i.e., to be an act by which the spouses become one flesh), intercourse must be 'marital.' To be marital, it must be performed 'in a human way' and must be 'in itself suitable for the procreation of children' ...

Slovenian gov?t pushing same-sex ?marriage? and adoption

Posted on September 09, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Slovenian government is planning to legalize same-sex ?marriage? and adoption of children by same-sex couples, according to The Slovenian Civilian Initiative for Family and the Rights of Children (CIFRC)."

UK: Papal protesters, bishop call for courtesy during visit while media/atheists crank up the rhetoric

Posted on September 09, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, met today with anti-Catholic campaigners to ask them to 'show respect' to Catholics celebrating Pope Benedict?s visit to London. The first official state visit of a reigning pontiff to the UK, starting September 16, will likely be marred by demonstrations by secularist and homosexualist protesters...

Copenhagen to open ?gay cultural center?

Posted on September 09, 2010
The Copenhagen Post: "Copenhagen?s culture and leisure administration has approved the establishment of a culture house where homosexuals, bisexuals and transvestites can feel at home, reports Politiken newspaper."

Paraguayan legislator seeks to discourage publicity for homosexuality during prime time

Posted on September 09, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A Paraguayan city council member has drawn the wrath of the homosexualist organization Amnesty International by proposing that discussions of homosexuality be eliminated in the local media during prime time."

UK: Labour Leader hopeful?s pledge on same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on September 09, 2010
Get Reading: "Labour leadership hopeful Diane Abbott made a pledge to Reading?s gay community on Saturday that she would make 'genuine gay marriage' a priority."

Proposed Panamanian law: $5,000 fine for disrespectful comments towards homosexuals

Posted on September 09, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A bill is advancing silently through the Panamanian legislature that would fine perpetrators between $500 and $5000 dollars for making fun of or speaking 'disrespectfully' of a homosexual, according to the Panamanian newspaper Critica."

Another state targets abortion practitioner injuring patients, violating standards

Posted on September 09, 2010
LifeNews: "Another state is going after abortion practitioner and abortion business owner Steven Chase Brigham. He operates abortion centers known as American Women's Services in Voorhees, New Jersey as well as facilities in Pennsylvania and Maryland, where he has also been disciplined for numerous problems...

62% say no matter how bad things are, Congress can make them worse

Posted on September 09, 2010
Rasmussen Reports: "Heading into the final weeks of the congressional election season, 62% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can always make them worse. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 19% disagree, with 19% more not sure...

Australia: New South Wales same-sex adoption bill passes final hurdle

Posted on September 09, 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald: "A bill giving same-sex couples the right to adopt has been passed by the NSW parliament, after the Legislative Council voted in support of a last-minute amendment to the legislation. The bill passed [46 in favour and 43 against] its final hurdle in the upper house just after 6...

LA Times: ENDA a ?necessary step?

Posted on September 09, 2010
Los Angeles Times editorial: "The heated legal and political battle over Proposition 8 might suggest that marriage equality is the last barrier to full participation in society for gays and lesbians. In fact, blatant discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation remains permissible in workplaces across the nation, an injustice Congress must rectify ...

Appeals Court Puts on Hold Ban on Stem Cell Research Funding

Posted on September 09, 2010
"U.S. Appeals court on Thursday delayed a judge's ban on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to consider the merits of the Obama administration's request for a stay.

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