Daily Archives: October 6, 2008

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “Students for Life of America (SFLA) has released a video exposing two Planned Parenthood clinics in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina covering up statutory rape of young girls. To view the video, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkakpcWSyWY”

. . . Scholars agree that a tax exemption is not equivalent to a subsidy from the government for many reasons. For instance, in a tax exemption, no money changes hands between government and the organization as it does in a subsidy. Again, no money changes hands.

“California health officials say the words “bride” and “groom” will reappear on marriage license applications starting next month.”

The School Law Blog reports: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to review several education cases, including the appeal of two Massachusetts families of a lower court decision that a school district did not violate their rights by exposing children …

The NC Family Policy Council reports: “Adolescents who live in an intact married family are less likely to be suspended or expelled from school than adolescents from non-intact families, according to a recent report from the Mapping America Project of …

The Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage Blog reports on the case which involved termination of parental rights by semen donors in the absence of a written agreement.  The author of this blog does not write from a perspective that favors …

KnoxNews.com reports: In Craigslist’s erotic services category, the phrase “hump day special” conveys a bit of a double meaning.The online community forum has become host to a virtual red-light district for prostitutes to ply their trade. The problem has emerged …

Concerned Women for America reports: “The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear Lisa Miller’s challenge to a Vermont custody decision that declares her former lesbian partner a parent to Miller’s daughter Isabella.” Liberty Counsel backgrounder

The Christian Post reports: A Christian mother recently lost a custody battle for her 13-year-old Christian twins to their Muslim father in Egypt, but vows that she will not give up her children even if it means having a criminal …

Albert Mohler has this post on his Blog that begins: “Reports out of Russia indicate that the recent military clash with Georgia may have represented something more like desperation than opportunism. Murray Feshbach of The Washington Post reports that, all …

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys filed suit Thursday against the city of Atlanta for refusing to permit a church to use its leased property for religious purposes.

The Discovery Institute has posted this report that begins: Last week, I recounted successful attempts to censor pro-intelligent design (ID) books from public school libraries, with high praise for such efforts from academia. But libraries, of course, aren’t the only …

OneNewsNow.com reports: “Clergy and lay members of the theologically conservative Pittsburgh diocese voted overwhelmingly Saturday to break from the liberal Episcopal Church, with which it differs on issues ranging from homosexuality to biblical teachings on salvation.”

OneNewsNow carries this report: The group, Muslim Americans for Obama [MAFO], insists that all of its voter registration activity is non-partisan, despite the fact that its mission statement says it was launched in August 2008 “to provide a vehicle for …

The list is here.

The ABA Journal reports: “The latest wrinkle: Whether frozen embryos belong to the couple (usually married) who asked a medical clinic to fertilize their eggs and sperm in a laboratory setting, or have some independent rights of their own, reports …

The Telegraph reports: “A Church of England clergyman has said that homosexuals should be tattooed with health warnings similar to those seen on cigarette packets. ” The Press Association carries this report: Vicar ‘sodomy’ remarks condemned.

The AP reports: “I’m not backing away from the ultimate test, which is still what’s in the best interest of the child,” Beebe told The Associated Press. “Now the question then becomes: Is the best interest of the child in …

The Blog of the Weekly Standard has this post discussing the question of whether Obam’s proposed Health Care Plan would cover abortions.

The AP reports: “Under a new Illinois law, computer technicians must report to law enforcement any customers whose computers contain child pornography.”

The White House has issued this press release that begins: Today, President Bush will discuss the proper role of Federal judges and the caliber of judges he has appointed at the Ashbrook Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.* Few issues have been …

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: “Delta previously said it planned to rely on flight attendants to handle inappropriate situations, such as pornography surfing. But after feedback from customers and attendants, the airline changed its policy and is working with Wi-Fi …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling affirming the constitutionality of Mexico City’s abortion law, which allows a woman to kill her unborn baby for any reason during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, liberal lawmakers are …

LifeNews.com reports: “Last week, the Bush administration used a national law prohibiting American taxpayer funding of international groups that promote forced abortions to de-fund UK-based Marie Stopes International. The decision to points to how the policy could change if Barack …

Bill O’Reilly has this commentary on Townhall that begins: This week marks the opening of two highly charged movie comedies. The first, “Religulous,” is a Borat-style journey starring Bill Maher that is designed to demonstrate that anyone who believes in …

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed suit on Friday in a Wisconsin federal district court challenging the federal law that creates a national Day of Prayer.”

Is an egalitarian vision of family life, in which promoting sex equality within marriage a proper governmental task, consonant with basic liberal principles, or is it a transformative project that ignores human nature and basic sex difference, corrupts family life, and infringes on women’s – and men’s – religious freedom?

The controversy surrounding the judicial use of comparative constitutional law is not new. However, the debate has recently been reignited by a number of US Supreme Court justices who have spoken out on the use of non-US law in the Court. Scalia opposes, and Breyer favours, references to ‘foreign law’.

I argue here for a model of genuine inclusion and engagement, in which religion and openly religious arguments are welcome in the public square but also subject to critical inquiry and disagreement.

Americans United for Life has issued this press release discussing today’s actions by the U.S. Supreme Court in several sanctity of life cases.

Tony Mauro has this article in the Legal Times that reports: Five Supreme Court justices, dozens of lower federal court judges, law school deans and lawyers — along with foreign ambassadors and at least one Cabinet secretary — were in …

Patrick McIlheran has this post in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discussing ADF’s Pulpit Initiative.  He writes: In terms of self-interest, I don’t want to be told who to vote for in church . . . and since when is it …

Mercury News reports: For more than a decade, abortion foes have been trying to erase a bitterly divided California Supreme Court decision that struck down a law requiring minors to get parental consent for abortions. Now, if voters approve Proposition …

The latest edition of “Gay and Lesbian Law Notes” from the Justice Action Center at NY Law School is available here.  It discusses several recent cases.

The AP reports: “The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a murder case in which a jury foreman read passages of the Bible to hold-out jurors who subsequently voted to impose the death penalty . . . The case …

The AP reports: “The Supreme Court has rejected for the third time an appeal by anti-abortion activists to undo a multimillion-dollar verdict for their use of ‘wanted’ posters to identify abortion clinic doctors . . . The case is American …

“An anti-abortion group has won its long legal fight to force Arizona to issue “choose life” license plates, after the Supreme Court declined to take the case . . . The case is Stanton v. Arizona Life Coalition, 07-1366.”

The AP reports: “Georgia’s top court has ruled in favor of a transgender politician sued by two political opponents who claimed she misled voters by running as a female.” The five page opinion, Fuller v. Thomas, No. S08A0898 (Ga. Oct. …

The James Madison Center for Free Speech has issued a press release (Oct. 3, 2008) indicating: Today, the Committee for Truth in Politics, Inc. (“CTP”) filed suit to protect it from FEC investigation and enforcement action for running an ad, …

The AP reports: For $2, the women will dance one song. For $10, they will dance a set. Forty dollars buys an hour of their time. The scene plays out in immigrant neighborhoods across New York City, providing a key …

As with the Rathans, this unexpected conundrum often arises well after the infertility crisis has passed, triggering impassioned and highly personal debates about the science and ethics of human life.

The Berkley Center will host the third of three symposia commemorating the tenth anniversary of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Act.

Every four years, defenders of abortion rights proclaim that the fate of Roe vs. Wade hangs on the outcome of the presidential election.

No court or legislature could adjudicate that difference, for if there is one thing everyone agrees on, it is that the state cannot specify what religion is or is not, cannot tell its citizens what should be the content of their faith.

The Volokh Conspiracy’s Todd Zywicki asks for and receives a number of arguments that have actually motivated a transition from a pro-life position to abortion advocacy.

This exploration reveals that the First Amendment as currently interpreted by the federal courts is unlikely to prevent the government from applying the prohibition to sermons, but that churches and other houses of worship have a strong argument that RFRA does block the prohibition in the unique context of in-person, in-service sermons.

The New York Law Journal reports: A public school’s decision to fold over a portion of a kindergartner’s poster to hide an image of Jesus did not violate the youngster’s right to free speech, a federal judge has determined. Antonio …

Tony Mauro has this report on the Legal Times: The Supreme Court begins its fall term today on the verge of significant change — in its caseload and among the lawyers who argue before it, and possibly even in its …

This paper assesses how the modern Church of Rome, while maintaining its anchor in faith, is taking a balanced and-indeed-enlightened approach in dealing with complex challenges presented by the “New Biology.”