Daily Archives: December 1, 2008

The Charleston Gazette reports: “Gov. Joe Manchin may ask the Legislature next year to end West Virginia’s practice of electing its judiciary along partisan political lines, at least for the state’s circuit court judges. Manchin has approached the state’s Judicial …

International Herald Tribune reports: Five men were arrested at a Palmetto strip club early Thanksgiving morning after brawling with Pandora’s Box bouncers and injuring at least one dancer. According to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report, the men were forced …

The Telegraph reports: A document issued by the Catholic Education Service said facilities for other faiths should be made available in all primary and secondary schools if possible. Catholic schools in England and Wales should also consider adapting toilet facilities …

Tampabays10.com reports: “Holiday” is a small word getting big criticism from one Christian group who wants it banned from storefront signs. The American Family Association has gone so far as to blacklist those stores that do not refer to this …

The Christian Newswire carries this report that begins: Analyzing five days of coverage of the Mumbai massacre, Boycott The New York Times editor Don Feder decried The Times’ “politically correct coverage” and its refusal to describe the terrorists who perpetrated …

The Paris Beacon News reports: Marshall city leaders have something tangible to be thankful for this holiday.  After a nearly two decade long fight, the city has prevailed over adult oriented businesses on state Route 1, near the interchange with …

Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that an Okaloosa County man has been arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. Christopher Paul Bachman, 26, and enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force, was taken into custody today by the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigation.

Mercury News: City Councilwoman Pat Anderson said Oakley is caught in a no-win situation when it comes to crafting an ordinance regulating adult businesses. “No one is going to be happy with where we put them,” Anderson said. “I don’t …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Stem cell research advocates have waited nearly eight years for the policy change President-elect Barack Obama has signaled he’ll make in the early days of his administration: lifting the restrictions imposed by President Bush on …

Americans United for Life has issued this press release: “Americans United for Life (AUL) today announces the release of a model state legislative resolution opposing the federal ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ (FOCA).  AUL urges state legislatures to adopt the resolution …

The DestinLog reports: Stephenson and his attorneys recently filed a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court alleging that the city of Destin is infringing on the bar’s right “to offer nude-dance entertainment.”

ACLJ has posted this article by Bob Unruh of WorldNetDaily that begins: A leading advocate for religious rights says an Islam-sponsored religious anti-”defamation” resolution pushed in the United Nations appears to be losing support but still remains a rattlesnake to …

Indiana law already prohibits same-sex marriages. Some are concerned that the proposed amendment would have unintended consequences on domestic partner benefits or domestic violence statutes. And several Indiana companies have spoken out against the proposal, saying it would send a message to prospective employees that Indiana is not welcoming or inclusive.

Through the years of revolution and post-communist reform alike, by accident and by design, the Beijing regime has disrupted the bonds of kinship that were once so important to mainstream Chinese culture. In pursuit of economic development, the communist state imposed policies on population and migration that have hollowed out the family and created a host of social pathologies that will plague China for generations.

John McCain didn’t get his clock cleaned because of his ardent advocacy for unborn life or his stout defense of traditional marriage — neither of which played anything but a bit part in the tragicomic McCain-Palin campaign.

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has just released its annual performance report for 2007-2008 in which it boasts of pushing its abortion agenda in traditionally pro-life countries throughout Africa, Latin America and the Islamic world.”

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “Women who have an abortion face a 30% increase in the risk of developing common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, according to a new study from the University of Otago, Christchurch.”

Valerie Blair and Sarah Ruby writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: . . . Politics can’t change the way we feel about our partners, but it has changed the way we feel about marriage in California. For us, state-run marriage …

LifeNews.com reports: “The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) may have been a Christian group at one point, but the organization has abandoned that view by supporting abortion. Now, the YWCA is going further and says it would be fine if …

OneNewsNow.com reports: “President-elect Barack Obama is moving swiftly to appoint homosexual activists to positions within his administration. Politico.com reports that 10 national homosexual organizations are working with the Obama transition team to get more openly homosexual people appointed to the …

“But the real fear driving climate alarmists wild is that a more rational approach to the fundamentalist religion of global warming may be in the ascendancy – whether in the parliamentary offices of the world’s largest trading bloc or in the living rooms of Blacktown . . . ”

The Wall Street Journal: he key, Mr. McConnell explained, is for the new President to govern as he campaigned — with an eye toward moderation. In 2004, he reminded the audience, the Illinois Senator criticized President Bush’s effort to “push …

Wesley J. Smith writes at LifeNews.com: During the campaign over Proposition 71, I warned that even if the Golden Gate Bridge fell into the ocean and an earthquake devastated Los Angeles, “the scientists” would be constitutionally entitled to $300 million …

David W. Kirkpatrick writes onEdNews.org: It might be said that trying to reform the public schools is more difficult than trying to move a cemetery.  In other words, almost impossible. Exhibit A is school vouchers, to fund students rather than …

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed suit in a California federal district court yesterday against the city of Rancho Cucamonga (CA). The complaint (full text) alleges that the city violated the Establishment Clause and …

Religion Clause Blog reports: “Last month in Gryphon’s Nest Gifts, Inc. v. Parish of Livingston, (MD LA, Oct. 7, 2008), a Louisiana federal district court held unconstitutional an ordinance enacted by the Parish of Livingston that bans soothsaying, fortune telling, …

Leigh Jones writes in the National Law Journal: Law schools and placement professionals frequently tout the versatility of a law degree as a path to alternative careers. But even in good economic times, the advantage of a juris doctor degree …

Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing for action in December on a plan to offer free, pornography-free wireless Internet service to all Americans, despite objections from the wireless industry and some consumer groups.

City commissioners say they’re not actively recruiting businesses that feature exotic dancers or erotic videos, and no one is trying to open up anything like that in the city. Commissioners say they’re just protecting Ormond Beach from lawsuits and adult entertainment run amok.

The BBC reports: “Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in central Nigeria after Christians and Muslims clashed over the result of a local election.”

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “On Friday, the White House posted on its website excerpts from the interview of President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush by Doro Bush Koch for StoryCorps.”

How Appealing links to several reports discussing the latest news from the ethics investigation of Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Sacramento Bee reports: What is traditional marriage? That question lies beneath the surface of the Proposition 8 debate. The measure that bans same-sex marriage in California, which is now being challenged in court, defines the union as between a …

The Hill reports: The Arizona and New York Senate races officially began Monday morning, with the appointment of two of the most powerful women in American politics to President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet. The respective nominations of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Glynne Sutcliffe Adelaide writes on EdNews.org: Rupert Murdoch has used his fourth Boyer Lecture to slam Australian schooling. No punches pulled here. “Our public education systems are a disgrace” was almost his opening sentence. And the reason is clear : …

Jerry Cantrell has this post on NJE3.com: Whatever your feeling on the latest round of judicial intervention in New Jersey’s urban public-school-funding soap opera, one thing is clear: The state Supreme Court intends to continue its override of the Legislature’s …

The AP has this report questioning whether so-called “gay rights” should be compared to the struggle against racism.

Conn. Justice Palmer: “People don’t seem to have a lot of energy to spend time undoing our decision.” Justice Joette Katz: The Christian majority’s opposition to marriage redefinition, “its just not a factor . . . ”

The International Herald Tribune: “In health-conscious, sports-oriented Boulder, Atlas Sports Genetics is playing into the obsessions of parents by offering a $149 test that aims to predict a child’s natural athletic strengths. The process is simple. Swab inside the child’s …

The Telegraph reports: Stephen Hockman QC is proposing a body similar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to be the supreme legal authority on issues regarding the environment. The first role of the new body would be …

I argue in this Article that acceptance of the modern, largely European conception of human dignity would weaken American constitutional protections for individual rights.

The Rocky Mountain News: “Anthony Hernandez started boycotting Cinemark movie theaters in 2006, when a manager asked him and an ex-boyfriend to leave a movie because other patrons didn’t like that the couple was holding hands. So it was an …

The AP reports: “The city of Durango plans to extend health insurance benefits to domestic partners of its employees starting next year.”

Courts commit the Collapsible Error when they conflate the equal protection question (“Are gays a suspect class?”) into the due process question (“Is there an underlying fundamental right?”) by defining the underlying right by the group targeted by the law — gay marriage — and then limiting the analysis to substantive due process (“Is there a fundamental right to gay marriage?”).

A clear shift has occurred over the last several decades in the recruitment pattern for the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead of selecting prominent politicians, presidents have recruited directly and nearly exclusively from the bench, particularly the federal appellate bench.

While the Roberts Court may eventually show itself to be a conservative court, there is no basis at present to claim the Court is the “most conservative” in over seventy years