Daily Archives: January 7, 2009

USA Today carries this report that begins: George Washington myth bites the dust: There’s no eyewitness documentation he ever added “So help me God” to the end of his constitutionally prescribed oath of office. The oath is in the news …

“Drugs known as “emergency contraception” have three possible functions: inhibiting sperm migration to the ovum, preventing ovulation by preventing the surge of luteinizing hormone, and preventing implantation of the newly formed human embryo into the uterine wall.

AFP reports: Google and other major Internet sites apologized on Wednesday after the Chinese government accused them of failing to police links on their web pages that could lead to pornographic material. Google said it had deleted all links to …

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued a press release that reports: A public school in Arkansas violated the U.S. Constitution by arranging construction of a special meeting room for a Christian student group, according to Americans …

ACLJ reports: The Christian Defense Coalition has been issued a permit to conduct a pro-life vigil and display along the parade route during the Presidential Inauguration. The permit was issued after discussions between the American Center for Law and Justice, …

LifeNews.com reports: A Virginia pro-life group says the prospects of de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business could be better in 2009 than they have been in years. The Family Forum says it will press efforts to stop forcing taxpayers to …

The ABA Journal carries this report that begins: The legal writings of Harvard law dean Elena Kagan don’t provide many clues about her positions on terrorism issues that vexed the Bush administration. The New York Times examined the writings of …

365Gay.com report: “A transsexual Quebec inmate who hasn’t physically completed the transformation to a woman has created an incarceration quagmire for federal corrections officials after being transferred into a men’s prison. . . “

Operation Rescue has issued this press release on the Christian Newswire. It begins: The hearing in a motion to suppress evidence against late-term abortionist George R. Tiller resumed today after a six week break. Tiller is charged with 19 counts …

Greenville Online reports: It was standing room only at People’s Baptist Church in Greer on Tuesday night as more than 350 people from around the Upstate rallied to fight a federal judge’s ruling on Dec. 11 that halted the state’s …

LifeNews.com reports: “Following a court order requiring them to do so, members of the Arizona License Plate Commission voted unanimously today to approve the Choose Life license plate for motorists. Now, just a few administrative steps remain before Arizona residents …

WorldNetDaily reports: The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of an offended parent, is suing an elementary school district for allowing its students to attend a non-taxpayer-funded religious education program that meets on campus. For the past 55 years, the …

Sen. Jim DeMint has issued this press release that begins: In an effort to prevent Democrats from suppressing the right to free speech for talk radio and other broadcasters, today Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana), chairman of the House Republican Conference, …

Amy Grossman has this commentary on Findlaw that begins: “In a case of first impression, the Iowa Supreme Court has come out strongly in favor of the enforcement of prenuptial agreements – adding to a long-term trend of greater enforceability …

USA Today: “The latest data on teen birth rates shows significant increases in 26 states, according to government data out today, which suggests that the rise in teens having babies is geographically broad-based and represents most regions of the USA …

AFP: “Sixteen years after Bill Clinton tried to end restrictions on gays in the military, the US armed forces under Barack Obama may be forced to give homosexuals the same welcome as non-gays . . . Obama has pledged to …

WMTV reports on the U. of Wisconsin Surgery Center’s plan to do 2nd trimester abortions. The mp4 video is here (11mb) and runs just under two minutes. This post may be updated. Related: ADF’s press release: Univ. of Wis. Hospitals …

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on Reality Check with Mike Monokian to discuss the ACLU’s attack on Arizona vouchers for special needs children. The mp3 is here and runs just under 23 minutes.  There were some problems with the radio …

The Politico reports: “Norm Coleman will never ever serve [again] in the Senate,” Reid told Politico’s Manu Raju. “He lost the election. He can stall things, but he’ll never serve in the Senate.” Coleman has been on the Senate’s strongest …

SCOTUS Blog has published its most recent list of petitions to watch which the U.S. Supreme Court will review at its January 16th conference.  The list includes this: Docket: 08-592 Title: Schubert v. Pleasant Glade Assembly of God Issue: Whether …

The AP: American Indian tribes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that allows for snowmaking on an Arizona peak the tribes consider sacred . . . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in …

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “The National Center for Science Education reports that the first anti-evolution bill to be introduced in a legislature in 2009 is Oklahoma’s proposed Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act (SB 320). The NCSE posting also …

“A lesbian couple from Rochester has lost an appeal that a local athletic club discriminated against them in refusing to sell them a family membership . . . ”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Rules Committee, told reporters Tuesday evening that Burris should be seated . . .

Religion Clause reports: “The Becket Fund announced yesterday that it had filed suit in a New York federal district court on behalf of eleven Amish families challenging enforcement of Morristown, NY’s building code provisions that infringe plaintiffs’ religious beliefs. The …

ParentalRights.org reports: In March 2008, Belgium made international headlines when it sentenced two sets of Belgian parents to five months in prison, and fined them 4,100 euros ($8,000).1 The crime? Failing to vaccinate their children against polio. The government, hiding …

Though it does not appear that a bill to legalize marriage of gay men and of lesbian couples will be voted on anytime soon, it will not be because of any bargain . . . there are not presently enough votes to get a bill through the Senate . . .

TodaysTHV.com reports: “The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to temporarily suspend a state law banning unmarried foster and adoptive parents. The group filed a motion in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking a temporary …

The Houston Chronicle reports: “U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on new charges of sexually abusing another court employee and lying about it to prominent federal judges who investigated a misconduct complaint against him …

The AP reports: “The Legislature has had three special sessions since the November election to address California’s worsening budget deficit, projected at $42 billion over the next 18 months . . . “

The Wall Street Journal: As Chicago schools chief, Arne Duncan has found innovative ways to skirt the restrictive cap on the number of charter schools that can operate in Illinois, thus expanding opportunities for low-income kids. So it’s instructive to …

Joseph Bottum and Ryan T. Anderson write in a November 2008 First Things article that has been released to the public: It was a season of small demagogueries, a time of the easy lie and the useful exaggeration. A little …

LifeNews.com: “Members of Congress will cast their first vote related to incoming president Barack Obama’s pro-abortion agenda on Thursday. A Senate committee will vote on confirming pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as Obama’s Secretary of the Department of Health and …

Pacific Justice Institute reports: “A lawsuit challenging a government-funded website that promotes the harmony of religion and evolution is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The website at the center of the controversy, operated by UC Berkeley and funded …

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4788 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY January 7, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom ADF-allied attorney available to media after hearing in N.C. pro-life event suit City of Charlotte refused “festival permit” for …

Should a Trip From Illinois to Tennessee Change a Woman into a Man? : Proposal for a Uniform Interstate Sex Reassignment Act Alice Newlin, 17 Colum. J. Gender & L. 461 (2008) (An excerpt is below. To view the full …

In recent years, there has been a surprising outpouring of academic literature on the proper role of precedent in constitutional cases. Although some of the commentary addresses the question of “vertical” stare decisis–the question whether and to what extent higher court precedents should bind lower courts–most observers have focused on the “horizontal” problem of the effect of a court’s own precedents on its future decisions. And even this focus has been narrowed by concentrating on the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving the lower federal courts, as well as the state courts, to work things out for themselves.

Justice John Paul Stevens, now starting his thirty-third full term on the Supreme Court, served as law clerk to Justice Wiley B. Rutledge during the Court’s 1947 Term. That experience has informed both elements of Stevens’s jurisprudence and aspects of his approach to his institutional role. Like Rutledge, Stevens has written powerful opinions on issues of individual rights, the Establishment Clause, and the reach of executive power in wartime.