Daily Archives: February 11, 2009

The Christian Institute:  ”A third of GPs would refuse to work in a surgery offering early medical abortions, a new poll shows. The survey of 480 doctors by GP magazine also found that 61 per cent thought abortion should not be …

Denise Burke writes on the Americans United for Life Blog:  Over the last two weeks, there has been much debate over the conception and premature birth of the California octuplets.  This debate and the outrage it has provoked have primarily …

The NYCLU reports that tomorrow a rally is going to be held in front of the NY City Marriage Bureau in support of marriage redefinition at 8:20 am.

Journal-Advocate.com: “While Fleming residents may be still waiting for the fallout on a proposed strip and nude club, the Sterling city council is trying to get ahead of the game by amending zoning laws before a request is made . …

The NC Family Policy Council:  While students across the country celebrate the 200th birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin today, many high school and college students are also celebrating “Academic Freedom Day.” The celebration is an attempt to bring …

A dissenting synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church that had its legal personality stripped and its property seized by the socialist government of Bulgaria has won a decisive victory at the European Court of Human Rights.

Myfoxphilly.com:   The lights were out Tuesday at the Players Strip club on Allegheny Avenue after a licenses and inspections nuisance task force closed the business down again. Police records show more than 40 times in the past year Philadelphia police …

The Christian Post reports: After the ACLU sued, “The warden at Louisiana’s maximum security prison has agreed to remove a Bible reference from a monument erected at the prison’s gates to encourage arriving inmates.”

CNA:  The Merrimack, New Hampshire-based St. Thomas More College of Liberal Arts has opened its 2009 “Faith & Reason Scholarship Essay Contest” for applicants to the school. Seven prizes will be awarded, with the top place earning a $30,000 scholarship …

CNA: “A leader of Libertas, a new European Union political party dedicated to ‘individual freedom, democracy, and a culture embracing life’ says the party has now been formally recognized despite ‘the best efforts by Brussels.’”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State has warned three Wisconsin public school districts and a community college that they may face litigation if they do not stop holding graduation ceremonies …

QNotes, “Carolina’s multimedia LGBT new source”, reports on competing rallies to be held over the definition of marriage in North Carolina. Christian Action League: Rally for Marriage Planned for March 3 Equality North Carolina: ENC Day of Action 2009

San Diego Union Tribune: “Ion Theatre, a small but well-regarded young theater company, has vacated its performance space in what it calls a protest of the property owner’s personal contributions to Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that banned same-sex …

Michael Foust writes at Baptist Press:  Conservative attorney Jay Sekulow hosted a television program during the 1980s under the watchful eye of the now-extinct Fairness Doctrine, and he doesn’t want to go back . . .  In repealing the rule, …

Albert Mohler writes on his blog:  . . . For decades, many religious organizations have sought federal funding for social ministry programs.  The logic is understandable, and there is no doubt that religious institutions and organizations are often far more …

Politico:  Just this morning, I reported that Sen. Debbie Stabenow has backed off on the idea of holding hearings for radio accountability, something she discussed last week with liberal radio host Bill Press (leading to an uproar on conservative talk radio over the Fairness …

Time Magazine:  For more than 80 years, Dayton, Tennessee has had a monkey on its back . . . Darwin’s treatise On The Origin of Species was instrumental to the town’s famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which pitted noted trial lawyers Clarence Darrow and William Jennings …

ADF attorney David Hacker writes at the ADF Center for Academic Freedom Blog: “As if the trespassing citations were not enough, the University of Calgary Students’ Union voted Tuesday to sanction the Campus Pro-Life club.”

USA Today is reporting that “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential 2012 presidential contender, will deliver the Feb. 24 Republican statement that follows President Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress .. .”

The ABA Journal:  Next week for the first time, the ABA’s policy-making body will webcast its sessions live from the ABA Midyear Meeting. The House session, scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 16, will be …

The Daily Citizen:  At least three dozen citizens, many holding signs, gathered for Tuesday night’s meeting of the Dodge County Board of Supervisors to support prayer at county board meetings. The peaceful protest was incited by allegations from the Freedom …

Mark Johnson has this commentary in The Journal arguing in favor a West Virginia Marriage Amendment. Hat tip: Family Voice,  the Blog of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia 

Reuters: “California’s octuplets mom, already jobless and receiving food stamps, has gone into hiding with her six older children because of death threats, her spokesman said on Wednesday . . . “

BBC: “The editor and publisher of a top English-language Indian daily have been arrested on charges of ‘hurting the religious feelings’ of Muslims.”

The American Lawyer: “A former litigation associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has filed a complaint against the firm with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming the firm denied her partnership because she is openly gay, and fired her …

If the Ninth Circuit follows the Seventh Circuit’s lead (and if the Eleventh Circuit follows suit), then student free-association rights will be virtually assured. If either the Ninth Circuit or the Eleventh Circuit rules for the university, then a classic “circuit split” will exist . . .

The Providence Journal: “After meeting behind closed doors, the Judicial Nominating Commission decided last night to interview six candidates who have applied to become the state’s next Supreme Court chief justice.”

Nat Hentoff has this post on RealClearPolitics discussing efforts in the UN to silence criticism of Islam.  He concludes: “And why has the press, particularly the American press, continued to be so silent on this U.N. attack on individuals’ right of …

The Minnesota Independent reports:  ”The Marriage and Family Protection Act is getting traction at the Minnesota Capitol, bill supporters said Tuesday. Numerous legislators have offered their support for the legislation, so much so that a duplicate bill has been drafted …

LifeSiteNews:  Outraged by what she considers a meaningless sentence and remarks by an attorney that she says are insulting and untrue, a former patient of Womancare, a Detroit-area abortion facility, has come forward to tell of her abortion experience with …

Terrence Jeffrey writes on CNSNews:  Do we really face the possibility of an irreversible crisis? Well, yes. Not the one Obama describes, but the one he may cause . . .  . . . After growing by 0.9 percent and …

Citizen Link reports that California Teachers overwhelmingly supported the Amendment even though the leadership of Teacher’s Unions opposed it.

LifeNews: “The activist who recorded tapes of staff members at a Planned Parenthood abortion center in Arizona covering up a potential case of statutory rape have been turned over to local officials . . . “

The American Family Association of Indiana has issued an e-alert that includes the following:       Two bills supported by pro-life groups moved successfully through the Indiana Senate this week.  Senate Bills 89 and 90 passed out of the committee …

“The Canadian Broadcasters Standards Council . . . has ruled that comments made by a radio talk show host were ‘sweeping, abusive and unduly discriminatory criticism of Islam’ in violation of the CAB Code of Ethics.”

How Appealing reports on developments in Internet Solutions, Corp. v. Marshall, No. 08-12328 (11th Cir. Feb. 10, 2009)

The Cumberland Times-News reports: “A Republican lawmaker from Anne Arundel County is building support for a Personhood Amendment to the state Constitution and plans to introduce a bill “to a somewhat reluctant legislature” as soon as next week . . …

The California Attorney General has issued this news advisory (not yet online at the time of this post): SACRAMENTO — Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. will take questions from the Los Angeles Times editorial page editor and address over …

AP reports: “Central Michigan and its women’s basketball coach are being sued by a former player, who claims her heterosexuality was a factor in losing a scholarship after two seasons . . . Heike said Guevara told her she wore …

AP: “The citizenship of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who insist they are Americans is being called into question because they were delivered by midwives near the U.S.-Mexico border. The federal government’s doubts have arisen as many people in the …

AP: The judges in Minnesota’s Senate trial on Tuesday ordered that 23 previously rejected absentee ballots be opened and added to the race, setting the stage for counting perhaps thousands more such ballots and giving Republican Norm Coleman a shot …

Holman W. Jenkins Jr. writes at the Wall Street Journal: When you hear critics complaining about mark-to-market, they’re in effect calling for regulatory forbearance. Banks are required to report holdings of securitized loans at market prices, though market prices are …

Pacific Justice Institute: “A lawsuit has been filed against the Nevada City School District after a counselor forced a student to take a pregnancy test at school without her parents’ knowledge or consent. The student is represented by affiliate and …

The Daily Mail: “It takes pride in its reputation as one of the most gay-friendly employers in the country. But the Kent Police force has been accused of going too far after inviting children under the age of 14 to …

The Maine Family Policy Council reports: “Professor Monte Stewart, J.D. will present a provocative discussion on the ramifications of genderless marriage in Maine this week.  Stewart is a distinguised author and attorney.  He is the past US Attorney of Nevada, …

The Boston Herald: “Six middle school students could face child porn charges after a boy took a nude photo of his 13-year-old girlfriend and ‘sexted’ it to his pals’ cell phones, cops said. The six boys, ages 12 to 14 …

The Telegraph reports: “The research was conducted by www.cybersentinel.co.uk, which provides software solutions allowing parents to block access to certain sites.”

Dubbed the “Texas ‘Pole’ Tax,” this levy on strip clubs is one of a new set of modern sin taxes that has been imposed on a wide range of activities in recent years. Sin taxes–targeted excise taxes imposed on the sale of disfavored goods or services–are not uncommon; the United States has a history of taxing vices such as alcohol and tobacco in order to generate revenue in times of war, or to raise money for education. Although sin taxes are generally proposed in times of fiscal need, lawmakers often justify them by citing moral concerns. The argument posits that a given activity, such as smoking, is bad for society. By raising taxes on cigarettes, lawmakers force smokers to internalize the costs of their habit and will perhaps discourage some people from purchasing cigarettes altogether. But while discouraging anti-social or destructive behavior is a desirable goal, sin taxes are not an appropriate remedy for societal ills. Sin taxes are inherently regressive; they put a disproportionate burden on the poor, and they can create more problems than they solve. Not only do sin taxes burden the individual consumer, but they also jeopardize small businesses and promote unfair competition, and can lead to downsizing and layoffs for workers. In an effort to stamp out one particular activity, sin taxes may encourage smuggling and create violent black markets, especially when the item being taxed is available for less in a neighboring city or state. There is often considerable class bias influencing the decision of which activities to tax; the bulk of things subject to this extra burden are those most popular with the poor and working classes.

This Comment analyzes the widely publicized issue of ageplay in virtual worlds, and discusses the merits of past and present regulations criminalizing such behavior. Congress has made numerous attempts to prevent the possession and distribution of sexually explicit renderings of minors which involved no actual minors in their production. This Comment points out the logical and constitutional problems with Congress’s efforts to render this victimless activity criminal under both child pornography law and obscenity law, and concludes that so far as online ageplay is concerned, adults should be allowed to explore their fantasies with other consenting adults without the interference of terrestrial law.