Daily Archives: February 26, 2009

Mark Steyn writes at Macleans: Saving the planet for the next generation by not having a next generation is a bad idea . . . It’s striking that, no matter how many British women think globally and sterilize locally, the …

of 600 registered voters, 76 percent said they supported a “constitutional amendment in North Carolina defining marriage as between one man and one woman,” while 21 percent said they opposed the amendment . . .

The Washington Blade reports: “The amount of money that the Gill Action Fund has contributed to the Log Cabin Republicans — about one-third of its total budget in some years — is raising questions about Democratic influence over the GOP …

NCPA Daily Policy Digest: For a bit of perspective: * The average Arizona private school tuition in 2006 was $4,300 and the average total cost was $5,500. * The same revenue per pupil calculation for Arizona charter schools is $7,800.

Leonard Link: “I have finally obtained from one of the attorneys in the case a copy of the transcript containing the bench ruling by Judge Jacobson in Hammond v. Hammond, Docket No. FM-11-905-08-B (N.J. Super. Ct., Mercer County, Feb. 6, …

Robert J. Ambrogi writes at Legal Blog Watch: Today, law student blogs seem less important, Kerr said. “By and large the law student blogs seem to have dwindled in number and importance.” . . . Kerr could not say with …

Deseret News: “SB146, sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, now moves to a third reading in the Senate . . . The bill would require local school boards to issue a certificate excusing a minor from attendance within 30 days …

The Independent: “The NSPCC is backing a national Government investigation into home-schooling, leaving many devoted parents feeling they’re in the firing line. Hilary Wilce speaks to some of the mothers and organisations involved.”

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4841 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND MEDIA ADVISORY February 26, 2009 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT ADF MEDIA RELATIONS: (480) 444-0020 or www.telladf.org/pressroom Hearing Friday on temporary restraining order against NY’s Broome Community College ADF attorney representing church will be available for …

EnewsPF: “The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights group, today praised New Mexico’s state Senate Judiciary Committee for voting 6-5 to advance the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act, which would allow …

ConnPost.com: “The owner of a Milford strip club is proposing a settlement of a federal lawsuit challenging the city’s ordinance regulating adult businesses.” Apparently, he is challenging a 6 foot buffer zone requirement between strippers and customers.

The Atlanta J. Constitution: A former Atlanta strip club manager was convicted Wednesday of having a rival strip club torched. Boyd Smith, former general manger of the Platinum 21 club, conspired with two fellow employees to burn down Club Onyx …

OregonLive.com: “Portland high school teacher Bill Diss, who spent months protesting abortion outside a Planned Parenthood office, is the subject of a complaint to police and the state agency that investigates complaints of teacher wrongdoing . . . ” Planned …

GayPolitics.com: “Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH, has been named Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House announced today.  Crowley is currently Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute . . . “

Christian Today: “Anti-discrimination legislation is being used to limit freedom of religion “in unacceptable ways”, says the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.”

The Oklahoma House has voted to prohibit physicians from performing abortions solely on account of the gender of a woman’s fetus.

This is the first Personhood Amendment in U.S. history to pass a State Senate.

AP: “A Connecticut police officer who poses as a 14-year-old girl to catch Internet sex predators has arrested a Maine man for allegedly attempting to impair the morals of a minor . . . “

Matt Coles writes at the ACLU: Conflicted Voters: The Reason We Lost The polls and other research show that when the campaign on Prop 8 began in earnest, around Labor Day, voters in California fell roughly into three groups . …

The Chiefland Citizen: If there are going to be adult entertainment businesses in the city of Chiefland they will have a few legal hoops to go through, rigorous regulation and licensing and limits on their locations and operations. The City …

Albert Mohler writes at his blog: The scourge of pornography is now so pervasive that it begins to define the culture at large. America is fast transforming itself from a society that allows and markets pornography into a culture that …

ABA Journal: “The Supreme Court has yet to affirm a decision by the San Francisco-based appeals court this term, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.).”

ABA Journal: President Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel . . . Johnsen also was asked about a footnote she wrote 20 years ago in a Supreme Court brief on abortion, the Times story says. …

Broadcasting & Cable: “After a would-be sale produced no qualified buyers, E.W. Scripps says its Rocky Mountain News will cease publication after the paper hits front steps tomorrow.”

Daniel Henninger writes at the Wall Street Journal: . . . Instead, the economic crisis, as it did for Franklin D. Roosevelt, will serve as a stepping stone to a radical shift in the relationship between the people and their …

“The Senate vote on the so-called Fairness Doctrine was in part a response to conservative radio talk show hosts who feared that Democrats would try to revive the policy to ensure liberal opinions got equal time.”

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia reports: “This Sunday, March 1, hundreds of West Virginia churches across the state will participate in ‘Stand4Marriage Sunday.’ The participating churches will address the importance of marriage and reaffirm their commitment to defending …

ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom reports: “It appears that the University of Florida has revised its student organization nondiscrimination policy. On July 10, 2007, the ADF Center for Academic Freedom and the Christian Legal Society filed suit on behalf of …

Fox News: Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is pushing for an amendment Thursday to outlaw the so-called “Fairness Doctrine,” in a move that could prove more symbolic than fruitful . . . But Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin has also proposed an …

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on Fox News’ Fox & Friends to discuss whether a New Jersey football coach should be allowed to bow when his students pray.  Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State opposed …

Boston Globe: Why, you say, should we non-Harvard types care about an election for the lesser of Harvard’s two governing boards? Because two outspoken candidates are trying to storm the gates, arguing that the storied university needs to embrace free …

Jeremiah Dys writes at the Blog of the Family Policy of West Virginia: The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  With a renewed push for a “nondiscrimination ordinance (NO),” I fear …

LifeNews: “An Arizona state House committee on Wednesday passed an omnibus bill with several pro-life provisions that would limit and reduce abortions. The bill could become law now that pro-abortion former Gov. Janet Napolitano is no longer standing in the …

The Blog of the Legal Times: “The Senate Judiciary Committee has sent David Ogden’s nomination for deputy attorney general to the full Senate for a vote. The committee voted 14-5 this morning to endorse Ogden for the No. 2 position …

Mercury News: . . . Since January 2000, the percentage of Californians who say they do not favor limits on abortions has declined 10 percentage points, to 71 percent. Over the same period, the number who back abortion restrictions has …

CNS: The Philadelphia-based Catholic Medical Association, which has some 1,100 members nationwide, has joined with the Christian Medical Association and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists in an effort to intervene legally against lawsuits filed by the attorneys …

Renew America: Operation Outcry — the Justice Foundation’s project to reverse Roe v. Wade — is seeking testimony from women who have suffered harm from an abortion. To date, the organization has gathered over 3,700 legally admissible testimonies. The group …

Laura Meckerl writes at The Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama on Thursday will propose $634 billion in new taxes on upper-income Americans and cuts in government spending over the next decade to pay for his promised health-care expansion . …

School parent Rola Awwad has been seeking a private place for her 10-year-old son, Adam, to pray in school since the fall. The district offered to let him pray at recess — either outside or in classroom while his classmates are there. At first, Awwad called the offer “unacceptable,” and the situation attracted attention from Muslim advocates who suggested bringing the issue to the state for resolution.

Writing for Time magazine, Amy Sullivan recently ridiculed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB] for its “crusade against a mythical abortion bill,” the Freedom of Choice Act. As someone who helps handle pro-life activities for the Conference, allow me to defend our actions — and to demonstrate that her account is rife with inaccuracies and non sequiturs.

Contraception undoubtedly decreases the chances of an individual act of intercourse leading to an abortion, but the increased promiscuity resulting from comprehensive sex education can lead to the death of even more unborn children.

One would expect that the aims and agenda of such a huge organization would come under severe scrutiny, but Planned Parenthood has been immune from such questions, largely because its stated goals of population control and family planning are supposedly in agreement with America’s interests at home and abroad. But is PPFA’s stated agenda the whole story?

Today, the 9th Circuit upheld a grant of summary judgment against California resident Nano Maldonado, who sued the California Department of Transportation on First Amendment and procedural grounds when the DOT attempted to enforce a California statute prohibiting offsite commercial billboards along “landscaped freeway.”

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “This week brought two developments regarding anti-Semitism in Europe. According to JTA, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown became the first world leader to sign the London Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism.”

ABP: “Faith-based charities haven’t been hit as hard by the economic downturn as expected, says a new survey by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.”

AP: “VASSALBORO, Maine: . . . The coffee shop raised the ire of dozens of residents when it went before the town planning board last month. Town officials said the coffee shop met the letter of the law.”

Vesna Jaksic writes at the National Law Journal: Some schools move away from letter grades while another makes it easier to give more A’s . . . Stanford Law Dean Larry Kramer said that it’s too early to draw conclusions …

The Hill: Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) has tried for years to limit military recruiters’ access to high school students, and the former teacher may finally have his chance now that Democrats control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Honda has once …

Religion Clause Blog: “Summum’s attorney, Brian Barnard, has a different take on the case. He says the decision opens the way for him to amend the lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the 10 Commandments monument that is in Pioneer …

ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence: “The government does not endorse the religious speech of individuals merely by permitting it in public places.”

The Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena isn’t obliged to make campaign finance disclosures, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, because its support for the Montana Marriage Protection Amendment — use of some printer ink and a foyer table — was “extremely minimal.”

AP: “The Malaysian government has softened an earlier ban on the use of the word “Allah” by Christian publications to refer to God and is allowing them to use it as long as they specify the material is not for …