Monthly Archives: March 2009

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed an announcement from the Obama administration that the United States will join the United Nations Human Rights Council, reversing a Bush administration decision to shun the top U.N. human rights body.”

“. . . attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund in lawsuits against officials who have attempted to recognize out-of-state same-sex ‘marriages’ in contradiction to state law.”

Times-Picayune: “There’s a hold on an order to put both fathers’ names on the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted in New York State by a gay couple.”

KPLCTV.com: “A Longville man remains hospitalized following a pounding at a local strip club. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s officials say 19-year-old Chad Heath was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

IndyStar.com: “A man wanted for a Far Southside bank robbery was arrested at an Eastside strip club on Monday afternoon. Joseph Dimaggio, 24, was at Brad’s Brass Flamingo, 4011 Southeastern Ave., when he was picked up by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.”

The Politico: “Tim Kaine, the Virginia governor and President Barack Obama’s hand-picked choice as the head of the Democratic National Committee, infuriated abortion-rights groups Monday by signing legislation that gives abortion foes a long-sought victory.”

Hillary Clinton: “The 20th century reproductive rights movement, really embodied in the life and leadership of Margaret Sanger, was one of the most transformational in the entire history of the human race.”

Don Feder writing at FrontPageMagazine: “When asked if fascism could ever come to America, Huey Long (the Depression-era governor of Louisiana) replied, “Sure, only here they’ll call it anti-fascism.” Hate-crimes laws are fascism in the guise of protecting minorities. They’re fascism in crime-prevention drag. They’re fascism in the name of combating bigotry and hatred.”

Terence P. Jeffrey interviews Michael Novak at CNSNews: “At the close of the American Revolution in 1783, Gen. George Washington composed a circular letter to the governors of all the states urging them to imitate ‘that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion.’”

Morality in Media reports on the Christian Newswire: In a 12,000-word reference piece posted to Morality in Media’s www.obscenitycrimes.org website (“Current News”), MIM President Robert Peters examines evidence that the proliferation of “adult pornography” (actual minors not depicted) on the Internet is contributing to sexual abuse of children and to other harms and asserts that the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a front organization for adult pornographers who are “attempting to divert attention from their harmful and often illegal businesses and to portray themselves as responsible corporate citizens.”

Joel Stashenko writes at NY Law Journal: “Ralph Halpern, also a member of the State Bar committee, said the new rules 1.6 and 3.3 requiring lawyers to reveal client falsehoods ‘clashes with the common-law concept of the lawyer-client confidentiality.’ He predicted the validity of the new requirement would be litigated in the courts.”

“It is commonplace now to talk about the surveillance society. One agency after another becomes part of the mechanism, so we should not be surprised that schools are the latest instrument for checking up on families . . .”

LifesiteNews: “The California Medical Board has revoked the medical license of abortionist Nolan Jones, effective on April 20, 2009. According to the order, Jones falsified the medical records of two non-abortion patients, and violated his probation on other charges.”

LifeSiteNews: “Another archbishop and two more U.S. bishops have swelled the ranks of Catholics and conservatives who are expressing criticism of the University of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to give the school’s commencement address and receive an honorary law degree May 17. Conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh also slammed the move by Notre Dame during his show on Friday.”

Patrick J. Buchanan writes at CNSNews: “Is Notre Dame still a repository, teacher and exemplar of eternal truths about God and Man, right and wrong, whose mission is to convey and defend those truths in a hostile world? Or has Notre Dame joined the secularists in their endless scavenger hunt to seek and find truth in the marketplace of ideas?”

Sacramento Bee:
“The group gathers weekly, but not to discuss their struggle to overcome addictions to alcohol, drugs or gambling. The group’s stated purpose is to rid themselves of unwanted same-sex temptations. There are about 200 similar groups in the United States. The assumption of these men is that if they can work through a childhood issue that they believe led them to being attracted to other men, they will be able to live as heterosexuals.”

The Marine Corps Times:
“Commandant Gen. James Conway is polling his generals on the controversial ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. In a March 13 ‘P4′ — personal-for message — to all 82 of his general officers, Conway asks four questions, including this one: ‘How strongly should we, as an institution, challenge the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy?’”

Today, the Center for Arizona Policy has prepared this fact sheet and forwarded

“. . . [Uwe Romeike] He had to pay fines equivalent to hundreds of dollars for his decision, and he’s afraid that if he returns to Germany, police will arrest him and government authorities will take away his children, who range in age from 11 to 3.”

lliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden will participate in a press conference Tuesday regarding the introduction of the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona. The bill would prohibit knowingly performing, or soliciting funding for, race- or sex-selection abortions.

Religion Clause Blog: “AFP reported last week that the Moroccan government has begun a campaign to counter activities that are seen as contrary to the “moral and religious values” of Moroccan society . . . According to Earth Times yesterday, the government campaign has now spread to countering Christian activities. ”

UC Davis Law Review: “At the same time, state policymakers should mandate and fund training on religion-clause issues for teachers and other school officials in order to advance a better understanding of these issues. Further, given the important role religion has played and continues to play in shaping ideas and institutions in our nation and world, schools must do more to find constitutional ways to ensure that the topic of religion is discussed, not dodged, in public education.”

The Christian Examiner reports: “Day of Truth students have the same constitutional right to express their viewpoint as any other student,” said ADF senior legal counsel Mike Johnson. “Unfortunately, despite using buzzwords like ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity,’ many schools have censored students who want to peacefully express a Christian viewpoint.”

Pro-Life Philippines Foundation: “Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Roger Kiska told reporters that the law creates a category of rights far broader than any currently in force in the various nations of the EU. It also conflicts with Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guaranties freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “In Canada, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation announced last week that it was revising its personalized license plate program to permit religious titles to be used on personalized plates.”

ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “All non-partisan research and plain common sense tells us that children need a mom and dad, so the issue is bigger than a ‘personal relationship.’ In the end, the question is this: Which parent doesn’t matter: a mom or a dad?”

TheBostonChannel.com: “Police in Holbrook are investigating charges against three minors who allegedly created a video of two of them having sexual intercourse while the third recorded it, then distributed the video to junior high students.”

Reproductive Health Matters Supplement: “This essay explores the context of both clinical and parental decision-making after ultrasound diagnosis of fetal abnormality, with emphasis on the Dutch situation.”

UC Davis Law Review: “This Article explores these competing strands of First Amendment law and proposes how to reconcile student religious expression within the public schools with the jurisprudence.”

UC Davis Law Review: “In sum, forcing faith-based student organizations to abide by school or university nondiscrimination policies does not significantly advance equality and nondiscrimination rights for sexual minorities.”

Courts increasingly confront legislative enactments made in light of scientific uncertainty. Even so, the degree of deference appropriate to this type of judicial review is a moving target, seemingly determined on an ad hoc, unprincipled basis.

AP: “A federal judge has blocked a prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against three northeastern Pennsylvania teenagers over racy cell phone pictures.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “Two South Salt Lake residents have been accused of recruiting underage girls to give erotic massages that end in sex acts. In a federal indictment that was unsealed late last week, DeWayne Eugene Hopkins, 27, and Julia Young, 19, were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children.”

Martin Barillas reports at Spero News: “Hundreds of thousands of protesters, including families with children, filled the streets and plazas of cities throughout Spain on March 29 denouncing legislation proposed by the Socialists that would reform abortion law so as to allow minors to abort their pregnancies without parental consent at the age of 16.”

SMH.com.au: “The mostly Muslim Indian Ocean island of Mayotte has overwhelmingly voted to integrate fully with France, a move that will bring financial benefits to residents but also outlaw practices such as polygamy and early marriages.”

“The team now pulling the strings at the Department of Health and Human Services has decided that preserving religious liberty – much less life in the womb – is a luxury the nation can’t afford.”

Baptist Press: “Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean Saturday publicly backed a Vermont bill that would legalize ‘gay marriage’ and urged fellow Democrats in the state to support it.”

Mark Karlin has this post at AlterNet (a left wing website) interviewing Kathryn Joyce and discussing her new book that apparently tries to link the so-called “Quiverfull” movement with patriachialism, Sarah Palin, racism, Islam etc. . . The interview paints with a very broad brush and seem to be more of an attack on
pro-lifers, social conservatives and those who oppose abortion . . .

“Chadwick claims she was passed over for a promotion in favor of a less-qualified colleague without children.”

“Delegates voted 67-30 to reject the attempt.”

Rutgers Law Review: “Jurodynamics is the study of Shariah norms in motion, signifying both stability and change. Jurodynamics recognizes the Shariah as the Basic Code, which empowers Islamic states to construct dynamic bonds with classical jurisprudence (fiqh), positive law (qanun), and international law (siyar). Accusations that the Shariah is a barrier to modernity dissipate under the scrutiny of jurodynamics.”

Religion Clause Blog: “BNA’s Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] today reports that Sen. Charles Grassley says he may subpoena records from those televangelists who have failed to cooperate with him in his investigation of their financial dealings.”

Catholic Culture reports: “British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced plans to amend the Act of Settlement, which bars Catholics or the spouses of Catholics from the throne. But it is not clear that the amended legislation would allow Catholics in the line of succession. Brown– who said that he is consulting with other Commonwealth nations about the issue– remarked: “What we must do is protect the position of the monarchy and the position of the Queen as head of the established church, the Church of England.”

George Neumayr writes at LifeSiteNews: “Imagine a reverse scenario, say a politician who supported the Church’s moral teachings down the line but had some racist blot in his past. Would Jenkins honor him? No, he woudn’t dare. But somehow Obama’s formal cooperation in the injustice of destroying innocent lives just isn’t so bad.”

LifeNews: “After lobbying from advocates on both sides of the abortion debate, pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has sign a bill that would create Choose Life license plates.”

LifeNews: “Some women decide to have abortions because they think having a baby will contribute to problems in their relationship with their husband or boyfriend. However, a new national study finds abortion causes more future relationship problems than carrying the pregnancy to term and parenting. Dr. Priscilla Coleman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University headed up the study with Vincent Rue of the Florida-based Institute for Pregnancy Loss and post-abortion researcher Catherine Coyle.”

Ilya Somin, writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution supporting the suppression of speech that “defames” religion. The resolution is not considered to be binding international law in and of itself, but many experts claim that such resolutions should be considered in determining what counts as “customary international law.”

CNSNews: “Soon after the verdict was announced, the state’s Board of Healing Arts made public a complaint against Tiller that alleges, as prosecutors did, that Tiller and Neuhaus had financial or legal ties that violated the law regarding abortions performed in 2003. The complaint was filed in December but not released until Friday. The board, which regulates doctors, could revoke, suspend or limit Tiller’s medical license, or fine him.”

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports: “Davis County commissioners say they didn’t know an adult fitness event approved for a county facility was actually a pole dancing competition . . . Burroughs said she expects about 500 to attend the competition. No children under age 12 are allowed.”

Mike Swift reporting in the Mercury News: “Congress is considering changing federal law to allow same-sex “permanent partners” the same immigration rights as opposite-sex married couples. U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who called Tan’s situation “unacceptable,” is among a group in Congress, including Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who hope to change immigration law to mirror many countries in Europe that allow gays and lesbians to sponsor a same-sex partner for legal residency.”

CNSNews:
“The Obama administration and Congress should consider working with the International Criminal Court (ICC), former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.) and other members of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) told CNSNews.com on Friday . . . President Obama, however, indicated while running for the U.S. Senate in 2004 that he believed the United States should join the ICC . . . Some conservatives, meanwhile, contend that joining the ICC would undermine U.S. sovereignty.”

Alabama Law Review: “This article aims to re-evaluate the secondary effects doctrine in a way that is more transparent. Appreciating the functional basis of the secondary effects doctrine is useful for understanding the doctrine’s limitations, as well as for analyzing new types of regulation that may arguably fall within its scope.”

Lawrence J. Nelson: “The conclusion that the Constitution is silent on abortion is false because the Constitution, in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment pertaining to the basic rights of persons and their entitlement to the equal protection of the laws, does have something to say about abortion.”

Newsday: “A Connecticut legislative committee is considering ways to update state law to conform with a court ruling allowing same-sex marriages. ”

AP: “An attempt to extend a West Virginia anti-harassment law to the Internet may have some long-reaching consequences.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In India, the battle over the candidacy of Varun Sanjay Gandhi, grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, continues. Varun Ghandi, a member of the BJP, is a candidate for the lower house of India’s Parliament, running from a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. BBC News reported last week on the March 22 Order of the Election Commission (full text) recommending that Ghandi not be nominated as a candidate because of two speeches he made last month that contained highly derogatory references to the Muslim community.”

Anchorage Daily News:
“. . . The compromise under discussion would be legislation that requires parental notification but not consent. That means parents would have to be told about their teenager’s plan to have an abortion but wouldn’t have to give their permission for it to happen.

North Pole Republican Rep. John Coghill, with Palin’s backing, is still pushing for the full version generally requiring parental consent before girls under age 17 could get an abortion. But the state Senate blocked a similar bill last year and, without the compromise, it’s hard to see how that wouldn’t happen again . . . ”

Richard Garnett writes at USA Today:
“Last month, in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, the justices ruled unanimously (and correctly) that the free-speech clause allows a city to adopt and display one privately donated monument while refusing another. When the government speaks, in other words, it gets (for the most part) to pick its own

message. Next year, in Salazar v. Buono, the court will likely consider whether the First Amendment requires the government to remove a war-memorial cross from a hill in the Mojave National Preserve. More particularly, one question in this case is whether the government’s efforts to save the cross — by transferring the land underneath it to private hands — amount to an unconstitutional establishment of religion. If the justices do answer this question, they should say, ‘No, it does not.’

Although these two First Amendment cases involve different monuments in different places, they both illustrate something that the ‘fortress’ analogy misses — namely, that the government is already, and unavoidably, inside the free-speech walls. And so, we need to worry not only about the government’s efforts to get in, but also about what it ‘says’ once it does . . .

AP: “The court on Monday said it will leave in place a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that the law was unconstitutional because it prohibited political, religious and other messages in addition to commercial solicitations . . . The case is Virginia v. Jaynes, 08-765.”

Fox News:
“A change to the controversial ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy toward gays in the military will be delayed despite promises by the Obama administration to overturn the rule, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday. ‘The president and I feel like we’ve got a lot on our plates right now and let’s push that one down the road a little bit,’ Gates told FOX News Sunday.”

In a letter to the board Thursday, ADF attorneys explained that the policy, which lists in order the types of adoptive parents the county will consider when placing children for adoption, is completely constitutional, contrary to the opinion of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Bulletin: “Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey nearly, but not quite, announced his senatorial candidacy against Sen. Arlen Specter, R, Saturday at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference. ‘It is very, very likely that very, very soon, I will be a candidate for the United States Senate,’ the Republican former Lehigh Valley-area congressman told a mostly supportive audience of hundreds at Harrisburg’s Four Points Sheraton hotel.”

Gallup: “Catholics are at least slightly more liberal than non-Catholics on the issues of gambling (an issue to which the Catholic church is not totally opposed), sex between an unmarried man and woman, homosexual relations, and having a baby out of wedlock. Catholics are essentially tied with non-Catholics on the moral acceptability of abortion, divorce, and stem-cell research using human embryos. Only on the death penalty are Catholics slightly less likely than non-Catholics to find the issue morally acceptable.”

Connie Llanos reporting in the Los Angeles Daily News: “Free from rigid union contracts, able to make spending decisions at the school-site level and continuing to see enrollment growth, charter schools can run their campuses like small businesses. At a time when the Los Angeles Unified School District faces layoffs of some 8,500 people and is dismantling popular programs to cut costs, some charter schools are actually hiring teachers.”

OneNewsNow reports: “One of the laws prohibits abortions after the baby becomes viable, except when the physical health of the mother is in danger or to save the mother’s life. The second measure would require that full information on abortion be given to a woman seeking one, including the fact that the unborn child will feel pain after 20 weeks gestation. Steven Aden is with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).”

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AP): “In a letter to FEMA, attorney Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian lawyers, said, “We are aware the trucks were not FEMA, but the companies contracted with FEMA to do cleanup work.”

OneNewsNow reports: “The Alliance Defense Fund is concerned about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refusing to help churches in the aftermath of disasters. Paragould, Arkansas, was recently declared a disaster area after being hit by a severe ice storm. Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says a local church assisted FEMA officials in their relief efforts, but FEMA did not return the favor.”

Education Improvement Examiner: “Thousands of California families have educated their children successfully through homeschooling,” according to Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb from the Alliance Defense Fund. “We’re pleased with the court’s decision, which protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again.”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund is considering a federal lawsuit against Oyster Bay, New York, for violating a citizen’s free-speech rights.”

George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper: “Render Unto Caesar provides evidence that America’s identity and future are endangered by trends reifying radical human autonomy and choice. New threats surface in the form of legislation and judicial interpretations permitting choices that were once considered criminal to be accepted. This trend has been accompanied, if not facilitated, by U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have contributed greatly to the privatization of religion.”

SSRN: “When the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Wolf it required courts to use secular criteria to decide church property disputes, yet there remains considerable uncertainty about the permissible latitude of those secular principles.”

Cynthia Ann Helzner: “However, judging by some courts’ willingness to deny even biological homosexual parents’ rights, same-sex marriage would not be sufficient to guarantee equal treatment under the law for gay and lesbian parents.”

Iowa Law Review:

Iowa Law Review: “This Note advocates for the rejection of the doctrines and suggests that the Uniform Parentage Act define “parent” to mean biological and adoptive parent, thus giving fit biological and adoptive parents the right to make decisions regarding third-party visitation. The Note argues that these doctrines infringe on the constitutional right of biological and adoptive parents to direct the upbringing of their children, create a slippery slope, and generally are not in the best interests of children.”

Indiana Law Journal: “This Note calls for federal regulation of ART and highlights the distinct groups which have a stake in the ART process. These include the children eventually born using ART, the would-be parents, and the public.”