Daily Archives: June 3, 2009

Law Librarian Blog: “This looks very interesting and Washington and Lee’s John Doyle must have had a hand in its conception. LexOpus is an online law review submission service that should save authors time in finding a law journal that will publish their manuscripts.”

Lyle Denniston writes at the SCOTUS Blog: “One day after losing a major test case in an appeals court on the scope of the Second Amendment, the National Rifle Association — the nation’s leading advocate of personal gun rights — asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to apply the Amendment to state, county and city government laws that seek to regulate firearms. The petition was announced by the NRA in this news release. The petition will be posted as soon as it becomes available . . . ”

ACLU: “Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has asked school districts in Sonoma County to comply with California law by replacing abstinence-only sex education with curricula that teach about condoms and contraception, as well as abstinence.”

Leonard Link: “Now there is a new court martial appeals decision that shows them taking an end-run around Lawrence and Marcum, U.S. v. Harvey, 2009 WL 1508376 (Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, April 9, 2009). For some reason, they’ve …

Duluth News Tribune: “It appears the owner of the Norshor Experience strip club in downtown Duluth will return to court on a charge of carrying a firearm in a public place while under the influence of alcohol.”

Charleston Daily Mail (AP): “Armed with new state legislation, Berkeley County commissioners are reviewing their options to regulate the location of strip clubs.”

Baptist Press:
The New Hampshire governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty posed by same-sex marriage, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot,” Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the legal organization Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. “The protections he proposes do not cover business owners and individuals with religious objections to same-sex marriage, and these are exactly the kind of cases that the Alliance Defense Fund is having to defend.”

Legalizing “gay marriage” also negatively impacts children, Nimocks said.

“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,’” he said. “In the end, the question is this: Which parent doesn’t matter: a mom or a dad?”

Advocate.com: “The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group that aided in the passage and subsequent defense of Prop. 8 before the California supreme court, filed a motion last week asking U.S. district court judge Vaughn Walker to allow the organization to defend the ballot measure’s constitutionality.”

CNA: “The state of New York is considering several proposals which would pay women who donate their eggs for research purposes, leading some Catholic ethicists to worry the move would induce poorer women to risk their health and become involved in unethical human embryo research.”

Community Defense Counsel: In U.S. v. Kapordelis, No. 07-14499 (N.D. Ga. June 1, 2009) Gregory C. Kapordelis, an anesthesiologist, was convicted in United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia “for producing, receiving, and possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a), 2252A(a)(2)(A), and 2252A(a)(5)(B).” He received a 420-month sentence. On appeal to the 11th Circuit, Kapordelis disputed the affidavit for the warrant that led to his arrest, the evidence that convicted him, and the “upward departure” of his sentence. The 11th Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence.

Baptist Press: “Nebraska has enacted what is being described as one of the country’s strongest ultrasound bills for women considering abortion.”

National Geographic: “Followers of Jesus for nearly 2,000 years, native Christians today are disappearing from the land where their faith was born.”

Alber Mohler has this post on his blog discussing the state and demographics of homeschooling in America.

LifeNews: “The highest court in the Slovak Republic, an eastern European nation, ruled in favor of a pro-life group Tuesday in its lawsuit against police for shutting down a pro-life rally. The Centre for Bio-ethical Reform Europe filed suit with the help of attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund.”

The Demographic Bomb: Demography is Destiny June 17, 2009 Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (ET) You are Cordially Invited to Attend a Premiere Screening of “The Demographic Bomb: Demography is Destiny” (Part II of The Demographic Winter) THE DEMOGRAPHIC …

ProtectMarriage.com and National Organization for Marriage are asking the Court to grant their motion for summary judgment, which asks the Court to find in their favor on all of the claims in their lawsuit. If successful, California will have to remove the names of donors who gave as little as $100 to the recent campaign for Proposition 8 from the state website, among other things.

KFYI reports on this case that is being handled by ADF. The MP3 runs just under one minute.

ADF press release: Phoenix bishop sentenced to jail for ringing church bells

ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley: “It’s ridiculous to be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church’s bells did not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks.”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley, who heads up the ADF Pulpit Initiative, writes at Townhall: “FactCheck.org recently posted an article that proposes to “answer” some questions about the impact of the Hate Crimes Bill, currently pending in the Senate as S.909…but perhaps they ought to check their facts. The article summarily dismisses claims that the Hate Crimes Bill would muzzle pastors and churches and states, ‘In reality, there is nothing in the bill that says pastors must zip their lips rather than denounce homosexuality… The article misses the point entirely.’”

“By a vote of 14-10 in the Senate and 198-176 in the House, the changes in HB 73 create the last piece of a gay marriage puzzle that the Legislature has assembled.”

AFP: “The Fiji military regime, in its latest crackdown, has targeted the most influential religious group in the Pacific island nation, ordering the Methodist Church to cancel its annual conference.”

Catholic League argues that in adopting the resolution the Board expressed disapproval of the Catholic religion in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause

Whittier Daily News: “Good Time, which was located at 13425 Whittier Blvd., shuttered its doors May 28 after a little more than a year in business, officials said. With its scantily-clad window mannequins in the front window, the store’s opening touched off an angry reaction from hundreds of Whittier residents, prompting many residents to ask the city to shut the business down.”

Roger Lowenstein writes at Bloomberg:
“With each new labor contract, GM management found it easier to grant sweeter future benefits than to raise current wages. Over time, benefits went up much more quickly. That left GM with a daunting unfunded health-care obligation . . .

AZ Republic: “That’s because Painter was convicted of two misdemeanors earlier this week. His crime? The church bells that ring during the day are apparently too loud.”

ADF is involved in this litigation, but not mentioned in this report.

ABA Journal: “A New York appeals court has ordered state legislators to give judges a pay increase of about 30 percent to reflect the increased cost of living since their last raise in 1998.”

The House is expected to vote later today.

AP: “In a nation divided by abortion, Kansas has become perhaps the fiercest battleground – with mass protests, prosecutions, lawsuits and now a killing keeping the issue almost constantly in the public eye.”

Examiner.com: “A Wisconsin trial court dismisses American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit seeking domestic partner benefits for lesbian and gay state employees but issues lengthy decision reasoning that it is unconstitutional for the state to deny the benefits.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “For the third time, an anti-homosexuality evangelist has sued for what he describes as police interference with his free-speech rights at gay-pride events. Michael Marcavage, the director of Philadelphia-based Repent America, said he was physically restrained by city police on four separate occasions, and once, he said, an officer put him into a chokehold.”

Washington Post: “Al-Qaida terrorists have killed a Briton taken hostage in Mali, the British prime minister said Wednesday. The fate of a Swiss hostage taken at the same time was unknown.”

UnionLeader.com: “Senate rules require that all committee of conference votes be unanimous. They also require that committees of conference contain senators from each party. When Sen. Sheila Roberge, R-Bedford, refused to sign the conference report approving the amendment to the same-sex marriage bill, Sen. Larsen removed her from the committee and replaced her . . . ”

ACLU: “The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on a bill that modifies U.S. immigration law to provide equal protection to same-sex life partners of citizens and permanent legal residents. As part of the hearing, entitled ‘The United American Families Act: Addressing Inequality in Federal Immigration Law,’ the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to lawmakers urging the Committee to pass S. 424, ‘Uniting American Families Act.’”

Atlanta J. Constitution: “Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears was ‘stumped’ Tuesday on the issue of gay marriage. Asked whether the U.S. Constitution would require Georgians to recognize the marriages of gay Iowans if they moved to the state, she first deferred to a lesser document: The state constitution banned gay marriage in 2004.”

Catholic Culture: He explained that anyone wearing the rainbow sash would be barred from receiving the Eucharist “since their dissent is a sign that they have publicly broken communion with the Church’s teaching.”

Tony Mauro writes at the National Law Journal: “Only five of the 232 opinions Sotomayor has written in her 11 years as a 2d Circuit judge have been reviewed by the Supreme Court. Of those five, justices overturned three — including one environmental and one prison abuse case that are drawing attention. With a fourth, the Supreme Court upheld her bottom line judgment, but repudiated her reasoning. The fifth case was upheld.”

Britain’s Charity Tribunal has held that a Catholic adoption agency is violating the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 by refusing to furnish adoption services to same-sex couples.

LifeNews: “One of the leading pro-abortion members of the Senate has confirmed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s pro-abortion credentials following a private meeting with her. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says Sotomayor is pro-abortion.”

Attorney Dr. Alan Bohm together with Alliance Defense Fund attorneys represented the Centre for Bio-ethical Reform Europe, which filed suit after police disrupted a peaceful pro-life rally that was held in full compliance with domestic law.

Religion Clause Blog: “Now, according to yesterday’s Deseret News, Summum has asked a federal district court to dismiss its lawsuit because subsequent developments have in effect mooted it. The city has moved the Ten Commandments monument from Roy Park to the city cemetery. Summum’s attorney, Brian M. Barnard, says that while the cemetery is still city property, cemeteries are treated differently.”

The Association of American Universities has submitted these comments in reponse to NIH’s proposed stem cell guidelines lifting restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

A new poll from the USA TODAY and the Gallup Organization also found that national opposition to same-sex marriage is holding strong at 57%. Support for marriage protection has not changed in the last year in spite of the pro-gay pop culture and actions by some liberal northeastern states. In fact, support for same-sex marriage may even have stalled. It has fallen six points from its polling peak two years ago of 46%. Three times as many Americans believe allowing same-sex marriage would change society for the worse as those who see it as an improvement.

Mike S. Adams writing at OneNewsNow: “Because of organizations like the Alliance Defense Fund, we are now able to wage war on these codes, not just in the court of public opinion, but in the courts of law.”

Alexander Bolton writes at the Hill: “Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday launched her campaign to convince senators she’s worthy of a lifetime appointment, and at least one GOP member of the Judiciary Committee acknowledged her confirmation is all but a foregone conclusion.”

The Providence Journal: “. . . the Senate on Tuesday approved a bill giving ‘domestic partners’ the right to claim the bodies of — and make funeral arrangements for — their loved ones. A domestic partner is defined in the measure as ‘a person who prior to the decedent’s death was in an exclusive, intimate and committed relationship with the decedent.’”

Politico: “Between high-profile conversions from the Northeast to the Midwest to the Rocky Mountain West — not to mention Obama’s warm relations with the nation’s two most prominent moderate Republican governors, California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and Florida’s Charlie Crist — it’s beginning to look like a strategy that isolates conservatives, reinforces the impression that the GOP is defined by the borders of the Deep South and all the while underscores Obama’s stated goal of working across party lines.”

AP: “A topless coffee shop that created controversy went up in flames early Wednesday, just hours after the owner talked with local officials about making the business more like a strip club.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “After receiving a letter from attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute, Sacramento County has backed down from a requirement that people authorized to officiate at one marriage ceremony eliminate religious references.”

Catholic Culture: “The study– by Amy Adamczyk of City University of New York– confirmed an earlier study sponsored by the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), which had found that Catholic colleges and universities had little impact on the moral behavior of students.”

New York Times: “Harvard University will endow a visiting professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies, a position that, it believes, will be the first endowed, named chair in the subject at an American college.”

James Kirchick writes at the Wall Street Journal: “The organized antiabortion movement has always opposed violence against abortion providers. That has never stopped opportunistic prochoice activists, however, from conflating their passionate rhetoric with the behavior of individual criminals. True to form, on Sunday, Mike Hendricks of the Kansas City Star accused anyone who had criticized Tiller as a murderer (Tiller aborted healthy, nine-month old fetuses) of being an ‘accomplice’ to his death.”

Morning Sentinel: . . . Once our children read from our holy text. Now the writ is homosexual propaganda in school. According to the book, “The Homosexual Agenda” by Alan Sears and Craig Osten, students were asked: “How do you know you wouldn’t prefer sleeping with the same sex?” . . .

The May 2009 Marriage Law Digest published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy is now online. It covers these cases:

EMBRY V. RYAN, Case No. 2D08-1323, District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, May 13, 2009 (interstate recognition of same-sex couple adoption)

STRAUSS V. HORTON, S168047, California Supreme Court, May 26, 2009 (validity and meaning of Proposition 8, California’s marriage amendment)

MATTER OF H.M. V. E.T., 2009 Slip Op 04240, New York Appellate Division, Second Department, May 26, 2009 (family court authority to order former same-sex partner to pay child support)

Recent Law Review Articles (topics: polygamy, divorce, same-sex adoption, marriage).

Telegraph:
“It is important to note that ‘if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world’. So says President Barack Obama. Or I should say: Barack Hussein Obama.

That’s right: Barack Hussein Obama. Say it proud. Say it out loud. The middle moniker that dared not speak its name during the election campaign is now front and centre of the US president’s attempt to woo the Muslim world, the theme of his visits to Riyadh on Wednesday and Cairo on Thursday.”

Mercer Law Review: “In United States v. Williams, the most recent case evaluating the constutionality of the PROTECT Act, the United States Supreme Court held that the Act’s pandering provision was constitutional. According to the Court, the PROTECT Act’s pandering provision was neither overbroad nor impermissibly vague. For the time being, this decision identifies the PROTECT Act as a valuable tool for prosecutors charged with combating child pornography. However, like the child pornography statutes that came before it, the PROTECT Act will continue to face a bevy of constitutional challenges.”

Andrew S. Mansfield: “This paper analyzes forty-five amicus curiae briefs filed by religious organizations with the Supreme Court, from Brown v. Board of Education, decided in 1954, through the decision in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, rendered in 2006. The forty-five amicus curiae briefs were filed in nineteen cases and concern issues that are often identified as ‘religious.’”