Daily Archives: June 15, 2009

“Referendum proponents will file an appeal Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court, said Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents supporters of a ballot measure on the issue.”

Newsday: The city Clerk’s Office will no longer accept state-issued benefit cards from couples wanting to wed after two men – one dressed like a woman – duped the agency and obtained a marriage license, a city spokesman said.

AP: “A dissident Democrat who helped Republicans seize power in the New York Senate a week ago has returned to the Democratic fold and declared that Democrats must retake the majority he cost them.”

Associated Press: “Nebraska’s rules for licensed psychologists might change because of concerns about conflicts between religious convictions and sexual orientation.”

Peter Wong reports in the Statesman Journal: “House Bill 2599 requires school districts to be more specific in anti-bullying policies, which a 2001 law requires them to have . . . House Bill 2509 requires age-appropriate sex education as part of the health curriculum in public schools. The bill arose out of concern about the health of young people.”

LifeSteNews reports: “The Alaska Association of Student Governments has called for “mandatory” and “comprehensive” sexual education for high school. They plan to bring the proposal to the state legislature, where, if enacted into law, private schools and homeschooled children will be forced to enter the program into their curricula, reports the Catholic Anchor.”

Laura Hancock reports in the Deseret News: “An ordinance recently adopted by the Utah Transit Authority will fine passengers for ‘inappropriate use of Internet services,’ including pornography, gambling and gaming sites.”

Joe Chapman reports in the Tri-City Herald: “‘To put such a highly volatile business right next to an elementary school, … I’m concerned about the impact it’s going to have on the community,’ said Deeana Hoyt, who operates a day care on Pearl Street, on the other side of the school from where the clinic would be.”

Washington Blade: “Former New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he now supports legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, a change of heart that could influence the measure’s chances in the state Senate.”

Ilana Stern writes at Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “While Americans United has always supported providing strong protection for those who wish to exercise their religion freely, we are extremely concerned with the overly broad language of HB 340.”

Mats Tunehag writes at Varldenidag.se: “When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning non-Muslims to declare their religion before being served. Ishtiaq had not noticed the warning sign before ordering his tea, as he ordered with a group of his fellow passengers.”

Dayton Daily News: “A man was shot in the arm Friday night, June 12, during a suspected attempted robbery outside a North Dixie Drive strip club . . . ”

Kansas City Star: “Missouri charter school students, on average, do better in reading and math than students in their peer traditional public schools, according to a national study released today. The report done by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University . . . ”

Macon.com (AP): “Members of the North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta learned in 2005 that worship wasn’t the only thing going on in the neighborhood: teenage prostitutes had begun working within a few steps of the church’s doors, according to a mayor’s report. In the four years since then church has helped build a wide-ranging coalition with the goal of eradicating child prostitution from the streets of Atlanta.”

Ken Connor writes at the Christian Post: The increasing boldness with which teachers, administrators, and the courts that support them are suppressing students’ legitimate expressions of faith reflects the growing predominance of an ideology within the American education system committed to eradicating all traces of traditional religious influence on public life in America. Indeed, if Abraham Lincoln was correct in his suggestion that “the philosophy of the school room in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next,” and if this radical element within the public education system has its way, then America’s future is grim indeed.

Christian Newswire: The core paragraph in the Ambassador’s reply, released by Senator Dorgan’s office, states that, according to his inquiry, “Gao received a three-year sentence, with five-years probation, and one-year deprivation of political rights on December 26, 2006 for violation of the Criminal Law. He is currently serving probation. The public security authority has not taken any mandatory measure against him.”

One News Now (AP): “Despite having a pro-feminist president in the White House, the nation’s leading feminist group, the National Organization for Women, heads into its own leadership contest this week mindful of the need to energize its ranks.”

LifeNews: “A California pro-life group is sponsoring a new petition to call on state government officials, specifically pro-abortion Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to stop using state money to pay for abortions. The California Pro-Life Council says paying for abortion is wrong, especially in this current difficult economic climate.”

AlterNet: In an effort to promote the free enjoyment of human sexuality, separate from reproduction, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) launched the world’s first declaration of sexual rights in the Argentine capital on Wednesday.

Sexual Rights: An IPPF Declaration

AP: “Tate also led the Fair Wisconsin campaign in 2006 that attempted to defeat a constitutional ban on gay marriage.”

Gay Marriage Watch Blog: “Gays United Network is organizing civil disobedience actions at the San Francisco Marriage License Office on Monday June 17 at 8am, exactly one year after the Calif. Supreme Court upheld same-sex marriage rights.”

Daily Kos: “Kerry Elevald is reporting that John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, speaking at Washington D.C.’s Capital Pride Festival Sunday, told attendees that the Obama administration hopes to ‘secure secure passage of Hate Crimes this coming week.’”

Los Angeles Times editorial: “By California’s rules, [Chief Justice] George faces a retention election in 2010, and some predict that he could face challenges from either side — or even both — in this polarizing debate.”

In Fuentes v. Bd. of Educ., No. 06-4715 (2nd Cir. June 15, 2009), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal by a district court of Jesus Fuentes’ challenge to the “adequacy of special education services in his son’s public school . . . The district court dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint on the basis that Plaintiff, as the non-custodial parent of the child, lacked standing to bring such an action.”

NY Daily News: “Judge gave warring lawmakers another day to hash out an agreement over control of the state Senate on Monday as Democrats said they want to work out a power-sharing deal with Republicans.”

Sarah A. Armaghan reports in the New York Daily News: “A steamy Calvin Klein billboard that seems to show a teenage girl in a threesome – with suggestions of a foursome – is raising eyebrows and ire. ‘It’s borderline pornographic,’ said neighborhood resident Lisa Marchese, 36, a marketing specialist who was disturbed by the youthfulness of the models.”

“Organizers say this year’s Capital City Pride event in Des Moines drew a record crowd of of some 15,000 participants from throughout the Midwest.”

AFP: “Thousands of people across Europe on Saturday took part in colourful gay pride parades to protest against anti-gay prejudice.”

LifeSiteNews: “Kevin Jennings, who was appointed by Obama to be the assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools inside the Department of Education. . . cofounder and executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), told attendees at a GLSEN conference over a decade ago that he looked forward to the day when promoting homosexuality in schools will be seen in a positive light.”

LifeSiteNews: “Christians have expressed fears that the bill in its current form will severely hamper the ability of churches to continue to provide social services to the general public. Wording in the bill requires that religious organisations must consider anyone, regardless of their beliefs or values, including active homosexuals and ‘gender reassigned’ people, for any post that does not directly involve religious instruction or the leading of worship services.”

“A Labour minister has sparked controversy by claiming that an alternative symbol is needed for the Red Cross because of the logo’s supposed links to the Crusades.”

Ian Johnston reports in the Telegraph: “The unnamed 24 year-old Nottingham woman, was prevented from objecting to her daughters’ adoption because of her low IQ.”

Giles Tremlett reports in The Guardian: “The offer comes from a fertility clinic and a gay and lesbian travel agency, which have launched joint package tours to what has now become one of the most socially tolerant countries in Europe. Together they have spotted a growing trend among British lesbians, who increasingly travel to clinics in liberal Spain for insemination treatment, which has become more difficult in Britain since sperm donors lost the right to remain anonymous in 2005.”

Richard Lake and Lynnette Curtis report in the Review-Journal: “Shared Hope International, a Virginia-based nonprofit working to prevent sex trafficking and provide support for boys and girls in the industry, organized the rally and march as part of its launch of a national campaign to draw attention to the issue.”

David Van Biema writing in Time Magazine: “Even as Mormons have become more prominent, they have struggled to overcome lingering prejudices and misrepresentations about the sources of their beliefs. Polls suggest that up to half of Americans would be uncomfortable with a Mormon President. And though the Prop 8 victory was a high-water mark for Mormon political advocacy, it also sparked a vicious backlash from gay-rights activists, some of whom accused Mormons of bigotry and blind religious obedience.”

Eric Moskowitz reports in the Boston Globe: “‘When I look at a real map of the United States, we’re actually not alone here,’ said Plante, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex unions. ‘This is not the United States of New England.’”

Jason Scott reports in The Sentinel: “State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, last week introduced Senate Bill 935 that would offer “full and equal marriage rights” to same-sex couples in the state and legally recognize those marriages performed in other states.”

ABC News (Christian Science Monitor) reports: “Since the economic downturn began, six financially stressed churches in various states have sought advice from The Well in California’s Orange County.”

Jennifer Jacobs reports in the Des Moines Register: “Social and Christian conservatives say they, too, are studying Iowa law in light of the same-sex marriage ruling. ‘People are upset with the concept of civic government tinkering with an institution that cannot be fundamentally redefined,’ said Bryan English, a spokesman for the Iowa Family Policy Center.”

Christie Wilson reports in the Honolulu Advertiser: “The recently passed legislation, House Bill 1379, establishes procedures for obtaining and using “physician orders for life-sustaining treatment,” or POLST, documents that clearly state the patient’s treatment directives in emergencies and other treatment situations.”

OneNewsNow: “Activists want to add transgender to the Bay State’s existing ‘hate crimes’ bill. Evelyn Reilly, director of public policy for the Massachusetts Family Institute, tells OneNewsNow that lawmakers who support the measure are bowing to a fraction of the population — and in that process, are endangering women and children.”

Julie Bosman reports in the New York Times: “As part of citywide budget cuts beginning next fiscal year, the Bloomberg administration has threatened to eliminate the 12-year-old, $16 million program, which is open to many needy families for use at schools and day care centers but which has overwhelmingly benefited Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Borough Park and Williamsburg.”

Allen C. Guelzo, writing at National Review Online: “The America of Tom Paine ‘was a country of diversity and vastness,’ but also of ‘vagueness.’ This ‘vagueness’ Goetzmann assumes to be a virtue in its own right, since it permitted Americans ‘to constantly redefine themselves’ for a century after Paine ‘in search of an ideal — freedom.’ At last, in the 1890s, Americans invented Pragmatism, which turned this incessant reinvention into a philosophy of its own, whose chief accomplishment was to abolish any ‘moral guides’ on reinvention. The chief accomplishment of American thought is thus to free itself — from thought.”

NBC 3 reports: “A state senator in Ohio wants to strip school districts of the authority to decide whether students should say the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Gallup: “Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004.”

Life News: “The Obama budget recommendation changed the language governing funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and loosened it to allow LSC grantees to conduct abortion litigation . . . However, Rep. Alan Mollohan, a pro-life Democrat from West Virginia who is the subcommittee chairman, came to the rescue.”

LifeNews: “The number one Republican lawmaker in the Senate says a filibuster possibility is still on the table with regard to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.”

LifeNews: “. . . Planned Parenthood has hired Jeff Meer to join the abortion business’ staff as the new director of international advocacy.”

LifeNews: “As President Barack Obama outlines his plans for health care overhaul in a major speech today, pro-life advocates are present outside with a clear message that abortion is not health care. They want Obama to know that his health reform plan must not cover abortions or pay for them with tax dollars.”

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund obtained a settlement Monday in Gilles v. Hodge, bringing to end a five-year legal battle over Miami University’s speech policy that prohibited a Christian man from exercising his First Amendment rights on campus . . .

One News Now: “Lawyers are providing written arguments in a case in which a cross has been banned at a veteran memorial in the Mojave Desert. The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, filed suit because the cross, which honors soldiers who gave their lives for their country, was on federal property.” Kelly Shackelford of Liberty Legal Institute is quoted and pictured in this report.

AP: “Slogging through dozens of personal, one-on-one meetings with senators that amount to a high-stakes job interview, she has impressed her questioners with an engaging personality and life story – even those lawmakers with big reservations about her views on the law.”

Stuart Taylor, Jr. writes at the National Journal: “I admire many things about Judge Sonia Sotomayor, especially her deep compassion for underprivileged people. I may well support her confirmation to the Supreme Court if her testimony next month dispels my concern that her decisions may be biased by the grievance-focused mind-set and the “wise Latina woman” superiority complex displayed in some of her speeches. But close study of her most famous case only enhances my concern . . . ”

The Blog of the Legal Times: “During her speech Friday Ginsburg reviewed the Fox case and said, ‘the words, I’m told, were spoken’ at the 2nd Circuit argument. Then came the disclosure. Matter-of-factly she added, “the lawyers were alerted that some of the justices might find that unseemly, so only the letters ‘f’ and ‘s’ were used in our court.’”

EducationNews.org carries this report by Peter Wood: “Is America is falling behind other nations in the kind of innovations that drive economic prosperity? If so, is higher education part of the problem? An important new report offers some surprising answers.”

AP: “The Supreme Court won’t stop the Federal Communications Commission from setting rules making it easier for new cable TV competitors to gain local franchises . . . The case is Alliance for Community Media v. FCC, 08-1027.”

Associated Press: “The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund says an order was issued last week that will allow the Apple of His Eye organization to share their religious views and pass out leaflets at the gay pride event in St. Louis.”

Vincent R. Caravan writes in The Valley News: “Now Pastor B. G. Stumberg and his small Baptist church were in the national news, but also in potential trouble, like losing its non-profit status and becoming a political action committee. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) enters the fray at this point. Its objective was to uphold the principle that churches have a right to speak to moral-political subjects from the pulpit…”

Lillian Kwon reports in The Christian Post: “Alliance Defense Fund attorney Brian Raum plans to join in the motion. ‘We’re confident that the arguments the U.S. government is making are correct,’ Raum told The Christian Post. ‘Hopefully, the court will dismiss [the case] . . . The plaintiffs say DOMA violates the Constitution and no federal court found that to be the case so far,’ he added.”

Wall Street Journal: “Under Tennessee’s old version of this plan, commissioners were chosen from lists submitted by various legal special interests including the Tennessee trial lawyers association, the district attorneys general conference and the Tennessee bar association. Under the new system, all 17 members of the Judicial Selection Commission would be picked directly by elected officials, rather than by the lawyers groups. The change should reduce the power of a professional guild to control state jurisprudence and reintroduce accountability through elected officials.”

How Appealing links to the NPR report and other updated reports on the Sotomayor nomination.

The Religion Clause Blog:
“The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is planning to visit India this month, with a particular focus on past violence against Christians in the state of Orissa and Hindu-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002.”

Religion Clause: “From South Asia comes three stories of murder of Christians impelled by religious fanaticism . . . The blast killed three people and wounded over a dozen others. Shrestha was inspired by the extremist Nepal Defence Army that aims to expel non-Hindus from Nepal and make Hinudism the country’s official religion.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Interfaith Alliance president Welton Gaddy–a critic of the White House’s faith-based office– has been invited to become a member of the White House Task Force that is studying ways to reform the Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.”

Religion Clause Blog: “According to Dan Quinn of the Texas Freedom Network, writing last week at Talk to Action, the Texas State Board of Education has now made public the entire panel of experts it has appointed to review the state’s social studies curriculum. It is evenly divided between mainstream academics and Christian religious conservatives.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Egypt on Saturday, Cairo’s Administrative Court refused to order that Maher al-Moatassem Bellah al-Gohary be issued a new identification card recognizing his conversion to Christianity and his Christian name, Peter Ethnasios.”

China Aid: “The Chinese government has launched a major crackdown against human rights attorneys, canceling or refusing to renew the licenses of at least 21 attorneys who have challenged the Communist government’s abuse of Chinese citizens. Many of the attorneys have been working closely with ChinaAid’s legal defense efforts for religious freedom cases.”

Michael Foust writes at Baptist Press: “‘IRS regulations are very clear that a church is allowed to support or oppose legislation — including initiatives and referendums — as long as it does not constitute a substantial part of the church’s activities,’ Erik Stanley, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal organization, told Baptist Press. ‘… Basically, if it’s under about 15 percent of a church’s activities overall, a church is allowed to do that. That’s such a high threshold. Most churches never have more than that.’”

CitizenLink: “Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said he’s concerned by the fact that Sotomayor has never ruled in an abortion case. ‘We don’t have any decisions from her that really lay out her views in a systematic manner,” he said. “So what we have to do is try to determine this by implication.’”

Family Research Council: “‘The District’s Human Rights Act was never intended to suggest maintaining marriage between anything other than a man and woman,’ said Brian Raum, an attorney for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, who specializes in fighting same-sex marriage.”

LA Times: “As they celebrate the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the gay rights movement, gays feel let down by Obama. Mayors Villaraigosa and Newsom take their side against Defense of Marriage Act.”

LA Times: “With the Obama administration facing growing discontent among gay supporters, the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco joined in voicing concern today about a new U.S. Justice Department brief supporting the federal Defense of Marriage Act.”

AP: “He told an Arab-American audience of 1,000 people that the U.S. is no longer just a black-white country, nor a country that is dominated by Christians and a powerful Jewish minority, given the growing numbers of Muslims, Hindus and other religious groups here.”

Touro Law Center Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity: “In particular, in response to Bowers, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force established the Privacy Project to repeal sodomy laws on a state-by-state basis. From 1986-1991, the Privacy Project did not successfully persuade any state legislatures to repeal existing sodomy laws. However, it was able to establish and expand the reach of statewide LGBT organizations, bring together gay and lesbian individuals, educate the public about gay rights issues, and put a ‘human face’ on the gay rights movement.”

Rutgers Law Review: “This Note deconstructs the premise of trigger laws and offers tools for reproductive rights advocates to defeat them. Part I of this Note examines state laws restricting or banning abortion and their potential effects. Part II scrutinizes trigger laws in relation to other forms of constitutionally acceptable and problematic legislation. Part III addresses trigger laws in the context of the American constitutional democracy. Part IV examines the particular constitutional provisions at issue, contending that trigger laws violate the nation’s guarantee of a republican form of government and other violations that warrant increased scrutiny and regulation. Part V sets out the current state protections and suggests strategies for reproductive rights advocates to mitigate the effect of laws regulating abortion and to ensure future access to abortion.”