Daily Archives: June 22, 2009

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State Blog carries this post, Math Lesson: Scofflaw Florida School District’s Legal Expenses Add Up, highlighting how it uses financial threats to cow school districts into submission to its radical left wing agenda.

Mark Castleman writes at Candeo: Pornography addiction creates a great deal of shame, despair and self-loathing. After repeatedly trying and failing to implement the common advice “Why don’t you just stop looking at it,” many caught in the pornography trap feel hopeless—“I guess I’m just basically evil-minded and weak, a pervert and a freak.” Most don’t understand the specific processes that have developed their addiction over time. Learning there is a “logical explanation” for their condition goes a long way in relieving shame and hopelessness. Perhaps some of the following insights will help you better understand “how you got here:”

SCOTUS: “Today, the Supreme Court held that parents of disabled children can seek reimbursement for private education expenses regardless whether their child had previously received special-education services from a public school. By a vote of six to three, the Court held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) authorizes reimbursement whenever a public school fails to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to a disabled child.”

Forest Grove School District v. T.A, No. 08-305

AsiaNews.it: Card Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said an “atmosphere of great trust” is emerging in the ongoing Christian-Muslim dialogue despite the fact that in some countries the right to change religion is not guaranteed and that in Saudi Arabia there is no opening in relation to the right to have a place of worship in that country . . . “Serious problems” do remain however. “Even the most open-minded Muslim leaders are unable to get their fellow Muslims to accept that people have a right to change religion in accordance with their conscience,” said the cardinal.

LifeSiteNews: “Poland may soon consider passing a new law, similar to the one passed this week in neighboring Lithuania, that bans the media and schools from promoting adverse behaviors to the development of young people, including violence, suicide, and homosexuality.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Alberta Finance Minister, Iris Evans, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, has come under fire from the leader of the Liberal government after telling the Economic Club of Canada on Wednesday morning that having one parent stay at home is important for raising children well.”

LifeSiteNews: “David Spratt and Sissy von Dehn were arrested while protesting the bubble zone legislation that prevents pro-life counselling or protesting within 50 meters of an abortion facility.”

LifeSiteNews: “Tennessee legislators passed a law Thursday that threatens to strip Planned Parenthood of over $1 million in federal grant funding. Under the new statute, local community health clinics will be given priority for Title X family planning funds instead of Planned Parenthood.”

LifeNews: “In new interviews, leading Senate Republicans say they are seeing little reason for an all-out campaign against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. However, top pro-life advocates say more evidence is cropping out showing how Sotomayor will be a solid abortion advocate on the high court.”

“Judged by today’s psychological standards, these 18th century fathers sound harsh and unfeeling. Yet to see the Founding Fathers as flesh-and-blood dads, to glimpse their struggles to rear their children at a time of grave uncertainty and peril, is to appreciate their service and sacrifice anew.”

Mike Adams writes at Townhall: Dear UNC-Wilmington Students: “It’s getting close to time to start another semester. That means that it’s time to lay down the rules for all of my classes. I’m going to continue to use all the rules I’ve used before, which can be found in my syllabus. But, starting this semester, I’m adding three more rules. Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered students (GILBERTS) need to pay especially close attention . . . ”

“No state can legitimately infringe on a religious institution’s right to live by their beliefs. That, however, is not the heart of the wrongheadedness of Mr. Suozzi’s argument . . . ”

AP: “Labor unions and Catholic leaders have reached an agreement designed to end years of bitter hostilities that often surrounded union efforts to organize workers at Catholic hospitals.”

NY Times Blog: “Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, has changed his position on gay marriage, announcing over the weekend that he now supports it.”

Jonathan Adler reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could test the vitality of federalism.

Heritage Foundation Blog: According to Brian Raum, Senior Legal Counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, “Marriage didn’t violate the Human Rights Act when the HRA passed 32 years ago, and it doesn’t now. That is simply a political argument meant to prevent the people from voting.” Raum states that “[m]arriage pre-existed the Human Rights Act by centuries in the district. They have co-existed for a generation without conflict . . . . The HRA has never required the redefinition of marriage or the recognition of non-marriages. Opponents of the referendum have twisted a law to impose their agenda without the people’s consent.”

“A federal judge ruled Friday that Contra Costa County officials can no longer prohibit a Christian ministry from accessing Antioch Branch Library public meeting rooms just because government employees consider its scheduled activities to be ‘religious services.’”

TIME: “South Africans received a horrifying measure of just how bad their country’s rape crisis is with the release this week of a study in which more than a quarter of men admitted to having raped, and 46% of those said that they had raped more than once.”

Graham Keeley reports at Times Online: “The Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE) urged all Catholic MPs in the Lower House to vote against a Bill to allow abortion on demand. Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino said: ‘Strict church doctrine says no true Catholic believer can agree with or support this move.’”

CCFON reports: “He suggested that such commission should establish marriage as the ‘gold standard’ for relationships and put an end to the constant games of ‘musical relationships’ or ‘pass the partner’ which can scar children for life.”

The Progress reports: “The bill which cleared the Assembly panel this week, requires that sexually oriented businesses provide adequate outdoor lighting and video security surveillance in the outside area surrounding the business.”

Ann Rodgers reports in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Lutherans in southwestern Pennsylvania are calling on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America not to adopt a proposal to allow individual congregations to decide whether ministers in same-sex relationships can be ordained.”

Jonathan Tamari reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Gov. Corzine has made ‘marriage equality’ for gays and lesbians a prominent piece of his reelection campaign, taking another step in his conversion on the issue and encouraging gay-rights advocates who hope to see same-sex marriage approved in New Jersey this year.”

MySanAntonio.com: “Police say Leslie Campbell, 48, kidnapped the teenager in San Antonio in March, took her to Corpus Christi, sexually assaulted her over the course of a week, gave her a false identification card and forced her to strip at the club. Police say the girl, who has not been identified, escaped from Campbell’s home while he was in the shower and has been reunited with her parents in San Antonio.”

Associated Press: “Police say a 14-year-old girl was dancing topless at an Akron strip club when they raided the bar.”

Christine Ferretti reports in The Baptist Standard: “The Freedom from Religion Foundation said resident concerns over the booth — located in the lobby of city offices and adorned with a banner that simply reads ‘Prayer Station’ — prompted the nonprofit to file a request for copies of city policy, its rental agreement with the church and verification it is being charged to use the space. The group is also criticizing the city’s failure to disassociate itself from the religious message of the church.”

KSAZ Fox 10 News reports: “A sign that went up at some Safeway stores across the Valley has some customers threatening to boycott. The sign celebrates June as Gay Pride Month, and has a picture of Harvey Milk, explaining what he’s done for gay civil rights.”

Daily Mail: “The Catholic Children’s Society, whose president is Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, announced that it will no longer assess individuals or couples as prospective adoptive or foster parents.”

Sarah Lundy reports in the Orlando Sentinel: “The issue is whether Florida, the only state with a blanket ban on gay adoption, must recognize another state’s adoption laws, even if those laws, such as Washington’s, permit gay adoptions.”

Associated Press: “A spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she will sign the bill, which passed 28-7 in the Senate and 100-44 in the House of Representatives late Wednesday, into law. While Rell, a Republican, signed the state’s 2005 civil unions law, she has said she believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

Oran P. Smith, president of South Carolina’s Palmetto Family Council , writes in the Herald-Journal: “South Carolinians know that kids do best with a mom and a dad. Children raised by a mother and a father are healthier, happier, do better in school and are less likely to get in trouble with the law. Though most single moms and dads are nearly superhuman in their performance as parents, the two genders bring unique gifts to parenting. Mothers do some things better than dads and vice-versa.”

Lansing State Journal: “The time has come to ask the voters. It’s time to revisit Proposal 2 as part of a broader effort to offer the legal and tax benefits now automatically conferred on married couples to their same-sex neighbors.”

Free Market Foundation: “We have just received word that Gov. Perry has vetoed SB 1440, which would have allowed Child Protective Services expansive new power to search and seize children and their medical records without consent or notice to parents, without a court hearing, and without “good cause”, in direct violation of a recent federal court of appeals decision.”

Kris Wernowsky reports in the Pensacola News Journal: “The Santa Rosa County School District has incurred nearly $200,000 in legal fees so far to defend a prayer-in-schools lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, and the district also could be required to pay more than $250,000 to cover the ACLU’s legal fees.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Warren, Michigan, The Tabernacle, a Church of God congregation, has set up a ‘Prayer Station’ inside city hall. The city makes space inside the building available to any non-profit free-of-charge . . . the Freedom from Religion Foundation is nevertheless concerned . . . ”

A National Catholic Register editorial: “At a recent home-schooling convention in Massachusetts, Thomas More College’s new president, William Fahey, gave a talk that one blogger compared to a grenade. Home schooling puts an almost unmanageable strain on mothers, he said. Home-schooling mothers are expected to be several things at once: mothers, homemakers, teachers, disciplinarians, wives and, for some, wage earners, too.”

Aaron J. Leichmann reports in The Christian Post: “A Christian group in Missouri will be allowed to freely distribute religious literature at “gay pride” event this weekend after a federal judge ruled in their favor. Another Christian group in Michigan, however, was not so fortunate in its quest for free distribution at a recent Arab festival but is still hopeful for a favorable conclusion.”

HE Baber writing in The Guardian: “What once was religion has already been parcelled out to a variety of different institutions and agents – metaphysics and ethics to philosophers, wisdom literature to self-help gurus, pastoral counselling to therapists, and charity to secular non-profits and the welfare state. Science explains natural phenomena and technology provides a means for controlling them.”

Associated Press: “Li Morse won’t be at the Mott Hall High School commencement in Harlem. It’s being held on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath.”

EducationNews.org: “AN ESTIMATED 365,000 students are on waiting lists to get into charter schools. More than half of all charter schools across the country report having to disappoint parents who want their children in better schools. Yet many states, for reasons that have nothing to do with sound educational policy, discourage or even forbid the growth of charters. It’s a ridiculous situation, and we hope that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is serious about not rewarding states hostile to charter schools.”

Associated Press: “Turnpike officials say Palmetto Park Road is the best location for a $119 million interchange to relieve congestion in the area. But residents who live near the road say an interchange there would impact the community’s large population of Orthodox Jews, who walk on the Sabbath and other Jewish holidays.”

The Telegraph reports: “Teenagers say family, friends, money, music and even reality television are more important than religion. It also emerged six out of ten 10 children (59 per cent) believe that religion “has a negative influence on the world”. The survey also shows that half of teenagers have never prayed and 16 per cent have never been to church. The study of 1,000 teenagers aged 13 to 18 was carried out by Penguin to mark this week’s publication of controversial novel ‘Killing God’ by Kevin Brooks.”

A Washington Times editorial: “Most men in the survey reported that ending a pregnancy was a mutual decision, and only 5 percent didn’t support the abortion. However, nearly half of single and divorced men said they had suggested getting married and having the baby. As many as 1 in 6 men are never told about a pregnancy or an eventual abortion.”

Pew Forum: “I think we need only go back before Darwin and see what theologians thought about Genesis to have a better conversation about this. Go back all the way to Augustine in 400 A.D. Augustine is writing here specifically about Genesis: ‘In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it.’”

“If the government cannot proscribe — or even ‘unduly burden,’ to use another of the Supreme Court’s analytical frameworks — access to abortion, how can it proscribe access to other medical procedures . . . ”

OneNewsNow reports: “With the ascension of Barack Obama, who is a staunch abortion advocate, and a pro-abortion majority in Congress, National Right to Life Committee president Wanda Franz believes pro-lifers face an uphill battle in the coming years. However, she notes that attendees left the convention feeling energized.”

Charmaine Yoest reports in the Washington Times: “Those efforts included no less than six briefs in five abortion-related cases before the Supreme Court — pushing aggressively for an interpretation of abortion rights that would eliminate most or all state and federal abortion regulations while requiring state and federal funding of abortion. In two of those cases, Rust v. Sullivan (1991) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the PRLDEF’s briefs took positions more extreme than those of Justice Souter, who joined with the court’s majority to uphold restrictions the fund wanted struck down.”

David N. Bass reports in The American Spectator: “The federal government has morphed into Planned Parenthood’s sugar daddy, and the co-dependency is only going to get worse in the age of Obama. Fully one-third of the organization’s revenue last year came from the government, compared with less than one-fourth from private contributions. If Planned Parenthood can’t get your money voluntarily, its advocates in Congress will coercively.”

Ken Connor writes at CNSNews: “The states must not shy away from their constitutional responsibility to defend themselves from this federal onslaught. Moreover, individual citizens have a role to play in educating themselves about the republican model of our federalist system so that they can participate in a meaningful public discussion about the proper relationship between the central government and the states. If we don’t have this conversation, and soon, we might as well say goodbye to the United States of America and embrace our country for what it’s fast becoming: the United State.”

Ashby Jones reports at the Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Post, the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale, in an announcement made by Yale’s president, Richard Levin, was named the new law dean. According to his bio, Post (Harvard, Yale Law, Harvard Ph.D), taught at Berkeley’s law school — his areas of expertise include ‘constitutional law, First Amendment, legal history, and affirmative action.’”

Tracey O’Shaughnessy reports in the Republican American: “It’s easy to look at the shuttering of Christ Church in Watertown as a victory for traditionalist Episcopalians, who left the church to protest its embrace of gay clergy.”

Barna Group: “The gay and lesbian population, which constitutes about 3% of adults, has garnered national attention in the past several years thanks to issues like gay marriage, gay adoption, and other gay rights conflicts. In the wake of those controversies and the spotlight aimed at gays, Americans have developed numerous assumptions about the lives of the homosexual population. A new survey by the Barna Group explores the spiritual life of gay and lesbian individuals, providing some surprising results. Out of the 20 faith-oriented attributes examined in the Barna study, there were just a few in which there were no significant differences between the heterosexual and homosexual populations.”

Yuval Levin writing in The New Atlantis: “At no point does DeGette seem to believe that there are any genuine ethical questions at issue in the debates over stem-cell research, abortion, and other reproductive issues. ‘Over time, I realized that the politicization of science by the Republicans and the religious right was at its most insidious over any issue relating to human reproduction,’ she writes. ‘This brought me to the inevitable conclusion that too many of our elected officials are simply incapable of thinking rationally about sex. I could think of no other explanation.’”

Liberty Counsel: “On June 22, 2009, Liberty Counsel asked Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to stop religious discrimination and reinstate users’ free speech rights on the Navy for Moms Website.”

Eric Resnick reports in the Gay People’s Chronicle: Citizens for Community Values vice president David Miller said he has talked to the group circulating petitions to repeal the registry, and they are ready to “help the people of Cleveland appeal to their government to redress grievances” if asked . . .

Langdon is representing, along with the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Arizona, a group called Cleveland Taxpayers for the Ohio Constitution, and city taxpayer Dorothy McGuire.”

OneNewNow: “Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, tells OneNewsNow the circumstances are certainly different than most child pornography cases because it involves Dwight Whorley writing down his fantasies about child molestation.”

fficials at Wright State University have agreed to reverse their decision to deny recognition of a Christian student group after receiving letters and public exposure from both the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Sen. Joe Lieberman writes at the Washington Post: “We should continue our strategy of meeting the District’s educational challenges on three fronts: by funding public schools, public charter schools and opportunity scholarships. Congress should act quickly to pass legislation to support full reauthorization of the program and provide certainty to economically disadvantaged students. There are low-income children in the District who can’t wait for their local schools to turn around. Without programs such as this one, their opportunity will be lost forever.”

TIME: “Newly released FBI files show agents across the country and at the highest level of the agency investigated ‘Deep Throat’ — the 1972 porn movie, not the shadowy Watergate figure — in a vain attempt to roll back what became a cultural shift toward more permissive entertainment.”

AP: “President Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Monday at the practice of wearing the Muslim burqa, insisting the full-body religious gown is a sign of the “debasement” of women and that it won’t be welcome in France.”

WCBSTV.com: “While the governor can’t force senators to vote on or debate bills, the state constitution grants him the power to call a special legislative session – and experts say he can even keep the senators in the state house with the help of state police.”

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Jeremiah Dys of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia has this commentary in the Charleston Gazette: “When marriage is devalued or re-defined, society and, ultimately, our children pay the price. Government spending on social programs is driven in large part by family fragmentation. You name the problem, whether it is crime, poverty, drug abuse, teen pregnancy or school failure. Each societal problem we face today can be traced back to the breakdown of the family, a concept that is seemingly foreign to the justices on the Supreme Court of Appeals.”

The commentary is also available at the Voice, the Blog of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia.

BusinessInsider.com: “Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama’s nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court, served on the board of a New York State agency charged with providing discounted mortgages to middle and low income homebuyers from 1987 to 1992. During the time, she was a consistent advocate of pushing the agency to provide more mortgages to low-income home buyers. In short, she advocated the kind of aggressive lending practices that helped create the mortgage meltdown.”

Tulsa Law Review: “In this article, I argue that legal instrumentalism is inconsistent with the nature of dynamic systems, and in particular ecosystems and markets. The notion of dictating particular ecological or economic ends conflicts with the natural behavior of these systems and their immutable rules. Ecosystems and markets may be interfered with, but the nature of their processes cannot be altered. The idea of dictating specific ecological or economic results is inconsistent with the way they behave. The appropriate role for law is to set generally applicable boundaries within which markets operate, and to establish generally applicable limits on the degree to which human actions encroach upon ecosystems. Its proper mandate is to protect these systems from manipulation rather than to seek to manipulate them.”

Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities: “We conclude that marriage has sometimes been used to channel male heterosexuality into reproduction, but to argue that this goal is the sine qua non of marriage is to vastly oversimplify its history in both law and culture. We then undertake a genealogy of the accidental procreation argument and speculate about its possible effects on the institution of marriage. We suggest that if courts continue to insist upon a definition of marriage that is so distinct from the actual practice of the institution, the law may actually be less and less influential in regulating intimate behavior.”