Daily Archives: August 24, 2009

CitizenLink: “Jim Campbell, legal counsel for ADF, said he hopes the Wisconsin Supreme Court takes note of Van Hollen’s position. ‘We believe that it’s very clear here. The people of Wisconsin said that they do not want the government creating anything that is substantially similar to marriage, and that is exactly what they’ve done here,’ he said.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Alliance Defense Fund, in a suit filed on behalf of Cenzon-DeCarlo, is seeking to prosecute the hospital for violating the ‘Church Amendment’ which ‘protects the right of conscience of pro-life health care workers employed by recipients of federal Health and Human Services funding’ . . . ‘Mount Sinai Hospital is multiplying its injustices against Nurse Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo,’ said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman in an ADF press release. ‘First it disregarded Cathy’s conscience; now it argues she can’t go to court to defend her rights. Mount Sinai Hospital does not have the right to disregard federal law and then refuse to face the consequences of its actions.’”

Deseret News: “A town-hall meeting will be held Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m., to discuss a bill that would implement changes to the state’s sex-education curriculum.”

A federal court Monday threw out a lawsuit filed against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Transnational Law Blog: “Much to my surprise and fascination, Peking University (“Bei Da”) opened a School of Transnational Law in the Fall of 2008 that has a curriculum nearly identical to that of a U.S. juris doctor (JD) program and requires three years of study. Even more amazing is that the school is seeking ABA accreditation . . . ”

Newsbusters: “Meanwhile, neither the Saturday nor Friday Evening News programs made any mention of reports that ACLU attorneys defending Guantanamo detainees illegally showed terror suspects photos of CIA personnel in an effort to implicate interrogators in acts of torture.”

BBC: “Dr Brady said marriage between a man and a woman would always remain the ideal environment in which to raise children. He said any government which undermines such an environment could hardly be said to be promoting the common good. Cardinal Brady also said those who refuse to officiate at a same sex wedding would be guilty of an offence and described this as ‘an alarming attack on the fundamental principle of freedom of religion and conscience’.”

“. . . The case, brought on behalf of a gay Southern California couple, argues that the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against gay men and lesbians.”

Pasadena Star-News: “Two men arrested in connection with a strip club shooting in Industry that left three people wounded were free Sunday after being cleared as suspects, authorities said.”

KRISTV.com: “Police say 23-year-old Brandon Pate and his friends were asked to leave Pleasures Men’s Club just after midnight, after the group got into a fight inside the club.” Reportedly, one or more of of the men punched the bouncer escorting them out. The strip club manager then fired his gun at them as they got in their pickup.

Washington Times: “Government coercion is becoming standard operating procedure in the nation’s capital . . . Thuggish behavior by politicians is a valid reason not to give them even more power over people’s lives.”

Time Magazine: “The health-care-reform bill proposed by House Democrats . . . find[s] a way for the Federal Government to expand the coverage of abortion services through a government-run program — the so-called public option — without spending what it defines as federal dollars on abortion. Instead, the only money the public insurance option could spend on abortion that does not involve rape, incest or the life of the mother would be money collected from members dues . . .”

From an interview with New York Times Magazine: “I happen to believe that the transformation of women’s roles is the last great impediment to universal progress — that we have made progress on many other aspects of human nature that used to be discriminatory bars to people’s full participation. But in too many places and too many ways, the oppression of women stands as a stark reminder of how difficult it is to realize people’s full human potential.”

Mercury News (AP): “Monday marked the first day Nevada couples could begin registering as domestic partners in advance of a new law that takes effect in October.”

Dallas Morning News: “In July, the Houston Independent School District became one of the first large urban districts in the nation to officially ban sexting . . . Mesquite ISD also added a section in its Student Code of Conduct this summer: ‘Sending, sharing, viewing or possessing pictures, text messages, e-mails or other material of a sexual nature in electronic or any other form on a cellphone or other electronic device is prohibited.’”

Florida Today: “Police were told the girl was 14, but when they went to investigate the complaint at Playmates strip club in Cocoa, they discovered two girls, ages 15 and 17, dancing before club patrons.”

Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney David Kennedy will be available for media interviews following his oral arguments before a master commissioner at the Ohio Supreme Court in a lawsuit involving a church being taxed on a type of property for which some other charitable organizations are not taxed.

Minnesota Independent: “The ADF’s Eric Stanley said that the campaign ‘is really part of a long, sustained campaign’ to get a court challenge to IRS laws governing electioneering. ‘We feel very confident that when we do, it will not take long for a federal judge to strike down this unconstitutional restriction on churches’ rights.’”

LA Times: “President Theodore Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass a law to keep corporate money out of political races. Now, the Supreme Court may overturn it.”

Christian Post: “These days, one of Egypt’s most well-known converts to Christianity is living a mobile lifestyle, but not by choice. Maher El Gohary, the second Egyptian to legally request to change his religious status, and his 15-year-old daughter, Dina, are living like “fugitives,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.”

New Haven Register: “A Christian preacher has won a settlement from the city that will allow him to share his message on city streets without interference from police . . . ‘Christians shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs,’ said Jonathan Scruggs of the Alliance Defense Fund in a statement. ‘Police cannot silence citizens because they or others think (they) are “annoying.” All Americans are free to peacefully exercise their First Amendment right to free speech on a public sidewalk. Those rights must be protected, or we’re all in trouble.’”

Boston.com (AP): “Both sides — those who say they want to ‘protect marriage’ as it is, and those who call for ‘marriage equality’ — are recruiting and mobilizing volunteers to pressure lawmakers. A bill that would allow gay marriage is expected to be debated in Trenton during the lame-duck period between the Nov. 3 election and start of a new legislative session in January.”

The Australian: “The revolt by Queensland’s doctors widened yesterday, as another two public hospitals reportedly withdrew medical abortion services and a pregnant woman was sent to Sydney for treatment scrapped by the state’s biggest hospital. This was despite Premier Anna Bligh’s bid to appease doctors who want Queensland to decriminalise abortion with a partial rewrite of the existing law.”

AP: “A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Delaware’s plan to offer sports betting would violate a 1992 federal ban on sports wagering.”

The American Spectator: “The liberal officials and activists comprising the Far Left make perfectly clear that their highest social priority is abortion. More than same-sex marriage or gun control, abortion is their defining social issue. So legislation for Obamacare written exclusively by liberal Democrats will protect their agenda. That means one thing: Obamacare will mandate taxpayer-funded abortions.”

Christian Newswire: “Tomorrow’s press conference will launch the 2010 Personhood Amendment petition drive with a request to re-activate a thousand volunteer petitioners from 2008.”

“There’s a strong prima facie case for this, and it revolves around Yale’s courting of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.”

LifeNews: “Over suggestions from the Missouri Health Department, the new state budget includes the funding for an abortion alternatives program . . . In response to a request from pro-abortion Gov. Jay Nixon to identify cuts in the state budget given the current fiscal crisis in Missouri, officials with the state health department proposed slashing the program’s funding in June.”

WCSH6: “The city of Portland and a group of Afghan Muslims have come to an agreement that will allow them to use a building on Washington Avenue as a mosque. The Maine Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of Portland Masjid and Islamic Center, saying the city’s zoning ordinances violate the group’s right to religious freedom.”

Islam in Europe: “A 15 year old boy from Rønne will appear in court next week. He’s charged with trying to distribute racist posters. The Bornholm court says that the 15 year old is charged with having produced posters and fliers at home with the titles: ‘Denmark will be a Muslim country?,’ ‘Denmark wake up.’”

EuroNews: “The law orders schools to base curricula on the ‘Bolivarian Doctrine’ – a reference to ideals espoused by 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, such as national self-determination and Latin American unity.”

Balkan Insight: “Health officials report that between 150,000-200,000 abortions are carried out every year in Serbia, news-site Mondo reported Monday.”

Polling Report: “If current trends continue, a majority of Americans will support same-sex marriage by the year 2014. While majority support does not always lead to movement in policy, the tone of the national debate would likely change significantly if support for gay marriage can no longer be written off as a minority viewpoint.”

Gay & Lesbian Issues Examiner: “On Top Magazine is reporting that Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has been circulating a proposal for a new city ordinance that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The public discussion draft, titled ‘Overview of Possible Salt Lake City Non-Discrimination Ordinance,’ is based on a July 2009 report by the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission that ‘provides further factual confirmation of the harms caused by discriminatory practices.’”

Pacific Daily News: “Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry; while 27 percent favored civil unions or domestic partnerships — but not marriage.”

eSchool News: “As states compete for more than $4 billion in federal ‘Race to the Top’ stimulus grants, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has made it clear that states willing to embrace charter schools and other favored innovations will get preference. That, in turn, could prompt a rise in the number of virtual charter schools and other charters that open across the country.”

LifeSiteNews: “A Federal Court has upheld the constitutionality of a South Dakota law requiring doctors to inform patients that abortion kills a human being . . . In a statement, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden commented, ‘We find it incredible, however, for the court to determine that the law cannot acknowledge that a ‘pregnant woman has an existing relationship with that unborn human being’ because some human beings are somehow not persons.’”

LifeNews: “Late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart announced today that he had laid off nearly half of the staff at his Omaha, Nebraska-area abortion center.”

EWTN (CNA): “The Catholic bishops of Canada are urging Catholics to voice their opposition to a radical bill that would allow assisted suicide and euthanasia for those with severe chronic mental or physical pain or even depression . . . Bill C-384, introduced into the Canadian House of Commons by MP Francine Lalonde of the Bloc Quebecois, would amend the Criminal Code of Canada to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. It is Lalonde’s third attempt to pass such a law.”

On Friday, the White House issued this press release and video.

Advocate: “A plan by the Vermilion Parish School Board to put boys and girls in separate classes has attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union. The school system began a same-sex classroom program at Rene A. Rost Middle School in Kaplan this year, but the ACLU questioned whether the single-sex classrooms are mandatory — a violation of federal law.”

On Top Magazine: “Wisconsin Attorney General John Byron ‘J.B.’ Van Hollen said Friday he would not defend the state’s gay-inclusive domestic partnership registry, calling it unconstitutional, the AP reported. The group Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) and the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have asked the state Supreme Court to strike down the law, arguing that it is prohibited by the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage approved by voters in 2006.”

Santa Maria Times: “Children are returning to school. This is a good time to remind parents, teachers and students what the U.S. Department of Education says about public school students’ religious liberties. Gateways to Better Education, in conjunction with the Alliance Defense Fund has prepared a pamphlet called Free to Speak, highlighting what is, and what is not, legal.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Everett, Washington last Friday, a state court judge heard arguments in a challenge by an animal rescue group to Washington state’s Humane Slaughter Act. The group argues that the exemption for ritual slaughtering of animals (RCW 16.50.150) violates the Establishment Clause . . . ”

Modesto Bee: “A Wisconsin group aimed at taking religion out of government has set its sights on the prayers offered to open every City Council meeting . . . Spycher said the opportunity to offer an invocation is available to ‘any faith leader.’ The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit group, has offered its services to the city for free.”

Religion Clause Blog: “On Friday, by a 2-1 vote, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by Haskell County, Oklahoma commissioners to allow them to keep their Ten Commandments monument in place on the court house lawn while the county seeks review in the U.S. Supreme Court of an order calling for the monument’s removal.”

OneNewsNow: “In 2004, Jesse Morrell traveled to an area of New Haven where young adults frequented bars — and where he hoped to share the gospel peacefully. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Jonathan Scruggs picks up the story. ‘On four separate occasions, two police officers essentially came up to him and ordered him to move, ordered him to stop speaking because he was annoying people,’ he recalls. ‘Evidently his message was not being well received by the college students.’”

Liberty Counsel: “After a 7½ hour hearing in federal court, federal District Judge Casey Rodgers told Michelle Winkler that she would not be held in civil contempt over her husband’s prayer at an awards banquet. Ms. Winkler, who is a clerical assistant for the Santa Rosa County School District, is represented by Liberty Counsel. Senior Litigation Counsel Horatio Mihet and David Corry defended Winkler against the ACLU last Friday.”

Grand Forks Herald: “A[n Idaho] education panel has blocked a school’s plan to teach about the Bible . . . The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund, a religious liberty group, represented the academy and had argued that the writers of Idaho’s Constitution ‘sought assurances that the right of public schools to use the Bible as a teaching tool would be protected.’”

Centre Daily Times: “A Wisconsin group aimed at taking religion out of government has set its sights on the prayers offered to open every Turlock, Calif., City Council meeting . . . ‘It is my belief that legislative prayer is a cherished and lawful American tradition,’ he said, pointing out that several government policies have religious ties, from the observation of a Christmas holiday to military chaplains to the president’s declaration of a National Day of Prayer . . . Spycher said Friday the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit group, has offered its services to the city for free. It will be up to the council to determine what to do next.”

The La Crosse City Council has adopted an invocations policy after receiving legal counsel from Alliance Defense Fund attorneys that will allow the council to continue opening public meetings with prayer.

LifeNews: “A senator says he wants Congress to hold hearings on a new Obama administration document that some say promotes euthanasia. The Department of Veterans Affairs have revived a guide called ‘Your Life, Your Choices’ that was first published during the Clinton administration.”

CNA: “The bishops of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) have issued a statement to the state’s Catholic faithful expressing their “deep concern” about a state provision that requires providers of health insurance include contraceptive services. The rule will force Catholic dioceses and other agencies to pay for a ‘gravely immoral’ service, the conference says. A provision in the new state budget mandates the coverage as a ‘benefit.’”

NCRegister.com: “That’s the finding of a recent analysis of data collected by the Centers for Disease Control. The analysis, undertaken on behalf of San Antonio Coalition for Life, is posted on the Internet here.”

Politico: “Charlie Cook, one of the best political handicappers in the business, sent out a special update to Cook Political Report subscribers Thursday that should send shivers down Democratic spines.”

Boston Globe: “A personal plea from Senator Edward M. Kennedy to grant the governor power to appoint an interim successor in the Senate drew little public support from Massachusetts lawmakers yesterday, with the state’s Democratic leaders publicly silent on the proposal and most Republicans attacking it as a partisan power grab.”

CNSNews: “An amendment to remove the constitutional right of governors to appoint individuals to U.S. Senate seats that become vacant in between elections was recently approved by a 5-to-3 vote in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.”

GayPolitics.com: “Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker earned the endorsements of three major labor and Democratic groups Thursday night, her campaign announced in an e-mail to supporters.”

The Engage Family Blog of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia: “In both papers in Charleston, this morning, the story is told of Pastor Richard Mahan, pastor of what was known as St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church. Following this weekend’s actions by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the word “Lutheran” has been covered up until the church can decide its next steps.”