Daily Archives: September 2, 2009

ABC 15: “Attorneys representing three churches are suing the City of Phoenix claiming that a noise ordinance prohibiting the ringing of their bells is unconstitutional . . . [Erik Stanley said,] ‘the city’s problematic ordinance is being used to inconsistently single out the peaceful sound of this time-honored expression of worship while allowing exceptions for others.’”

Washburn University Review: “A Mulvane woman who claims the city violated her free speech rights at a city council forum will get the opportunity to make her case in federal court . . . Farnsworth contends in her lawsuit that the city censored speakers who opposed a casino project. She is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious advocacy group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that espouses the defense of ‘traditional family values’ and other conservative issues.”

Christian Institute: “Lesbian couples can now enter both their names on the birth certificate of a child born to one of them through fertility treatment under new rules implemented this week.”

Barrie Examiner: “A local man was stabbed in the neck and leg, early yesterday morning, during a fight outside a strip bar in Barrie’s west end.”

Virtue Online: “Some 263 Episcopal clergy including 20 Episcopal bishops have signed a declaration on sexual morality, justice and healing. More than 3,500 religious leaders from more than 50 religious traditions have endorsed the Religious Declaration, including clergy; professional religious educators and counselors; denominational and interfaith leaders; and seminary presidents, deans and faculty members.”

CBS4Denver.com (AP): “The Carbon County Commission has approved a partial moratorium on sexually oriented businesses.”

CNA: “The twelve bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Medellin and Santa Fe de Antioquia in Colombia issued a statement this week deploring the violence that has claimed the lives of several people in the region and condemning the construction of the ‘Women’s Clinic’ in Medellin, an $8 million dollar project feminists hope will provide abortions to Colombian women.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “A dance teacher , who was terminated from her job after a complaint was made that she used religious music in her instruction, is in trial this week. The single complaint which cost the teacher her job came from a school staff member rather than a parent or student.”

Hensley, Jonathan, Conservative Christian Cause Lawyering, Pluralism, and Same Sex Marriage (2009). APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1450896

The idea of “cause lawyering” is usually associated with liberal legal advocacy groups. However, over the last three decades, conservative cause lawyers, including those advocating conservative Christian causes, have become more active and influential. Conservative Christian legal advocacy groups have been most successful in promoting their causes when they have accepted the notion of pluralism, and taken the position that the conservative Christian viewpoint is one voice among many that must be allowed to express itself in a pluralist society. This strategy has led to successes in issue areas such as abortion protestation and church/state issues in public schools. However, the increasingly prominent issue of same-sex marriage poses a challenge for these groups.

With gay marriage now recognized in four states, and “civil unions” or their equivalent in a few others, conflicts between religious freedom and recognition of same-sex marriage – and between competing versions of pluralism – seem likely. This paper reviews the use of pluralist arguments by Conservative Christian litigation groups, and then examines the arguments made by the same groups in several recent state supreme court cases concerning same-sex marriage. The results show that, for the most part, conservative Christian legal advocacy groups have abandoned their previous commitments to pluralism in their arguments against same-sex marriage.

California Chronicle: “The State Assembly yesterday unanimously approved legislation that would allow courts to seize any property, such as house or automobile, used in the commission of human trafficking. In addition to the courts seizing property, SB 557 would add civil penalties of up to $25,000.”

Leonard Link: “The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, announced on September 1 that it was granting Lambda Legal’s petition for leave to appeal a decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan, which had ruled that a lesbian co-parent may not seek joint custody or visitation with a child she had been raising with her former same-sex Vermont civil union partner.”

Debra H. v. Janice R., 877 N.Y.S.2d 259

Telegraph: “Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors warn today.”

Boston Herald: “Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri on Wednesday defended his decision to speak at a fundraising banquet for a Massachusetts group that considers homosexuality unhealthy and that opposes letting same-sex couples raise children.”

Washington Post: “Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl is plunging the Catholic Church deeper into the battle over legalizing same-sex marriage in the District, a tactic that could complicate the D.C. Council’s efforts to quickly take up the matter this fall.”

AP: “A law backed by the Ku Klux Klan nearly a century ago to keep Catholics out of public schools is still on the books in Oregon, one of the last states in the nation to prohibit teachers from wearing religious clothing in classrooms. Both Pennsylvania and Nebraska have similar laws . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “The recently elected mayor of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, has infuriated Britain’s politically powerful homosexualist lobby by attempting to withhold local funding for this year’s Gay Pride celebrations.”

The Seattle Times: “The Washington Poll released a report today showing public support for same-sex domestic partnerships has increased substantially over the past three years.”

Text of the poll results: Public Opinion Regarding Same‐sex Domestic Partnerships in Washington

Associated Press: “Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court’s liberals will retire next year.”

Center for Security Policy: “The Center for Security Policy– along with the Florida Security Council and Nonie Darwish, bestselling author of Cruel and Usual Punishment– hosted a blogger conference call to discuss the latest developments in the plight of 17-year-old Rifqa Bary. Ms. Bary– a Muslim who converted to Christianity — fled her family in Ohio out of fear that, in accordance with what authoritative Islam calls shariah, they would take her life as punishment for leaving the Islamic faith. As was discussed on the call, this fear has been reinforced by the fact that her family’s mosque, the Noor Islamic Cultural Center, has been tied to terrorism and jihadist ideology from its inception. Ms. Bary has fled to Florida where her attorneys are trying to prevent state authorities from sending her back to her family and possibly her death. The transcript of the conference call is as follows . . . ”

TIME: “But despite the heated rhetoric once again fueling a Florida fracas, it’s not at all clear that Rifqa Bary’s rights are in danger.”

The governor has signed a proclamation that will allow voters to decide the fate of marriage in Maine.

Breitbart (AFP): “Baby Oliver was born in Britain to a 41-year-old woman after 13 failed attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The new technique, called array comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH), makes it possible to ensure eggs have a normal number of chromosomes, boosting the likelihood of a successful pregnancy.”

Newsbusters: “Conservatives are resuming their historically dominant position atop the New York Times and Amazon.com bestsellers lists after a short hiatus that coincided, not coincidentally, with George W. Bush’s tenure in the White House.”

“Secretary of State Sam Reed has certified Referendum 71 to the Nov. 3 statewide ballot in Washington state.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against the city of Phoenix on behalf of three churches, claiming that a noise ordinance prohibiting the ringing of their bells is unconstitutional.

Religion Clause Blog: “The Pew Forum on Monday posted a Q&A interview on Faith Healing and the Law featuring George Washington University Professor Robert W. Tuttle.”

Law.com (AP): “Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court’s liberals will retire next year. If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his …

Liberty Counsel: “Liberty Counsel filed a Petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting review of a ruling that permits the Florida Bar’s involvement in controversial issues unrelated to the practice of law. In this case, the issue is homosexual adoption, but the Bar should remain neutral on matters outside the regulation of attorneys and the legal profession . . . ”

Daily Mail: “Roman Catholic couples are being encouraged to pray together before they have sex. A book published by a prominent Church group invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed Prayer Before Making Love.”

“The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that Section 13, Canada’s much maligned human rights hate speech law, is an unconstitutional violation of the Charter right to free expression because of its penalty provisions.”

California Progress Report: “On Monday the California Assembly approved a resolution urging the United States Congress and President Barack Obama to repeal the nation’s Defense of Marriage Act following a contentious, partisan debate.”

New York Times: “Gov. David A. Paterson will delay his plan to force a vote on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage until early September because the Senate is too unsettled now to take it up, his spokesman said on Friday.”

Bloomberg: “A 2006 federal law that prohibits gambling over the Internet was upheld by a U.S. appeals court after a challenge from a New Jersey-based nonprofit corporation that promotes electronic betting.”

Herald News: “The five City Council subcommittee members addressing a decade-long impasse unanimously removed siting an adult entertainment district within the Industrial Park from further consideration.”

AP: “President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised American Muslims for enriching the nation’s culture at a dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. ‘The contribution of Muslims to the United States are too long to catalog because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country,’ Obama said . . . ”

Yahoo News (AP): “Dutch prosecutors said Wednesday they will charge an Arab cultural group under hate speech laws for publishing a cartoon that suggests the death of 6 million Jews during World War II is a fabrication.”

On August 31, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision in Pedreira v. Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children.

The Sixth Circuit:

(1) affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Alicia Pedreira’s and Karen Vance’s statutory employment discrimination claims against the Home;

(2) affirmed the district court’s ruling that the plaintiffs’ status as federal taxpayers did not give them standing to assert that the financial relationship between the Commonwealth and the Home violated the Establishment Clause;

(3) but reversed the district court’s ruling that plaintiffs’ status as state taxpayers did not give them Establishment Clause standing.

The Sixth Circuit’s treatment of the statutory employment discrimination claims is welcome. The Court of Appeals, like the district court, rejected the notion that a state law ban on religious discrimination in employment prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against a person because of his or her sexual orientation or conduct — even if that action is rooted in the employer’s religious convictions.

The Washington Post On Faith blog is hosting a panel discussing whether and how religion should be taught in public schools, particularly in light of American history. Panelists include Jim Daly, Daniel C. Dennett, Brad Hirschfield, J. Brent Walker, Brian D. McLaren, Pamela K. Taylor, Herb Silverman, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, and Susan Jacoby.

We have received a few reports from ADF Alliance Alert subscribers indicating that the content of their Email Digest version of the Alert is not displaying. Usually, this is a matter of setting security filters appropriately. However, we have discovered …

Idaho Statesman: “The Nampa Classical Academy has filed a lawsuit against the state after it ruled the public charter school cannot use the Bible as an instructional text. The Academy, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund . . . claims the state has “decided that the Bible is now a banned book in every public school throughout the State of Idaho.’”

The Olympian (AP): “A public charter school sued Idaho officials in federal court Tuesday, saying the state illegally barred use of the Bible as an instructional text . . . ‘I’ve never seen such a broad-reaching ban on using the Bible at all as an educational resource in public schools,’ said David Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.”

The Badger-Herald: “Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, a conservative campus group, is suing the Associated Students of Madison and various other University of Wisconsin parties on the basis of being denied funding unjustifiably . . . ‘The goal of the case is to ensure that America’s colleges and universities give conservative students the same rights as other students,’ said David French, senior counsel for ADF.”

New York Times (AP): “A public charter school is suing Idaho officials, saying the state illegally barred use of the Bible as an instructional text. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boise on behalf of Nampa Classical Academy in Idaho.”

My FOX Detroit: “In one of his first in-depth interviews since spending more than eight years in prison for his role in numerous assisted suicides, Dr. Jack Kevorkian talks to Detroit’s FOX 2 about the best way to kill someone.” [Click through to the FOX site for video]

On the Secularization of the Public Square: Jews in France and in the United States
Pierre Birnbaum, 30 Cardozo L. Rev. 2431 (2009)

“In this paper, I would like to discuss some strong and surprising similarities between France and the United States and show that, in both societies, most Jews have until recently been key supporters of a ‘naked public square,’ favoring a complete separation of church and state through different means: through the State in France, and through the Supreme Court in the United States.”

Must Theology Always Sit in the Back of the Bus?: The Federal Courts’ View of Religion and its Status as Knowledge
Francis J. Beckwith, 24 J.L. & Religion 547 (2009)

“. . . there is no sufficient reason to exclude theologically informed public policy proposals and that the federal courts err in offering a flawed understanding of the epistemological standing of religious belief. To make my case, I first address two questions– (1) What does theological knowledge look like?; (2) What do the federal courts say about theological claims? I then offer a brief analysis of one issue over which the question of theological knowledge has been raised in both the literature and the public square; (3) the permissibility and federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. I also use this issue as a point of departure to briefly discuss what I believe is an unjustified privileging of non-theistic understandings of knowledge.”

Shifting Toward Balance, Not Conservatism: The Court’s Interpretation of the Lemon Test’s Legislative Intent Prong and Reaction for the Electorate
Kedrick N. Whitmore, 7 U. Md. L.J. Race, Religion, Gender & Class 437 (2009)

“Christian conservatives favor the maintenance of religious symbols and practices in the government and as such were an established and practical vehicle for “defending” religion and balancing a Court seemingly bent on total secularization. The American public did not shift to the right so much as respond to the Court’s shift to the left.”

Religious Symbols in the Public Space: In Search of a European Answer
Isabelle Rorive, 30 Cardozo L. Rev. 2669 (2009)

“In search of a more comprehensive approach in Europe, this paper finally suggests in Part III that the framework of anti-discrimination law is, to a certain extent and chiefly in the employment field, better suited to address this problem than the one of freedom of religion. In this line, the European Union (EU) law appears more articulated than the legal principles developed within the Council of Europe.”

Just Say No?: Redefining the Foundation of Abstinence Education in the United States
Farnaz Faiaz, J.D., 9 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol’y 97 (2009)

“Finally, Part V concludes legislators will soon feel pressure to reform current federal abstinence education policies, as neither abstinence-only, nor comprehensive sex education in their current forms have conclusively reduced rates of teenage pregnancy or STIs. A new approach is needed–one that builds on current notions of comprehensive and collaborative sex education and adds outcome-based financial incentives.”

Mohammad Fadel, Islamic Politics and Secular Politics: Can They Co-Exist? (August 18, 2009). Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1457176

“I argue that using the resources of Islamic theological and legal tradition in support of the idea of a secular state is more likely to win traditionalist Muslim support for a secular state than Islamic arguments that rely on controversial theological propositions that are not necessarily required for at least certain kinds of secular states, e.g. a politically liberal state of the sort An-Naim calls for.”