Daily Archives: September 10, 2009

Miami Herald: “A measure that would have allowed the Washington Avenue strip club to sell alcohol was unanimously shot down by the Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday. But club owner Leroy Griffith, who during the meeting accused the city of extortion, didn’t rule out another attempt in what has been a rocky, years-long battle to overturn the city’s laws banning alcohol sales in ‘gentlemen’s clubs.’ ‘We’re not saying we won’t” try again, said Griffith’s attorney, Daniel Aaronson.”

Dakota Voice: “You may have already been aware that Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), is an animal rights extremist who even opposes hunting and thinks animals should be able to file lawsuits. (Well, you might say, how do you top that?) But did you know that Sunstein believes you can’t be trusted to think for yourself?”

Blog of the Legal Times: “Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation Tuesday that would add nine permanent seats to the circuit courts and 38 to the district courts. It would also add some temporary judgeships on both levels, make five temporary judgeships permanent, and extend a temporary judgeship in the Northern District of Ohio.”

EurActiv: “European Union law may allow countries to ban foreign gambling websites if the intention is to prevent criminal offences, the European Court of Justice said yesterday (8 September) in a judgement that goes against previous rulings by the Court and is sure to reverberate through the betting industry.”

WorldNetDaily: “A mother and father are going public with details about how Swedish social-services officials had police halt a plane en route to takeoff in order to take custody of their 7-year-old son after they had argued with local school officials about his homeschooling.”

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kentucky today asked the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to conduct a hearing into the reduction of reproductive health services at St. Luke Hospitals and to restore access to reproductive health care in northern Kentucky. In anticipation of a merger with a Catholic-affiliated hospital that restricts reproductive health care, the secular St. Luke Hospitals stopped providing many important family planning services late last year.”

David French, Director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the $9.2 million grant that enables ADF to ramp up defense of free speech at universities.

The MP3 runs just under 15 minutes.

WA Supreme Court blog: “The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review a Court of Appeals ruling in a case that tests whether the Washington State Gambling Act (chapter 9.46 RCW) applies to an Internet gambling site.”

ADF attorneys and ADF-allied attorney Andrew Pugno submitted a motion to intervene . . . asking the court to allow it to become a defendant in the lawsuit.

Seattle Times (AP): “A federal judge in Tacoma may decide Thursday whether the public can see the names of people who signed Referendum 71.”

HSLDA: “Woodruff asked the social worker what the allegations were. Bonnie was accused of making her 3-year-old eat brussels sprouts, and when he threw them up, of making him eat the vomit.”

“SB 54 would require California to validate and recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the state prior to November 5, 2008, when California voters approved Proposition 8 . . . ”

Becket Fund International Religious Freedom News: “The Swiss Council of Religions, which includes Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, has issued a statement opposing a bill calling for a nationwide ban on the construction of minarets at mosques, RNS reported on September 9.”

Dayton Daily News (AP): “The legislation will get a floor vote in the Democratic-controlled House when lawmakers return next week. But the GOP-controlled Senate remains skeptical, saying it amounts to a mandate on businesses.”

David M. Herszenhorn writing in the New York Times: “Existing restrictions on the use of federal money for abortion would remain in place, as Mr. Obama stated. But in practice, the public and private money would all go into the same pot, and the source of money for any single procedure is largely a technicality.”

Joe Carter writing at First Things: “Andrew Breitbart launched his new site today, BigGovernment, with an undercover invesigation of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). Officials with the controversial community organizing group were videotaped telling two journalists—who were passing themselves off as a pimp and a prostitute—how to commit welfare fraud, evade federal taxes, and cover up a conspiracy to traffic in underage prostitutes.”

EurActiv: “Accusations that a Catholic charity is distorting the contents of the Lisbon Treaty highlight serious confusion among Irish voters about the text and the absence of a fact-based debate in Ireland.”

Morning Sentinel: “More than 1,000 gay-marriage opponents are expected to rally in Augusta for an evening event Sunday featuring religious and conservative leaders from across Maine and the country.”

Jay Schalin writing at the John William Pope Center: “One incident that threatens some very basic beliefs of a long-established religion is occurring at Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, North Carolina. It is also one of the latest instances of what David French, a senior legal counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, says is an emerging battle of ‘freedom of conscience issues in health care.’ In this battle, health care providers and professionals clash with the government over their right to refuse to perform procedures that conflict with their religious convictions.”

CNSNews: “A report issued by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) tasked with overseeing the implementation of the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) questions whether the Bush and Obama administrations had the legal authority to use TARP funds to bail out General Motors and Chrysler.”

COP press release

COP Full Report

“Supporters . . . of domestic partnership rights announced Wednesday they won’t appeal to the Washington Supreme Court to try and block a public vote on the new law.”

Christian Legal Centre: “A crucial case for Christian liberties is being argued in the Employment Appeal Tribunal today. Gary McFarlane, a relationship counsellor, was sacked because his Christian beliefs prevented him giving sex therapy to homosexual couples . . . A fundamental issue is being raised in this case as to whether Christian faith presents a bar to Governmental and numerous private sector employments. In a number of decisions it has been held lawful for an employer to require adherence to an Equal Opportunities Policy, and compel Christians to support the practice of sexual conduct that they believe is sinful.”

AlbertMohler.com: “Amanda Kurowski has been denied the right to receive homeschooling from her mother in the state of New Hampshire. Why? According to the District Court in New Hampshire, Amanda has received too much religious education from her mother. The District Judge has taken Amanda away from her mother and mandated that she must attend a public school to ‘shake up’ her Christian faith. Should Judges have this much authority? On today’s program, Dr. Mohler notes the dangers and far reaching implications of this court’s decision to have the State raise and educate Amanda Kurowski.”

The MP3 runs just under 35 minutes.

ADF Media information: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

Economist: “The adult-film industry is concentrated in the San Fernando Valley—“the Valley” to Angelenos—on the northern edge of Los Angeles, so the slump in porn is yet another factor depressing the local economy. Pornography had been immune to previous recessions, so the current downturn has come as a shock . . . If the Valley used to make 5,000-6,000 films a year, says Mr Kernes, it now makes perhaps 3,000-4,000. Some firms have shut down, others are consolidating or scraping by . . . the internet, with its copious free clips, is an increasingly viable alternative to the paid stuff.”

T3: “Porn will soon become available on the PlayStation Network if the world’s largest adult entertainment company gets approval from Sony, claims Vivid CEO Steve Hirsch.”

TechCrunch: “In private conversations Microsoft employees always said that the porn search feature was an unintended byproduct of good video search. But we always wondered if that was true. Anyway, in May we noticed Bing ads on Google, which seemed a little ironic to us given how seriously the two companies compete with each other. [O]ne thing we didn’t notice until now is that Bing is also advertising on Google for the query ‘pornography.’ Which in our opinion removes all doubt about Bing’s intentions.”

Van Wyhe v. Reisch, No. 08-1413 (8th Cir. Sept. 10, 2009) . . . “Sisney, a SDSP inmate who practices the Jewish faith, brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and RLUIPA for the violation of his free exercise of religion rights . . . Sisney claimed that the prison officials violated his right to the free exercise of religion under RLUIPA and the First Amendment by denying (among other things not relevant to this appeal) his request to possess and use a succah, his request to have a tape player in his cell to study the Hebrew language, and his request for additional group religious and language study time . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “The Freedom from Religion Foundation continues to write to city councils around the country objecting to their opening their sessions with sectarian prayers, and the cities continue to respond in various ways. In Tehachapi, California on Tuesday, City Council opened its meeting with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance instead of the usual prayer.”

ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons appeared on NHPR radio with Shannon Mullen to discuss the NH Homeschooling case. Michael Donnelly of the Home School Legal Defense Association also appears in the broadcast along with a Harvard law professor.

The MP3 runs just under 4 minutes.

ADF Media Information: NH court orders home-schooled child into government-run school

Thomas More Law Center: “On Monday, September 14th at 10:00 a.m., Robert Muise, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, will urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia to reverse a lower court ruling that upheld a New Jersey school district’s policy that banned the performance of religious music in the district’s public schools . . . he lawsuit was filed on behalf of Michael Stratechuk . . . ”

Anne Hendershott writing at Catholic World Report: “The alliance between the progressive Catholic organizations and the Obama administration has been successful in driving a wedge into the Catholic community by promoting pro-abortion policies and actively seeking out representatives of progressive Catholic organizations like Catholics in Alliance to fill important posts . . . In fact, Catholics in Alliance has enjoyed the financial support of some of the biggest donors to progressive causes. Never a friend to the Catholic Church, George Soros, one of the earliest donors, contributed $50,000 to Catholics in Alliance in 2005 and another $100,000 in 2006 through his Open Society Institute.”

Evangelical Examiner: “Colburn, a retired veteran who serves as a chaplain for the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans organizations and had been volunteering his time for over four years, was informed by the hospital’s chief of voluntary services that he would no longer have access to the hospital due to the ‘religious content’ of his activities . . . ADF Litigation Counsel Daniel Blomberg said: ‘Because many of the patients Mr. Colburn serves cannot leave their beds, the care he provides would not be possible otherwise,’ and that; ‘At such a difficult period in the lives of our cherished veterans, such a service is invaluable.”

Paul Weber, ADF Excutive Vice President of Communications and Development, and David French, Director of the ADF Center for Academice Freedom, appeared on Moody Prime Time America to discuss the $9.2 million grant that enables ADF to ramp up defense of free speech at universities.

The MP3 runs just under 8 minutes.

Cal Thomas writing in the Gwinnett Daily Post: “The latest of many examples of government arrogance has come in New Hampshire, of all places, where the state motto is ‘Live Free or Die.’ A state judge has ordered a girl who was being educated at home by her mother to begin attending a public school because of the ‘rigidity’ of her mother’s religious views . . . There are a number of issues in this case, not the least of which is the court’s attempt to define what represents an ‘extreme’ religious view and what is more ‘mainstream.’ . . . Amanda’s mother retained the Alliance Defense Fund, the conservative legal alliance that works to defend religious liberty.”

CitizenLink: “The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has received a $9.2 million grant to help fund the fight for religious freedom at public universities and colleges . . . ‘Many colleges and universities across the nation have enacted unconstitutional policies and practices,’ [David French] said, ‘censoring Christian speech, banning Christian groups from campus and punishing professors and students.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “A trial court in Helsinki, Finland has convicted Jussi Halla-aho, a member of Helsinki’s City Council, of violating the sanctity of religion through an anti-Islamic posting on his blog last June. Today’s Helsingin Sanomat reports that the court fined Halla-aho 330 Euros.”

“Judges testifying before the U.S. Sentencing Commission in Chicago told the panel that sentences for people convicted of possessing child pornography have become too severe. The commission suggested it will review the relevant guidelines.”

Pensacola News Journal: “Some 400 tickets already have been sold for a fundraiser tonight at the Farmer’s Opry in Chumuckla for the legal defense fund of Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and his athletic director, Robert Freeman.” Criminal contempt charges were instigated by the ACLU after these gentlemen led a lunch prayer.

NorthEscambia.com: Santa Rosa ACLU Defense Fund Grows; Benefit Tonight At Farmer’s Opry

LifeNews: “During his health care reform speech last night, President Barack Obama faced one member of Congress who said he told a ‘lie’ about one section of the government-run health care plan. Now, pro-life advocates are calling Obama on the carpet for misrepresenting the abortion funding in the current bills.”

AP: “An indictment accuses two former Pennsylvania judges of racketeering, bribery and extortion in connection with a $2.8 million scheme to funnel youth offenders to private detention centers.”

WebMD: “An FDA advisory committee voted to recommend approval of the vaccine Gardasil for males ages 9 to 26 to prevent genital warts.”

Kimberly Mutcherson, Disabling Dreams of Parenthood: The Fertility Industry, Anti-Discrimination and Parents with Disabilities (September 10, 2009). Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1297941

“Recognizing the complicated relationship between potential patients and fertility doctors, this Article seeks to provide some clarity and guidance to those facing the daunting task of accepting or rejecting patients on the basis of their disability status.”