Daily Archives: September 18, 2009

Dale Carpenter writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “Today the DOJ filed its motion to dismiss in another case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, Gill v. OPM, pending in a Massachusetts district court. It argues that DOMA is constitutional because (1) there is no basis for applying heightened scrutiny to the denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples married in Massachusetts, and (2) DOMA is rationally related to the federal interest in preserving the status quo and in following longstanding practices while letting states experiment with same-sex marriage.”

Christian Post: “Comprehensive evidence within the document details a sharp rise in religious liberty violations in the country, especially against the independent churches, noted the human rights watchdog.”

Reuters: “‘The idea that the healthcare plan takes away choice and freedom, people see their liberties at risk,’ said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), the conservative Christian lobby group organizing the summit of self-styled ‘values voters.’”

WNYC.org: “Bloomberg picked up endorsements today from the advocacy group Planned Parenthood and Congresswoman Nita Lowey who praised the mayor’s track record on women’s issues.”

IOL.co.za: “Oudtshoorn residents have vented their frustrations online about the Muslim call to prayer being recited over a loudspeaker from the local mosque, and have called on the Christian community to intervene.”

“A federal court ruled Wednesday that an injunction prohibiting enforcement of a Los Angeles Community College District policy that violates student free speech rights will stand.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer (D-Manitowoc) was replaced as chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Ways and Means . . . He said Sheridan told him the decision was made because of his vote on an amendment offered by abortion opponents during the budget debate.”

Associated Press: “Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday that President Barack Obama had personally talked to him about changing the Senate succession law in Massachusetts, and White House aides were pushing for him to gain the power to temporarily replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy amid the administration’s health care push.”

Wesley Smith writing at First Things: “This is a cause that the social right and the political left, liberals and conservatives, and everyone in between can agree upon: Don’t permit human genes to be patented. Genes are not human inventions. Hence, they should not be subject to patent protection (as opposed, say, the method of identifying genes). And there is a lawsuit making that very point that has been supported by people of varied political and cultural persuasion.”

Phillipine Daily Inquirer: “Insisting on their religious and academic freedoms, Catholic educational institutions are seeking exemption from a provision in the new Magna Carta of Women banning the dismissal of unwed mothers from employment or school.”

AsiaNews.it: “Night-time raid by 400 police and bulldozers. Hospital doctors are forbidden to treat the wounded. The campaign for the removal of underground Protestant communities. Video of the destruction.”

“An Arizona couple accused of sexual abuse after taking bath-time photos of their children and then trying to have them developed at Walmart are suing the state and the retail giant.”

CNSNews: “Only the Arizona Legislature introduced an initiative (HCR2014), which if passed, would amend the state constitution to codify that no resident would be required to participate in any public health care option. Arizonans will vote on the initiative in November 2010.”

NY Times: “With four gay and lesbian Democrats poised to take seats, the new makeup of the 51-person body for the first time appears likely to reflect the percentage of people in the city who identify as gay or lesbian, said Patrick J. Egan, who teaches politics and public policy at New York University.”

St. Petersburg Times: “Jane Castor was a 24-year-old police recruit when she got her first law enforcement honor. Her peers elected her president of their police academy class, making her the first woman at the Tampa Police Department to achieve the title . . . Openly gay, she has served for more than six years as a liaison to Tampa’s gay and lesbian community.”

AFA Action: “In a study commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, high school students were asked questions about basic U.S. history and about the structure of our government . . . ”

CNSNews: “When CNSNews.com asked whether members of Congress should weigh in on the homosexual marriage issue with legislation legalizing gay marriage, since it’s ‘Congress’ responsibility’ to regulate D.C. affairs, Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) said he was intrigued by the idea.”

No defense of marriage is offered by the faculty or staff which lends further credibility to concerns raised by Richard F. Collier, Jr. in yesterday’s ADF Alliance Alert.

Richard M. Reinsch reviews Bradley Watson’s Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence at National Review Online: “The social-Darwinist ingredient in progressive jurisprudence is the notion of the state as an organic principle, informed by the general will of society and by the particular facts, circumstances, and history of a people. Subject to no fixed limits, eschewing belief in objective justice, the state follows a path of incessant growth and flexibility, limited only by the ever-changing needs of society.”

“St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Bill Foster believes, contrary to the overwhelming majority of scientists, that dinosaurs and humans co-existed . . . Is that relevant to the campaign for mayor of Florida’s fourth-largest city?”

Basing state personhood amendments on extrapolations of Blackmun’s language in Roe is futile. This does not mean that establishing some form of legal personhood in the states is not a worthy goal.”

Illya Somin writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “In a recent post, co-blogger David Bernstein rightly chides for omitting political ignorance from my post on Jewish perceptions of the religious right. David suggests that Jews may overestimate the prevalence of anti-Semitism among Christian conservatives, and that this may account for part of their distaste for them . . . ”

Christian Today: “Fearing severe backlash from religious-right conservatives, the government has decided to avoid consenting on the decriminalization of gay sex by the Delhi High Court. On Thursday, following a union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was decided that the government would remain mum on the gay issue, leaving the Supreme Court to decide for itself the final verdict.”

TimesNews.net: “A prayer delivered prior to a high school football game last week resulted in Gate City High School receiving a letter Tuesday from the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Jonathan Adler writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “It may be a little while before we see what the U.S. Supreme Court will do to campaign finance law in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In the meantime, lower court challenges to various FEC rules continue apace. This morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down some in EMILY’s List v. FEC. The court, in an opinion by Judge Kavanaugh, joined by Judge Henderson in full and Judge Brown in part, held several FEC rules are contrary to statute and violative of the First Amendment.”

Law.com (AP): “The Senate on Thursday confirmed Gerard Lynch . . . The 94-3 vote means that Democratic nominees now hold four of 10 currently filled seats on the appellate court that serves New York, Connecticut and Vermont. The court has three vacancies, giving President Barack Obama the opportunity to give the circuit a Democratic tilt.”

National Law Journal: “President Barack Obama ordered on Thursday that $25 million be made available in grants to examine alternatives to the current medical liability system. The order comes in a two-page memorandum (pdf) to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.”

AP: “Republicans, who hold just five of 40 seats in the state Senate, objected to the bill being taken up Friday, without formal notice. Under Senate rules, the objection means the bill can’t be debated until the next formal session.”

Julie Shapiro: “I do not believe gamete donors are or should be seen as parents.”

Christian Concern for our Nation: “An independent report, commissioned by the Government and published this year, recommends that home-schooling must come closer to the Government control. It says that home educators should be made to register with their local authorities annually, set out in writing their plans for educating the child for the next year and have regular home inspections to monitor children’s educational progress . . . ”

Christian Concern for our Nation: “A London borough is to reconsider a ban on posters by a church advertising a weekend of events on climate change, unless they remove words such as ‘God’ and ‘Christian’ from the text in order to avoid ‘offending religious sensibilities’.”

Liberty Counsel: “Today Liberty Counsel successfully cleared Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and Athletic Director Robert Freeman of criminal contempt charges that arose out of a simple blessing of a meal. The ruling came at the end of an all-day hearing in a Pensacola, Florida federal court.”

Washington Times: “Two Florida school officials facing possible jail terms for praying in the presence of students arrive in court Thursday enjoying the support of more than 60 members of Congress.”

Christian Concern for our Nation: “The proposed EU Equal Treatment Directive has the potential to be used as an instrument of cultural genocide. Its provisions are likely to restrict Christian freedoms to the extent that, in certain cases, we would be silenced and prevented from providing goods or services to the public without violating our consciences, particularly if required to promote other religions or the practice of homosexuality.”

AP: “The state Court of Appeals on Thursday struck down an Indiana law requiring government-issued photo identification for voters, overturning on state constitutional grounds a strict law previously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

League of Women Voters v. Todd Rokita, No. 49A02-0901-CV-40 (Ind. App. Sept. 17, 2009)

Janice Shaw Crouse writes at Townhall: “There’s been a quiet change going on in the sex slavery business. According to the United Nations, there are now more female traffickers than male.”

AP: “But Nashashibi also credits the influx of online donations to his organization becoming one of the nation’s first to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau’s newest charity wing tailored for Islamic nonprofits.”

Oliver Thomas writes at USA Today: “Religion may put the ‘holy’ in matrimony, but secular society may be applying the glue that keeps more couples together.”

“Oliver Thomas is a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors and author of 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can’t Because He Needs the Job).”

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday upheld the case against a man convicted of knowingly disseminating obscene material to a minor in what’s known as sexting — sending nude photos via text messaging.”

AP: “A bill allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to name an interim appointment to the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy is headed to the Massachusetts Senate, where its fate is uncertain.”

Houston Chronicle: “Christmas will stay in Texas textbooks, State Board of Education members said Thursday while reviewing early recommendations for new social studies standards.”

ABC investigators Dan Harris, Almin Karamhmedovic, and Aude Soichet: “Cambodia has long been a top destination for pedophiles from the United States and all over the world, according to law enforcement officials and humanitarian groups . . . We were some of the first journalists the Cambodian government had ever allowed inside Preysar prison — the largest in Cambodia. We talk to other alleged American sex offenders who’ve been busted by APLE and other organizations.”

Values Voter News: “A federal judge says the city of Mulvane violated a woman’s free speech rights when police led her from a public forum on a casino project in the southern Kansas city . . . Farnsworth is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious advocacy group based in Scottsdale, Ariz.”

“Pro-life Missourians submitted language late yesterday to the Missouri Secretary of State to bring the protection of the Missouri Constitution to the most defenseless human beings, preborn children.”

“Giving contraceptives to people in developing countries could help fight climate change by slowing population growth, experts said Friday.”

Brian Leiter, Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect? (September 16, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1474324

“Should we think of what I will refer to generically as ‘the law of religious liberty’ as grounded in the moral attitude of respect for religion or in the moral attitude of tolerance of religion?”