Daily Archives: October 28, 2009

How Appealing reports on the today’s ruling in U.S. v. Kilbride, No. 07-10528 (9th Cir. Oct. 28, 2009).

This post will be updated.

AZ Daily Star: “Tucson police have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with a shooting death outside a midtown strip club early Wednesday, the second homicide outside the business in the last three months.”

“A federal judge has denied emergency requests from a group called Washington Family PAC, which wanted to suspend a ban on large campaign contributions and a requirement to identify donors.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Most turnout estimates project that 500,000 Mainers will vote in Tuesday’s election. The No on 1 (pro-same sex marriage) campaign — in the person of senior field consultant Darlene Huntress — believes that they have found 275,000 people who will vote their way. Now, she said, it’s their job to get them to show up at the polls.”

Detroit Free Press: “A pair of law professors at Michigan State University have launched an effort to legitimize the use of long-distance ‘proxy marriage’ as a way for same-sex couples in states which prohibit gay marriage to legally wed.”

Detroit News: “The mother of a Holly elementary school student filed a federal lawsuit against the school district today, alleging Holly Area Schools violated her son’s constitutional rights when it barred him from distributing religious fliers at Patterson Elementary School . . . The suit has support from the Alliance Defense Fund, a group based in Georgia.”

Free Market Foundation Legislative Update: “We testified last week against Travis County’s efforts last week to use $450,000 of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions. Their response by the Travis County Health District after ours and the testimony of many others, was to run and hide . . . ”

The Arizona Supreme Court Tuesday handed a defeat to the American Civil Liberties Union in its attempt to have a program that funds scholarships for low- and middle-income children declared unconstitutional.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer carries Google’s letter of endorsement.

“Atorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in federal court Wednesday after Holly Area School District officials refused to allow a Christian student to distribute personal invitations to a Vacation Bible School even though other students and community groups have been allowed to distribute literature.”

“Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund asked the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that said a Ten Commandments display at the Haskell County, Okla., courthouse is unconstitutional.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on Reality Check Live with Mike and Claire Monokian to discuss this: City of St. Louis agrees to end unconstitutional literature distribution policy.

The MP3 runs just over 7 minutes.

Miami Herald: “U.S. Justice Department officials estimate that as many as 200,000 children each year are trafficked within the United States as part of a vast sex industry. As many as 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. United Nations officials say human trafficking generates $31.6 billion a year in global business profits, second only to drug trafficking.”

“Arizona’s Corporate School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Program is constitutional, the Arizona Supreme Court indicated in a decision yesterday.”

Next Tuesday, November 3rd, the casino industry is planning on adding Ohio to its list of conquered states. They plan to open four casinos statewide and create a whole new generation of addicts.

AP: “Trumpeting a victory against careless spending, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that kills some costly weapons projects and expands war efforts. In a major civil rights change, the law also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation.”

Yesterday’s oral argument at the Seventh Circuit in the case of Roman Catholic Foundation v. Walsh can be found online here. ADF attorney Jordan Lorence argued on behalf of the Roman Catholic Foundation, a student organization at the University of Wisconsin, against the University’s policy of denying student fee funding for student-led worship, proselytizing and prayer.

Related ADF Media Information page here.

OneNewsNow: “The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a controversial ruling on pornography cases . . . According to the ADF attorney, the way these cases have previously been handled has been on the basis of local community standards. But Trueman suggests that if the Ninth Circuit’s ruling stands, it could make convictions far more difficult than they currently are. He is hopeful the decision will be appealed.”

“Eggs and sperm have been grown in the laboratory in a breakthrough process that could change the face of parenthood . . . ”

Baltimore Sun: “Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate filled Baltimore City Council chambers for a contentious hearing on legislation that would require pregnancy counseling clinics that do not provide abortion services to post signs indicating that policy.”

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on the Vicki McKenna Show to discuss this: ADF sues Milwaukee to halt harassment of pro-life advocates.

The MP3 runs just over 11 minutes.

Mike had a second appearance with Vicki on a different station to discuss the same topic. It runs 13 minutes and can be heard here.

Breitbart (AFP): “The Shanghai-based Hurun Report earlier this month published a list of the country’s 1,000 richest people — many of whom made their fortunes in real estate and the stock market, and 130 of whom are dollar-billionaires. The collective net worth of the 1,000 totalled 571 billion dollars by September 15 of this year — more than the entire gross domestic product of Indonesia or Belgium.”

SPUC Press Release: The Belfast high court has concluded the first day’s hearing in the judicial review of government abortion guidance, brought by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC).

CNA: “Christians suffer the greatest number of violations of religious freedom, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the apostolic nuncio who leads the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, told the U.N. General Assembly last Wednesday. He called for the revision or repeal of anti-blasphemy laws, saying their abuse aids such discrimination.”

“The next bellwether battle over same-sex marriage will be settled in Maine Tuesday by an expected 500,000 voters, about as many as cast ballots last year in Sacramento County when the nation’s most-populous state, California, repealed same-sex marriage.”

Boston Globe: “New Hampshire lawmakers have killed bills meant to speed up the legal process for divorcing couples and to ease the backlog of jury trials by letting retired judges hear them.”

“Once impermanence became a mark of marriage in the law and in the culture, couples were required to muster a special level of marital commitment to remain married. Right before the nation’s eyes, divorce redefined marriage.”

Weekly Standard: “President Obama isn’t taking kindly to a television ad that criticizes his opposition to a popular scholarship program for poor children, and his administration wants the ad pulled. Former D.C. Councilmember Kevin Chavous of D.C. Children First said October 16 that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had recently approached him and told him to kill the ad.”

“Mrs. Pauline Howe was told by two police officers who visited her home that she may have committed a ‘hate incident’ simply for having written a letter to her local council complaining about the local Gay Pride parade.”

Google News (AP): “An ultraconservative British bishop was fined $16,822 (euro12,000) in Germany for denying the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, his lawyer said Tuesday.”

“The court also ruled that Catholic schools must educate students about their ‘abortion rights’– a ruling that Catholic officials vowed to disobey.”

The American Spectator: “The petition was sent out by the left-wing So We Might See interfaith group . . . Now comes word that, as with the Catholic Bishops, the Methodists are saying they too never signed on to the FCC petition. Startlingly, the Methodists deny that they even signed up for the Coalition.”

“The new ‘hate crimes’ bill expected to be signed into law by President Obama Wednesday is another nail in the coffin for the First Amendment, according to attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.”

How Appealing reports on the latest ruling and links to several reports.

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday’s Keene (NH) Sentinel reports that a New Hampshire trial court judge has ruled that the Richmond, New Hampshire planning and zoning boards violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in dealing with the zoning application of a conservative Catholic church. St. Benedict Center applied to build a school and chapel on land it owned.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Kuwait’s Constitutional Court– the country’s highest tribunal– today rejected an attempt by four voters to invalidate the election of two women members of Parliament.”

Religion Clause Blog: “According to Huffington Post last month, the proponent, John Marcotte, introduced the amendment to mock the proponents of Proposition 8 who focused on protecting traditional marriage as a reason to oppose same-sex marriage.”

OneNewsNow: “The story begins with a marriage between Eric Harner and his wife. The couple soon had a daughter, but divorced three years later, leaving primary custody of the child with the mother. Alliance Defense Fund attorney David Dye tells OneNewsNow that both remarried. However, the former wife died, leaving the little girl in the custody of her biological father. Dye says the stepfather then sued for custody.”

The Reporter: “Not everything on the agenda of local municipalities deals with governmental matters — including an invocation, prayer or moment of silence . . . ‘The First Amendment allows public officials to decide what is appropriate for acknowledging our nation’s religious history and heritage,’ said Mike Johnson, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Guardian: “Britain’s most successful Jewish school told the supreme court today it had discriminated against a 12-year-old boy on religious rather than racial grounds.”

EducationNews.org: “This week Soros is gathering some of the leading practitioners of the market-skeptic school, who were marginalized during the era of ‘free-market fundamentalism,’ among them Nobelists Joseph Stiglitz, George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Sir James Mirrlees. He’s also creating an ‘Institute for New Economic Thinking’ to make research grants, convene symposiums, and establish a journal, all in an effort to take back the economics profession from the champions of free-market zealotry.”

Becket Fund: “In his latest constitutional challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance, atheist activist Dr. Michael Newdow has appealed a loss in New Hampshire federal district court to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.”

Knoxville News Sentinel: “Knox County Schools officials testified in U.S. District Court on Tuesday that they are being sued over an action they never took in a situation that could have easily been resolved outside of a courtroom . . . The Whitsons are being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization that takes cases such as theirs.”

WBIR: “[Luke Whitson] was 9 years old, in the 4th grade at Karns Elementary School, when he and some other kids started reading the Bible during recess and discussing it. Both sides in the lawsuit agree that wasn’t a problem until a parent complained . . . The ADF said in a release that the Constitution does not prohibit Bibles during non-instructional time, and that school officials were wrong to prohibit it.”

CitizenLink: “Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is part of the campaign, said he hopes the project sparks important discussions on campuses. ‘We wanted to get involved to ensure that no one gets in the way of those rights,’ he said.”

LifeSiteNews: “‘Christian groups shouldn’t be banned from public areas for expressing their beliefs,’ said Nelson, who served as lead counsel in the lawsuit. ‘We are pleased that the city of St. Louis now recognizes the First Amendment rights of ministries who wish to share their viewpoint on important social and moral issues at events taking place at public locations.’”

AP: “Dead churches are a familiar story in New England, which recent surveys indicate is now the least religious region in the country. But some see opportunity in a place where America’s Christian faith laid its roots.”

Wall Street Journal: “In all of the 14 states WellPoint scrutinized, ObamaCare would drive up premiums for the small businesses and individuals who are most of WellPoint’s customers . . . Young and healthy consumers will see the largest increases—their premiums would more than triple in some states—though average middle-class buyers will pay more too.”

AP: “Germany’s Lutheran Church has elected a woman to lead the nation’s Protestants for the first time in its history.”

Wisconsin Family Action has forwarded an email that reports:

“Unhealthy Youth Act” passes in Assembly Committee; hearing scheduled in Senate
Yesterday the Assembly Education Committee voted on AB 458, the so-called “Healthy Youth Act,” the bill that would require that all Wisconsin school districts that have a Human Growth & Development program must teach “comprehensive sex ed.” The committee voted 8-5 in favor of the bill and also approved two amendments reinstating complete parental access to all curriculum and instructional materials and adding “guardian” to the provision allowing parents to opt their children out of all or part of the sex-ed program. The bill and the amendments are now on their way to the Assembly floor for a full vote. In the meantime, the Senate Education Committee will hold another public hearing on the senate version of this bill this Thursday, Oct. 29 at 9:30 a.m. Click here to send an email to your state legislators asking them to vote against AB 458. For more information, click here.

US News & World Report: “Many young children and adolescents taking drugs for severe psychiatric problems gain substantial weight and, in some cases, show increased levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in their blood, researchers report in the Oct. 28 Journal of the American Medical Association.”

“Here’s how it will play out in the classroom: kindergartners will be told that some adults choose same-sex marriage and some choose opposite-sex marriage.”