Daily Archives: January 12, 2010

AP: “Britain’s government said Tuesday it will ban an Islamist group whose proposed protest march through a town known for honoring British soldiers killed in Afghanistan drew national outrage. The group, Islam4UK . . . ”

“Christian leaders in Malaysia refused Tuesday to stop using the word ‘Allah’ for God despite attacks on churches in a religious crisis that has raised concerns about the erosion of minority rights in the Muslim-majority country.”

AP: “On Monday, state lawmakers gave first-round approval to a bill (LB261) that would allow retailers to electronically scan the bar codes on the backs of state-issued drivers’ licenses to determine buyers’ ages.”

AP: “A doctor says a 16-year-old boy has become Spain’s first minor to undergo a sex change operation.”

AP: “The parents of a 4-year-old boy disciplined for having long hair have rejected a compromise from a Texas school board that agreed to adjust its grooming policy.”

AP: “New Jersey lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow state officials to get jobs working for firms that work for casinos immediately after leaving office.”

“Lurking in the shadows of this case is a breathtaking expansion of judicial interference with perfectly valid elections. Whatever your views about Proposition 8, we surely should be able to agree that special interest groups can’t go into court to overturn elections they don’t like.”

Telegraph Editorial: “At a time when too many of Britain’s schools suffer from abysmal standards of management, teaching and discipline, it seems incredible that the Government should devote resources to harassing some of the most successful state schools in the country. The establishments in questions are faith schools, and while Tony Blair was prime minister they were largely left alone (hardly surprisingly, since Mr Blair educated his own children at one of them). But since 2007 the Government has resorted to the sort of political bullying of ‘elitist’ schools associated with the Wilson and Callaghan administrations.”

AP: “Democratic State Sen. Rosa Franklin says negative labels are hurting kids’ chances for success and she’s not a bit concerned that people will be confused by her proposed rewrite of the 54 places in state law where words like ‘at risk’ and ‘disadvantaged’ are used.”

The Recorder, Law.com: “Brian Raum of the Alliance Defense Fund tried to frame those ads as not anti-gay, but in favor of allowing parents to morally instruct their children as they see fit. ‘Nothing in this ad says to protect children against you because you’re bad, right?’ Raum asked. ‘This ad does not literally say that,’ Katami said, adding that it makes the insinuation.”

CitizenLink: “The challenge is to Proposition 8, which California voters approved in November 2008. There already has been an unusual twist, according to Jordan Lorence, an attorney defending the amendment. ‘What is significant, and somewhat unusual, is that the judge asked a lot of questions,’ Lorence said. ‘You don’t have judges interrupting the opening arguments.’”

Findlaw (AP): “Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has joined Democratic Rep. Nancy Todd, the Entertainment Software Association and Web Wise Kids to unveil an Internet safety program to help parents keep their children safe online . . . ”

Visit: Web Wise Kids

Speak Equal: “Raum started by playing a video from the Proposition 8 campaign featuring a Massachusetts heterosexual couple decrying how their second-grader was exposed to teachings about homosexuality at school. Raum is asking Katami about whether he believes it is acceptable for sexuality and homosexuality to be taught to first- and second-graders; Katami is taking a measured approach, pointing out that without children, it is hard to fully evaluate what is appropriate to teach young children about such issues at certain ages. ‘For me, Proposition 8 had nothing to do with children,’ Katami replied under cross-examination. ‘It was a diversion . . . a tactic which does not sit at the core of the issue.’”

DemocracyNow: “Jordan Lorence, Alliance Defense Fund: ‘This is where the people listen to discussions, listen to the debates, and find and reach some sort of decision on their own. And the court should basically leave those decisions alone and let—and if people want to change it over time, it’s up to them. But it’s not for a court or a bunch of rich activists that are funding this case to come in and basically trump what the—what the people have already decided.’”

Sacramento Bee: “Paul Katami, who testified along with his partner, faced cross-examination from defenders of the measure, who wondered why parents shouldn’t have the right to weigh in on the content of sex education for their children. ‘You believe parents can disagree about same-sex marriage,’ but that ‘they can’t do anything about it?’ asked Proposition 8 attorney Brian Raum of the Phoenix-based Alliance Defense Fund. ‘That’s not what I said,’ Katami replied. He said parents ‘absolutely’ have rights to impart their beliefs, but that they didn’t have a right to infringe on the constitutional rights of others.”

OneNewsNow: “‘We’re very happy about this order because the broadcast of this trial would threaten the integrity of federal court proceedings and unnecessarily expose marriage supporters to more of the kinds of threats and violence we saw during and after the Proposition 8 campaign,’ says Austin Nimocks, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Crosswalk: “‘What’s at stake in this case is not only the definition of marriage in California but the potential that Americans will be forced to forfeit the core of our democracy by allowing a small group of wealthy activists to impose their will on a state – or an entire nation – through the courts,’ Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund, told The Christian Post”

One News Now: “A new study by the American Psychological Association reveals that sex doesn’t necessarily mean bigger profits on the big screen . . . ”

Mercury News: “For the most part, lawyers for the Prop. 8 campaign left the plaintiffs alone, declining to cross-examine all but Katami. Brian Raum, a lawyer for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, grilled Katami on one issue: his testimony that the Prop. 8 campaign’s focus on children was misleading and hurtful. Both sides played video from the campaign, which will be a central issue in the trial. The plaintiffs plan to argue that the Prop. 8 campaign was fueled by bias against gays, while supporters of the measure say it was motivated by a desire to preserve traditional heterosexual marriage and its importance to procreation.”

Religion Clause Blog: “A 2003 law in the German state of Lower Saxony allows police to question and search individuals in public places regardless of suspicion of wrongdoing when done to prevent crimes of ‘grave and international concern.’”

Weber Shandwick: “Weber Shandwick and the Gill Foundation have released ‘Business of Change,’ a resource guide focused on corporate-nonprofit collaboration to promote equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The 104-page guide, available free to download, is a first-of-its-kind collection of best practices with actionable and practical ideas to help nonprofits and corporations advance LGBT equality . . . ”

Star-Telegram.com: “The trial in U.S. District Judge Terry Means’ court in Fort Worth will deal with TCC’s restrictions on students who tried to stage ‘empty-holster’ protests on campus in support of allowing licensed concealed-handgun owners to bring their weapons on campus.”

Fox News: “President Obama is preparing for his State of the Union address, expected sometime in the next month, but some in the White House press corps are getting antsy for him to hold a news conference with reporters, something he hasn’t done since July 22, almost six months ago.”

Citizen Link: “State Sen. Scott Rupp filed a bill attempting to protect his state from abortion mandates in health care reform.”

Phyllis Schlafly writes at Townhall: “The House staffer told the Wall Street Journal reporter that the Democratics can’t make the subsidies neutral toward marriage because that would give a traditional one-breadwinner married couple a more generous subsidy than a single parent at the same income level. Horrors! The Democrats certainly are not going to allow traditional marriage to be preferred over couples who just shack up.”

LifeSiteNews: “Although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Attorney General Jerry Brown are named as defendants in the suit, both have refused to defend the constitutionality of the amendment. Private citizens, therefore, have had to step up to defend California’s own constitution; attorneys with the pro-family Alliance Defense Fund and ProtectMarriage.com have risen to the task.”

The Oakland Tribune’s “Inside Bay Area” live-blogs: “The afternoon session in the Proposition 8 trial is under way with Katami taking the stand under questioning from Brian Raum, lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the conservative groups aligned against gay marriage. Looks like the gloves will now come off. Raum started by playing a video from the Proposition 8 campaign featuring a Massachusetts heterosexual couple decrying how their second-grader was exposed to teachings about homosexuality at school. Raum is asking Katami about whether he believes it is acceptable for sexuality and homosexuality to be taught to first- and second-graders; Katami is taking a measured approach, pointing out that without children, it is hard to fully evaluate what is appropriate to teach young children about such issues at certain ages.”

Baptist Press: “‘This is the first serious case where the federal constitution has been invoked as the basis for a right to same-sex marriage,’ Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund and one of the attorneys involved in defending Prop 8, told Baptist Press. ‘All of the other cases that we’ve heard about over the years — Massachusetts and Connecticut — those were all suits under their respective state constitutions . . . [This case] potentially could be used to challenge all the state marriage amendments, all the state laws that define marriage as a man and woman, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act.’”

The Jerusalem Post: “Islamists looted and burned a Protestant church in Algeria, the congregation’s leader said Monday, suggesting they were inspired by a recent wave of religious intolerance in the Arab and Muslim world.”

The Commercial Appeal: “As a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, Harold Ford Jr. advocated a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. But as he eyes a run for the Senate from New York, he now advocates both civil unions and gay marriage.”

Argus Leader: “A fight over stem-cell science will return to the Legislature this month when a group supporting one phase of research will ask lawmakers to repeal South Dakota’s ban on the process. The group, South Dakotans for Lifesaving Cures, considered taking the issue to voters next November but decided that going to lawmakers instead is cheaper and more practical.”

Kathimerini: “The public debate about whether crucifixes and religious icons should be displayed in Greece’s classrooms is set to intensify after it was revealed yesterday that the country’s Ombudsman received several complaints about infringement of religious freedoms. Four sets of parents have asked for religious symbols to be removed from their children’s classrooms and one pupil has filed a complaint about her school making her attend religious education classes.”

The Wall Street Journal carries this report noting variations in the polling of the Massachusetts Senate race.

Big Pond News: “Christian group Family Voice Australia has congratulated the New South Wales government after Community Services Minister Linda Burney said the community is too divided to support legal changes now to make it easier for gay and lesbian people to adopt children.”

Jeff Jacoby writes at the Boston Globe: “‘It’s not the ‘Kennedy Seat,’ Brown has been reminding Coakley lately. ‘It’s the people’s seat.’ Amazing thing is, he could be right.”

ADF has posted this resource information page in connection with the Proposition 8 trial in California.

Watertown Daily Times: “The Amish, as well as some other religious sects, are covered by a ‘religious conscience’ exemption, which allows people with religious objections to insurance to opt out of the mandate. It is in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, making its appearance in the final version routine unless there are last-minute objections.”