Daily Archives: January 13, 2010

ADF Attorney Dale Schowengerdt writing at the Christian Post: “[P]erhaps the most striking change that Professor Cott noted is that marriage has evolved from a child-focused institution to an adult-focused institution . . . Professor Cott couldn’t deny that [raising children] has historically been a major purpose of marriage. But she says that marriage has evolved such that it is now more about making adults stable in their own relationships with each other. A major difference indeed-and one that will prove to be one of the defining themes of the trial . . . David Thompson of Cooper and Kirk conducted what was a masterful and very entertaining cross-examination of Professor Cott. If we put the opposing counsel on truth serum, they’d no doubt admit that the David’s cross-examination was very damaging to them. First, he showed that Professor Cott is essentially an advocate for same-sex “marriage” (rather than a neutral academic). He also showed that she has radical views on marriage.”

Texas Insider: “Americans for Prosperity-Texas will be participating in a rally this Wednesday to encourage State Board of Education members to toughen history curriculum standards and put a renewed emphasis on American Exceptionalism.”

Christian Telegraph: “The Catholic Church in Mexico has faced a violent reaction from homosexualists in the country who are upset over the Mexican bishops’ strong defence of natural marriage, reports Agenzia Fides.”

George Leaf writes at the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog: “The reason why law-school graduation was initially demanded before an individual could sit for the bar exam was that the ABA wanted to reduce competition. Prior to the 1920s, most lawyers did not go to law school, but studied on their own while working for law firms . . . ”

Box Turtle Bulletin: “Chris Johnson at DCAgenda reports that US Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WS) will chair a meeting of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission next week to hear testimony on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before Uganda’s Parliament . . . ” (links omitted) The post also links to a statement by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

LifeSiteNews: “The change, announced before Christmas by the country’s health ministry, went into effect on December 18th . . .”

Wall Street Journal Digits blog: “The Ad Council has launched a series of Public Service Announcements promoting the slogan ‘Think before you post’ . . . The Family Violence Prevention Fund has launched ThatsNotCool.com, a site aimed at making teens aware of ‘textual harassment’ . . . Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that helps parents and educators become aware of media and entertainment issues, offers parents tips for discussing the topic with teens.”

“U.K. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is . . . stating that his party (the third largest party in the U.K.) would legislate that all faith schools . . . teach . . . that homosexuality is normal and without any risk to physical or mental health.”

Archbishop George H. Niederauer: “Embodied in [Pelosi's] statement are some fundamental misconceptions about Catholic teaching on human freedom. These misconceptions are widespread both within the Catholic community and beyond. For this reason I believe it is important for me as Archbishop of San Francisco to make clear what the Catholic Church teaches about free will, conscience, and moral choice.”

Baltic Reports: “The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its support Wednesday for Italy challenging the European Court of Human Rights on whether crucifixes of Jesus Christ should be displayed in public schools . . . Echoing the Italian education minister Mariastella Gelmini, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in this case posting an image of Jesus Christ on the cross is not a symbol of Christianity but of Europe’s Christian humanist tradition.”

Christian Today: “A new petition has been launched to press Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the right of religious believers to live out their faith. The petition was posted on the No 10 Downing Street website by Blandford Forum resident David Skinner. He fears the Equality Bill currently passing through the House of Lords could impinge on the rights of religious people to act according to conscience and belief, in the workplace and places of worship in particular.”

Huffington Post: “Congressional negotiators and White House officials are moving forward with plans to add the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to the upcoming defense authorization bill, Democratic sources tell the Huffington Post.”

The Blog of the Legal Times reports: “National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, in her recently-released annual report to Congress, listed the 10 tax issues most litigated in the federal courts. Of the 923 cases involving those issues, taxpayers prevailed in whole, or in part, in 132, or roughly 14 percent.”

AsiaNews: “Hundreds of members of the Huria Batak Protestant Christians Group (HKBP) of Bekasi, West Java, streamed before the National Human Right Commission (Komnas Ham) to demand that their right to religious freedom be upheld. They complain that Muslim hard-line groups and their local authorities have forcibly stopped their activities and cancelled their Sunday services.”

Assyrian International News Agency: “As many of them continue to emigrate, some observers say the country may soon be empty of Christians altogether. To explore the implications for the migrants and for Iraq, Niqash interviewed Father Youssef Tuma, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Christian Thought, and founder of Baghdad Open University for Humanities . . .”

Massachusetts’s top election official says it could take weeks to certify the results of the upcoming U.S. Senate special election. That delay could let President Barack Obama preserve a key 60th vote for his health care overhaul . . . ”

CNSNews: “Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders asked judges on Wednesday to drop or reduce charges against him of criminal incitement, arguing that his anti-Islam message falls within the boundaries of freedom of speech.”

CNS: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), just back from a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he and other senators found operational ‘confusion’ among U.S. military officials on how to handle detained enemy combatants.”

Rev. Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has posted this broadcast with Dr. William M. Struthers, a Professor of Psychology of Wheaton College who has authored the book: Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain.

The program summary:

Pornography has permeated our society at every level. From public mediums like periodicals and films, to personal mediums like computers and phones, there is no escaping constant access to this terrible and oppressive sin. While the conversation on limiting access is common and important, careful attention needs to be placed on the effects of pornography on the physical nature of the person. While this problem pertains to all people, it is particularly sensitive when addressing men’s sin struggles. On today’s program, Dr. Mohler speaks with scientist and author William M. Struthers, about his new book on the effects pornography on the male brain. Though this sin can have devastating consequences, the Lord Jesus Christ offers real hope and forgiveness to those who are seeking freedom.

Baptist Press: “A Southern Baptist church was one of two churches in the Athens, Texas, area heavily damaged by what investigators believe were arson fires set in the early morning hours Jan. 12, marking the third such church fire in a week near the East Texas city.”

FoxNews: “This is the first time the State Board of Education is going to get to vote on this, so you can’t take anything for granted,” said Jonathan Saenz, a lobbyist for the conservative Free Market Foundation. “I think it would be a tragedy if students talk about Martin Luther King Jr., while not being able to talk about the fact that he had a strong Christian faith. I’m hoping that’s not the direction we’re headed.”

SCOTUS: “Courts enforce the requirement of procedural regularity on others, and must follow those requirements themselves.”

Christian Post: “. . . Handan City Public Security and Religious Affairs Bureaus reportedly broke into the leaders’ meeting of the Chinese House Church Alliance that was held in Handan City, Hebei province while they were having Bible study. One of the detained pastor was able to briefly notify an outside contact about the incident before the call was ‘abruptly cut off,’ according to CAA . . . ”

GayPolitics.com: “Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told the Advocate Tuesday that he doesn’t believe it matters if the Pentagon is fully on board with the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ because Congress can get it done without them.”

Columbus Dispatch: “State restrictions limiting the growth of charter schools will jeopardize Ohio’s chances of winning federal Race to the Top funds, according to an analysis released today by advocates of the tax-funded, privately operated schools. The report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C. says Ohio is one of 13 states with restrictive caps on charter school growth.”

Hesperia Star: “The Hesperia Unified School District won’t be opening school board meetings with a prayer in the immediate future . . . In July, the conservative Christian non-profit Alliance Defend Fund sent the district a legal opinion on the legality of government agencies holding invocations and included their template for an invocation process that would pass legal muster . . . The ACLU warned the district would face ‘a strong likelihood of being sued’ if it went ahead with the ADF’s proposed invocation policy, with potential plaintiff’s attorney fees in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if the district lost. On Monday night, the HUSD school board was scheduled to vote on the invocation policy — and blinked.”

The CBN video (MP4) runs just over 5 minutes.

CBN News (Print and Video)

“The American Philosophical Association conditions use of ‘Jobs for Philosophers’ upon compliance with a rule banning discrimination on the basis of religion and ‘sexual orientation,’ among other things. The rule essentially exempts religious colleges and universities from the ban on religious discrimination . . .”

EWTN: “In the wake of the Christmas Eve shootings of Egyptian Coptic Christians by a group of Muslims, Coptic attorney Caroline Doss has planned a rally at the United Nations in protest, telling CNA that religious freedom ‘does not exist’ in Egypt. ‘Technically speaking, the Constitution does allow freedom of religion but practically speaking it does not exist,’ she said Tuesday. ‘There is a huge difference between the way the laws are applied to Christians and Muslims in Egypt.’”

Via The Telegraph’s Damian Thompson: “The bishop in charge of Catholic education has backed a flagship Tory reform that would make it easier for parents to set up their own state schools. Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham, chairman of the bishops’ Department of Catholic Education and Formation, said the idea of Swedish-style ‘free schools’ replicates exactly how Catholic schools were founded in the 19th century.”

Terry Jeffrey writes at Townhall: “If federal judges do indeed hold that the claimed right of two men to marry each other trumps the natural right of a child to be loved and nurtured by a mother and father, we should not expect the uprooting of natural law as the basis for positive law in our society to end with this brutal disregard for the rights of children. The courts might as well declare that 1 plus 1 equals 4.”

Law.com (The National Law Journal): “The fast-moving dispute over broadcast access to the federal trial on California’s ban on same-sex marriage has triggered a dustup within the leadership of the federal judiciary. Last Friday, on the eve of the San Francisco trial, top officials of the Judicial Conference of the United States sent a stern letter (pdf) to Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reminding him of Judicial Conference policy against televising trials. Kozinski wrote back on Sunday, warning that, if federal courts don’t experiment with access and technology, Congress will force the federal courts to act.”

Jennifer Roback Morse writing at the Ruth Institute Blog: “[T]he original (and real) Civil Rights movement succeeded because people were really persuaded that race is an irrelevant characteristic for full participation in the political, economic and civic life of the nation. By contrast, no one can seriously maintain that marriage is a necessary condition for participation in civic life, or that an unmarried person is a second class citizen in any meaningful sense. No one can believe that individuals with same sex attraction are unable to participate in the economic, political and civic life of this country, with or without the redefinition of marriage. The vast majority of Americans are persuaded that sex is in fact relevant to marriage and its purposes. They believe that marriage without gender or sex is an institution without purpose or meaning. This is why so many people are reluctant to strip sexual differentiation from the legal institution of marriage. The American public is persuaded that the demands of fairness and decency are satisfied by legal provisions that solve the practical problems same sex couple may face.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “A congressman from Utah says he will introduce a bill that could mean District of Columbia residents would vote on gay marriage . . . The city’s board of elections, however, has barred similar gay marriage measures from the ballot by citing a human rights law. Chaffetz says his federal bill would supersede any board ruling.”

AFP: “State press splashed a front-page photo of China’s first publicly ‘married’ gay couple on Wednesday — the latest sign of new openness about homosexuality in a country where it has long been taboo . . . Zeng Anquan, 45, and Pan Wenjie, 27, tied the knot at a gay bar in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the paper said, calling it ‘the first such public event in the country.’ Homosexuality remains a sensitive issue in China. It was officially considered a form of mental illness as recently as 2001. Same-sex marriages or civil unions have no legal basis.”

Des Moines Register: “An attentive House floor listened to Culver cover the gamut in his 38-minute speech, from flood recovery to state spending to education. Everything, it seemed, except the issue on the mind of most of those packing the galleries and filling the rotunda: same-sex marriage . . . The red shirts, who appeared to have the majority in the gallery, were with LUV Iowa – that’s Let Us Vote, the campaign to define marriage as between a man and woman.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “On his first day as state Senate president, Stephen M. Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said he regretted not voting days earlier on a bill to allow same-sex marriages . . . Sweeney said yesterday that while same-sex marriages went against his upbringing as a Catholic, he had been persuaded by the arguments of gay-rights advocates comparing the issue to civil-rights battles.”

Law.com (The National Law Journal): “In two starkly different challenges Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court vigorously questioned the federal government’s power to detain sexually dangerous prisoners beyond their federal prison sentences and appeared sympathetic to arguments that a treaty requires a divorced American mother to return her child to Chile.”

Law.com (The Recorder): “George Chauncey — a Yale-educated professor now on the faculty in New Haven, Conn., a published author with a calm demeanor — makes for a compelling expert witness. So after testimony for the better part of an afternoon about discrimination gays and lesbians have faced, lawyers defending a ban on gay marriage took a very direct tactic.”You’ve donated money to Lambda Legal in the past, haven’t you?” asked Cooper & Kirk partner David Thompson . . . ”

AP: “A majority of the state gambling commission says no new casinos should be built in Delaware despite a study that found new venues could boost overall revenues and add jobs.”

Nashua Telegraph: “It remains a crime in New Hampshire to commit adultery but advocacy groups and legislators at both ends of the political spectrum called for its repeal Tuesday . . . Rep. Sheila McGuire, R-Epsom, said she brought the bill (HB 1402) forward after a county prosecutor told her the office never even investigates adultery claims. If this bill became law, adultery would remain a valid cause for seeking divorce under civil law.”

CBN News: “‘Clearly the big issue on this case is going to be the role of the courts and the rights of the people ultimately to make decisions in the democratic process and to be able to have their votes counted,’ explained attorney Andre Pugno . . . CBN News spoke with Jordan Lorence, an attorney defending Prop 8. ‘One of the main themes Olson made is how the Prop 8 committee appealed to the prejudice of people and tried to motivate them to vote for Prop 8 because of hatred against homosexuals,’ he said.” Story includes video.

Wall Street Journal: “Walker, Known for Novel Sentences and Unpredictable Decisions, Riles Some in California Trial by Allowing Wide Range of Evidence”

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday, Wake Forest University’s Center for Religion and Public Affairs released a 32-page document titled Religious Expression in American Life: A Joint Statement of Current Law . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday’s New York Jewish Week reports on the efforts of Rabbi Menachem Stern to obtain a waiver of U.S. Army grooming rules so he can become a chaplain.”

Morality in Media: “Morality in Media has published a 10-page paper reporting evidence that exposure to hardcore adult pornography on the Internet can adversely affect children’s sexual behavior and attitudes about sex . . . The paper is a complement to ‘How Adult Pornography Contributes to Sexual Exploitation of Children,’ a 215-page report published in September 2009. Both the paper and report are posted at www.obscenitycrimes.org (‘Porn Problem & Solutions’ and ‘Help for Parents’ pages).”

“. . . one of the important debates on the phone conference was whether religious groups operating federally-funded programs out of their facilities need to cover up religious symbols during the times the funded services are being offered . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge yesterday decided that the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington cannot develop a plan of reorganization and exit bankruptcy without first obtaining a determination of whether funds belonging to individual parishes and Catholic Charities are shielded from Diocese creditors (mostly abuse victims) . . . ”

CCFON: “A 600-member-strong London Church has today won its legal battle against Lambeth Borough Council in a last minute out of court settlement . . . Onn Sein Kon, Case Manager at the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘Regrettably, our case-load is increasing with Councils issuing noise abatement notices as a means of curtailing or closing churches in London. Success in this case sends out a clear message that this method will not work. These Churches are vibrant and growing and play a critical part in their communities.’”

The Hill: “Democrats and their union allies are pumping resources into Massachusetts in an attempt to save their 60-seat Senate majority.”

Christianity Today Politics Blog: “The Alliance Defense Fund has been posting regular Twitter updates of the trial.”

WORLD Magazine: “According to Austin Nimocks, one of the Alliance Defense Fund attorneys working to defend Proposition 8, ‘Any loss for those who are defending marriage on this case will have national ripple effects regardless of the technical legal effect’ . . . Nimocks said that although the decision will have ripple effects for both sides, no matter how the case goes, the gay marriage issue will not go away: ‘No one case, no matter how big or important, will ever settle this issue.’ He notes that Roe v. Wade has not made the abortion issue disappear, despite the hopes of abortion supporters. ‘This case will not decide the issue regardless of how it comes down.’”

Albany Times-Union: “Saying there wasn’t sufficient evidence to show his constitutional rights were violated, a federal appeals court has absolved the city of any wrongdoing in its protracted legal battle with a preacher who was ordered off Schenectady County Community College property in 2006 . . . With the backing of the Alliance Defense Fund, he went after Schenectady. The civil action had named Mayor Brian U. Stratton and former Police Chief Michael Geraci as defendants. Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden argued the case for Schenectady.”

ADF Attorney Dale Schowengerdt writing at the Christian Post: “The four plaintiffs also got on the stand and gave testimony. We decided to cross examine only one of those witnesses, which ADF senior counsel Brian Raum conducted very effectively. Brian focused on the fact that what the campaign argued when it said Prop 8 would protect children was that it would help preserve the right of parents to decide what their kids are exposed to and when. He played the campaign’s ads demonstrating that very young children received lessons on same-sex ‘marriage’ in Massachusetts public school after the state’s high court redefined marriage, and that parents were denied the right to object. He also played an ad describing an outrageous incident in which first graders were taken on a ‘field trip’ to a same-sex wedding in San Francisco, presided over by Mayor Gavin Newsome, culminating in Newsome’s infamous comment that it was a ‘teachable moment.’”

New York Times, The Bay Area blog: “Jordan Lorence, another lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is providing the legal resources to persuade the courts to uphold Proposition 8, said in an interview: ‘She never explained why some restrictions are O.K. and some are not. She never explained why a polygamist group can’t make the exact same argument that they’re legally discriminated against despite having a loving, stable family — except that a lot more people oppose polygamy’ . . . The Alliance Defense Fund is posting regular Twitter updates.”

AP: “It’s no longer about counting a job as saved or created; now it’s a matter of counting jobs funded by the stimulus.”

AP: “Fiji’s military-led government banned the country’s powerful Methodist Church on Wednesday from holding their annual conference until 2014, accusing church ministers of spying on the nation’s military for the government ousted in a 2006 coup . . . ”

AP: Winters, R-Murray, didn’t rule out tacking on a provision to create charter schools, which would get state money but be exempted from many of the regulations that apply to other public schools.”

“The notion that Ms. Cott was called to the stand to provide neutral and impartial ‘expert’ testimony was blown wide open when she admitted under cross examination by our defense team that she has long been an active advocate for gay marriage.”

AP: “The trial set to begin Wednesday for a man who admitted killing one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers was thrown into limbo when the Kansas Supreme Court ordered the judge to reconsider his decision to keep jury selection secret.”

Chicago Tribune: “Here’s a new aphorism: ‘The more body art you have, the more likely you are to be involved in deviance.’ So says Jerome Koch, a sociologist with Texas Tech University’s “Body Art Team” — true moniker — which surveyed 1,753 students at four colleges and found a correlation between multiple tattoos or piercings and “deviant behavior.”

Jeremiah G. Dys of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia writes at Journal-News.net: “. . . the 2010 legislative session is set to begin, and our leaders have failed to advance a legitimate reason not to let the people vote on the definition of marriage . . . lawmakers who appear to be holding the democratic process hostage would do well to remember Article II, Section 2-2 of West Virginia’s Constitution, ‘The powers of government reside in all the citizens of the state, and can be rightfully exercised only in accordance with their will and appointment.’ In short, a lawmaker’s answer to this critical question must be, ‘Let the people vote.’”

“The U.S. search giant’s announcement that it will stop censoring its Chinese search site, and may withdraw from the country altogether, triggered an outpouring of concern, and some anger, among Chinese Internet users . . . ”

Washington Post: “Google said Tuesday that it may pull out of China because of a sophisticated computer network attack originating there and targeting its e-mail service and corporate infrastructure, a threat that could rattle U.S.-China relations, as well as China’s business community.”

House of Wisdom or a House of Cards? Why Teaching Islam in U.S. Foreign Detention Facilities Violates the Establishment Clause
Scott Thompson, 88 Neb. L. Rev. 341 (2009)

“In an attempt to erase Islamic-fundamentalist sentiments held by detainees apprehended in the course of the ‘war on terror,’ the United States government has been teaching and preaching a more moderate version of the Qur’an and Islam to detainees in Iraq. One such detention program in Iraq has been dubbed the House of Wisdom. But the wisdom of such a practice is highly suspect– both because it likely runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and because it may be doing more harm than good to the American effort to defuse Islamic-extremism and anti-American sentiment. This Article examines the current practice of promoting the ‘true’ meaning of Islam in detention centers for its legal legitimacy and uses the program as a lens to evaluate the extraterritorial reach of the Establishment Clause.”

Sex, Cell Phones, Privacy, and the First Amendment: When Children Become Child Pornographers and the Lolita Effect Undermines the Law
Clay Calvert, 18 CommLaw Conspectus 1 (2009)

“It is a sure-fire recipe for legal trouble: combine hormone-raging teens with image-transmitting technologies, and then stir them together in a sex-saturated society replete with outdated laws and a criminal justice system that never could have anticipated such a combustible confluence of forces. Signs and symptoms of this salacious problem are cropping up across the United States.”