Daily Archives: March 9, 2010

NPR (includes audio): “. . . the Gill case is one of three in which state courts have overruled Florida law and approved gay adoptions.”

“Congress never loses its ability to act on any question in the District . . . ”

Detroit Free Press: “Connie Saltonstall of Charlevoix said today she plans to run against Stupak for the Democratic nomination of Michigan’s First Congressional District, citing Stupak’s efforts to stop health care reform if it doesn’t ban use of government money for abortions. Stupak, a former state trooper from Menominee, has held the seat since 1993.”

Washington Post Virginia Politics blog: “A Northern Virginia delegate unsuccessfully tried a parliamentary maneuver Tuesday to force a floor vote on a measure that would ban discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation. The House has repeatedly rejected such legislation and voted against floor consideration of the bill 55 to 42.”

MyFoxTampaBay.com: “The website in question is run by the Spring Hill Fire District and the problem, according to the complaint, is the Fire Rescue Chaplain link on the site where you can find scripture, even buy a bible.”

Christian Post: “The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America returned to Web stage on Sunday to take questions from a divided denomination. Much like at the first online town hall forum in December, many of the questions at Sunday’s live event focused on the recent legislative decision to allow practicing homosexuals to be ordained . . . ”

WAPT.com: “High school senior Constance McMillen knows the rule: no same-sex date at the senior prom. But the lesbian is challenging the Itawamba County School District policy, and has enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union . . . ”

Janic Shaw Crouse writes at Concerned Women for America: “Let’s begin with the basic argument that people are ‘born gay.’ Apparently, activists are operating under the assumption that if they say this long enough, people will believe it. Yet the science is not there to substantiate their oft-stated premise that homosexuality is genetic and is immutable . . . Let’s look at five other myths associated with same-sex ‘marriage.’ . . . ”

DCAgenda: “And yet, [Joe] Novotny is making history simply by holding the job. The 34-year-old Chicago native is the first openly gay person to work as a reading clerk in the U.S. House . . . ”

KFDM (AP): “A state district judge in Houston has granted a pretrial motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional, a decision that the Texas attorney general called ‘an act of unabashed judicial activism.’”

APP.com: “New Jersey polls over the past six years show that support for gay marriage has drifted between 41 and 50 percent. At the same time, opposition has hovered within a nearly identical 40 to 50 percent range.”

Christianity Today: “Christian volunteers and foster parents at a Moroccan orphanage were forced to abandon dozens of children on Monday after they were accused of proselytising. Moroccan authorities raided Village of Hope and said they were expelling the 20 workers and parents. The 33 children who were being cared for cried out ‘hysterically’ for their foster parents as they were left behind.”

The ACLU has issued this press release and FAQ About Marriage Recognition for Same-Sex Couples in Maryland.

Times of Malta: “The Maltese government has asked to intervene in the hearings of the European Court of Human Rights which is considering an appeal filed by Italy against a decision to remove crucifixes from public places.”

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput writing in the Denver Catholic Register: “The policies of our Catholic school system exist to protect all parties involved, including the children of homosexual couples and the couples themselves. Our schools are meant to be ‘partners in faith’ with parents. If parents don’t respect the beliefs of the Church, or live in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, then partnering with those parents becomes very difficult, if not impossible. It also places unfair stress on the children, who find themselves caught in the middle, and on their teachers, who have an obligation to teach the authentic faith of the Church.”

Chartered Management Institute: “Tory leader David Cameron has promised to make sure homosexual couples in civil partnerships will receive the same maternity and paternity leave as their heterosexual counterparts.”

CNSNews: CNSNews.com asked Jennings ‘about issues raised by congressional Republicans.’ To that, Jennings responded, ‘I’m not going to talk about that. Thank you . . . You can ask what you want, but I’m probably not going to answer it.’ When asked if he thought the federal government should promote homosexual behavior as moral in public schools, Jennings stressed the limited authority of the Department of Education . . . ”

Jeremy Dys writes at the Engage Family Blog of the Family Policy Council of WV: “Last night, the Health Committee of the House of Delegates advanced this year’s pro-life bill (SB 597) after the defeat of numerous amendments that were merely desperate attempts by pro-abortion lawmakers to derail the measure.”

Findlaw (AP): “A U.S. missionary held for more than a month in Haiti on kidnapping charges flew back to the United States after being released from prison, while the leader of her Baptist group remained in custody . . . Defense lawyer Louis Ricardo Chachoute said Coulter was released because there was no evidence to support the charges of kidnapping and criminal association. He predicted Silsby would be released soon as well.”

Michael C. Dorf writes at Findlaw: “Justice Scalia was simply injecting a bit of comic relief into a tense oral argument, but underneath his joke was a more serious charge, one that he and other judges have made repeatedly for some years now. They complain that law professors produce scholarship that has no practical value to judges who must resolve hard cases. If a legal theory is ‘the darling of the professoriate’ and thus a fit subject for a law review article that will earn its proponent a tenured faculty position, Justice Scalia implies, it cannot have any practical utility. Is Justice Scalia right? In this column, I contend that the answer is mostly no.”

NY Times: “This technology can make the language barrier go away,” said Franz Och, a principal scientist at Google who leads the company’s machine translation team. “It would allow anyone to communicate with anyone else.”

Related: ZDNet: Google Chrome gets instant language translation, privacy settings

FoxNews: “Dozens of same-sex couples made a historic walk down the aisle in Washington Tuesday as gay marriage became legal in the nation’s capital.”

Politico: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not accustomed to the word she’s been hearing far more frequently in recent days: ‘no.’”

LifeSiteNews: “The short-lived proposal to bow to political correctness and exclude the word ‘sons’ from Canada’s national anthem has come to an abrupt end.”

Christian Institute: “A Scottish law firm has become the first in the country to offer clients advice on Sharia law alongside its conventional legal services. The controversial service, offered by Glasgow based Hamilton Burns solicitors, allows clients to receive guidance from both a Muslim lawyer fully trained in Scottish law and a Sharia scholar.”

Christian Institute: “ITV News at Ten anchor Julie Etchingham has warned that Christians are suffering discrimination at the hands of a secular media. Mrs Etchingham, who is a Roman Catholic, is the latest public figure to warn about the anti-Christian bias in the nation’s media.”

“However, pro-life advocates remain skeptical and worry such a bill would enable House passage of the Senate measure and Obama would simply sign the bill without accepting the abortion funding ban.”

LifeSiteNews: “When Microsoft co-founder and population-control advocate Bill Gates spoke recently of using vaccines to reduce world population, he set off a wave of speculation over his possible allusion to covert sterilization programs. According to the Gates Foundation, however, the multi-billionaire in fact advocates vaccine use to decrease child mortality – something he claims actually decreases population growth.”

FOX 9: “State house committee members are ready to debating three bills on gay marriage that would challenge the Minnesota’s Defense of Marriage Act, recognize civil unions, recognize legal marriages performed outside the state or legalize gay marriage in Minnesota.”

Politics in Minnesota: “The legislation, SF 2861, would forbid all state employees, constitutional officers and legislators from using state money to pay for lodging, training or ‘any other use’ of a facility that ‘makes pornographic images or performances available to its patrons.’ A ‘pornographic image or performance’ is further defined as one that objectifies or exploits its subjects by ‘eroticizing domination, degradation or violence.’”

The Herald News: “City lawyers are calling a lawsuit contending the city unconstitutionally and systemically banned strip clubs ‘frivolous’ and without basis. The city is seeking legal and related fees and dismissal of the case filed by Gary Lund of Swansea.”

Athens Banner-Herald: “The Jefferson City Council met in a special session Monday night to approve an ordinance that would regulate spas and massage parlors, which have a reputation for harboring prostitution and other illegal activities.”

Pocono Record: “An adult entertainment bar is set to open next week in Jackson Township across the road from a church. Located at Route 715 and Doll Road, across from the First Hispanic Church ‘The Light of the Poconos,’ the sign that once read ‘Pub 715′ now reads ‘Thrills’ in yellow letters against an explosive black-and-red background.”

LifeNews: “As the process of the health care debate moves forward this week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is reminding colleagues and the media that the reconciliation process will not be able to be used to stop the abortion funding in the Senate health care bill . . . ”

Your4State: “The bill by State Representative Seth Grove (R-York) would make sending nude or inappropriate photos by text message or e-mail a second-degree misdemeanor for anyone between 13 and 17 . . . The bill is expected to be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.”

Tony Mauro writes at Law.com: “A new public opinion poll being released today found that more than 60 percent of voters think that televising U.S. Supreme Court proceedings would be ‘good for democracy.’”

“She is now considering whether to try to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights, as she believes it shows that the right to religious conscience has been ‘trampled’ by the rights of homosexuals.”

The Day: “During the first court hearing in a lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s ban on assisted suicide, the state Monday sought to persuade a judge that the legislature, not a courthouse, is the proper venue to decide whether doctors should be prosecuted for helping patients end their lives.”

Politics Web: “The ACDP calls on the Municipality to make more land and buildings available for Christians to pray for peace, which this country so desperately needs. We will support and fight for the right of Christians to pray and worship without further harassment by politicians.”

BBC News: “A plan to create an internet domain specifically for adult websites will be resurrected three years after it was rejected by internet regulators. The net’s governing body Icann will reconsider the .xxx scheme on 12 March.”

LA Times: “Berkeley professor Goodwin Liu, son of immigrants, would be youngest judge on the appeals court. He clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and worked in government offices during the Clinton administration.”

OneNewsNow: “A Christian student in the Los Angeles Community College District is carrying his free-speech case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals . . . Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney David Hacker tells OneNewsNow that Lopez chose to speak about his Christian beliefs. ‘And during that speech, when he mentioned that marriage is between a man and a woman according to his Christian beliefs, the professor called him this horrible name, refused to let him finish the assignment, and told other students in the class, “If you’re offended, you can leave,”‘ Hacker explains.”

“In an opinion issued today . . . the Sixth Circuit examines whether the so-called “ministerial exception” to federal anti-discrimination laws precludes a former teacher from bringing a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act against the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School.”

Oregonian: Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Steven Maurer sentenced Jeffrey and Marci Beagley to 16 months in prison this afternoon, calling the couple’s decision to not seek medical care for their 16-year-old son, Neil Beagley, a “crime that was a product of an unwillingness to respect the boundaries of freedom of religious expression.”

Washington Post: “On Valentine’s Day, Philippine government health workers hit the streets of Manila to hand out roses and condoms to passers-by. The message was clear in a country with a relatively small but rapidly growing HIV-positive population: Avoid unprotected sex. It didn’t get far. Within days, leaders of the powerful Roman Catholic Church began urging the faithful to reject condoms, reigniting a long-running battle over contraception in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation . . . ”

Edward Feser writes at Public Discourse: “The problem with scientism is that it is either self-defeating or trivially true. F.A. Hayek helps us to see why. The first article in a two-part series.”

FRC is sponsoring this event to be held on March 11th and available online.

NCPA Policy Digest: “If you live in Texas, the only health insurance you can buy is insurance regulated under Texas law. But if bills before Congress (most notably, one sponsored by Arizona Republican Congressman John Shadegg), are enacted, Texans would be able to buy insurance regulated, say, by the laws of Virginia, or the laws of Delaware, or 47 other states, says John C. Goodman, President, CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow of the National Center for Policy Analysis.”

AP: “President Barack Obama’s health care bill would change federal policy on abortion, but not open the spigot of taxpayer dollars that some abortion opponents fear.”

AP: “Police in Ireland on Tuesday arrested seven people over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.”

Google News (AP): “The city-state, best known of late for bailing out its flashier neighbor Dubai, is bringing together some of the industry’s biggest names for a summit that will temporarily shift much of the world’s media and entertainment elite to a luxury hotel on the Persian Gulf. Headliners at the event starting Tuesday include News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch and Google Inc. chief Eric Schmidt . . . Increasingly, though, the United Arab Emirates capital has been using its immense petroleum wealth to extend its media reach overseas, even as it shows little sign of easing restrictions on journalists or Internet users at home.”

ESPN: “The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters . . . ”

This afternoon, 51 Members of the Iowa House voted to suspend the rules, and passed an amendment over the objection of Speaker Pat Murphy. This is the EXACT SAME procedure that was attempted on February 9th in an effort to pass the Iowa Marriage Amendment.

Robert D. Richards and Clay Calvert write at the National Law Journal: “The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to address a case involving the First Amendment speech rights of public school students who create Web sites, on their own time and while off campus, that mock school officials. But on the exact same day in early February, two different three-judge panels from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3d Circuit in Philadelphia issued rulings addressing that precise issue on nearly identical facts — and remarkably reached very different, if not diametrically opposed, conclusions.”

Recent Constitutional Questions in Taxation: Toward a Legislative Solution to Constitutional Problems of Same-Sex Couples and Ministers of the Gospel?
John R. Dorocak, 19 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 223 (2009)

“This Article reviews two different constitutional questions regarding federal income taxes. First, the constitutionality of the income tax exclusion of the housing allowance for ministers of the gospel under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment is discussed. Second, constitutionality, under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of federal and state constitutions’ denial of various tax benefits, such as joint filing for married couples is examined.”

The Marriage Cases—Reversing the Burden of Inertia in a Pluralist Constitutional Democracy
William N. Eskridge, 97 Cal. L. Rev. 1785 (2010)

“This Foreword will examine the court’s opinion and the many doctrinal issues it raises through the lens of California’s pluralist-constitutional democracy. That voters can override the court through a constitutional amendment like Proposition 8 makes California’s constitution self-evidently democratic– indeed, more so than the U.S. Constitution. This feature has played a pivotal role in the state’s politics of gay marriage. An equally important feature of the California Constitution is its commitment to pluralism: the idea that a key role of the State is to serve as a peaceful forum in which rival social and economic groups bargain, compete, and deliberate. An institutional challenge in a pluralist democracy is to keep rival groups engaged in politics, to direct their efforts toward the public good, and to avoid feuds and other mutually destructive conflicts. This challenge is especially difficult because the pluralist balance changes, often radically, over the course of a generation. New groups, clamoring for public recognition, will emerge, upsetting a balance of alliances that worked well only ten years prior. Few groups reflect this phenomenon better than sexual and gender minorities; reviled as outlaws two generations ago, they are now part of the political process in California. Given the state’s role as harbinger for the nation, this is a significant advance for these minorities.”

RLUIPA and Prisoner’s Rights: Vindicating Liberty of Conscience for the Condemned by Targeting a State’s Bottom Line
Gary R. Rom, 44 Val. U. L. Rev. 283 (2009)

“First, Part II provides the history and events surrounding RLUIPA’s enactment, chronicles the scope of the constitutional powers Congress relied on to enact RLUIPA, and discusses courts’ differing interpretations concerning the availability of damages. Next, Part III analyzes whether RLUIPA in its present form allows prisoners to sue states for monetary relief. Finally, Part IV argues that key provisions of RLUIPA can be interpreted broadly to enable prisoners to sue states for monetary relief.”

The Quest for Congruence: Why the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act Should Apply to Eminent Domain
Vikki Bollettino, 39 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1263 (2010)

“This Comment argues that eminent domain, like zoning, should be subject to strict scrutiny review under RLUIPA. Part II discusses a pending case, Albanian Associated Fund v. Township of Wayne, to illustrate how eminent domain may hamper free exercise. Part III outlines the history and discusses the relevant provisions of RLUIPA. Part IV describes the current debate over whether RLUIPA should apply to eminent domain actions through a discussion of current case law. Part V argues that eminent domain may be exercised in a manner that is analogous to the application of a zoning law, and therefore should be similarly subject to strict scrutiny review when it burdens free exercise. Part VI illustrates how zoning and eminent domain are used together to achieve the broader purpose of land use regulation, and thus both should be reviewed using a strict scrutiny analysis. Part VII discusses the need for strict scrutiny review of eminent domain condemnations of religious property post-Kelo. Ultimately, this Comment argues that since government frequently exercises both its zoning and eminent domain authority for the broader purpose of land use regulation, eminent domain challenges, like zoning challenges, should receive strict scrutiny review under RLUIPA.”

The Unwelcome Cohort: When the Sentencing Judge Invades Your Bedroom
Elizabeth M. Bux, 85 Notre Dame L. Rev. 745 (2010)

“This Note discusses the various issues of civil rights and criminal law associated with the sentence in the Talty case and those issues that might arise from similar sentences. Part I outlines the facts and history unique to the Talty case. Part II discusses the privacy issues at play in a sentence dealing with procreation and sexuality. This Part explains the procreative rights involved in cases of sterilization, birth control, and abortion, and fleshes out the issues of privacy involved in cases of nonprocreative sexuality. In addition, this Part illustrates the various limits on privacy inherent in a criminal conviction, along with the ramifications that such limits have on the constitutionality of governmental restrictions on behavior.”

Timothy Sandefur, Clarence Thomas’s Jurisprudence Unexplained (September 22, 2008). NYU Journal of Law & Liberty, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1272053

“This is a review of Henry Mark Holzer’s The Supreme Court Opinions of Clarence Thomas. I contend that Holzer’s book ignores significant debates within the conservative/libertarian community. I describe some of these debates – over the role of natural rights, the proper understanding of federalism, and the meaning of originalism – to determine how Justice Thomas’ record compares to a freedom-centered interpretation of the Constitution.”