Daily Archives: March 23, 2010

AP: “A federal court has at least temporarily lifted government rules that blocked media companies from owning a newspaper and a broadcast TV station in the same market . . . ”

“Three airports in the district of infamous fence-sitting and ultimately kowtowing Democrat Bart Stupak were awarded $726,409 in grants by the Obama Administration just two days before a vote on Obama and Pelosi’s government takeover of healthcare.”

” . . . Meanwhile, a House bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, aimed at defining the kinds of zoning restrictions municipalities can put on places of worship is opposed by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, on grounds that it gives any person the ability to locate anywhere in the name of religious practice, regardless of neighborhood impact . . .”

Kansas City Star, Prime Buzz: “Mental distress or illness would no longer justify a late-term abortion in Kansas under legislation passed by the House Tuesday. The vote, 89-33, sends [HB 2166] to the Senate.”

The Christian Institute: “A district judge has thrown out the case of a Christian street preacher in Colchester who was arrested by police because of comments he made about homosexual conduct.”

Christian Post: “The suspects were detained after a number of predominantly Christian villages in the Jos area were attacked by machete-wielding Muslim extremists on March 7. While police estimate that more than 100 people were killed, persecution watchdogs say the death toll was up to 500. A second attack last week left some 13 people dead . . . ”

WFPL.org: “In the waning days of the 2010 Kentucky General Assembly, environmentalists find themselves in the sensitive position of challenging legislation aimed at protecting religious billboards. Along I-65 in LaRue and Hart counties are two billboards bearing religious messages like ‘Hell is Real,’ and the Ten Commandments. The signs were paid for by Jimmy Harston of Scottsville, who says he has erected similar signs in several states. The billboards are on private property and both are illegal, says Chuck Wolfe of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet . . . ”

The Christian Institute: “A controversial new ‘homophobic hatred’ law comes into effect today, but religious liberty will be protected by a free speech shield included in the law. Critics of the original proposal feared that disagreeing with same-sex conduct may have been caught by the new offence, but Conservative peer Lord Waddington tabled an amendment to protect free speech.” | More information from the ADF Alliance Alert is gathered here.

Mission Network News: “The Karen people of Burma have been fighting for independence for over 60 years. Far from gaining freedom, though, the Karen people have instead become the victims of massive genocide. Many of the Karen people are Christians, and it has become apparent that the ethnic cleansing taking place at the hands of the Burmese government is a direct attack against Christians. Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders says once the military has finished off the Christians, they will likely move on to Buddhists.”

ANSA: “The Italian population is [made up of registered families] without children (53.4%). The figure emerges from the report of the International Center family studies, presented today in Milan with the participation of [President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies] Gianfranco Fini.” [Google Translation]

ANSA: “The supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday opened public hearings on the legitimacy of several articles in Italy’s civil code which prohibit same-sex marriage . . . The Constitutional Court, one of Italy’s two supreme court along with the Cassation Court, may decide as early as Tuesday whether or not to take up the suit.”| Wikipedia: Recognition of same-sex unions in Italy

Global Post: “Last week . . . one of Italy’s highest courts issued a ruling that states calling someone gay can be an insult if it’s done with the intention to denigrate. The ruling sparked a debate among the country’s homosexual community: Will the decision, which aimed to protect gay rights, hurt not help?”

Maktoob News: “An Egyptian court on Sunday postponed the trial of three Egyptian Muslims accused of gunning down six Coptic Christians and a police officer in southern Egypt in January, the Egyptian Gazette reported. ‘The trial will resume on April 18 to hear the prosecution witnesses,’ Chief Judge Mahmoud Abdel Salam was quoted as saying.” | International Christian Concern: “Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager of the Middle East, said, ‘ICC predicts that once the murders of these Coptic Christians in Nag Hammadi are forgotten, the judge will issue a light sentence, perhaps one to five years imprisonment with bail, and then the murderers will be released back onto the streets. We have seen this occur time and again.’”

Reuters: “Foreign sex workers in Malaysia are paying local men up to $1,500 a month to become their husbands so that they can stay on in the country to ply their trade, the New Straits Times newspaper said on Tuesday.”

Religion Dispatches: “The Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society — in contrast to other religious right legal groups which are challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the reform bill, even though conservatives admit it’s a long shot — are planning legal challenges claiming that the conscience rights of health care workers who are opposed to abortion are inadequately protected in the law.”

KJRH.com (AP): “The first bill prohibits abortions based solely on the sex of the child, while a second allows health care professionals to refuse to participate in abortions. The third makes it illegal for anyone other than a physician who is physically present to administer the chemical abortion pill, RU-486.”

Christian Post: “Minority Christians in southern Karnataka state are under an unprecedented wave of Christian persecution, having faced more than 1,000 attacks in 500 days, according to an independent investigation by a former judge of the Karnataka High Court.”

WHNT.com (AP): “About a dozen Alexandria High School students went to the Calhoun County School Board office to deliver a message that they want weekly prayer and daily Bible reading resumed over their school’s public address system . . . ”

ReporterNews.com: “U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak during a CBS News interview today called on Abilene Congressman Randy Neugebauer — who admittedly yelled “it’s a baby killer” while Stupak was addressing the House on Sunday night — to apologize from the floor of the House of Representatives to the entire body.”

CNA: “Regional superintendents of Religious Education in Costa Rica are denouncing suggestions to remove Catholic education courses from public schools following a ruling by Costa Rica’s Constitutional court. The recent decision stripped the Church’s right to choose which religion teachers are hired in Costa Rican schools.”

The Desert Sun: “Roughly 49 percent agree states should sue, while 37 percent oppose the suits. Fourteen percent are undecided, according to a national survey by Rasmussen Reports released today.”

ADF Attorney Steve Aden, writing at The Federalist Society: “[I]t is a significant burden on a religious organization to require it, on pain of substantial liability, to predict which of its activities a secular court will consider religious. The line is hardly a bright one, and an organization might understandably be concerned that a judge would not understand its religious tenets and sense of mission. Fear of potential liability might affect the way an organization carried out what it understood to be its religious mission. Non-profit religious corporations assert this burden is difficult to bear, and is magnified greatly by the approach of some courts in treating the constitutional defense to a Title VII suit against a religious organization as a matter for proof on the merits rather than a jurisdictional issue. By expanding Title VII and yet relying solely on Title VII’s existing religious organization definition, ENDA could thus lead to a substantial increase in litigation.”

Catholic Culture: “The girl had been enslaved by a woman, Sama, a ‘dealer’ of youth sold as prostitutes or slaves to wealthy Muslim families,” according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.”

Boston Globe (AP): “. . . Beijing ‘should seriously consider the implications when one of the world’s most recognizable institutions has decided that it’s too difficult to do business in China.’”

Florida Baptist Witness: “The Alliance Defense Fund is recruiting pastors willing to pick a fight with the Internal Revenue Service in order to overturn a 55-year-old law it believes is resulting in unconstitutional pulpit ‘censorship’ . . . ‘This is the only place where federal law is allowed to restrict the speech of an individual after the fact, instead of telling you beforehand when the law is violated,’ [Erik Stanley] said of IRS regulations about the Johnson Amendment.” | http://speakupmovement.org/church

LifeNews: “A student told he could not distribute a pro-life newsletter on the campus of Kingsborough Community College will be allowed to do so as a result of a letter sent to the school by the Alliance Defense Fund [ADF News Release] . . . [Travis Barham] added: ‘In this case, campus security officers and several administrators tried to stop a student from passing out pro-life fliers even though no campus policy prohibited him from doing so. We commend the college for quickly rectifying this situation and affirming our client’s rights protected by the First Amendment.’”

ACLU: “Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Monday that the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality California must turn over campaign documents, including internal e-mails and memos regarding efforts to overturn Prop 8, even though the groups are not parties to the legal challenge brought by Ted Olson and David Boies seeking to strike down the discriminatory ordinance . . . ”

“A federal judge says he won’t force a Mississippi school district to hold a prom canceled after a lesbian student asked to bring her girlfriend . . .”

LifeSiteNews: “On Saturday afternoon March 13, a silent prayer march set off in the German town of Münster, a city of 280,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia close to the Dutch border and a resort of 40,000 students.”

LifeSiteNews: “A German homeschooling family is seeking asylum in Canada after fleeing their native country due to persecution, reports the Globe and Mail.”

The Volokh Conspiracy carries several posts today that discuss ways to kill Obamacare and the likelihood of success for lawsuits challenging individual mandates.

NY Daily News: “A Manhattan lawyer pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a hooker ring out of a Midtown jiggle joint and was barred from working in – or even going to – strip clubs for five years.”

Bay Windows: “This year’s U.S. State Department ['Country Reports on Human Rights Practices'] looked at LGBT life in nearly every nation on the planet and did an excellent job of documenting anti-LGBT abuse across the globe, the Council for Global Equality said March 11. The council further applauded State for urging ‘the use of diplomacy to counter this trend’ of anti-gay hostility.”

NY Times: “Following is a transcript of the remarks by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday before Mr. Obama signed a landmark health care bill into law, as released by Federal News Service . . . ”

Baltimore Sun: “Attorney general’s opinion that out-of-state nuptials should be recognized here has inspired couples to make the leap . . . ”

Fox News: “An 18-year-old senior at Bleckley County High School has won approval to bring a same-sex date to the school prom.”

Miami Herald: “The measure [HB 1335] separates this new form of digital intimacy from the harsh punishments of child pornography laws, but it does criminalize subsequent offenses.” | National Conference of State Legislatures: 2010 legislation related to sexting

The Oklahoma Daily: “A bill intended to remove hate crime protections from gays and lesbians actually takes away rights from everyone else because of a ‘legislative error,’ according to one lawmaker. Oklahoma State Senate Minority Leader Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, said when the Senate passed [Senate Bill 1965] on March 10, it eliminated hate crime protections for race and religion.” | (3.11.2010) OK: Bill to keep federal law enforcement from taking over “hate crimes” cases

Telegraph: “A group of influential peers will attempt to use Harriet Harman’s [Equality Bill] to overturn the anti-discrimination law that currently forbids the organisations from refusing same-sex couples as potential parents. The peers will argue that the [Sexual Orientation Regulations] that came into force in January 2009 have driven Catholic adoption agencies to close or sever their links to the church, potentially leaving hundreds of children in care homes rather than with loving families.”

For more information see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/wordpress/tag/country-united-kingdom+topic-adoption/

The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the attorney for the Collier County School Board Tuesday after it violated a legal settlement by again refusing to allow a church to participate in the school district’s flier distribution program.

The Star: “Some of Yemen’s most influential Islamic leaders, including one the U.S. says mentored Osama bin Laden, have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates . . . ”

“The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide if mothers and fathers may be treated differently in determining whether their children may claim American citizenship . . . ”

Warsaw Business Journal: “The results of a poll by the GfK Polonia institute, carried out for Rzeczpospolita, established that only five percent of respondents supported free access to abortion, while 79 percent opposed legalizing marriage between homosexuals. The strongest opposition, however, was towards the adoption of children by homosexuals- with 93 percent against the idea . . . 59 percent of respondents would approve an abortion in ‘certain circumstances,’ while 34 percent opposed the practice outright.”

News4jax.com: “St. Johns County schools have agreed to pay $140,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by two parents who objected to a song with religious lyrics being performed by elementary school students. The parents of two third-graders at the Webster School in St. Augustine objected to the Diamond Rio song, ‘In God We Still Trust,’ claiming the song violates their children’s religious freedom . . . ”

Family Policy Council of West Virginia, The Engage Family Blog: “Fiction is a story that describes imaginary people and events. After reading through this captivating legal thriller penned by [Alan Sears], President, CEO, and General Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), you will walk away wondering if you have actually read a fictional work, or just pulled yourself away from current events . . . This fictional fight and struggle over religious freedom is one that is very real today. People from all walks of life are presently facing such secularization and the erosion of religious freedom.” | Barnes and Noble: In Justice

KTAR: “A motion has been approved by the Gilbert Town Council that would change an ordinance that bars people from having a religious gathering in their home . . . [Doug Napier] with the Alliance Defense Fund said his group wants the order to comply with constitutionally-protected religious freedoms. ‘If it’s a level playing field, we’re good with that. Because we’re going to be good neighbors. We’re going to be good citizens.’”

CBN News: “The decision by the three-judge panel affirms that the state’s courts do not have the jurisdiction to grant same-sex divorces . . . ‘What you have here is a fraudulent attempt to try to undermine the marriage amendment of Oklahoma that was passed by 76 percent of the voters,’ [Tim Tracey] explained. ‘So you have here a same-sex couple that alleged that they were married in Canada, but yet they could never even produce a marriage certificate.’”

Christian Post: “The Gilbert, Ariz., town council agreed on Monday to amend an ordinance that banned one small church from meeting in homes . . . ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Douglas Napier] told the local TV news station that they are simply seeking protection of religious freedoms.”

The Advocate (“LGBT monthly news magazine”): “According to The New York Times, the latest complaints are an extension of marriage equality opponents’ long-running argument that the question does not belong in the courts . . . ‘To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right,’ said Jordan W. Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund and a member of the trial team for the people and groups who intervened to defend the ban after state officials would not, according to the Times. ‘There should not have been a trial.’”

The MetroWest Daily News: “Have you ever thought of having a Bible study in your home? If so, don’t plan on moving to either San Diego, California or Gilbert, Arizona. It seems there are regulations, which forbid you to hold a ‘religious assembly’ in your home . . . The ADF argues ‘that such bans violate the Constitution’s free-exercise clause, and even the state’s Free Exercise of Religion Act protects such meetings.’”

OneNewsNow: “A middle-school student in Pennsylvania will be allowed to wear a T-shirt with the message ‘Abortion is not healthcare’ after the school district there reached a settlement with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . ‘The Supreme Court has held for years that students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate, and that certainly applies to Christian and pro-life students also,’ [David Cortman] contends. ‘So we certainly commend the school district for finally realizing and agreeing to change their unconstitutional policy.’”

LifeNews: “President Barack Obama signed the pro-abortion government-run health care bill into law today but did not sign an executive order that would supposedly nullify the abortion funding . . . ”

Christian Post: “The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from anti-abortion protesters who challenged a Massachusetts law that created a protest-free zone around the entrances and driveways of clinics . . . ‘It’s ironic that Massachusetts, the “cradle of liberty,” would pass a law that effectively creates a First Amendment-free zone that silences those who seek to share the truth about abortion,’ said ADF Legal Counsel [Tim Chandler] in a past statement. ‘Those with pro-life views have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America.’”

AZfamily.com: “Council members approved a motion to change the current ordinance that says ‘public and private schools and religious assembly are not permitted in single family residential structures.’ It discussed four different options which include changing the definition of religious assembly and regulating all gatherings from Cub Scout meetings to Superbowl parties . . . [Douglas Napier], with the Alliance Defense Fund, explains, ‘If it’s a level playing field, we’re good with that because we’re going to be good neighbors and we’re going to be good citizens.’”

WorldNetDaily: “Congress will be accused in a coming flood of lawsuits of trashing the Constitution through President Obama’s plan to nationalize health care, according to several groups that already have cases in the works . . . Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund also were on top of a related situation, moving forward in four different lawsuits to ensure that conscience protections – the right to decide a procedure is objectionable and to not perform it – is maintained for doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others.”

KSAZ FOX 10: “The Town of Gilbert is holding a meeting Monday night about zoning verbiage, stemming from a church meeting issue . . . About two months ago, the Gilbert Town Council recognized that the zoning codes were being interpreted by some members of staff to prevent small church groups from assembling in their own homes for religious worship . . . The Alliance Defense Fund filed an appeal on the church’s behalf.”

The Hill: “President Barack Obama signed healthcare reform into law on Tuesday, capping a legislative victory Democrats have sought for decades.”

ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: “The most crucial aspect of the court’s ruling was its finding that Mike’s Townhall.com columns were work-related speech and not protected by the First Amendment because he mentioned that he was a columnist in his application to become a full professor at the University . . . The court’s ruling represents a distortion of the Supreme Court’s holding in Garcetti v. Ceballos. While the Garcetti court sharply limited protection for ‘expression made pursuant to official responsibilities,’ the Court also expressly reserved whether the doctrine had any application in the academic freedom context. In Mike’s case the trial court brushed straight past the Supreme Court’s reservations and left no refuge for academic freedom.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Representing Concerned Women for America, America’s largest women’s advocacy group and four other groups of pro-life medical professionals, attorneys with Advocates International filed a joint motion to lift stay and at last permit their intervention in three lawsuits commenced on January 15, 2009 that seek to invalidate a final federal regulation protecting medical professionals from discrimination because they refuse to participate in abortions . . . On behalf of the Christian Medical Association, Catholic Medical Association, and American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society also joined in this motion [ADF news release] to lift stay and intervene asking the court to be allowed to defend the law.”

The Times: “What they can say is that in camps along the border between Afghanistan and Iran, Taliban recruits are being taught how to ambush British, American and other Nato troops using guns and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).”

P. Langdale Hugh writes at The Witherspoon Institute: “In December 2008 a diverse collection of scholars, medical practitioners and journalists gathered in Princeton, New Jersey, to begin an initial inquiry into the social toll of the consumption of pornography on men, women and children. The participating scholars came from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Psychiatrists, legal scholars, doctors, and economists assembled a rigorous analysis of the neurological, psychological, economic, social, political, legal and philosophical dimensions of pornography use. The result was released on March 16, 2010, when the Witherspoon Institute presentedThe Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations. Three important observations about the document deserve to be made . . . ”

Community college officials agree to allow student to hand out fliers
after receiving letter from ADF attorneys

AP: “A controversial decision by Arizona lawmakers to eliminate a health insurance program for poor children puts it at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding under the historic health care bill approved by Congress.”

AP: “An Internet company run by one of Asia’s richest men said Tuesday it has ended its affiliation with Google Inc. as the American search giant stopped censoring the Internet in violation of Chinese regulations . . . ”

Arizona Republic: “The Gilbert Town Council on Monday night took the first step toward removing a regulation that has prohibited religious groups from meeting in private homes . . . The council ‘has been very responsive to the very important issue of protecting the rights of people to freely exercise their religion in their home,’ [Douglas Napier] said. ‘We’re very satisfied that they’re taking the matter seriously and moving forward quickly.’”

The Jakarta Post: “Two more experts recommended Friday that the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law be revised as critics warned of civil conflict if the law was changed . . . The court has been holding hearings since early February. Several human rights activists and pluralism supporters have contested several articles in the law, which stipulates the state’s authority to dissolve religious groups whose teachings are deemed heretic by religious authorities.”

William McGurn writes at the Wall Street Journal: “Bart Stupak’s vote for the health bill shows that in the end you can’t count on prolife Democrats.”

The Hill: “Unions are likely to rescind their backing of labor-friendly lawmakers who voted against the healthcare bill and may support challengers.”

ABC: “Twelve state attorneys general, all of whom are Republican, have already filed suits to block the health care bill on the grounds that its requirement that everyone have health insurance is unconstitutional. Four state legislatures have already passed laws blocking the bill.”