Daily Archives: April 8, 2010

The Peninsula: “Kerala High Court has ruled that neither the state government nor its agencies should invest in an Islamic financial institution. In their interim order on a petition filed by Janata Party chairman Subrmaniam Swamy, Chief Justice J Chelemeswar and Justice C N Ramachandran Nair asked the state government not to fund any venture that went against the secular ethos of the Constitution.”

Taiwan News: “Macedonia has approved a new rights law but ignored appeals from the EU and rights groups to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) has reinstated the club status of Choose Life, the campus pro-life club, but only after forcing them to submit to special requirements that restrict the club’s ability to share the pro-life message. The SSMU Council voted April 1st to reinstate the club, but also required them to attach an appendix to their constitution in order to ‘facilitate their compliance’ with SSMU’s equity policy.”

Sun News: “The city approved legislation that some neighboring municipalities had on their books for more than nine years. City Council approved measures that created an adult-oriented business chapter in its codified ordinances, renamed a district that would allow such enterprises to locate and another explaining what is permissible within the new West Bagley Road Commercial District.”

Winnipeg Free Press: “An anti-abortion crusader in New Brunswick has been sentenced to 66 days in jail for refusing to pay fines stemming from a 2007 conviction for failing to file his tax returns. David Little said in provincial court Thursday that he will never file another tax return as long as there is tax-funded abortion in Canada, and won’t pay the $3,000 in fines for failing to file returns for 2000, 2001, and 2002.”

News 8 Austin: “Pregnancy centers that don’t offer abortion and birth control services will now have to better disclose their policies. The Austin City Council unanimously passed the new ordinance on first reading, Thursday.”

Washington Post: “The jailing of a judge in Venezuela threatens the independence of her colleagues and the rule of law in the Latin American OPEC member, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was arrested by police on December 10, a day after she ordered the conditional release of a long-imprisoned banker accused of fraud.”

UPI: “A nurse who insisted on wearing a crucifix to work should have reached a compromise with her hospital employer, a British employment panel has ruled. The panel rejected Shirley Chaplin’s claim that she was a victim of religious discrimination by the management of Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, The Times of London reported Wednesday.”

Baptist Press: “Abortions in Kansas decreased by 11 percent in 2009, according to a preliminary report by the state’s Department of Health and Environment.”

Financial Times: “Olivier Jakob, of Swiss consultant Petromatrix, said in a note that the “recovery of 2009 was fuelled with crude oil at $62 a barrel, not at $90 a barrel or $100 a barrel. We fear that the latest run on WTI will be the kiss of death for a global economy that was trying to avoid the possibility of a double-dip recession.”

Evangelical Examiner: “According to the Alliance Defense Fund, on behalf of students at five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, they have sent letters today to inform the schools of the need to revise restrictive ‘speech codes’ on their books that do not comport with a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. . . . ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said: ‘The 3rd Circuit has ruled that the kinds of ‘speech codes’ we see at these universities are unconstitutional primarily because they give officials an easy-to-abuse enforcement mechanism to punish any speech that they may decide is “offensive.” These policies need to be revised to respect student free speech rights that are protected by the First Amendment.’”

CBC.ca on Yahoo News: “The minister responsible for the Alberta Human Rights Commission says a complaint about an anti-gay letter to a Red Deer newspaper should never have gone before the commission.”

LSVD (Lesbian and Gay Federation): “The Berlin Senate [Berlin's executive body] has [decided to present a resolution on marriage--'Berlin is in favor of self-determination and acceptance of sexual diversity'--to the Federal Council." [modified Google Translation] | Wikipedia: “LGBT rights in Germany”

LifeSiteNews: “A bill that would require abortionists to report the reason why they performed abortions after 21 weeks is sitting on the desk of Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, awaiting his signature.”

On Top Mag (“gay advocacy website”): “Portugal’s Constitutional Court has OK’d a gay marriage bill approved by lawmakers, Portugal’s IOL Diario reported. . . . In an opinion released Thursday and written by Justice Victor Gomes, the court’s majority agreed the bill is constitutional. Two judges disagreed.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer: “A group of anti-abortion activists has unrolled a new strategy: Stretch the legal definition of “person” in state constitutions to cover a freshly fertilized egg in a woman’s womb. ‘We are defining the word ‘person’ as a human being … regardless of age, level of functioning, perceived ability or disability,’ said Cal Zastrow, co-founder of Personhood USA, which formed in 2008. ‘When there is an innocent person, the law should protect them.’”

HotAir.com quoting from Liberty Pundits: “In late February, on the victim’s birthday, Tercero visited her at home and used misoprostol he allegedly stole from Wegmans pharmacy to cause the miscarriage. Without her knowing it, Tercero put one pill in her vagina, one in her juice and one in her water. She was 13 weeks pregnant at the time . . . ”

Leonard Link: “A new chapter has been written in the long-running saga of the battle between New York City and proprietors of establishments that sell sexually-related materials, as New York County Supreme Court Justice Lewis York ruled on March 29 that the City had met its “light burden” of showing that the bookstores and video stores operated by the plaintiffs are “adult establishments” subject to a 1995 amendment to the City’s Zoning Resolution (as amended in 2001) sharply restricting the location of such establishments, even though the owners had taken steps to alter their establishments in an attempt to continue operating in their existing locations. For the People Theatres of NY, Inc. v. City of New York, 2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 20108 (Sup.Ct., N.Y. Co., March 29, 2010) . . . ”

Christian Post: “Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty have officially proclaimed April 2010 as Abortion Recovery Awareness Month in their respective states to raise awareness of traumatic effects and lasting ramifications of abortion.”

Telegraph: “David Cameron has pledged to review Britain’s abortion laws and stop assisted suicide in moves designed to place religious issues at the forefront of the Conservative election campaign. The Conservative leader said that he would personally favour reducing the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 or 22 weeks. Under a package of reforms backed by Mr Cameron, faith schools would also be able to teach sex education as they wished. . . .”

PRI: “Since Mexico City has legalized both abortion and gay marriage, these have become politically-charged issues in Mexico . . . Mexico City is firmly in control of the leftist party, the PRD and Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who David Lida says has a knack for publicity. ”

Christian Newswire: “In recognition of April as National Child Abuse Prevention month, Richard Hammar, noted church law expert and creator of the“Reducing The Risk” sexual abuse prevention program, will explore child abuse reporting laws in a one-hour webinar“Reporting Child Abuse: Laws Churches Must Follow.””

ADF Attorney Casey Mattox writing at the Academic Freedom File: “With two years distance from the DeJohn decision, however, public universities across New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania continue to hold on to egregiously unconstitutional speech codes that use much of the same language rejected in Saxe and DeJohn and inhibit expression and skew debate on campus by placing students at risk of substantial punishment if someone claims offense at what they say. . . . Research by ADF allied attorneys shows a host of schools in the Third Circuit that retain egregiously unconstitutional speech codes despite clear precedent in the Third Circuit.”

Bay Windows (“New England’s Largest GLBT Newspaper”): “As a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has an important role to play in the anticipated upcoming vote on a repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ (DADT) which could be seen as early as the spring. While Brown is considered an as-yet undecided vote, LGBT advocates are aiming to help the Senator make up his mind . . . ‘We’re expecting some sort of movement on the bill in the Armed Services Committee in May or June,’ said DeeDee Edmondson, political director of LGBT advocacy group MassEquality.”

Blog of the Legal Times: “According to Theodore Olson, the legal challenge to a California measure banning same-sex marriage he is leading with David Boies clearly has global implications. ‘What happens in this case won’t just affect the people of California, it will affect the country. And what happens in the United States will affect the rest of the world.’”

Thomas Bradwell writes at Associated Content: “The goal of the establishment clause is to avoid a state sanctioned church, like the Church of England, and to ensure that members of the new democracy would be afforded the opportunity to worship as they wish without political persecution. This concept is far different than the modern practice of freedom from religion embraced by opponents of teaching Biblical literature in public schools. All of the above leads me to the conclusion that this argument is not centered on constitutional principle; rather it is actually the expression of anti-religious bias . . . ”

Today’s THV: “The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arkansas will ask a Pulaski County circut court to rule in its favor in its challege to Act One, a 2008 law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adopting foster parent in Arkansas . . . Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel will also be in court to defend Act One. ‘The need of children for the most stable home possible should not be sacrificed on the altar of the ACLU’s agenda and their attempt to undermine the democratic process,’ said [Byron Babione], who last argued before the court in March of last year.”

Toronto Star: “In a constitutional challenge to Canada’s drug laws, however, the two men argue that the cannabis plant is sacred to their religion, the Assembly of the Church of the Universe (COU), which claims about 35 active ministers and 4,000 members across Canada. . . . The defendants are asking Ontario Superior Court Justice Thea Herman to rule that Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act has no force or effect with regards to cannabis because it infringes on their freedom of religion.”

Ashe Mountain Times: “For West Jefferson Town Manager Greg McGinnis, the possibility of a sexually-oriented business (SORB) attempting to locate in West Jefferson is all too real. At a meeting held at West Jefferson Town Hall on Monday, April 5, to discuss the issue of sexual businesses, McGinnis related a cautionary tale to a crowd of more than 50.”

On behalf of students at five universities and colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the Alliance Defense Fund sent letters Thursday to inform the schools of the need to revise restrictive “speech codes” on their books that do not comport with a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

AP: “A self-described Wiccan had a man’s phone number programmed in her cell phone under the word ‘sacrifice’ before she stabbed him to death, then claimed he had tried to rape her, authorities said Thursday.”

Related posts on Wiccan including efforts to promote it at the Air Force Academy

NY Times: “The one constant is its growing importance. Censorship used to be the sleepy province of the Communist Party’s central propaganda department, whose main task was to tell editors what and what not to print or broadcast. In the new networked China, censorship is a major growth industry, overseen — and fought over — by no fewer than 14 government ministries . . . That’s not all. Not content merely to block dissonant views, the government increasingly employs agents to peddle its views online, in the guise of impartial bloggers and chat-room denizens.”

ADF attorney David French appeared on the Frank Pastore Show to discuss CLS v. Martinez, which is set for oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court on April 19th. The MP3 runs just over 16 minutes.

What’s at stake in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez?

· The freedom of Christian student groups to be treated the same as other student groups without being forced to deny their faith.
· The freedom for college students to consistently exercise free speech and free association by advocating for their beliefs through student organizations.
· Recognition of students’ First Amendment rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association on college campuses.

Christian Legal Society v. Martinez more resources:

ADF Information Page

SCOTUS Wiki

ABA

Christian Science Monitor on Yahoo News: “Is the most surprising thing about China how much it’s changed in recent decades – or how little? . . . ”

Regent Law Family Restoration: “Alliance Defense Fund litigator Matt Bowman expresses some grave concern over the validity of President Obama’s executive order against abortion funding. ‘Some members of Congress say that they voted for the health reform law because the President’s executive order directs Health and Human Services, in some narrow ways but not in others, to refrain from spending federal money on abortion. Pro-lifers instead contend–and abortion advocates agree –that the order does not and cannot change the statute’s approach to abortion funding.’”

CNSNews: “The U.S. Supreme Court later this month will hear what both sides agree will be one of the most important religious freedom cases to come before the court in years. . . . The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group which helped fund the Supreme Court appeal, said the Christian Legal Society is being discriminated against because it would be forced to alter the Christian message of the group if they accept other students as members and leaders . . . ‘Just as all student groups have the right to associate with people who share common beliefs and interests, Christian student groups have the right to be Christian student groups,’ [Gregory S. Baylor] said.”

Eugene Volokh writing at the Volokh Conspiracy and quoting JoshuaPundit: “NRG/Maariv (Hebrew link only, sorry) reported today that the Israeli government was stunned when every nuclear technician at Israel’s Dimona reactor who had submitted visa requests to visit the United States for ongoing university education in Physics, Chemistry and Nuclear Engineering had their visa applications summarily rejected, specifically because of their association with the Dimona reactor. This is a new policy decision of the Obama administration . . . ”

NCPA Policy Digest: “Thousands of consumers are gaming Massachusetts’ 2006 health insurance law by buying insurance when they need to cover pricey medical care, such as fertility treatments and knee surgery, and then swiftly dropping coverage, a practice that insurance executives say is driving up costs for other people and small businesses, says the Boston Globe. ”

LifeSiteNews: “Law professor Yang Zhizhu was notified by officials from the China Youth University for Political Sciences on March 26 that he was being fired because he had violated Beijing’s family planning regulations . . . ”

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued a Chamber judgment that Austria’s laws restricting in vitro fertilization procedures are ‘discriminatory’ and violate the right to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has filed a lawsuit against the newly enacted health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), making them the first U.S. medical society to take legal action against the sweeping health care overhaul . . . ‘If the PPACA goes unchallenged, then it spells the end of freedom in medicine as we know it,’ said Jane Orient, M.D., the Executive Director of AAPS. ‘Courts should not allow this massive intrusion into the practice of medicine and the rights of patients.’”

“. . . Under the new health care law, states will be in charge of their own health care exchanges that are available for individuals and small businesses starting in 2014. In those exchanges, state’s can ensure tax dollars do no go towards plans or subsidies for plans that pay for abortions . . . ”

You can access the most recent issue here.

Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

Religion Clause Blog: “In Headley v. Church of Scientology International, (CD CA, April 2, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed a claim by a Church of Scientology staff member that the Church violated state and federal labor laws . . . ”

CNS: “Kenyan religious leaders said they will reject the proposed new constitution during a referendum in June because it would legalize abortion and keep in place Islamic courts, opening the prospect that Islamic law would become part of the nation’s laws . . . ”

LA Times: “U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the lack of consensus in many of the Supreme Court’s decisions reflects its fundamental inability to strike compromises on laws, as Congress can when writing them.”

Jess Bravin writes at the Wall Street Journal: “Chief Justice John Roberts spoke at the Indiana University law school in Indianapolis on Wednesday. After an innocuous lecture . . . he took questions . . . Roberts said he doesn’t pay much attention to academic legal writing. Law review articles are ‘more abstract’ than practical, and aren’t ‘particularly helpful for practitioners and judges.’”

Robert Knight writes at the Washington Times: “What do Craig Becker, Chai R. Feldblum and Jacqueline A. Berrien have in common? They’re the latest left-wing activists to gain public office in President Obama’s gallery of radical rulers, courtesy of recess appointments on March 27 . . . ”

AP: “As the U.S. census nears its final stages, the government is preparing for possible debacles that could derail its $15 billion head count, from mass identity theft and lawsuits to homeowners who refuse to answer their doors.”

AP: “The Philippine Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a decision barring a gay rights group from contesting national elections in May and recognized it as a legitimate political party for the first time.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “Opening briefs were filed last week with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a lawsuit filed by atheist Michael Newdow and the Freedom From Religion Foundation against a centuries-old practice of giving ministers a ‘parsonage allowance’ or tax exemption for their housing.”

AP: “The wife of jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia has appealed to prison authorities for her husband’s release, saying he has a serious disease that she fears might turn into liver cancer . . . ”

MyWay (AP): “In districts and states where the overhaul was most controversial, town-hall meetings have been replaced with tightly controlled business roundtables and other gatherings with voters.”

Citizen Link: “Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is set to sign a compact with the Seminole Tribe that would expand gambling.”

Citizen Link: “Pope Benedict XVI has announced pro-life Archbishop Jose Gomez to replace Cardinal Roger Mahoney when he steps down as the archbishop of Los Angeles . . . ”

Richard W. Garnett, Religious Liberty, Church Autonomy, and the Structure of Freedom (2010). CHRISTIANITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN INTRODUCTION, John Witte, Jr. and Frank S. Alexander eds., pp. 226-238, Cambridge University Press, 2010; Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 10-10. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1585191

“This chapter considers both the content of religious freedom and the ways it is protected and promoted. It proposes, first, that the ‘right to freedom of religion’ belongs not only to individuals, but also to institutions, associations, communities, and congregations. Just as every person has the right to seek religious truth and to cling to it when it is found, religious communities have the right to hold and teach their own doctrines; just as every person ought to be free from official coercion when it comes to religious practices or professions, religious institutions are entitled to govern themselves, and to exercise appropriate authority, free from official interference; just as every person has the right to select the religious teachings he will embrace, churches have the right to select the ministers they will ordain.”

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000012406.cfm