Daily Archives: April 26, 2010

Sun-Herald (AP): “The Mississippi House fought briefly Saturday before passing passed a bill to ban public funding of abortions under health exchanges that will be created under a new federal law . . . The bills are Senate Bill 3214 and House Bills 1627 and 1644.”

AP: “The former director of the science program for Texas’ public schools asked a federal appeals court Monday to revive a lawsuit over her firing for forwarding an e-mail about a forum opposed to teaching creationism . . . ”

Metropolis (WSJ Blog): “In remarks at a NARAL luncheon Monday at Columbus Circle, Mayor Mike Bloomberg called on President Obama to select a pro-choice justice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.”

LifeNews: “Minnesota Democrats used their state party convention to select House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher as their gubernatorial candidate. But the head of the state’s prominent pro-life organization says Kelliher has a long pro-abortion record and pro-life voters should look elsewhere.”

The Oklahoman (AP): “Evangelical leader James Dobson became the latest abortion foe to endorse one of Kentucky’s U.S. Senate hopefuls Monday, saying he would back Republican Trey Grayson even though GOP front-runner Rand Paul also has said he opposes abortion.”

Christian Newswire: “The Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC), the state’s largest and best known pro-life, pro-marriage and family organization, persuaded the Enfield Board of Education this week to defy a legal threat from the ACLU and send graduation ceremonies back to First Cathedral. Enfield’s vote capped a two-month effort by FIC to persuade the town to stand up in defense of the First Amendment . . . ”

“The House of Representatives today easily overrode the governor’s vetoes of two anti-abortion measures, including one requiring women to hear a description of an ultrasound examination before an abortion could be performed . . . ”

LifeNews: “A court ruled last Thursday that a New Jersey student should not have been prevented from participating in a national pro-life event along with hundreds of thousands of her peers . . . ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel [David Cortman] told LifeNews.com today.” | ADF News Release

The Press and Journal: “A Church of Scotland commission has raised the possibility of banning anyone who has sex outside marriage from joining the clergy. The policy has been put forward after concerns that a ban on practising homosexuals only could breach discrimination law.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “A Utah father is fighting an order that bars him from sharing his Fundamentalist Mormon views with his children — or even taking them to this small town he now calls home, where most residents hold a religious belief in polygamy that a judge deemed ‘harmful.’”

ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing at speakupmovement.org: “The better solution would simply be not to have constitutional provisions that specially discriminate against religious schools in the funding context. It makes constitutional sense to deprive the government of the power to preferentially fund a particular religious school simply because it is religious, but it does not serve genuine religious freedom to categorically exclude religious schools from funding designed to serve legitimate governmental objectives — such as increasing the number of pharmacists in southeastern Kentucky (the purpose of the Kentucky General Assembly’s grant to the University of the Cumberlands).”

Catholic News Agency: “Referencing an incident in which a Madrid high school banned a student from classes because she would not remove her Islamic veil, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino affirmed that it is ‘unconstitutional to prohibit or limit religious freedom’ within the country.”

Assyrian International News Agency: “On March 30 an administrative judicial court in Egypt dismissed a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Camilia Lutfi, mother of the Coptic Christian twins boys Mario and Andrew, against the Interior Minister, and the director of the Civil Status Department for refusing to re-instate the Christian religion on their birth certificates, and invalidate those which were forcefully changed to ‘Islam’ in 2005 by their father Medhat Ramsis Labib, who had converted to Islam.”

WBAY.com: “Because a federal judge recently ruled the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional, Freedom From Religion is sending more than a thousand letters to mayors and governors across the country discouraging them from participating in the event.”

Related: ADF reassures nation’s mayors that observing 2010 National Day of Prayer is constitutional

Sunday Standard: “Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana and its affiliate, Family of God, have dragged Bakgatla Paramount Chief Kgafela Kgafela II and his younger brother, Mmusi Kgafela, to court demanding that the church be reinstated in Kgatleng urgently.”

The Christian Institute: “Scottish children as young as eleven are receiving sex education from 14-year-olds in a bid to cut teenage pregnancies, but critics have described the scheme as ‘flawed’. The Health Buddies pilot project, which is taking place in Dundee, involves pupils as young as 14 teaching younger children about issues such as contraception and puberty.”

The Christian Institute: “Muslim doctors and nurses have been allowed to opt-out of NHS hygiene rules in a move that has been blasted by critics as double standards. Critics compared the opt-out given to Muslims to cases of Christians being marginalised by the NHS.”

ABA: “The Congressional letters, signed by American Bar Association President Carolyn Lamm, say “we opposed enactment of this policy in 1993 as establishing a form of discrimination that was not based on the character of the servicemember’s contribution to the national defense.  The harm we foresaw has since come to pass . . .  Here are links to the Senate letter, the House of Representatives letter and the Department of Defense letter.”

The Christian Institute: “A church which has rung out its bells since the 16th century is facing a fine after neighbours complained about the noise. St Mary the Virgin church in Leigh, Greater Manchester, has already been subjected to a noise abatement order. And now it faces calls from its local council to install costly sound proofing material.”

The Christian Institute: “Church of England bishops will have a voice but no vote in a reformed House of Lords, under leaked Government plans. In the plans the Government also sets out that it will cut the number of bishops sitting in the Lords by more than half.”

The Christian Institute: “Warning about the dangers of explicit lyrics, Dr McCartney said: ‘I think it is making children think this social behaviour is the norm and the danger is when you have girls listening to girls singing about it.’”

LifeNews: “State legislators in Tennessee may have beat their colleagues in Arizona in passing a law to allow the state to opt out of some of the abortion funding in the government-run health care bill President Barack Obama signed. But Governor Jan Brewer made Arizona officially the first to have the bill become law.” | Center for Arizona Policy Press Release | SB 1305

CBS 5 (AP): “California lawmakers have voted to modify a decades-old law designed to find the causes and cures of homosexuality.”

Washington Post: “The District’s long-running gay weekly will resume publishing under its original name, the Washington Blade, at the end of this week, after the acquisition of the Blade’s assets in bankruptcy court in Atlanta.”

Can a society that allows unbridled adultery rationally prohibit polygamy?

Lincoln News Messenger: “Hindu leader Rajan Zed will deliver invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Lincoln City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.”

Mark David Hall writes at the Christian Post: “When the First Continental Congress convened in 1774, Thomas Cushing encouraged the delegates to begin their proceedings with prayer. John Jay and John Rutledge questioned the practicality of doing so given the different denominations represented in Congress. The fiery Congregationalist Samuel Adams replied that “he was no Bigot, and could hear a Prayer from a Gentleman of Piety and Virtue” and suggested that they invite the Anglican minister Jacob Duché to open the body with prayer. Congress agreed . . . ”

365Gay.com reports that Finland’s parliament may redefine marriage as early as next year.

Christian Web News: “Pat Trueman, attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund and former chief prosecutor in the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, notes that the problem isn’t just within the SEC. He wonders, ‘Why doesn’t the federal government get a good blocking software to prohibit pornography on any federal computer?’”

KOCO.com: “State lawmakers say they will try to override Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of two abortion bills.”

Related: Oklahoma Governor Henry Vetoes Bill to Give Women Ultrasound Before Abortion

LifeNews: “The Georgia chapter of the NAACP has withdrawn its support for a bill advancing in the state legislature that would ban abortions done specifically because the child is African-American. Although the civil rights organization opposes racial discrimination, that apparently doesn’t extend to abortions. The Georgia NAACP had originally endorsed SB 529 . . . ”

Law.com: “This is the final week of argument for the U.S. Supreme Court with four cases left on the docket and dozens more still to be decided. The week also marks the last time Justice John Paul Stevens is expected to hear arguments with his fellow justices . . . On the last day of arguments, two important policies clash in John Doe No. 1 v. Reed, said media law scholar Lyrissa Lidsky of the University of Florida Levin College of Law . . . [The petition signers] are supported by a large number of conservative social and legal organizations, such as the Family Research Council and Alliance Defense Fund.”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund has asked Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to determine if it is legal under Statute 20.927 (1m) for the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority (UWHCA) to pay resident physicians while they are being trained to be doctors to perform abortions at Planned Parenthood.”

OneNewsNow: “An Arkansas school district is prohibiting a mother and her daughter from participating in a school literature distribution program because their flyers were ‘church-related’ . . . ‘Groups like the 4-H Club, the Boy Scouts, youth sports, summer camps — all those groups are allowed to pass out flyers,’ notes ADF senior legal counsel David Cortman.”

The Bulletin: “More than 300 parents have filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights challenging a compulsory anti-Christian curriculum in Spain’s public and private schools that promotes liberal sexuality with graphic imagery while openly bashing the Catholic Church . . . ‘The state shouldn’t usurp the right of parents to raise children according to their beliefs. Forcing students to participate in values training contrary to their convictions is a violation of basic human rights,’ said ADF Legal Counsel [Roger Kiska], who is based in Europe.” | ADF News Release

Everett Daily Herald: “On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear lawyers argue why those names should be kept secret forever . . . In its filing, the Alliance Defense Fund, whose lawyers focus on civil liberties and religion cases, contends that ‘fear of harassment at the hands of pressure groups … discourages people from signing petitions.’”

Shirley Dobson writing in the Spartanburg Herald Journal: “My team and I are grieved that a day honoring our country’s heritage of faith and freedom has come under such blatant and unfounded attack. As [Joel Oster], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, explained: ‘It’s important to remember this about the National Day of Prayer: It’s America’s heritage, and this day belongs to Americans — the court should not have struck down this statute. The administration has done the right thing in appealing this terrible decision that not only undermines the National Day of Prayer but the underlying heritage and tradition of the American people which dates back to the nation’s founding.’”

ADF attorneys filed suit against Bridgeton Board of Education for student’s right to participate in Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity

ABC: “When President Obama picks his nominee to become the nation’s 112th Supreme Court justice, he’ll bestow one of the highest honors a U.S. lawyer or judge can receive. But appointment to a seat on the country’s highest court can be both a blessing and a curse, court insiders say . . . ”

NY Times: “When President Obama earlier this year nominated Goodwin Liu, a liberal Berkeley law professor, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, conservatives did not just criticize Mr. Liu — they also attacked the circuit court he hopes to join . . . ”

Seattle Times: “The case could decide whether signing a petition for a ballot measure is private or whether the names of signers can be made public.”

SCOTUS Wiki: Doe v. Reed

USA Today: “Dozens of states are passing or debating new restrictions on abortion, a trend fueled in part by passage of the nation’s new health care law. Both sides of the hot-button issue are seeing new approaches to reduce abortions.”

Religion Clause Blog: “The church was accused of disrespecting Kgatla law, and Paramount Chief Kgafela Kgafela II’s regiments whipped two of the church’s pastors. An order was issued banning the church from worshiping in Mochudi. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring that the Bakgatla paramount chief has no legal authority to expel the churches . . . ”

WorldNetDaily: “Now members of the Michigan Senate have approved legislation that includes a provision calling on university counseling programs to evaluate and affirm how they can accommodate the religious beliefs of students . . . According to a column posted by David French of the Alliance Defense Fund, the lawsuit is over the fact that Eastern expelled Ward ‘not because she harmed anyone but simply because she was unwilling to express support for things she did not believe.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday’s Honolulu Advertiser reports that Hawai’i Citizens for Separation of State and Church has filed a complaint with Honolulu City Council contending that since January 2008, 25 out of 27 Council meetings have been opened by Christian prayer or sermonizing.”

OneNewsNow: “Thousands of Christian students found alternative ways to counter the Day of Silence that took place April 16 on school campuses across the country . . . This was the first year Exodus International sponsored the Day of Truth since it was started by the Alliance Defense Fund in 2005.”

The Columbus Dispatch: “The National Day of Prayer Task Force has launched a petition and fundraising campaign to “save” the event. Members are appealing to Obama to appeal the ruling, task-force spokesman John Bornschein said. The money raised will go to the task force’s legal firm, the Alliance Defense Fund, to try to mount legal challenges and gain congressional support, he said. ‘Like it or not, we are a nation under God.’”

New Statesman: “Cameron is not oblivious to his party’s uneasy coalitions, and has stealthily started to unveil policies designed to shore up its increasingly loud, ultra-conservative Christian base. Recently, he told the Catholic Herald that he was a “big supporter” of faith schools and that there should be a review of the legal time limit for abortion. Is he likely to go further? . . . The answer may depend on how well the Christian right organises itself . . . Some groups in the UK have received funding from US groups . . . A Channel 4 investigation [in 2008] revealed that the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, for which Williams then served as public policy director, had received money from a US organisation called the Alliance Defense Fund that aims to ‘aggressively defend religious liberty’ through litigation.”

Associated Press: “The ruling can’t take effect until all appeals are exhausted, but that’s not stopping atheists and prayer advocates from firing off letters, e-mails and even planning to put up billboards to convince state and local leaders across the country to see things their way . . . ‘Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did, and a recent federal judge’s ruling does not prevent America’s cities from lawfully observing the National Day of Prayer,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Mike Johnson] said in a statement.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Wall of Separation: “The religious school subsidies were successfully challenged by the Fairness Alliance, the Jefferson County Teachers Association and two clergy. Forces defending the grant to UC included the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Legal Society.”

“The Supreme Court agreed Monday to rule on the constitutionality of a state law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.”

One News Now: “Spencer adds that more and more ordinary people in Britain are growing concerned and angry about the ‘Islamization’ of the country, which they clearly do not want.”

Congratulations to allied attorneys Jim Bopp, Simon Calvert, Jason Craddock, Brad Dacus, Kevin Snider, Matt McReynolds, Steve Fitschen, Barry Hodge, and Demetrios Stratis for their recent successes listed below. Please take time to congratulate them!

Phoenix Religion & Society Examiner: “[Erik Stanley], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund which worked on the legal challenge on behalf of three churches that combined efforts to defeat the conviction, said that ‘Churches shouldn’t be targeted and punished for ringing their bells as a public expression of faith that’s been done for centuries. The federal court has made the right decision by declaring that the city’s noise ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.’” | ADF News Release

Boston Globe: “Administrators at Harvard, Brown, and other elite universities are softening their resistance to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps more than four decades after the military scholarship programs were driven from campus in the face of fierce antiwar sentiment.”

AP: “A Muslim Frenchman at the center of a firestorm over polygamy said Monday that keeping mistresses is the French way of life.”

NCPA Policy Digest: “By 2013, the amount of retirement money promised to employees of these public entities will exceed cash on hand by more than a trillion dollars, says the Washington Times.”

The Hill has launched a new lawmaker rating service available here.

AP: “Now the long-sacrosanct policy may be on its way out, as some demographers warn that China is facing the opposite problem: not enough babies.”

Andrew B. Coan, The Irrelevance of Writtenness in Constitutional Interpretation (February 12, 2010). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 158, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1281066

“The originalist argument to the contrary is one instance of a broader rhetorical phenomenon that the philosopher C. L. Stevenson helpfully labeled ‘persuasive definition.’ It is an attempt to resolve a normative debate through redefinition of a normatively charged term – in this case, interpretation. There is broad agreement that judges should interpret, rather than make, the law. Thus, by redefining interpretation to include only originalist interpretation, originalists appear to answer the normative question of how judges should decide constitutional cases. But it is only an appearance. Their argument sheds no light on the actual normative question at issue, which is how we should want judges to decide constitutional cases. Our ‘commitment to written constitutionalism’ may mean that we are unlikely to accept an answer to that question that does not accord some role to the constitutional text. But all plausible theories – not just originalism – do that. The writtenness of the Constitution can therefore provide no ground for choosing originalism over other plausible contenders.”

When It Rains, It Pours: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Freedom of Choice Act and Its Potential Fallout on Abortion Jurisprudence and Legislation
Kristen L. Burge, 40 Cumb. L. Rev. 181 (2010)

“Throughout this comment, FOCA will be analyzed on the premise that women’s rights established in Roe are normative. Specifically, this comment will focus on the language of FOCA and its consequences on both domestic abortion law and foreign policy. Part I of this comment follows FOCA’s textual evolution from the bill’s inception in 1989 to its most present form in 2007. Part II provides a synopsis of the Supreme Court jurisprudence and the corresponding congressional legislation that fall within the purview of FOCA’s influence. Part III explores the effects of FOCA on the current state of abortion law relating to government funding, parental consent requirements, maternal safety regulations, and conscience clause protections, while focusing on whether FOCA expands women’s rights beyond those established by Roe. Part III then turns to discuss FOCA’s effect on the Catholic healthcare system. Finally, this comment concludes by addressing the changes that Congress must make to FOCA in order to effectively codify Roe and avoid many of FOCA’s crippling effects on current laws and polices without nullifying the bill’s primary purpose.”

Post-Mortem Pregnancy: A Proposed Methodology for the Resolution of Conflicts Over Whether a Brain Dead Pregnant Woman Should be Maintained on Life-Sustaining Treatment
Alexis Gregorian, 19 Annals Health L. 401 (2010)

“Part I of this article endeavors to directly refute the Piazzi court’s first holding by demonstrating that interests are not extinguished upon death; in fact, multiple legal premises rely on the legal fiction that the dead have interests deserving of posthumous protection. This Part concludes that the legal fiction extends to the interests of post-mortem pregnant women in refusing medical treatment. Part II proceeds by exploring two areas of the law in which the interests of pregnant women and the state are in tension: abortion and forced cesarean sections. This Part focuses on the rights and the temporal framework laid out in both the Supreme Court and lower courts’ decisions and argues for their applicability in cases of post-mortem pregnancy. Part III articulates a proposed methodology courts should employ in cases of conflict over whether to remove a post-mortem pregnant woman from life-sustaining treatment, drawing on the abortion temporal framework and accounting for a post-mortem pregnant woman’s interests, her family’s interests, and the state’s interests.”

Unborn Children as Constitutional Persons
Gregory J. Roden, J.D., 25 Issues L. & Med. 185 (2010)

“In this article, it is argued that unborn children are indeed ‘persons’ within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments. As there is no constitutional text explicitly holding unborn children to be, or not to be, ‘persons,’ this argument will be based on the ‘historical understanding and practice, the structure of the Constitution, and the jurisprudence of [the Supreme] Court.’”

Robert K. Vischer, Individual Rights vs. Institutional Identity: The Relational Dimension of Conscience in Health Care (2010). U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-17. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1595151

“In the debates over the role of a provider’s conscience in the provision of health care, both sides engage the question in individualist terms, as though the only relevant choice is whether to enshrine a liberty right for the customer or a liberty right for the provider. Little attention is paid to the value of institutional identity. The conscience-driven practices of providers are not inherently less legitimate than the conscience-driven needs and preferences of health care customers, provided that goods and services to meet customers’ needs and preferences are accessible. In a functioning market, the viability of conscience requires us to give providers – and like-minded customers – an opportunity to live out their ideals. By more steadfastly defending the social space in which individuals and groups can live out the dictates of their consciences, even when (especially when) those dictates have been rejected by the majority, we will bolster the long-term prospects for the liberty of conscience. It is not just about the individual and the state. There is important space in between.”

Lorenz Langer, Panacea or Pathetic Fallacy? The Swiss Ban on Minarets (April 24, 2010). Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 43, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1594192

“This article provides a thick description of the context in which the minaret vote took place. First, a legal analysis addresses the implications of the ban under national, regional and international normative frameworks. It is argued that the ban is irreconcilable with the constitutional bill of rights and several international human right provisions. However, in contrast to state ballots in the United States, there is no judicial review of initiatives in Switzerland; respect for the vox populi trumps any concern over conflicting international obligations. A historical analysis will help to explain how, through its excessive emphasis on popular sovereignty, the peculiar myth-system underlying modern-time Switzerland has facilitated the banning of minarets.”

Samuel J. Levine, Goldman v. Weinberger: Religious Freedom Confronts Military Uniformity (2010). LAW AND RELIGION: CASES IN CONTEXT: LEADING LAW AND RELIGION SCHOLARS EXPLORE THE ISSUES THAT CONFOUND COURTS, Leslie C. Griffin ed., 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1593712

“In 1986, the United States Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision ruling that Air Force regulations prohibiting Simcha Goldman from wearing a yarmulke while in uniform did not violate Goldman’s First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The Court’s majority opinion, which accepted the government’s assertion that allowing Goldman to wear a yarmulke would unduly upset important military interests, drew unusually harsh responses from both dissenting justices and legal scholars. Yet, upon closer examination, perhaps what stands out most about the events surrounding the Goldman decision is the untold story of the case, which differs in significant respects from the official version of both the facts of the dispute and the ensuing litigation. The official narrative characterizes the facts as simply presenting a dispute between a Jewish soldier wanting to wear his yarmulke during work and a commanding officer demanding strict adherence to the military uniform protocol. However, the unofficial narrative demonstrates how much of the story was the result of personal factors, such as personal animosity between parties and passionate opinions from judges, that seemed to drive each stage of the legal process.”

Adam Schwartzbaum, The Niqab in the Courtroom: Protecting Free Exercise in a Post-Smith World (April 20, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1593198

“The niqab has become enmeshed in heated political controversy all across the world. In the United States, the situation of Ginnah Muhammad exemplifies the complex legal issues arising from conflicts between individuals whose religious beliefs compel this practice and the secular state. Muhammad, an African-American Muslim woman, was ejected from a Michigan small claims court for refusing to remove her veil while testifying. This Comment explores the constitutionality of this action, and a subsequent amendment to the Michigan Rules of Evidence passed in response to her case giving judges the power to ‘exercise reasonable control over parties and witnesses.’ Inevitably, neutral, generally applicable laws will sometimes conflict with individuals’ religious practices. In Employment Division v. Smith, the Supreme Court concluded that in most of these situations, the secular goals of the state override the religious objections of the individual so long as the government can advance a rational basis for its legislation. However, Smith itself acknowledges that in certain limited circumstances, even neutral, generally applicable laws are subject to strict scrutiny. This Comment explores the idea that a ban on the niqab in the courtroom is one such case. It analyzes the division amongst the Courts of Appeals regarding the ‘hybrid-situation,’ and argues that Muhammad’s case exemplifies precisely how the doctrine should work in practice, because such a rule violates a Muslim woman’s Free Exercise rights and her corresponding right of access to the courts. It then reviews the interests advanced by the state as compelling reasons for the ban, and presents legal and empirical evidence suggesting that these are not sufficiently compelling and narrowly tailored enough to overcome strict scrutiny. By showing why even individuals at the outer edges of the law still have a strong claim for a religious exemption, this Comment attempts to make jurisprudential space for the vast majority of religious adherents to enjoy fair and equal treatment within the halls of American justice.”

OneNewsNow: “Pat Trueman, attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and former chief prosecutor in the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, contends the problem is not confined to just the SEC . . . ‘Why doesn’t the federal government get a good blocking software to prohibit pornography on any federal computer,’ he wonders.”

USA Today (Inside Higher Ed): “The California State University at Northridge professor’s site is a one-stop shop for men drawn to the country’s sex tourism industry . . . Some question whether Ng has crossed a gray legal line, however, by advising men on sex tourism. Patrick Trueman, a former U.S. justice department official, notes that there are several federal statutes that could come into play . . . ‘Inducing and enticing? Isn’t that what this guy’s doing?’ said Trueman, former chief of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Criminal Division.”