Daily Archives: May 3, 2010

The Santiago Times: “Students of all sexual orientation need to know they are not alone, say activists who came together for Chile’s first forum on education and sexual diversity. The forum was held Wednesday afternoon at the National Library in Santiago for teachers, secondary school and university students, and was sponsored by Chile’s gay rights group, MOVILH.”

Reuters: “The failed car bomb in New York’s Times Square increasingly appears to have been coordinated by several people in a plot with international ties, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed Obama administration officials.”

Associated Press: “A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman is slated for its first court hearing.”

Courthouse News Service: “A split 9th Circuit panel rejected the claims of a Muslim woman who said she suffered a ‘deeply humiliating and defiling experience’ when she was forced to remove her headscarf for security reasons at the Orange County Superior Courthouse . . . The district court dismissed Khatib’s religious freedom claim, ruling that a courthouse holding cell is not an ‘institution’ as defined by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The Act protects the right of institutionalized people to practice religion.” | Khatib v. County of Orange, No. 08-56423 (9th Cir. May 3, 2010)

ACLU: “Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah Foundation, Inc. (ACLU), the Washington County School District (WCSD) agreed last month to implement and enforce district-wide revisions to its policies for forming non-curricular student clubs. These revisions made it possible for students at four WCSD high schools—Desert Hills, Dixie, Pine View, and Snow Canyon—to form “Gay-Straight Alliances” for the first time in the schools’ history . . . ”

Pioneer Press: “Consumer groups challenging a key patent covering embryonic stem cell research pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have won an appeal overturning an earlier rejection of their claims.”

Spero News: “Another targeted attack on the Christian minority. Iraqi police said the two attacks took place yesterday in the north, where the community decimated by years of religious persecution now live en masse. The attackers used a car bomb and improvised explosive device, detonated by the passage of buses carrying students residing in the town of Hamdaniya, 40 km east of Mosul. The toll is of 100 wounded and one person dead, a Christian, owner of a shop located near the site of the explosions . . . ”

Compass Direct:”A Christian barber in this Punjab Province city is still recovering from broken bones and other injuries sustained earlier this month after eight Muslims allegedly beat and sodomized him for cutting the beard of a Muslim . . . Police have refused to file a First Information Report against Cheema and his accomplices, who all remained at large at press time.”

Blog of the Legal Times: “After sending out signals late last week that President Barack Obama was still some distance away from making a decision, the White House today indicated that an announcement of a new Supreme Court nominee may come this week . . . ”

Tampabay.com: “Detectives are looking for a man who shot two people outside a strip club early Monday. A 20-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were shot after a fight broke out in the parking lot of Bottoms Up Gentlemen’s Club, 8804 66th St. N, deputies said . . . ”

GayPolitics.com: “Hawaii State Rep. Blake Oshiro has never before talked to the media about his own sexual orientation, but Friday he broke his silence . . . ”

Liberty Counsel: “The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of two dozen individuals . . . all of whom have been silenced, censored, intimidated or harassed by the school district and its partner, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). As a result of a legal agreement, students can no longer say ‘God Bless,’ . . . ”

FRC Blog: “. . . In fiscal year 2008, the nonprofit claimed revenue of $85,758,316. In fiscal year 2009, that amount increased to $106,357,796 . . .”

The Standard: “Kenya has made adjustments to its banking sector to let Islamic finance institutions set up and prosper, the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said on Monday.”

Radio Free Europe: “William Ward, the chairman of the Iraqi human rights organization Hammurabi, told RFE/RL that the Christian groups in Iraq are considering a campaign for separate legislation that would establish standards more in line with Christianity in such matters as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.”

NorthJersey.com: “State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said Monday he was disappointed that Governor Christie ‘decided to inject ‘rank politics’ into into the historic independence of the state’s judiciary’ by not reappointing Justice John Wallace to the Supreme Court.”

Reuters: “Starting Tuesday, visitors will no longer be able to enter the building through the front doors at the top of 44 marble steps on the plaza directly across from the U.S. Capitol.”

Boston Globe (AP): “The governor of Massachusetts has signed a bill cracking down on school bullies and requiring teachers to report bullying to principals.”

ACLU:  ”The ACLU of Virginia has asked the Textbook Review Committee of Chesterfield County Public Schools to drop from consideration a controversial Bible study course that may unconstitutionally promote religious beliefs in public schools.  The course, entitled The Bible in History and Literature and produced by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, was the target of an ACLU lawsuit in Texas in 2007 that resulted in a local school board agreeing not to use it . . . ”

ADF Attorney Joe Martins writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “This month, San Jose State University President, Jon Whitmore, decided to continue a two year old policy of suspending all blood drives on campus. The reason? Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bans men who have had sex with other men (MSM) from donating blood. According to SJSU, this violates the University’s policy against sexual orientation discrimination. The implications of this decision are quite shocking.”

Mark W. Hendrickson writes at the Grove City College Center for Vision and Values: “Should Americans care about all this? Not long ago, the euro was being touted as a possible competitor with the dollar for global foreign currency reserves. Not today. But if you are tempted to gloat, here are two reasons why you shouldn’t: 1) We Americans have become a significant player in the stop-gap Greek bailout. That is because the IMF has been like the cavalry riding to the rescue, promising big bucks to the Greek government. Since the largest contributions to the IMF come from the American taxpayer, we find ourselves once again picking up the tab for a bailout—this time, not for rich American financiers, but for corrupt and profligate foreign governments and special interest groups . . . ”

ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “Professors Vik Amar and Alan Brownstein of UC Davis law school have written a column on CLS v. Martinez. In that column, they (1) raise questions about the ramifications of a victory for CLS; and (2) take issue with certain of CLS’s viewpoint discrimination arguments. This blog post addresses the first of these.”

Joplin Globe: “Southwest Missouri residents who have been battling an adult video store and spa near Sarcoxie want action this week on legislation that would regulate sexually oriented businesses in the state. A bill has been passed by the Missouri Senate and is set for final action in the House.” | SB 586

WRAL: “Four years after the General Assembly thought it had banned video poker gambling machines, the House and Senate could consider in the upcoming legislative session whether to try to ban an alternate form of the games or find a more profitable way to live with them.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Federal law enforcement considers Atlanta a hub for child prostitution even after more than a decade of efforts to stamp it out. Advocates contend at least 400 minors prostitute themselves in Georgia, mostly in metro Atlanta, with many turning to this lifestyle at 14 or younger. Pimps circumvent legal tactics by making the girls too loyal or too afraid to testify. Officials debate whether these girls are victims of sexual exploitation or perpetrators.”

AP: “U.S. officials say the Obama administration is expected to release a more precise accounting of the Pentagon’s nuclear arsenal Monday.”

GMA News: “The Philippines is pressing the international community to forge new agreements against cyber child pornography, a delegation said in a report to the United Nations crime prevention congress in Brazil.”

Reuters: “Craigslist.com was subpoenaed on Monday by Connecticut’s attorney general, who is investigating whether the popular online classified ad service is doing enough to quash prostitution on its site and whether it may be profiting from it . . . ”

“Increasingly, pro-choice activists are noting the political downside of relegating men to second-class status in abortion discourse.”

CNA: “A survey of the Republic of Ireland shows that 70 percent of Irish people support the constitutional protection for the unborn, including the prohibition of abortion.”

LifeSiteNews: “However on Thursday, the very last day of the state’s legislative session, Rep. Blake Oshiro moved to revive the Senate bill. Instead of following the rules established for taking up the shelved bill, Speaker Calvin Say had the House take four votes to suspend those rules and pass the bill with just a majority.’

Catholic News Service: “Newark Archbishop John J. Myers said a course on same-sex marriage to be offered in the fall at Seton Hall University ‘troubles me greatly.’”

Daily Mail: “A Conservative government would ‘consider’ changing the law to allow gay civil partnerships to be renamed marriages, the party revealed today. The promise came in a ‘contract for equalities’, unveiled by shadow women’s minister Theresa May, which said the Conservatives were ‘committed to a fairer deal for gay people across Britain’.”

CNN: “It’s only been two months since the District of Columbia legalized same-sex marriage, but local attorney Lawrence Jacobs is already cautioning his clients: Marriage may be allowed, but divorce will be much harder to do. While the District and five states have legalized same-sex marriage and consequently allow divorces, granting same-sex divorce elsewhere is often murky. As married same-sex couples cross into states that explicitly ban or don’t recognize gay marriage, they face a dilemma.”

“Lost in the gathering debate over President Barack Obama’s next Supreme Court pick, a profound shift in the federal judiciary is taking place below the high court.”

The Hill: “‘Senior members of the GOP told me Dr. Paul is pro-choice and that he opposes many conservative perspectives, so I endorsed his opponent,’ Dobson said. ‘But now I’ve received further information from OB/GYNs in Kentucky whom I trust, and from interviewing the candidate himself.’” | Related: [4.26.2010] Abortion becomes key issue in Ky.’s US Senate race

ADF attorney Matt Bowman appeared on Reality Check Live to discuss the Cenzon-DeCarlo case involving a nurse forced to participate in an abortion. | The MP3 runs approximately 15 minutes. | ADF press release: NY nurse forced to participate in abortion files additional suit against Mt. Sinai Hospital

LifeNews: “Natalie Mota, a PhD student in the U of M’s clinical psychology department, co-wrote the study with authors Margaret Burnett and Jitender Sareen. The study appeared in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry and it showed women having abortions were 3.8 times more likely to have substance abuse disorders . . . ”

“A DEPARTMENT OF Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen’s foster mother.”

ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the National Day of Prayer litigation. | The MP3 runs just under 17 minutes. | Related ADF resources.

ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “In a house editorial, the New York Times urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against Christian Legal Society and for Hastings College of the Law in CLS v. Martinez. What follows is a response, submitted to but not published by The Times.”

ADF Attorney Tim Chandler writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “[A]bove all else, [Stevens] will be remembered as the intellectual leader of the Court’s liberal wing. And in that role, he was consistently a staunch advocate for erecting a ‘high and impregnable wall between church and state’ and has issued numerous opinions that have diminished our religious freedoms.”

Fayette County News: “The day after Judge Crabb’s ruling the Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian lawyers, fired off letters to mayors telling them the ruling has no bearing on prayer day activities. ‘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 cities from lawfully observing the National Day of Prayer,’ the letter said.”

OneNewsNow: “The Michigan legislature is working on a measure in the state higher education budget that would require state-funded universities to report steps they’re making to protect religious freedom on campus . . . In early April 2009, [Julea] Ward brought a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University through the Alliance Defense Fund, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights.”

OneNewsNow: “An appeal is planned to the highest court in Arkansas after a judge there decided to strike down a state law passed by voters to protect children who are adopted or placed into foster care . . . ‘They’re looking to strike down a law that does nothing but protect children,’ [Byron Babione] contends. ‘[It] is a law that’s been passed by an overwhelming number of the people in a direct vote through the ballot initiative.’”

NY Times: “Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer whose 13-month disappearance at the hands of Chinese security agents stirred an international outcry until he resurfaced in March, has again vanished, his friends said Friday.”

Bluegrass Policy Blog: “There’s a smokescreen of allegations that charter schools are leading to school re-segregation. , a University of Arkansas team takes a look at one specific example of the shaky research behind such claims in a new article in the Summer 2010 edition of Education Next, ‘A Closer Look at Charter Schools and Segregation.’ ‘A Closer Look’ takes strong issue with the methodology of another recent report from the UCLA-based Civil Rights Project (CRP), claiming that study’s ‘flawed comparisons lead to overstated conclusions.’”

In The Gainesville Sun, Rick Allen asks whether prayer matters. He begins with a recent LifeWay Research study which found that 72% of Millenials (18- to 29-year-olds) are “more spiritual than religious.” That is “tomorrow’s challenge,” Allen writes; today’s is whether prayer is more properly public or private: “A judge in Wisconsin last month ruled the law requiring the president to proclaim a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional . . . Defenders, however, argue the NDP is ‘America’s heritage,’ says [Joel Oster], senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund. ‘The National Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according to their own faith.’”

NY Daily News: “‘They knew her objections on the day she was hired,’ said lawyer [Matt Bowman] of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian organization that filed suit in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Cenzon-DeCarlo’s behalf.” | ADF News Release

Portland Church & State Examiner: “Conservative Christian groups are claiming a broad-spectrum victory in this case. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco] comments: ‘A passive monument acknowledging our nation’s religious heritage cannot be interpreted as an establishment of religion. To make that accusation, one must harbor both a hostility to the nation’s history and a deep misunderstanding of the First Amendment.’” | ADF News Release

WorldNetDaily: “The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could allow the names and addresses of opponents of a measure granting benefits of marriage to same-sex partners to be posted on the Internet, where radical homosexuals could target them with verbal assault – or much worse . . . Other groups [besides CWA] that [filed briefs] included Liberty Counsel, Cato Institute, Institute for Justice, Alliance Defense Fund, American Center for Law and Justice, and the Justice and Freedom Fund.”

ADF, Stand4MarriageDC appealed decision denying DC voters a say on definition of marriage

AP: “The Supreme Court has turned away an appeal from Delaware to expand its sports betting lottery beyond professional football.”

CCFON: “Two homosexual activists posed proudly in front of cameras as the first same-sex parents in Britain to jointly sign a birth certificate.”

Jerusalem Post: “In an attempt to launch indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the US has given private assurances that it would consider not using its veto power against UN Security Council condemnations of any significant new settlement activity, the Guardian reported.”

WhiteHouse.gov: The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 30, 2010 Presidential Proclamation–National Day of Prayer A PROCLAMATION Throughout our history, whether in times of great joy and thanksgiving, or in times of great challenge and …

God and Country: “Michael Weinstein is truly the gift that keeps on giving. His latest attempt at infamy is to say that a red cross appearing on a military hospital’s emblem.”

Religion Clause Blog: “On Friday, an Indiana federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the planned student-led prayer at suburban Indianapolis’ Greenwood High School’s upcoming graduation. The school conducts a student ballot at an assembly in which students vote on whether to have a fellow student deliver a non-denominational prayer at graduation . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “Last month, the Selective Service System added one additional alternative for conscientious objectors if the draft should ever be reinstated.”

National Law Journal (Law.com): “Study shows nonwhites make up less than 14 percent of law clerks in federal courts”

AP: “Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has agreed to a court order requested by abortion providers to temporarily block enforcement of a new state law, which requires women to get an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of the fetus.”

AP: “The Supreme Court on Monday decided to let stand a ruling saying the Boy Scouts cannot lease city-owned parkland in San Diego because the group is a religious organization.”

Katherine Kersten writes at the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “We Americans like to think we take public health very seriously. We stigmatize smoking, and wring our hands over schoolyard bullying. But isn’t Internet pornography a public health menace that dwarfs these? Pornography teaches us to view other human beings not as ends in themselves, but as means to our own sexual pleasure. We can only guess at the future costs our unprecedented consumption of it will bring.”

The Daily Beast: “Whatever the truth, one thing is irrefutable: The road to a normal, white-picket-fence life after a career spent in adult entertainment is fraught with perilous detours. The list of porn-star train wrecks with failed exit strategies is long and grim.”

NY Times: “While churches have addressed pornography use among the men in their congregations and among the clergy, a group for women who say they are addicted to pornography is new territory, she said.”

CBS: “A New Jersey student, who is a cross-dresser, spoke to Eyewitness News about his fight to go to the prom in a knee-length black dress and heels.”

Carlos A. Ball, Gay is Good: Morality and the LGBT Rights Movement (April 30, 2010). New York University Review of Law & Social Change, Vol. 34, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598503

The purposes of this Essay are threefold. The first is to explain why it is that LGBT activists have traditionally shied away from making explicitly moral arguments in support of their positions. The second is to explore the impact of Lawrence v. Texas on the appropriate relationship between legal regulations of LGBT-related matters and morality. And the third is to suggest two categories of moral arguments – one grounded in constitutional values and the other in empirical evidence – that gay rights supporters should consider using in seeking to advance the interests of LGBT people.

Randall R. Kelso, Modern Moral Reasoning and Emerging Trends in Constitutional and Other Rights Decisionmaking Around the World (April 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598408

“Moral reasoning refers to an effort to identify how persons ought to behave and what ought to be. Sometimes in philosophy this has been referred to as a search for ‘the good.’ Of course, ideas on what is good have differed from one society to another and have changed from time to time within individual societies. At all times, however, the question of the morality of ‘egotism’ or ‘self-interest’ has been central to the debate. Explicit acknowledgment of this fact, and the triumph of non-egocentric modes of moral reasoning in the modern world, can help explain current moral and legal reasoning by constitutional courts and other actors around the world.

In pursuit of this explanation, this article discusses traditional views on the morality of egocentric versus non-egocentric thought, with non-egocentric thought based on a requirement of giving all individuals equal concern and respect, phrased in religious terms as love of neighbor as thyself. The article then notes the emerging trend among constitutional courts and other actors around the world to adopt the non-egocentric moral principle of equal concern and respect as the basis for moral and legal decisionmaking. This is done in the context of equal protection law, particularly rights of gender equality; autonomy interests, including respect for diverse views as long as they do not trample on the diversity rights of others; economic rights; and review of government criminal and administrative action. Finally, the article discusses the modern explication for the rationality of adopting non-egocentric thought as the basis for moral reasoning.”

Daphne Barak-Erez, Law and Religion Under the Status Quo Model: Between Past Compromises and Constant Change (2009). Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 2495-2507, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1596748

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Among the different approaches to the regulation of the legal status of religion, it is worthwhile to study the Israeli experience, traditionally depicted as based on a decision not to decide – that is, on preserving an existing status quo that acknowledges the priority of religious demands in some areas in a way that reflects a social-political compromise rather than a principled decision-making. This approach has been labeled the ‘status quo’ model. The practical meaning of accepting the status quo model was supposed to be refraining from changing the compromises that had been crystallized in the early days of Israel. This abstention was planned to apply to all forms of law-making – either by legislation, administrative decisions or judicial decisions. This Article will look into the practice of the status quo regime and will argue that in fact, contrary to its reputation, the status quo was ever-changing, and in this respect does not represent a workable compromise anymore.”

Posted: 05/03/2010

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Category: Global: Religious Freedom

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Source: ssrn.com

Tags: Category: Global, Country: Israel, Global: Religious Freedom, Topic: Legal Periodicals

Nelson Tebbe and Deborah A. Widiss, Equal Access and the Right to Marry (April 22, 2010). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 158, p. 1375, 2010; Indiana Legal Studies Research Paper No. 164; Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 186. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1594361

“How should courts think about the right to marry? This is a question of principle, of course, but it has also become a matter of litigation strategy for advocates challenging different-sex marriage requirements across the country. We argue that the right to marry is best conceptualized as a matter of equal access to government support and recognition, and we contend that the doctrinal vehicle that most closely matches the structure of the right can be found in the fundamental interest branch of equal protection law. Two other arguments have dominated litigation and adjudication so far, but both of them suffer from weaknesses. First, a liberty theory grounded in due process argues that everyone has a fundamental right to civil marriage. But civil marriage is a government program that states likely could abolish without constitutional difficulty. In that way, it differs from other family-related liberties such as the ability to procreate or engage in sexual intimacy. Second, an equality theory suggests that classifications on the basis of sexual orientation are constitutionally suspect. But that approach is unlikely to succeed in the Supreme Court or many state tribunals. Equal access, in contrast, requires states to justify laws that selectively interfere with civil marriage, regardless of any independent due process or classification-based equal protection violations. We show how this approach is grounded in precedent regarding intimate relationships, as well as in analogous law concerning voting and court access. Our proposal offers courts a workable way to evaluate the constitutionality of different-sex marriage requirements and a more satisfying conceptual basis for the right to marry generally. It also suggests a useful framework for thinking about recognition of other nontraditional family structures.”

Rachel Delaney, Defining Death: Why All Fifty States Should Adopt the Uniform Definition of Death Act with a Religious Exception (April 15, 2010). Marquette Law School Legal Studies Paper No. 10-24. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598969

“This article addresses the tension between the secular, American definition of death and the Jewish law definition of death. While the definition of death has been debated separately in both Jewish and American legal scholarship, the secular and Jewish law definitions of death have not been thoroughly analyzed in relation to one another. The secular definition of death – irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain – conflicts with the Jewish law definition of death – irreversible cessation of respiration. The conflict presents a First Amendment Free Exercise Clause challenge because state laws with strict secular definitions of death preclude Orthodox Jews from practicing Judaism in their final stages of life. This article argues that each state should adopt a definition of death statute that acknowledges the competing goals at issue in the legal definition of death – the recognition of the personal and private nature of death versus the accomplishment of secular and state objectives. New York State offers such a law by including a religious exception to the secular definition of death. Not only does the religious exception provide comfort to families in sad and serious times, but the exception is required by the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause and the right to privacy, and the exception does not significantly interfere with state interests.”

Charles D. Kelso and Randall R. Kelso, The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Justice Kennedy on Liberty (April 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598406

“In this article, we describe how the concept of constitutionally protected liberty has been developed and applied in Justice Kennedy’s opinions. As we discuss, Justice Kennedy’s vision of liberty embodied in the Constitution seems to derive from an understanding of 18th-century Enlightenment philosophy, based on writers such as John Locke and Adam Smith, as developed in the 19th century by writers such as John Stuart Mill. In pursuit of this understanding, Part II of this article discusses the Enlightenment concept of liberty. Part III then shows how that doctrine is reflected in the reasoning of opinions written by Justice Kennedy, with specific reference to cases involving freedom of speech, individual autonomy, individual liberty versus government liberty, and international views on liberty. Part IV addresses other aspects of a natural law theory of interpretation – text, context, history, legislative and executive practice, precedent, and prudential considerations – that limit full elaboration of this concept of liberty in specific cases. Part V provides a brief conclusion.”

Eli Wald, The Great Recession and the Legal Profession (April 30, 2010). Fordham Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 2051, 2010; U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-16. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598403

“Perhaps with historical hindsight, 2008–2009 will be remembered not for the Great Recession but as an inflection point for world history, the U.S. economy, and the legal profession. In the short run, however, the impact of the economic meltdown on the legal profession has been quite devastating: unprecedented layoffs, salary decreases, and hiring freezes resulting in an extraordinary number of unemployed law school graduates nationwide. The long-term consequences of the economic downturn are less certain. While some believe that the Great Recession will have permanent adverse effects on the legal profession, it is important to bear in mind that points of significant distress are at the same time moments of great opportunity, and that the legal profession, with its track record of adapting to changing practice realities while successfully maintaining its elite professional, financial, and cultural status atop U.S. society, may end up stronger than ever.”

Naomi R. Cahn and June Carbone, Family Classes: Rethinking Contraceptive Choice (2010). University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 504; GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 504. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1598361

“The result of the tensions between these family ideals has been a moral backlash. In this Article, we highlight the tensions between the two family models, focusing on contraception, and critique the class-based nature of the results. We argue that the politicization of family issues has produced its own ‘vicious cycle’ of moral concern, draconian changes that disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable Americans, and a new round of moral panic justifying further punitive measures, as the initial restrictions (such as closing abortion clinics and slashing family planning funds) make matters worse. We conclude that the ‘culture wars’ are very much about class, and yet they are framed as a fight between two relatively privileged groups, in which class implications of the struggle disappear from sight. This Article argues that only by making these class implications visible – for low income, middle class, and wealthy individuals – can we design more effective interventions that can break the cycle.”

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.