Daily Archives: May 21, 2010

New York Times: “In his 43-year career as a federal judge, Jack B. Weinstein has come to be identified by his efforts to combat what he calls ‘the unnecessary cruelty of the law.’ His most recent crusade is particularly striking because of the beneficiary: a man who has amassed a vast collection of child pornography . . . Judge Weinstein has gone to extraordinary lengths to challenge the strict punishments, issuing a series of rulings that directly attack the mandatory five-year prison sentence faced by defendants charged with receiving child pornography.”

Wall Street Journal Law Blog: “The Senate Judiciary Committee has posted Kagan’s handwritten notes for the speech here. (Turn to page 83 for the first page of the notes) . . . The piece, in short, seems to suggest that in at least one key area, she would be an arbiter of judicial restraint, prone to giving considerable deference to acts of Congress.”

Chicago Tribune: “If Republicans win the race for governor and take back control of the Legislature, they would begin the process of putting a measure before voters that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and they probably would approve new restrictions on abortion, House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said.”

Telegraph: “By any legitimate measure, Greece was unworthy of eurozone membership. That it achieved card-carrying status was down to the sleight-of-hand skills of its Brussels fixers and the acquiescence of central bank bean-counters. Now we know the truth, jet-hosing it with yet more debt makes no sense. Another dose of funny money will delay but not extinguish the need for austerity. This is why the euro, in its current form, is finished.”

Associated Press: “As the debate continued Friday, conservatives rejected language to modernize the classification of historic periods to B.C.E. and C.E. from the traditional B.C. and A.D. . . . Though they lost on the president’s name, conservatives scored a string of victories late Thursday, including a requirement that public school students in Texas evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty.”

FOX News: “A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities. John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made the comment during a meeting on Wednesday with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper reports.”

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “Late last week, the Ontario Divisional Court held that Christian Horizons violated a national Canadian law forbidding discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation . . . The primary lesson here is that the scope of religious exemptions in non-discrimination rules matters greatly. Proponents of the homosexual legal agenda often point to religious exemptions in their proposed legislation to allay religious freedom concerns. But, as this case shows, such exemptions are not necessarily adequate. Defenders of religious freedom must be vigilant, willing to get down in the details of legislative language in order to protect liberty.”

Times Online: “Britain will review its aid to Malawi if the Government refuses to free two gay men who were sentenced to 14 years’ hard labour this week. Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, came under pressure yesterday to begin withdrawing £19 million of British ‘budget support’ for the Commonwealth country’s Government.”

LifeSiteNews: “According to the most recent figures released in the annual report of the Australian Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity, 345 late-term abortions were committed in Victoria State in 2007.”

BBC: “David Cameron has told German leader Angela Merkel the UK will not agree to hand any further powers to Brussels. After talks in Berlin, the prime minister said there was ‘no question’ of him backing any treaty giving the EU more powers to shore up the eurozone.”

BBC: “The French cabinet has approved a bill making it illegal to wear in public clothes designed to hide the face. The legislation amounts to a ban on the full-face Muslim veil. Women wearing the veil in public could be fined, and men judged to have forced them to do so could be imprisoned.”

Swiss Info: “The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has asked Switzerland to respond to appeals filed after the November vote to ban minarets. The government has until September 15 to present its side.”

CBN: “A government crackdown against evangelical Christians is still underway in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan. The lockdown began in the capital city of Tashkent earlier in May when police and other agencies led a massive raid against the Church of Christ, one of the largest churches in the city.”

“Family structure influences the economic ability of children. Divorce is particularly harmful for children’s mobility.”

CrossWalk: “Hindu nationalist organizations in Madhya Pradesh state have declared their intentions to rid Mandla district of all Christian influence by starting preparations for a large ‘reconversion’ event next year.”

Chicago Tribune: “Hopes that foreign-born partners of gay and lesbian Americans could follow the same path to citizenship as heterosexual spouses got a boost Thursday when U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago said he would fight to include such a proposal in the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform.”

Juneau Empire: “A lawyer for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest told the Alaska Supreme Court Thursday that an initiative requiring parental notification for girls under 18 seeking an abortion should be kept off the ballot.”

Houston Chronicle: “The building, off the Gulf Freeway, opened to patients quietly last week, but had an official unveiling to the public and supporters on Thursday morning. The $26 million project, dubbed Prevention Park, is the largest Planned Parenthood administrative and medical facility in the nation. It also serves as the headquarters for 12 clinics — 10 in Texas and two in Louisiana.”

Telegram & Gazette: “The City Council did vote on the zoning change and rejected it, with Councilor Boisvert and eight others voting against it. The council also rejected a substitute motion which would have defined a medical office as a place to conduct certain medical business, but not abortions.”

Bakersfield News: “The Kern High School District Board of Trustees voted 3-1 Wednesday to not observe Harvey Milk Day on May 22.”

AFP: “French Muslims celebrated Thursday when work began to build the country’s biggest mosque in the southern port city of Marseille, a potent symbol of Islam’s place in modern France.”

Fox 6: “Town of Wilson board approved a conditional use permit for a mosque looking to settle in the Sheboygan County town.”

ABC News | Radio Australia: “A new requirement that travellers to Australia declare any pornography they’re carrying is being condemned by lobbyists for internet freedom and the sex industry.”

Star-Telegram: “The American Civil Liberties Union is raising the issue of abortion rights after one Texas sheriff refused to take an inmate to an abortion clinic.” | ACLU of Texas press release

LifeNews: “With two state legislators pushing a new bill that would eliminate the possibility of new speciality license plates for the next three years, pro-life advocates are scurrying to get Choose Life license plates approved. These are the plates that have raised millions nationwide for adoption and pregnancy centers.”

LifeNews: “Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards delivered the keynote speech at the 30 year anniversary celebration of Planned Parenthood in Cedar Rapids. There, she shared with her fellow abortion activists more details about the telemed abortion scheme it has set up in Iowa. The process has abortion practitioners instruct women on using the dangerous abortion drug by video conference instead of assisting them in person.”

Washington Post | Breaking News Blog: “An anti-abortion pregnancy center has sued Montgomery County over a law requiring it to post information about the care it provides, The Gazette reports. Centro Tepeyac Women’s Center in Silver Spring believes the law is unconstitutional, said the center’s lead attorney [Casey Mattox]. Mattox, with the Alliance Defense Fund, said the law restricts freedom of speech.”

UPI: “A contractor has been hired to interview members of the U.S. military and their families about changing the policy on homosexuality, Pentagon sources say.”

“The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday voted 6-3 in favor of the legislation. The measure would require the state Board of Education to examine new textbooks for curriculum revisions approved in March by the Texas school board. The legislation, [SB1451], now moves to the full Senate.”

The Virginian-Pilot: “Weeks after the lifting of a policy restricting prayers by Virginia State Police chaplains, a trooper at a memorial service Friday offered a benediction that mentioned Jesus as well as other faiths.” | Related: VA: McDonnell rescinds State Police prayer policy | Va. lawmaker targets police prayer policy

LifeSiteNews: “The Senate voted 33-4 for the bill (SB 528), which was sponsored by Sen. Sharon Broome (D-Baton Rouge), and developed with the aid of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation and the Bioethics Defense Fund. The law requires abortionists to perform an ultrasound on a woman at least two hours before she undergoes the induced abortion of her child, and before she is put under any kind of anesthesia.”

LifeSiteNews: “Pro-family advocates at the Council of Europe have scored a victory with substantial changes of language to protect religious freedom of expression in a resolution on ‘discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.’ On April 29, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted 51 to 25 to adopt Resolution 1728 (2010), which the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) had helped to delay until wording had been inserted to protect religious objections to homosexuality.”

The Tennessean: “A plan to build a 12,000-square-foot mosque on Wilson Pike was shelved when the applicant — the Islamic Center of Williamson County — withdrew the rezoning request Thursday morning.”

Associated Press: “The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday it has filed a federal age and religious discrimination lawsuit in Arizona against the Orkin Pest Control company. The lawsuit accuses Orkin of discriminatory hiring practices in denying jobs to older workers and favoring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints applicants.”

The Virginian-Pilot: “The mother scheduled a Wednesday morning doctor’s appointment for her daughter. Come Wednesday morning, the fourth-grader was taking a Standards of Learning exam. The mother came to pick up her daughter. The principal said no.”

Christian Today: “Twenty-three foreigners have been notified of expulsion from Morocco since May 10, marking a second wave of Christian deportations from the country, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).”

Catholic News Agency: “Bishop Francisco Ulloa of Cartago in Costa Rica expressed regret this week over the recent ruling by the Electoral Supreme Court, which censured him for reminding Catholics they could not support political policies that go against Christian principles, and said it would not silence the bishops in their mission to preach the faith.”

Christian Post: “A top official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has apologized to members of a Southern Baptist church and The Salvation Army for a recent incident involving their volunteers and a FEMA cameraman who interviewed them . . . According to reports, a cameraman who was videotaping the post-tornado cleanup in the small town of Ebeneezer, Miss., had asked some of the volunteers to change out of their shirts before being part of an on-camera interview.”

New Hampshire Union Leader: “Prayer was dropped from New Hampshire Technical Institute’s graduation ceremony in an effort to shorten the program.”

Sunshine State News: “A bill aimed at encouraging school prayer is drawing praise from an unlikely pairing of free speech advocates and social conservatives . . . The legislation [HB 31] grew out of a longstanding dispute in the Panhandle’s Santa Rosa County, where the ACLU got the school district to sign a consent decree restricting prayer and religious activities by students at school events. The measure also bars school officials from preaching or promoting prayers during school functions and organizing school-sponsored religious services.”

Wall Street Journal | Washington Wire: “After four years of White House service, how many pages of documents and emails could Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan have left behind that congressional aides, reporters and interested others will be combing through? Brace yourself: About 168,000 pages.” Via How Appealing.

Associated Press: “Justice Antonin Scalia says Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has at least two friends on the high court: Scalia and Justice Stephen Breyer.”

USA Today Hotel Check-In blog: “Expedia.com yesterday launched a new LGBT website that invites customers to ‘get the skinny on gay travel.’ Expedia notes on its site that it ‘worked with the IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association) to identify “LGBT-welcoming” hotels worldwide,” ranging from “family-friendly lodging to party-ready inns.”‘”

Religion Clause: “In United States v. Quaintance, (10th Cir., May 19, 2010), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Arizona federal district court’s refusal to dismiss the indictments of Danuel and Mary Quaintance for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.”

Religion Clause: “In Dreaming Bear v. Fleming, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48970 (D SD, May 18, 2010), a South Dakota federal district court refused a Lakota Sioux high school student’s request for a preliminary injunction that would excuse him from his high school’s requirement that he wear a cap and gown at graduation while receiving his diploma.”

Religion Clause: “In Murray v. U.S. Department of Treasury, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48692 (ED MI, May 18, 2010), a Michigan federal magistrate judge refused to permit plaintiff to take the deposition of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and granted Geithner a protective order barring plaintiff from deposing him. The decision comes in a lawsuit challenging on Establishment Clause grounds the federal bailout of the insurance giant AIG. Plaintiff alleged that because AIG is the market leader in Sharia-compliant financing, the bailout unconstitutionally uses federal funds to support Islamic religious activity.”

“[Preserve spokeswoman Linda Slater] said the government remained under court order not to display a cross on the site. And since the replica isn’t the original disputed cross, it had to come down.”

ADF attorney David French and same-sex “marriage” advocate Evan Wolfson appeared on the Michael Medved Show to debate same-sex “marriage.” | MP3 29:26 mins

Vatican Information Service: “Modern culture, particularly in Europe, runs the risk of amnesia, of forgetting and thus abandoning the extraordinary heritage aroused and inspired by Christian faith, which is the essential framework of the culture of Europe, and not only of Europe. The Christian roots of the continent are, in fact, made up not only of religious life and the witness of so many generation of believers, but also of the priceless cultural and artistic heritage which is the pride and precious resource of the peoples and countries in which Christian faith, in its various expressions, has entered into dialogue with culture and the arts.”

Francis J. Beckwith writing at Public Discourse: “Anti-miscegenation laws . . . were attempts to eradicate the legal status of real marriages by injecting a condition—sameness of race—that had no precedent in common law. For in the common law, a necessary condition for a legitimate marriage was male-female complementarity, a condition on which race has no bearing . . . In other words, the fact that a man and a woman from different races were biologically and metaphysically capable of marrying each other, building families, and living among the general population is precisely why the race purists wanted to forbid such unions by the force of law.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “Local governments cut off a vital part of their communities when they discourage churches from locating and growing in their neighborhoods. There is no way government can provide all the beneficial services religious organizations do – especially in this day and age when government services are being cut.”

ADF Attorney David Hacker writing at Speak Up Movement / university (via the Christian Post’s Advancing Religious Liberty blog):

Thursday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an important college free speech decision in a case that pits a college harassment policy against a professor’s racially insensitive comments. (H/t to Professor Volokh who has thorough coverage here, here, here, and here.) . . . The Ninth Circuit . . . found that the officials deserved qualified immunity because the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not give the employees a right to be free from offensive speech on a college campus.”

WorldNetDaily: “A new law in a Maryland county that apparently intends to shut down the speech of pro-life counselors is being challenged in federal court by a pregnancy center that wants to continue offering free advice to mothers-to-be . . . ‘The government’s enforcement of policies against pro-life pregnancy centers and its refusal to apply the same rules to abortion facilities is an unconstitutionally discriminatory practice,’ said ADF Legal Counsel [Casey Mattox].”

‘Til Death Do You Part . . . And This Time We Mean It: Denial of Access to Divorce for Same-Sex Couples
Colleen McNichols Ramais, 2010 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1013

“This Note outlines the potential problems posed by the differences in states’ approaches to same-sex marriage, discusses the ways in which courts have responded to these marriages in the context of divorce, and evaluates potential solutions. Part II begins with an overview of pertinent law: the current status of same-sex relationships in the United States as of March 2010 and the principles of conflicts-of-laws as they relate to interstate recognition of marriage and divorce. Part III then examines the ways in which these principles have been applied in some recent cases and the constitutional implications of these applications. Finally, Part IV explores alternatives for remedying the situation, ultimately concluding that states have an obligation to provide a forum for dissolution of marriages and civil unions contracted elsewhere. This Note argues that, under the principles of due process as established by the Supreme Court in Boddie v. Connecticut, because these unions are legally created and can only be dissolved by court order and because jurisdiction in these proceedings is so intimately tied to domicile, statutes that operate to exclude same-sex couples seeking dissolution of their marriage or civil union from the courts of their home state are unconstitutional.”

The Meaning of Marriage: Immigration Rules and Their Implications for Same-Sex Spouses in a World Without DOMA
Scott C. Titshaw, 16 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 537 (2010)

“If DOMA were repealed or struck down, that would not result in a clear, uniform rule recognizing all same-sex marriages under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). However, there is a wealth of guidance about how our immigration system deals with marriages that are recognized in some, but not all U.S. states. This article maps out the legal terrain that would remain in an immigration world without DOMA.”

Evidentiary Privileges for Cohabiting Parents: Protecting Children Inside and Outside of Marriage
Mark Glover, 70 La. L. Rev. 751 (2010)

“This Article argues that the law should continue to expand the benefits available to couples living together out of wedlock so that both of the aforementioned couples would be protected by evidentiary privileges. Specifically, the Article proposes a new evidentiary privilege that would protect unmarried, cohabiting parents. Under this proposal, an unmarried couple would enjoy the benefits of the marital privileges if they share a home with their child. This cohabiting-parent privilege would further the policies of family preservation and child protection, both of which are principal policy justifications of the marital privileges. Furthermore, providing cohabiting parents evidentiary privileges is less susceptible to the traditional criticism of expanded legal benefits for unmarried cohabitants because the cohabiting-parent privilege would not reduce a couple’s incentive to marry.”