Daily Archives: July 6, 2010

NPR: “Preventive care moves to the head of the class in the health care overhaul law, because starting this fall, new health plans will have to begin providing certain preventive medical services free of charge. If women’s health advocates get their way, prescription contraceptives will be included. … But even if birth control makes the list, that doesn’t mean all methods would be covered. ‘I’d be thrilled if condoms were free everywhere,’ says Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.”

Baltimore Sun: “The Baltimore County Council unanimously enacted tougher zoning on businesses that stock adult entertainment products at its legislative session Tuesday. The new law will require those businesses to scale back total adult inventory from 20 to 15 percent or relocate to a less visible location.”

Catholic News Agency: “Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata in Argentina has denounced the government for pressuring some senators, who had said they would vote against homosexual “marriage,” to skip debate on the measure or to abstain during the vote.”

Inquirer: “Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin has filed another version of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that includes mandated government care for those with HIV and AIDS, as well as those suffering from complications from abortion. Garin’s bill comes a few days after Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman refiled the controversial bill, which calls for government promotion of contraception and sex education despite objections from the Roman Catholic Church.”

Michigan Radio: “A chaplain in Holland is pushing for a new city ordinance to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. … Sixteen Michigan cities now have laws on the books to protect against that kind of discrimination. And Chaplain Bill Freeman says he wants to add Holland to the list.”

Associated Press: “Mexico City has seen 271 gay and lesbian couples get married since the capital enacted the first law in Latin America explicitly allowing same-sex marriages.”

WTKR: “Vandals have targeted a Franklin church, snapping dozens of crosses designed to send a message about abortion. Rows upon rows of crosses were placed in the grass – about 275 in all. Now many of them have been pulled to the ground and broken in half.”

Irish Times: “A teacher who claimed she was selected for redundancy from a Co Derry primary school because she was a Protestant has won an award of £8,250 in a Fair Employment Tribunal case. … Of the 15 teachers, 10 were Protestant and five were Catholic but of the four selected for redundancy, all were Protestant. The tribunal found that Ms Brudell ‘suffered an act of discrimination on the ground of religious belief’.”

The Daily Times: “Attorneys representing an anonymous Jewish family who sued the Indian River School District over the school board’s practice of opening its meetings with an explicitly Christian prayer — and lost — have appealed to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. … In addition to the 69-page brief on behalf of plaintiff ‘Jane Doe,’ two other groups filed “friend of the court” briefs in support of the family’s position that a sectarian prayer at a school board meeting is unconstitutional and fails to respect diversity.” | “Sectarian prayer at DE school board meetings violates church-state separation”

Detroit News: “State Rep. Tom McMillin is asking the Attorney General’s Office to investigate an incident involving four Christian missionaries who were arrested at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn after talking to festivalgoers about religion. The foursome was arrested June 18 for disorderly conduct.” | More information on the case from the Thomas More Law Center.

Washington Times: “Three separate plans to build Muslim worship centers in New York City have proven more difficult and contentious than expected, igniting protests by local residents and anti-jihad activists and prompting charges of ‘Islamophobia’ and bigotry. The three projects raise different sets of issues, are set in three different boroughs, and all are still in the planning stages. But together, they show that whether its logistical concerns about neighborhood traffic and changing demographics, the sanctity of the World Trade Center site, or back-yard politics — building a mosque in New York is not like building a pizza parlor.”

Melanie Phillips in the Wall Street Journal, “Lynch-Mob Justice,” available via Google News: “In both Britain and America, ideological prejudices are coming to undermine the rule of law. In a number of incidents, people who have committed criminal acts have been acquitted or had their cases dismissed purely because they represent a politically correct cause or belong to a ‘powerless’ victim group. … Based on the Marxist dogma that power is synonymous with oppression and powerlessness with virtue, such ideology has also given self-designated ‘powerless’ groups a free pass. Whatever wrong they may do or disadvantages they may suffer from are never their fault or their responsibility. It is always the ‘oppressor’ group that is to blame. … So in Britain, it is becoming ever harder for Christians to be allowed to live according to their religious ethics.”

Ekklesia: “Andy Burnham, the only Christian amongst the five candidates standing for the Labour leadership, has said that faith schools ‘should be open to all’. He said it was wrong for any faith school to expect all its students to share the school’s religion.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “The Arizona Attorney General’s Office alleges in a newly filed lawsuit that officials in an FLDS-run polygamous community violated a disabled man’s civil rights by denying him power and water service because he does not belong to the faith. … The federal lawsuit alleges the cities’ jointly operated utility companies violated the Arizona Fair Housing Act in refusing the Cookes’ request for water service.”

LifeSiteNews: “Officials at the prestigious Ben Gurion University in Israel say that they believe in academic freedom, but apparently draw the line when a professor comments negatively on homosexuality. Professor Yeruham Leavitt found this out the hard way, after he affirmed a student’s concern that homosexual parenting would deprive a child of a ‘normal’ family upbringing during his lecture’s question-answer session for pharmacological students.”

Sunshine State News: “The leading Republican candidate in the race for U.S. Senate, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, announced Tuesday that he opposes President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States. … ‘Initially, my concerns with this nomination centered on her role in implementing the ban on military recruiters while she was dean at Harvard Law School,’ said Rubio. ‘Also, since she has no history as a judge, I hoped the confirmation process would reveal greater insight into her views on the role of judges and the judiciary in America. After all, the proper role of a judge is not to create laws, but to interpret and apply the law within the parameters of our Constitution.’”

Detroit Free Press: “The court ordered a public reprimand and 14-day suspension without pay for Wayne County Circuit Judge Richard Halloran Jr. for dismissing 30 divorce cases to avoid violating the 364-day deadline for handling such matters. The court ordered a public reprimand for Grand Rapids District Judge Benjamin Logan II for personally intervening to arrange the release from custody of Kent County Commissioner James Vaughn, who had been arrested and eventually was convicted of assaulting a woman.”

The Frontier Post: “More than a month has passed since the Afghan government suspended the work of two international NGOs on charges of Christian ‘proselytizing’, but formal investigations have been shrouded in secrecy and seem to have become mired in bureaucracy.”

Awoko Newspaper: “The Sierra Leone Bar Association during its Annual Conference over the weekend held at the Wusum Hotel Conference Hall in Makeni, discussed in detail issues bordering around gender equality, human rights and freedom of information as cornerstones to nation building and human development.”

news.com.au: “A Victorian tribunal will be asked to decide if a Christian group can discriminate against gay people for religious reasons. The Christian Brethren will face the discrimination complaint tomorrow after it stopped a suicide prevention project for gay youths from using its facilities three years ago. While some religious groups have exemptions under the state’s equal opportunity act allowing for sexual discrimination, the group lodging the complaint will argue those exemptions end when it’s involved in a commercial operation.”

CCFON: “The British Medical Association (BMA) has passed a motion condemning any therapy given to individuals who may wish to re-orientate from their homosexuality.” | British Medical Association

FOX News: “NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his ‘foremost’ mission as the head of America’s space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world. Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA’s orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.”

Telegram: “Mr. Hopkins, the recipient of two Bronze Stars and other medals, is married to a man. Because the federal government doesn’t acknowledge same-sex marriage, the 65-year-old veteran may now be forced to choose between recognition for his longtime military service and perpetual rest with his longtime partner. … ‘This is another example in which the federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the marriage rights of our Massachusetts citizens,’ Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement Friday. ‘A veteran who has served our country with distinction should not be forced to choose between receiving the military honor that he deserves or being with the person he loves.’”

Inside Costa Rica: “The Sala Constitucional (Constitutional Court) has ordered the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) to suspend the process of the referendum on same sex marriages that was to have been included in the December 2010 municipal elections. The court order was based on an appeal filed against the referendum.”

New York Magazine: “Andrew Cuomo was asked by a reporter today if he thought a marriage-equality bill like the one that was defeated in the State Senate this December could pass in 2011. ‘Do I think it can? Yes,’ he replied.”

Irish Times: “The Irish Council of Civil Liberties has cautiously welcomed the passing of the Civil Partnership Bill but said deficiencies in the legislation will ensure that same-sex couples will remain unequal in the eyes of the law. … ICCL director Mark Kelly said the Bill would offer a ‘solid foundation’ for the recognition and protection of same-sex relationships which were previously denied to them. However, he described the legislation as ‘only a stepping stone on the path to full equality for same-sex couples’.”

On Top Mag (“gay advocacy website”): “A key panel in the Argentine Senate is expected to deliver its recommendation on a gay marriage bill Tuesday. The Senate General Law Committee began debate on the bill last month after it was approved in May by Argentina’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies (la Camara de Diputados). The committee is headed by Senator Liliana Negre de Alonso, who has publicly said she disagrees with giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.”

UPI: “A Muslim and an Orthodox Jew have become mayor and deputy mayor in Teaneck, N.J., a town they jointly call a ‘nurturing incubator.’ Mohammed Hameeduddin and Adam Gussein told ABC News their big problem is bridging the budget gap, not the religious divide. They attended the same middle school and were students at Rutgers University together.”

Telegraph: “Peter Tatchell said Mr Johnson had told him the Conservatives should support gay marriage. … The Mayor made his comments during the Pride London Parade – the annual celebration of gay rights, Mr Tatchell said.”

Houston Chronicle (AP): “A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency by a former state science curriculum director who said she was illegally fired and that the agency’s neutral position on the teaching of creationism was unconstitutional.” | Comer v. Scott, No. 09-50401 (Tex. App. July 2, 2010) | Via How Appealing.

NY Daily News: “President Obama may get liberal Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court, but conservative swing-voter Anthony Kennedy says he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Justice Kennedy, who turns 74 this month, has told relatives and friends he plans to stay on the high court for at least three more years – through the end of Obama’s first term, sources said.”

Los Angeles Times: “Already, the healthcare overhaul law, Obama’s signal achievement, is under attack in the courts. Republican attorneys general from 20 states have sued, insisting the law and its mandate to buy health insurance exceed Congress’ power and trample on states’ rights. Two weeks ago, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled Obama had overstepped his authority by ordering a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. On another front, the administration says it will soon go to court in Phoenix seeking to block Arizona’s controversial immigration law, which is due to take effect July 29. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer said Arizona would go to the Supreme Court, if necessary, to preserve the law.”

KWTX: “After weeks of discussions and deferrals, McLennan County Commissioners voted Tuesday to begin their meetings with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.” | Related: [6.22.2010] TX: McLennan commissioners OK pledge, consider options for meeting prayer

Christian Post: “The debate over allowing noncelibate homosexuals to be ordained is tiring, many Presbyterians agreed. But a moratorium, they felt, also would not bring any peace. Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) began voicing their personal testimonies and arguments over ordination standards Monday at their biennial legislative meeting.”

Christian Post: “The debate over allowing noncelibate homosexuals to be ordained is tiring, many Presbyterians agreed. But a moratorium, they felt, also would not bring any peace. Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) began voicing their personal testimonies and arguments over ordination standards Monday at their biennial legislative meeting.”

UPI: “The Presbyterian Church (USA) has dropped to half the number of members it had in 1965, a report last week said. The church, based in Louisville, Ky., the largest of the Presbyterian groups in the United States, had 4.25 million members in 1965. The Office of the General Assembly reported last week there are now 2,077,138 enrolled members, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.” | Office of the General Assembly

The Washington Post / PostPartisan: “Perry v. Schwarzenegger is not the only marriage equality case out there. Folks have their eyes on one out of Massachusetts. But no matter how Judge Walker rules in the Prop 8 suit, which is expected sometime this summer, the case is certain to be appealed to the federal Ninth Circuit and then to the Supreme Court. And therein lies the danger. If the current ideological makeup of the court doesn’t change by then, the victory that could come at the hands of Judge Walker could turn into a defeat in the Roberts Court. And even if the justices put ideology aside, it might still be reluctant to impose its will on the country.”

Star Advertiser (AP): “Gov. Linda Lingle is set to announce her highly awaited decision on a proposal to allow same-sex couples to form civil unions.”

“An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed an appeal Tuesday on behalf of a South Dakota church challenging a decision issued by the Pennington County Board of Commissioners. The board voted last month to refuse to lift more than $17,000 in property taxes on land owned by the church even though the law exempts the church from such taxes.”

Pajamas Media: “Several former DOJ employees have been in contact with Pajamas Media, interested in publicly supporting J. Christian Adams as he comes forward about the DOJ’s failure to enforce the country’s laws from a race-neutral perspective. These former DOJ employees have expressed a willingness to go on record regarding Adams’ professionalism, excellent performance, and outstanding record of enforcing the law without racial bias. Additionally, they would like to corroborate Adams’ statements about the DOJ.” | Related: Former Justice Department lawyer accuses Holder of dropping New Black Panther case for racial reasons

Boston.com (AP): “Months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and its well started gushing oil, the British petroleum giant says it has yet to decide how to handle claims filed by religious groups and other charitable organizations that are endangered because people can no longer afford to contribute. … Pastor Dan Brown prays BP PLC comes up with a solution quickly: He said he filed a $50,000 claim last month over lost revenues at Anchor Assembly of God. His small, storefront church outlived Hurricane Katrina and is now struggling because of the oil crisis.”

Spero News: “A group of unknown assailants severed the hand and the right arm of a university professor accused of defaming Mohammed months ago. The execution took place yesterday morning in Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam district (Kerala). Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians condemns this “barbaric act” and recalls that ‘Sharia is not the law of India.’”

The Catholic Weekly: “Public opinion may well be in favour of euthanasia but that still ‘doesn’t make it right’, said Archbishop Adrian Doyle, Archbishop of Hobart. Concerns have been raised about the Tasmanian Greens’ influence on the State Gov­ernment’s euth­anasia stance given that what is supposedly meant to be a private member’s bill on the issue has been raised in the Attorney-General’s Budget reply speech – and thereby ap­pears to be giving Govern­ment endorsement to legalising euthanasia.”

Catholic News Agency: “Spain’s Institute of Family Policy (IPF) critiqued the ‘Express Divorce,’ or rapid divorce law, which was implemented in 2005, because the policy has created an increase of 4.8 percent in marital ruptures in the first three months of 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009.”

Boston.com (AP): “A banner with a picture of a young, bespectacled Christian man is draped in front of a mosque, a fiery noose around his neck and the words, ‘This man deserves the death penalty!’ Churches are shut down. And an Islamic youth militia held its first day of training.”

“U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story ruled Friday that Vandy Beth Glenn’s firing violated her constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause.”

NY Times / World Briefing: “A new law allowing abortion without restrictions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy went into effect on Monday, but the Constitutional Court could intervene to suspend or change it.” | Bishops of Spain say new abortion law makes things worse

The Christian Institute: “Christians should not be ‘sidelined’ for their faith, according to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles. In an interview with the Sunday Express newspaper Mr Pickles also vowed to put Christian values at the centre of the Government’s vision for the nation, and pledged to utilise the pastoral experience of the church.” | Full interview here.

The Christian Institute: “Opposition to legalising assisted suicide remains strong, according to the results of the Royal Society of Medicine’s (RSM’s) debate on the subject. The debate, held after the RSM’s day conference on the ethics of assisted suicide, revealed that 60 per cent of those present were opposed to any relaxation of the law.”

BBC: “The Home Office has been accused of telling gay and lesbian asylum seekers to avoid persecution back home by keeping their sexuality secret. … The UK Supreme Court will rule on the legality of the advice on Wednesday involving countries where it is frowned upon or even illegal to be homosexual.”

Associated Press: “The bill being debated Tuesday is widely expected to become law, despite the concerns of many French Muslims, who fear it will stigmatize them. Many law scholars also argue it would violate the constitution.”

Associated Press: “The Church of England may be on the verge of promoting a gay priest to bishop, a step that would widen the split over sexuality in the global Anglican Communion. If that happens, it would appear to be a significant turnaround for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Church of England and the world’s Anglicans, who recently imposed sanctions on the U.S. Episcopal Church for electing a lesbian bishop.”

Politico: “[T]he GOP has more than just a math problem with Kagan. It has a passion problem — the party, which has used judicial nominations to stoke the culture wars for more than a decade, appears to have lost its edge on judges. … some Republicans griped privately over what they saw as Sessions’s largely unfocused attacks, which failed to provide a compelling counternarrative about her nomination. … After denouncing the filibusters Democrats used against George W. Bush’s nominees, including an unsuccessful attempt with Associate Justice Samuel Alito and successful filibusters to prevent conservative icon Miguel Estrada from becoming a federal judge, top Republicans don’t now want to look like hypocrites.”

Telegraph: “Mr Komorowski, a mild-mannered former teacher, secured 53.01 per cent of votes compared to 46.99 per cent for his conservative rival Jaroslaw Kaczynski following Sunday’s run-off, sparked by the April plane crash death of the former president. The victory of Mr Komorowski, who as speaker of parliament became acting president after the plane crash, means his liberal Civic Platform party controls both the government – ally Donald Tusk is prime minister – as well as the presidency.”

National Coalition for the Homeless: “National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty today released A Place at the Table: Prohibitions on Sharing Food with People Experiencing Homelessness. The report focuses on cities that have created ordinances, policies and tactics to limit groups from sharing food with homeless people. Alternative solutions and programs to penalizing food sharing activities are highlighted in the report.” | Via Religion Clause.

“In River of Life Kingdom Ministries v. Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois, (7th Cir en banc, July 2, 2010), the 7th Circuit in an en banc decision interpreted the equal terms provision of RLUIPA by creating a modified version of the test used by the 3rd Circuit. The 7th Circuit’s test treats a regulation as violating the Equal Terms provision ‘only if it treats religious assemblies or institutions less well than secular assemblies or institutions that are similarly situated as to the regulatory criteria.’” | Via Religion Clause. | View opinion in Google Viewer

Aol.news: “Worried that Western ideas might be seeping into — and onto — the heads of their nation’s young men, Iran’s religious leaders have issued a catalog of acceptable “Islamic” male haircuts. Ponytails, spikes, mullets and Mohawks are now forbidden, but Elvis-style locks, floppy fringes and Simon Cowell-esque flattops get the ayatollahs’ seal of approval.” | Via Religion Clause.

Speak Up Movement / Church: “To fully understand how overturning ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ would threaten chaplains’ rights to free speech and religious liberty, we encourage you to study the resources provided below. These resources clearly make the case that removing don’t ask, don’t tell would have a harmful effect on the military and would likely damage religious freedom throughout our great nation.” | Page includes letters opposing DADT repeal, chaplain letters, chaplain video comments, ADF attorney commentary, and other resources.

CBS: “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is blocking certain websites from the federal agency’s computers, including halting access by staffers to any Internet pages that contain a ‘controversial opinion,’ according to an internal email obtained by CBS News.”

Yahoo (AP): “The U.S. Justice Department is filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s new law targeting illegal immigrants, setting the stage for a clash between the federal government and state over the nation’s toughest immigration crackdown.”

Catholic News Agency: “A lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin constitutional amendment which protected the definition of marriage failed to persuade the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which unanimously rejected its arguments. … The ADF filed an amicus brief in the case. Its litigation counsel [Jim Campbell] said in a statement that voters adopted the measure ‘for one clear and simple reason: to protect the institution of marriage.’ ‘We should be strengthening–not undermining–marriage, which is one man and one woman. Once again, activists tried to use the courts to force something on the people that they have repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected.’”

PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly [video at link]: “[GREG BAYLOR] (Attorney, Christian Legal Society): What we’re talking about here is the ability of a group to preserve its message, and it doesn’t make sense for a public university to say to a private student group you have to give up your Christian faith in order to get the same privileges that other groups have.”

ADF attorney Joel Oster appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss equal access to public facilities. | MP3 15:54 mins.

PBS Hawaii: “On June 21, Governor Lingle placed the House Bill 444 on her potential veto list, giving her until July 6 to make her final decision. This week on Insights, a panel representing both sides of the civil unions issue will discuss the possible economic impact, employment benefits, property rights, and concerns of the bill that promotes same-sex marriage. Joining host Dan Boylan are Tambry Young, Lead Advocate for Citizens for Equal Rights; Steven Levinson, retired Associate Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court; Sandra Young, Family Law Attorney and Board Member of Hawaii Family Forum; and James Hochberg, Attorney.”

Tennessean.com / In Session: “Armed with a legal opin­ion from an advo­cacy group whose mis­sion is to pro­tect reli­gious free­dom, a group of Metro Coun­cil mem­bers fired off a let­ter to the Human Rela­tions Com­mis­sion meant to curb the expan­sion of last year’s nondis­crim­i­na­tion ordinance. … The let­ter was sent by attor­neys with the Alliance Defense Fund — a group whose pri­mary con­cern is ‘the dra­matic loss of reli­gious free­dom in America’s courts and the result­ing chal­lenges to peo­ple of faith to live and pro­claim the Gospel.’”

Inside Higher Ed / Quick Takes: Mike Adams, a conservative, Christian professor who believes his promotion to full professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington was derailed because of opposition to his views, is getting broad backing on a key point in his legal fight. … Adams has been receiving support from the Alliance Defense Fund.

ADF Attorney Steven H. Aden writing at the Christian Post / Advancing Religious Liberty: “A Connecticut trial court last week turned back an attempt by pro-euthanasia doctors to re-define the criminal law prohibiting assisted suicide to allow them to kill their patients. … The decision granting the State’s motion to dismiss, issued June 1, 2010, held that there was no justiciable controversy for the court to consider, because the assisted suicide statute and its legislative history ‘make it quite clear that assisting a suicide, even for humanitarian reasons, is a crime.’”

The Post and Courier: “The Charleston County School Board ignored its health committee’s recommendation and plans to continue allowing schools to use a controversial abstinence-only curriculum.”

The New American: “Patrick Trueman, who at one time headed up the child exploitation and obscenity section of the U.S. Department of Justice, noted that the addition of the .xxx domain franchise will more deeply entrench the problem of Internet pornography, giving pornographers another option for marketing their evil wares. ‘The .com domain is a cash cow for pornographers and they are not leaving it,’ Trueman said. ‘ICANN has no enforcement powers to make them leave and thus clean up .com. Pornographers would simply expand to .xxx and maintain their current .com sites, perhaps doubling the number of porn sites and doubling their menace to society.’”