Daily Archives: July 15, 2010

Congratulations to allied attorneys Kelly Coghlan, Michael Cork, Tom Marcelle, Randy Wenger, John Mauck, Lee McCoy, Amy Parish, Noel Sterett, Sam Casey, Kevin Clarkson, Deborah Dewart, Jim Hochberg, Scott Shields, Demetrios Stratis, and Michael Tierney for their recent accomplishments and successes listed below. Please take time to congratulate them!

Wall Street Journal: “An attorney for the group asking for the initiative, Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement that the decision means district residents ‘are being denied their most fundamental freedom—the right to vote.’ Mr. Nimocks said the group is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Europe News: “Frankfurt University is introducing a bachelor degree in Islamic studies, the first in Germany to teach Islamic theology using western academic methods, it said Thursday . . . ”

Europe News: “Facing a precarious future, Europe has only just begun to reckon with increasing Muslim populations and Islamic extremism. If current demographic trends persist, Europe’s democratic secular foundations will be in serious jeapordy in about twenty five years. This disturbing reality is causing a backlash, forcing European governments to confront the threat of Sharia law — and even some Muslims are joining the fight. The battle for the fate of the continent is intensifying.”

NC News Network: “State House Speaker Joe Hackney has appointed a six-member bi-partisan panel to review prayer guidelines for the House and report their findings. The move comes after a minister from Forsyth County complained he was asked not to use the word “Jesus” in a prayer at the start of a House session earlier this year.”

Florida Times-Union: “Leaders of different faiths will be allowed to pray at the beginning of bi-monthly Jacksonville City Council meetings under a new, more inclusive policy outlined today by President Jack Webb.”

The 10:45 Min. Cato podcast can be accessed here.  |  Wikipedia: 17th Amend. Text and History

Christian Newswire (Public Advocate): “The Loudoun County, Virginia Board seems determined to abolish Christmas during the summer so it can become the first in the nation to attack the holiday in 2010. Members of the public will turn out in the board of supervisors room at a public input session . . . ”

“. . . why couldn’t ADF file a lawsuit against the IRS and ask the Court for an injunction to stop the IRS from applying the Johnson Amendment to a pastor’s sermon from the pulpit? The easy answer to why such a lawsuit would not work is that Congress has prohibited lawsuits against the IRS that seek either a declaratory judgment or an injunction . . . ”

Jennifer Senior write at NY Magazine: “From the perspective of the species, it’s perfectly unmysterious why people have children. From the perspective of the individual, however, it’s more of a mystery than one might think. Most people assume that having children will make them happier. Yet a wide variety of academic research shows that parents are not happier than their childless peers, and in many cases are less so. This finding is surprisingly consistent, showing up across a range of disciplines.”

Hat tip: Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

ADF attorney Dale Schowengerdt appeared on Chris Fabry Live to discuss the Massachusetts Federal DOMA rulings | MP3 8:56 mins

ADF, Stand4 Marriage DC seriously considering appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss some of ADF’s latest initiatives. | MP3 7:40 mins| www.adfonhugh.org

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Seth Schuknecht, an intern in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship. | MP3 5:45 Mins

Mark Hendrickson writes at Grove City College Center for Vision and Values: “Here are three of the most vitally important lessons from American economic history that are widely neglected today: 1) the history of our money, 2) the Constitution’s built-in bulwark against runaway government spending, and 3) government’s counterproductive responses to economic recessions.”

“Berwick is the new director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services who has praised British programs that ration care . . . ”

LifeNews: “Officials in the Obama administration are scrambling to respond to evidence showing the new health care law President Barack Obama signed will fund elective abortions in Pennsylvania and New Mexico — and possibly in more states. The Obama administration promises that won’t happen.”

LifeNews: “More members of the Senate are announcing their positions on the nomination of pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme.”

Ilya Somin writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: “But I see no reason to believe that bar associations would ever adopt a system whose goal is to protect consumers rather than advance the interests of incumbent lawyers. Even if the bar exam were written by a more objective body, it would still be vulnerable to ‘capture’ by lawyers, and still likely to be inferior to market mechanisms as a means of weeding out bad attorneys . . . As Burney points out, bar associations are not neutral experts on law. Rather, they are interest groups representing currently licensed lawyers who have a strong incentive to try to reduce competition by making entry into the profession difficult . . .”

McClatchy DC: “Nearly six months have gone by since Judges Albert Diaz of Charlotte and James Wynn of Raleigh landed on the to-do list of the full U.S. Senate, and still they have not received confirmation votes. Both men are nominated for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals . . . ”

Personhood Mississippi: Personhood Mississippi responds to lawsuit against right to life and right to vote in Mississippi
ACLU and Planned Parenthood attorneys have filed an injunction against the Mississippi Secretary of State, seeking to disallow Mississippi voters from voting on the Mississippi Personhood Amendment. Amendment sponsors and volunteers exceeded state signature requirements on February 17, becoming only the fourth successful ballot initiative since 1992. The one-sentence amendment reads, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

ADF attorneys send letter to Supreme Court officials urging them to allow constitutionally protected prayer outside court building

WCBSTV.com: The message on a billboard in New Jersey is stirring up a lot of controversy. It centers on whether a person suffering from a painful disease has the right to take his or her own life . . .”

Mark R. Weaver writes at the NewarkAdvocate.com: “America was founded as a haven for those fleeing government dictates about religion. The First Amendment was crafted as a mighty shield to protect that refuge. So it can only be called ironic that bureaucrats in California, aided by five Supreme Court justices, are wielding that amendment as a mighty sword to undercut the rights of citizens to organize a private campus group according to their beliefs. If Solicitor General Kagan wants to become Justice Kagan, she’d be wise to agree that it’s time to restore some of the balance between the founders’ dual goals of freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The country is already up in arms with the president and the Congress. And when Americans think all three branches of government are untethered from common sense, an uncommon uprising might be in the works.”

AP: “Call it vacation Bible school, Glenn Beck-style. Some three dozen kids ages 10 to 15 are spending five nights this week learning what organizers — some with tea party ties — say they won’t hear in school about the Constitution, the founding fathers and the role of faith in the birth of the United States.”

Washington Times: “The financial reform bill expected to clear Congress this week is chock-full of provisions that have little to do with the financial crisis but cater to the long-standing agendas of labor unions and other Democratic interest groups.”

One News Now: “At this year’s meeting in New Orleans, the largest professional organization and labor union in the U.S. recognized a new caucus: the NEA Drag Queen Caucus.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Ronald George, California’s chief justice since 1996 and author of the ruling that briefly legalized same-sex marriage in the state, said Wednesday he will retire in January – a surprise announcement that allows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to choose his successor.”

NY Times: “Women’s groups have applauded the recent appointment of two female judges to Islamic courts in Malaysia, but its significance is not yet clear: The new judges will have to wait a month before finding out whether they will be prevented from hearing certain cases . . . ”

AP: “An anti-Islam lawmaker in the Netherlands is forming an international alliance to spread his message across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries, among other goals. Geert Wilders told The Associated Press . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “Texas Freedom Network on Tuesday released the results of a state-wide survey conducted in May that showed most Texans want an end to the divisive curriculum battles that have been a part of the operations of the Texas State Board of Education . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Hill v. Promise Hospital of Phoenix, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68884 (D AZ, July 7, 2010), an Arizona federal district court rejected plaintiff’s complaints about federal laws that require him to provide a potential employer with a social security number . . . ”

“D.C.’s highest court has ruled against opponents of the city’s same-sex marriage law, saying they cannot ask voters to overturn it.”

CNS News: “Attorney Jordan Lorence told Catholic News Service July 14 that Howell’s dismissal was wrong. Describing Howell’s comments as conservative in nature, Lorence said they accurately reflected Catholic teaching and are protected under academic freedom standards. ‘Universities are supposedly places of free inquiry and debate and (university officials) operated as if the University of Illinois was a suffocating institution where the prevailing orthodoxy will stifle all dissent,’ Lorence said.”

News-Gazette.com: “A University of Illinois graduate student is protesting the dismissal of an adjunct professor from teaching classes on Catholicism . . . Howell is working with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian-based organization that “provides the resources that will …

GlossChile.com (Chilean news translated by Google): “A new sign of intolerance was recorded at the University of Illinois (United States) a few days ago a professor fired for teaching the Catholic doctrine on homosexuality which states that homosexual acts (and not the trend itself) violated the natural law … In the kind of introduction to Catholicism . . . Howell is currently advised by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and is studying possible legal action if they are not reinstated . . . “.

Casey Mattox writes at the Christian Post Advancing Religious Liberty Blog (via Speak Up Movement):  ”I have a skeleton in my closet. Two decades ago I did something that could have threatened my college education and all that has followed. In a moment of youthful indiscretion, I associated with a group - even attaining a high ranking leadership position – that, although I did not appreciate it at the time, placed my future at risk. By the grace of God, I overcame this past and, against all odds, managed to be accepted at a top tier university and law school. My skeleton wears blue corduroy. I was the 1992-1993 State President of the Alabama Future Farmers of America.  I learned today that my leadership of a 23,000 student organization with a quarter million dollar budget, particularly when coupled with a similarly ill-considered officer position in 4-H, made it sixty percent less likely that I would be admitted to a top university . . . ”

Inside Higher Ed: “In California, June Sheldon lost her job teaching science courses at San Jose City College after a student complained about Sheldon’s discussion, in a class on heredity, of the causes of homosexuality. Sheldon was talking about the ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate with regard to why some people are gay, and students complained that her comments suggested that she did not believe anyone could be born a lesbian, and that the way she endorsed the ‘nurture’ side of the debate was offensive. Sheldon disputes the statements that were attributed to her, and she is being backed in a lawsuit against the college by the Alliance Defense Fund, which is now backing Howell at Illinois. San Jose officials have said she was not assigned further courses because of questions about the appropriateness of what she was telling her students.. . . The Alliance Defense Fund cited in its letter to Illinois numerous legal cases that grant faculty members at public universities broad First Amendment protection to teach their courses without fear that unpopular views will get them fired. Nelson cited AAUP policies as well. But one issue at play is whether — in teaching about religion at a public college or university — a professor has a specific obligation to, as several in the debate have said, ‘teach, not preach.’”

WorldNetDaily: “Pharmacists and other health-care workers shouldn’t be punished for looking out for their patients’ health – and for abiding by their beliefs,” said Steven H. Aden, the senior legal counsel who worked on the case for ADF. “The pharmacy board was right in determining that facilitated referrals work to protect the patients’ best interests and that, at the same time, pro-life pharmacists shouldn’t be forced to violate their conscience. This is a win-win situation,” he said.
Kristen Waggoner, one of nearly 1,800 attorneys in the ADF alliance, said the new rules “should ensure that customers receive prescribed drugs in the most efficient manner possible while at the same time respecting the conscience rights of pharmacists, who should never be forced to participate in the risk of destroying human life just to be able to preserve their professional licenses.” . . .

AP: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has banked $19.2 million for his re-election campaign but will need to speed up his fundraising to reach his goal of hitting $25 million for the Nevada race.”

AP: “States have the authority to enforce immigration laws and protect their borders, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Wednesday in a legal brief on behalf of nine states supporting Arizona’s immigration law.”

“If you think it’s far-fetched to suggest that a teachers union could play the role of political kingmaker, think again. The largest political campaign spender in America is not a megacorporation . . . It’s not even a labor federation, like the AFL-CIO . . . NEA members alone make up more than half of union members working for local governments . . . ”

Washington Times: “A record number of state legislatures could change party control this year, with Democrats at risk of losing their majorities in more than 20 state chambers, according to a comprehensive analysis.”

The Hill: “Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and David Vitter (La.) said they would try to attach the language to small-business legislation set to be debated on the Senate floor next week.”

The Hill: “The healthcare reform law allows states to exclude elective abortion coverage from being offered on the state health insurance exchanges due to begin operating in 2014. The legislation has exemptions for rare cases where the mother’s life is in danger from ‘a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury” including “a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.’ Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee have already passed opt-out legislation.”

AP: “‘I was writing a new post and suddenly my blog couldn’t open,’ lawyer Pu Zhiqiang told The Associated Press. Legal expert Xu Zhiyong said his blog on the popular Sohu Inc. portal was also shut down Wednesday, a day after his Sohu microblog was closed. Both men are well-known for taking on sensitive issues.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The Pacific Justice Institute is calling for the removal of a painting from the Sacramento Public Law Library that defaces a Bible and is accompanied by a statement saying that religious faith makes people stupid.”

Kagan did little to move the nomination hearings from the stylized “farce” (her own word) they have become . . . Kagan did just enough to win my vote by her answers that television would be good for the country and the court, and by identifying Justice Marshall as her role model . . .

“The approval came despite a concerted campaign by the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical groups, which drew 60,000 people to march on Congress . . .”