Daily Archives: July 19, 2010

Colombia Reports: “In the wake of the legalization of gay marriage in Argentina Thursday, Senator Piedad Cordoba hopes to draw up a gay marriage bill for Colombia. The Liberal Party senator is leading an effort to legalize same-sex marriage. Although Congress has twice shot down similar proposals in the past, she hopes to begin work on the bill on July 20, when the next legislative period begins.”

Living in Peru: “After the approval of gay marriage in Argentina, two homosexual organizations in Lima announced they are seeking for political allies among the candidates running in Peru’s 2011 presidential elections, in order to promote gay marriage in Peru.”

AFP: “Thousands of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and supporters of equal rights for sexual minorities marched in Poland’s capital Saturday in the first annual EuroPride march in Eastern Europe. The colourful parade wound through Warsaw in sweltering heat of close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), urging the government in conservative and deeply Roman Catholic country to give homosexual partnerships legal status.”

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “Hannemann said that if he were to be elected governor in November, he would work with state lawmakers on expanding the state’s reciprocal beneficiaries law so gay couples could have additional benefits. But he said he would use his veto power if lawmakers sent him an identical civil unions bill.”

Des Moines Register: “At least one group that tried to impeach a Polk County judge in 2007 over a same-sex marriage ruling is considering an effort this fall to boot judges off the bench. Others who opposed that decision say they will encourage supporters to vote ‘no’ on all judges who appear on the November ballot.”

Irish Times: “The Civil Partnership Bill, which provides legal recognition for same-sex couples in Ireland for the first time, has today been signed into law. The Bill was signed into law by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin this morning.”

Associated Press: “Syria has forbidden the country’s students and teachers from wearing the niqab – the full Islamic veil that reveals only a woman’s eyes – taking aim at a garment many see as political.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Vicki McKenna Show to discuss the firing of Dr. Kenneth Howell by the University of Illinois. | MP3 16:21 mins

Gerald J. Russello writing in the National Catholic Register: “The [Italian crucifix-in-the-classroom] case explicitly confronts the central issue facing Europe: whether it will acknowledge its Christian heritage, or surrender to a false ‘neutrality’ that really means uniform submission to a certain understanding of secularization. … This case brings to light exactly the risk against which [Pope Benedict XVI] has warned. On the one hand, the secular European human-rights courts feel free to disregard two millennia of history of Italy as a Christian nation, even though there was no actual harm shown in this case. Rather, the court relies on an abstract definition of ‘rights’ that trumps not only history but also political compromise. The thrust of the plaintiff’s case was essentially that her children might feel uncomfortable or pressured by the presence of the crucifixes, even though there was no religious instruction in the schools. A defeat for Italy here will open the way — as it has in the United States — for an assault on any accommodation the state makes to religious groups.”

Michael Kinsley writing at Slate: “If you believe that embryos a few days after conception have the same human rights as you or me, killing innocent embryos is obviously intolerable. But do opponents of stem-cell research really believe that? Stem cells test that belief, and sharpen the basic right-to-life question, in a way abortion never has. … In any particular case, fertility clinics try to produce more embryos than they intend to implant. Then—like the Yale admissions office (only more accurately)—they pick and choose among the candidates, looking for qualities that make for a better human being. … In short, if embryos are human beings with full human rights, fertility clinics are death camps—with a side order of cold-blooded eugenics. No one who truly believes in the humanity of embryos could possibly think otherwise. … The better point—the killer point, if you’ll pardon the expression—is that if embryos are human beings, the routine practices of fertility clinics are far worse—both in numbers and in criminal intent—than stem-cell research.”

The Christian Institute: “The Welsh Assembly Government wants to allow doctors to harvest organs from the dead without their consent. Supporters say it will result in more life-saving organ transplants, but critics say it treats human bodies like state property and may encourage a slippery definition of death.”

The Christian Institute: “Christians in Britain are being unfairly targeted for hate crime prosecutions, according to a new report by the Civitas think-tank. The report, entitled A New Inquisition: Religious Persecution in Britain Today, also warns that existing hate crime legislation poses a danger to freedom of speech.” | Amazon.com

Lambda Legal Press Release: “Today, Lambda Legal joined a coalition of over 30 organizations and leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), immigrants’ rights, civil rights and faith communities to urge Congress to pass the Uniting American Families Act and end discrimination against LGBT binational families.” | United American Families Act on Wikipedia

Reuters: “The United Nations on Monday accredited a major gay and lesbian organization that Egypt, Russia and others had tried to keep out as a group permitted to lobby at the world body. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a U.S.-based advocacy group, had applied for ‘consultative status’ at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) three years ago.”

ADF Attorney Nate Kellum appeared on the Don Kroah Show to discuss the situation involving Arizona students prohibited from praying outside SCOTUS. | MP3 7:51 mins

David French, Erik Stanley, Joe Infranco, and Jim Campbell appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss some of ADF’s latest initiatives. | MP3 32:24 mins | www.adfonhugh.org

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on Ave Maria Radio with Al Kresta to discuss Dr. Howell’s firing by the University of Illinois. | MP3 42:37 mins

Huffington Post: “The U.S. State Department is secretly funneling millions of dollars to Latin American journalists, according to documents obtained in June under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). … Thus far, only documents pertaining to Venezuela have been released. They reveal that the PADF, collaborating with Venezuelan NGOs associated with the country’s political opposition, has been supplied with at least $700,000 to give out journalism grants and sponsor journalism education programs.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Chilean Chamber of Deputies has issued a ringing condemnation of Spain’s new abortion law, which removes all penalties for abortions up to the 14th week of gestation and permits adolescent girls to obtain abortions without their parents’ consent.”

EducationNews.org: “The purpose of this paper is to encourage a change regarding the current direction and execution of the federal and state regulations regarding Internet filtering by: 1) loosening current Internet filtering; and 2) increasing the dialogue with and education of students regarding students’ developed digital behavior. The intended outcome of these two major proposals is to create an environment in which students could better engage the world via adherence to the NETS, thus better preparing them for aspects of adult life.”

Associated Press: “A judge has issued an injunction extending a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of an Oklahoma law that would require women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and hear a description of the fetus.”

Politico: “In their opinions on policy and politicians ranging from President Barack Obama to Sarah Palin, elites in Washington have a strikingly divergent outlook from the rest of the nation, according to a new POLITICO poll released Monday.”

NPR: “Alongside China’s astonishing economic boom, an almost unnoticed religious boom has quietly been taking place. In the country’s first major survey on religious beliefs, conducted in 2006, 31.4 percent of about 4,500 people questioned described themselves as religious. That amounts to more than 300 million religious believers, an astonishing number in an officially atheist country, and three times higher than the last official estimate, which had largely remained unchanged for years.”

Virtue Online: “The Islamists have it wrong: Islam isn’t the world’s fastest-growing religion. By birth numbers and convert tallies, it’s Christianity. … In the central states of Nigeria — Africa’s most-populous country — religious pogroms and counter-pogroms between Muslims and Christians have become routine. Throughout the region, patience is wearing thin. Africa’s impassioned forms of charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity won’t turn the other cheek forever. The coming backlash could be ferocious . . . “| Via David P. Goldman at First Things.

“Increased crime, prostitution and anti-social behaviour. Greater inequality between men and women. Less parental investment in children. And, a general driving down of the age of marriage for all women.”

Ross Douthat writing in the New York Times: “Last year, two Princeton sociologists, Thomas Espenshade and Alexandria Walton Radford, published a book-length study of admissions and affirmative action at eight highly selective colleges and universities. … This provides statistical confirmation for what alumni of highly selective universities already know. The most underrepresented groups on elite campuses often aren’t racial minorities; they’re working-class whites (and white Christians in particular) from conservative states and regions. Inevitably, the same underrepresentation persists in the elite professional ranks these campuses feed into: in law and philanthropy, finance and academia, the media and the arts.”

LifeNews: “A new report issued by the Inspector General (IG) for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reveals the Obama administration has spent over $23 million for activities in Kenya to influence voters there to support a new constitution that would allow virtually unlimited abortions.”

LifeNews: “Add Maryland to the list of states, including Pennsylvania and New Mexico, where the Obama administration authorized federal taxpayer funding of abortions under high risk insurance programs created under the new national health care plan President Barack Obama signed.”

LifeNews: “After a dustup this week that saw the Obama administration authorize abortion funding in high risk insurance pools in at least two states, and then subsequently backtrack and promise no funding would occur, pro-life advocates are demanding a new law to ensure that doesn’t happen. After National Right to Life exposed new federally-funded health insurance plans that would have covered elective abortions in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, the Department of Health and Human Services promised the Obama administration would ensure no funding takes place.”

Randy Barnett writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “Remember when the Commerce Clause challenge to the individual insurance mandate was dismissed by all serious and knowledgeable constitutional law professors and Nancy Pelosi as ‘frivolous’? Well, as Jonathan notes below, the administration is now apparently telling the New York Times that the individual insurance ‘requirement’ and ‘penalty’ is really an exercise of the Tax Power of Congress. …”

Washington Post: “A group of nations — including the United States, China and Russia — have for the first time signaled a willingness to engage in reducing the threat of attacks on each others’ computer networks. Although the agreement, reached this week at the United Nations, is only recommendations, Robert K. Knake, a cyberwarfare expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said it represents a ‘significant change in U.S posture’ and is part of the Obama administration’s strategy of diplomatic engagement.”

Jeremy Dys writing at the Family Policy Council of West Virginia Engage Family Blog (see video at the link): “Michael Todd Wilson, one of Exodus’ counselors, has this excellent explanation of sexual identity. In summary, he says any discussion of sexual identity within homosexual behavior must be broken into three parts: 1. Same-sex attractions – This he defines as, ‘erotic pull to someone of the same gender.’ Never degrade these feelings. Attractions are real, they are strong. Still, as Wilson explains, we are not to be mastered by any of our feelings. 2. Same-sex behavior – When feelings give way to actions, thoughts, desires with/about/for members of a person’s same gender, then they are said to engage in same-sex behavior. 3. Gay identity – This is the most complex and potentially subjective of the issues of sexual identity. In part, it is how a person with homosexual tendencies views themselves. In part, it is how that person wishes to be perceived . . . ”

Associated Press: “The Obama administration and 14 members of the U.S. Congress are urging the U.N. Economic and Social Council to accredit the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission so it can work at the United Nations. The U.S.-based organization, which has offices in South Africa, Argentina and the Philippines, has been trying since 2007 to get consultative status with the council, which serves as the main U.N. forum for discussing international economic and social issues.”

CitizenLink: “. . . The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) released its ’7th Annual State Profiles’ report to compare ‘comprehensive’ sex education laws and policies in public schools to that of abstinence-only efforts. The report bragged, ‘After nearly 30 years of strong support from the federal government for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, the Obama administration and Congress have ushered in a new era of sex education in this country, eliminating two-thirds of federal funding for ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and providing funding for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sex education initiatives totaling nearly $190 million.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Adams v. Indiana Wesleyan University, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71403 (ND Ind., July 15, 2010), an Indiana federal district court applied the ministerial exception to dismiss a Title VII racial discrimination claim filed against a religiously-sponsored university by a former faculty member. Janice B. Adams, an African-American, was employed by Indiana Wesleyan University for 17 years as a Professor and Chair of the Social Work Department.” [case link added by ADF editors]

UALR Public Radio: “An Arkansas civil liberties group says it’s concerned about the implications of ‘partial DNA matching’ after a high-profile California case. An alleged serial rapist was tracked down after his son went to prison and was entered into the DNA database. But the case raises privacy questions, by effectively including relatives in the database as well as convicted criminals”

Great Falls Tribune: “Friday was the deadline for county election officials to submit ballot initiative signatures to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch’s office. … As of late Friday afternoon, it appeared the majority of the proposals would not qualify. … One of the state’s most controversial ballot initiatives, a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban abortion in Montana, appeared to be well below the 48,674 signatures required to place the measure on the ballot. As of 4 p.m. Friday the certified signature count on Constitutional Initiative-102 was 29,938. Additionally, preliminary counts show the measure only received the qualifying number of signatures in 12 of the required 40 legislative districts.” | For more information see Montana 2010 ballot measures at Ballotpedia. | PersonhoodMontana.com

Las Vegas Sun: “Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle describes her motivation for seeking elected office as a religious calling. … [A]lthough many Americans view the separation of church and state as one of the keys to the nation’s success as a multicultural society, Angle believes that religion has an expansive role to play in government. And, she has repeatedly said anyone who opposes that based on the claim of separation of church and state misunderstands the Constitution’s ban on ‘establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’”

“Today’s ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits.”

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss this: Ill. prof. fired for teaching about Catholic beliefs in class on Catholicism. | MP3 18:10 mins

Religion Clause: “Applying the rule that ‘a parent’s religious beliefs and practices may not be considered by the trial court as a basis to deprive [a] parent of custody unless there is a showing of actual harm to the health or welfare of the child,’ a Kansas appellate court, in a 2-1 decision, has rejected a Muslim father’s objections to granting of residential custody to his son’s mother because of her practices as a Jehovah’s Witness.” | Harrison v. Tauheed (KS Ct. App., July 16, 2010)

ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss normalization of homosexual behavior in the military, chaplains, and religious freedom  | MP3 10:55 mins | related ADF Media Information page

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on Catholic Connection at Ave Maria Radio with Teresa Tomeo to discuss this: Ill. prof. fired for teaching about Catholic beliefs in class on Catholicism. | MP3 13:28 mins

Religion Clause: “In Lefemine v. Davis, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68725 (D SC, July 8, 2010), a South Carolina federal district court enjoined Greenwood County (SC) sheriff officials from imposing content-based restrictions on graphic anti-abortion depictions on signs carried by a Christian anti-abortion group. … The court concluded that this amounted to a content-based restriction that was not narrowly tailored to further the compelling interest of protecting children. It therefore violated the free speech and assembly rights as well as the free exercise rights of the picketers from Columbia Christians for Life.”

Washington Times: “The Swedish Liberal Party pushed a new 1,500-page schooling law through last month one paragraph of which will make home schooling as an expression of religion or philosophy effectively impossible for Swedish families, other than in ‘exceptional circumstances’ such as health issues or distance from a public school. The law also severely restricts religious practice in Sweden’s ‘confessional’ schools. … Some families are even considering leaving the country, such as Nicklas and Jenny Lantz, who home-school their three sons, Lukas, Beppe and Frode. The whole family helps run a small theater they built in the Swedish countryside near their home; on play nights, they go together and help prepare for shows.”

New York Times: “At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders. Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president to support an overhaul that would include some path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here. They are preaching from pulpits, conducting conference calls with pastors and testifying in Washington — as they did last Wednesday.”

York Daily Record: “The writers of all seven amicus briefs filed this week with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Westboro Baptist Church noted two things: The protest by the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his family was terribly offensive and presented a worldview with which they disagreed greatly. And, despite that, all seven said the court must rule in favor of the Kansas-based church when it hears the appeal by Spring Garden Township’s Albert Snyder in October.” | Via Religion Clause.

Tulsa World: “A proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would ban Sharia law in the state court system is either a pre-emptive strike against encroaching Islamic law in the U.S. or an expression of Islamophobia, depending on who you ask. State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, authored State Question 755, which requires state courts to rely only on federal and state laws when deciding cases, and forbids courts to consider international law or Sharia law. It will appear on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.” | Via Religion Clause. | Ballot Language | Full text of HJR 1056 | Follow State Question 755 at Ballotpedia.

New York Times: “Answering the G.I. Rights Hotline for the last 11 years, J. E. McNeil has counseled thousands of soldiers who want to become conscientious objectors and get out of the service. … Ms. McNeil got a hot-line call that raised a new issue: the caller said he considered homosexuality an abomination and wanted to be a conscientious objector because he could not serve in the military alongside gay soldiers. … In the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ cases, Ms. McNeil concluded that there was no legal basis for a conscientious objector claim. The legal standard, she said, is that the person must be conscientiously opposed to participating in war in any form, based on a sincerely held religious, moral or ethical belief. And the person must have had a change of heart since joining the military, when the person signed a form saying he or she was not a conscientious objector and did not intend to become one.”

OneNewsNow: “The United Nations has created a super agency for feminists, but one female leader thinks it’s unnecessary. The U.N. General Assembly recently voted to consolidate four different groups into a single one that could eventually be fueled by a $1 billion a year, and many of those dollars would come from the U.S. ‘Women need respect and opportunity, not a global agency that will just demand money and power for its elitist leaders,’ contends Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America (CWA). ‘There are serious needs of women around the world, but we’ve learned that these types of U.N. agencies don’t meet those needs.’”

OneNewsNow: “After serving California for more than a decade as chief justice, Ronald M. George is finally resigning — news that has conservatives breathing a sigh of relief. … ‘He is a judicial activist and pulls his own views and political opinions,’ Huey explains. ‘For Christians, he was an enemy of First Amendment rights. As a judicial activist, he was an advocate of social engineering. He also did a lot of other harm.’”

USA Today / On Politics: “Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop is urging a no vote on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan in a letter that will be delivered today to senators who soon will be deciding to confirm her. … In the letter, Koop accuses Kagan of lobbying successfully to change the language of a 1997 statement by American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists on a controversial procedure that critics call ‘partial-birth abortion.’”

Associated Press: “President Raul Castro has startled the nation lately by saying about one in five Cuban workers may be redundant. At the work site on Obispo street, those numbers run in reverse. It’s a common sight in communist Cuba. Here, nearly everyone works for the state and official unemployment is minuscule, but pay is so low that Cubans like to joke that ‘the state pretends to pay us and we pretend to work.’ Now, facing a severe budget deficit, the government has hinted at restructuring or trimming its bloated work force.”

Associated Press: “Spanish lawmakers will debate barring burqas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that the body-covering garments are degrading to women, the leading opposition party said Sunday.”

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision recently that demonstrates why churches should be updating their by-laws to protect against potential litigation that can threaten the constitutional right of the church to select its ministers free from government interference. The case was called Skrzypczak v. Diocese of Tulsa. In the case, the Diocese hired Ms. Skrzypczak to work as the Director of the Department of Religious Formation for the Diocese. … The Tenth Circuit described that the ministerial exception ‘preserves a church’s “essential” right to choose the people who will “preach its values, teach its message, and interpret its doctrines[,] both to its own membership and to the world at large,” free from the interference of civil employment laws.’ The Court explained that, ‘Although the doctrine usually comes into play in employment suits between an ordained minister and her church, it extends to any employee who serves in a position that “is important to the spiritual and pastoral mission of the church.”‘”

Commentarama blog: “Just when I think academic idiocy, political correctness, and group-victimology can’t get any sillier or more destructive to free thinking, they do. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has relieved a professor of his duties for teaching the Catholic view on homosexuality, in a course on Catholic teaching. Well–what can we expect from a University system which would hire Obama buddy William Ayers? … However, the Alliance Defense Fund has already sent a demand letter to the school demanding reinstatement for professor Howell no later than July 16 (yesterday, by the time of this publication) or face a lawsuit. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has also indicated an interest in the matter, but has made no formal statement or taken any action thus far.”

Specter of Reason blog: “Legal action is being filed against UI by Alliance Defense Fund, a not-for-profit organization that specializes in representing people like Howell–that is, ‘religious and conservative faculty’ whose views are not welcome at universities. I hope the lawsuit is dealt with adequately. There is no free speech issue here. Religion is no excuse for incompetence. … [I]s Howell’s email hate speech? I think yes, if hate speech includes acts which disparage homosexuality. Howell’s argument is that homosexuality is unnatural. That seems rather disparaging to homosexuals. Maybe Howell was not inciting anyone to violence against homosexuals, but that is not a necessary criterion of hate speech.”

Dave Welch writing at WorldNetDaily: “Thanks to continuing and escalating attacks on the free exercise of Christianity (notice I did not say “religion” since some are actually being given favored status, e.g., Islam), pastors are realizing that hunkering down may work for hurricane survival but not for a war of aggression. That aggression is zeroed in on the pulpits.Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Initiative is an act of ministry that I urge every pastor to consider participating in for one very specific reason. Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures are the governing authorities given jurisdiction over the preaching and practice of the Gospel, nor is any such authority granted in the Constitution. The existence of this restriction on what is preached in pulpits is offensive and unacceptable in every way.”

Deacon Keith Fournier writing at Catholic Online: “The story of the unjust firing of Catholic Professor Ken Howell by the University of Illinois is far from over. The President of the University is sending out form letters in response to the overwhelming number of complaints he has received. He has promised to have the decision reviewed. The excellent lawyers of the Alliance Defense Fund are doing what they do so well. Catholics, other Christians and other people of faith and good will have joined together to right what is an obvious wrong . . . We are engaged in a struggle between two competing visions of the human person, the nature of marriage (and the family and society founded upon it) and the structure and obligations attendant to the responsible exercise of authentic human freedom.”

LifeSiteNews: “‘Christians shouldn’t be silenced for exercising their beliefs through quiet prayer on public property,’ said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Nate Kellum]. ‘The last place you’d expect this kind of obvious disregard for the First Amendment would be on the grounds of the U.S. Supreme Court itself, but that’s what happened.’”

RenewAmerica: “It wasn’t very long ago when the librarian at Ohio State University suggested some books to students who were looking for resource material. One book was by David Kupelian, an author and editorialist affiliated with Whistleblower magazine. Another was by David Horowitz, former professor at U. Cal. Berkeley and erstwhile co-publisher of the slick, Leftist magazine Ramparts. … One would have hoped that the faculty and administration would have come to the defense of the librarian and the diversity of ideas and the First Amendment. They do when any ludicrous Lefty or purveyor of porn is challenged. But no, Ohio State pursued the charges against the librarian. Fortunately the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) came to the librarian’s defense with the intention of roasting the Buckeyes’ chestnuts.”

… ADF weighed in with a tight, five-page opinion letter submitted in Spanish to Senator Liliana Negre, a same-sex ‘marriage’ opponent who chaired the Senate debate. ..

The Christian Institute: “A police officer in America has told a group of teachers and children praying outside the US Supreme Court that they should find somewhere else to go. American organisation the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has warned that the police action breaches constitutional free speech rights. ‘Christians shouldn’t be silenced for exercising their beliefs through quiet prayer on public property’, [Nate Kellum] from ADF said.”

Excerpt of Tom O’Toole’s letter to Chancellor Robert Easter at the University of Illinois at RenewAmerica: “My name is Tom O’Toole, and I am both a Catholic journalist and father of two University of Illinois students … the University, in a tip of the cap to political correctness, permanently pulled the headdress of their beloved Indian mascot ‘The Chief,’ leaving the Fighting Illini essentially mascot-less … However, when this wave of PC-ness reaches the height of firing a beloved Illini professor for merely teaching a course on Catholicism honestly, I have to protest, for this insidious dismissal of Dr. Kenneth Howell helped me discern what that big ‘I’ has now come to mean. … Now on the surface, Robert, you logically have to agree with the Alliance Defense Fund (Dr. Howell’s legal representative) which states, ‘To fire a teacher for teaching the actual subject matter of a course is outrageous, and to dismiss him without a hearing of his side of the story is ridiculous.’”

OneNewsNow: “Wickenburg Christian Academy teacher Maureen Rigo of Arizona had taken a group of students to tour the complex, and ADF attorney [Nate Kellum] tells OneNewsNow they had just completed a May 5 visit to the Supreme Court and were on the steps outside. ‘They decided to mark the occasion [and] that they would pray. They just simply circled…bowed their heads and quietly prayed,’ Kellum reports. ‘And yet what happened is they were abruptly stopped [by] a police officer for the Supreme Court building who told them that what they were doing was violating a federal statute and said that they had to take their prayer elsewhere.’”

Inside Higher Ed: “[I]f you want to study Roman Catholicism, your instructors have been through different vetting — they will have been nominated by (and their salaries paid by) the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center, a church organization independent of the university, set up to serve Catholic students at the university. … the situation raises church-state issues at a public institution, presents issues of fairness when it is permitted for only one religious group at a secular college, and may undercut the values of the field of religious studies, faculty critics say. … “Save Dr. Ken,” a Facebook group, has more than 5,000 members. The Alliance Defense Fund, which defends the rights of religious students and faculty members, is taking up his cause. So is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which issued its analysis of the case on Friday.”

Christian Post: “Christians and conservative groups in Washington are determined to take the gay marriage issue to the U.S. Supreme Court after their appeal to let the people vote on the matter was rejected. ‘In America, we respect the right to vote. The citizens of the District of Columbia should not have their voices suppressed by the government, but that is exactly what is happening here,’ said [Austin R. Nimocks], senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund.”

FOX News: “‘Save Dr. Ken’ is actively working to take its protest beyond Facebook. Its home page offers detailed instructions on how to protest Howell’s dismissal, separately tailored to students, alumni and outside supporters. For example, the group asks alumni to cease donating to the university until Howell is reinstated. It also encourages members to donate to the Alliance Defense Fund, the legal alliance defending Howell’s case.”

Piero A. Tozzi serves as senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund at its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he plays a key role with ADF-Global. Since joining ADF in 2010, Tozzi has focused his litigation efforts on international human rights law. He earned his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1996 and is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Tozzi is also a member of the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association. Prior to joining ADF, Tozzi served as executive vice president and general counsel for the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) while running its New York office, where he lobbied the United Nations on social policy issues and established C-FAM’s public interest law arm, the International Organizations Law Group.

Joanna L. Grossman writes at Findlaw: “By defining marriage at all, rather than deferring to each state’s definition of marriage, Congress certainly departed from its past tradition. But was the departure constitutionally invalid? That is the question that has been explored (and answered “Yes”) in both Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Commonwealth v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  In Part One of this two-part series, I will describe DOMA and explain the reasoning that led Judge Joseph L. Tauro, in Gill , to invalidate section 3 as applied to the plaintiffs in that case. In Part Two — appearing on FindLaw tomorrow, Tuesday, July 20 — I will discuss the ruling inCommonwealth and consider the marriage-regulation history that is so central to the court’s reasoning in both cases.”

AP: “Abortion foes have scored a victory and traditional allies of the Obama administration are grumbling about a decision to ban most abortion coverage in insurance pools for those unable to purchase health care on their own.”

Wall Street Journal: “National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, who operates inside the IRS, highlighted the agency’s new mission in her annual report to Congress last week. Look out below. She notes that the IRS is already ‘greatly taxed’—pun intended?—’by the additional role it is playing in delivering social benefits and programs to the American public,’ like tax credits for first-time homebuyers or purchasing electric cars. Yet with ObamaCare, the agency is now responsible for ‘the most extensive social benefit program the IRS has been asked to implement in recent history.’ And without “sufficient funding” it won’t be able to discharge these new duties.”

NCPA Policy Digest: “Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States. An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances. In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built . . . ”

AP: “Gunmen killed two Pakistani Christian brothers accused of blasphemy against Islam as they left court on Monday, a government minister and police said.”

Wall Street Journal: “The emergence of competitive Republican candidates in Wisconsin, Washington and California—Democratic-leaning states where polls now show tight races—bring the number of seats that Republicans could seize from the Democrats to 11.”