Daily Archives: August 3, 2010

Boston.com (AP): “After a period of dramatic change at the Supreme Court and in her personal life, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is looking forward to being one of three women on the high court for the foreseeable future.”

“In an impassioned floor speech today, Sen. Sessions gave an overview of the issues that will be a focus of this week’s floor debate on Elena Kagan’s nomination.”

Dr. Miriam Grossman, via the Ruth Institute Blog: “Who came up with the notion that it’s necessary to teach the world’s children about high risk sex acts their parents never heard of? The usual suspects: Planned Parenthood and the Sexuality Education and Information Council of the United States (SEICUS, a private organization). These groups portray themselves as guardians of our children’s health; they claim to provide students with all the information and skills they need to make smart choices. Their curricula, they declare, are comprehensive, age appropriate, ideologically neutral, and medically accurate. They give children the same message as parents: you’re too young – wait until you’re older.”

UPI: “Lawyers for a transgendered Texas woman say they have proof her late husband knew she was born a man when they married.” | Fox News: Transgender Widow in Texas Says E-mail Proves Husband Knew About Sex Change

Brandon Sun: “Two leftist senators introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage Tuesday, drawing predictions from colleagues on both the left and right that the measure has little chance of approval in conservative Chile.”

ADF attorney David French appeared on the Mark Larson Show to discuss the climate of censorship in American universities and what college students can do about it. | MP3 5:10 mins | SpeakUpMovement.org

ADF attorney David Hacker appeared on Relevant Radio, the Drew Mariani Show, to discuss this: Fired U of I professor vindicated, will again be allowed to teach Catholicism class. | MP3 16:44 mins

ADF attorney Joel Oster appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss ADF efforts to end religious discrimination at government facilities. | MP3 15:51 mins | ADF press release: ADF seeks to end religious discrimination policies at more than 750 government-run facilities

The Philadelphia Inquirer: “After months of uncertainty as the city threatened to seize the land, construction of a $70 million Mormon temple near Logan Square will not only proceed but will help make the Parkway ‘one of the most incredible boulevards anywhere in the world,’ Mayor Nutter said Monday.”

“There has got to be one rule, and that one rule may not in the American constitutional tradition discriminate between faiths . . . I do not believe the Ground Zero mosque should be built”

NPR: “Contrary to the stereotype that most scientists are atheists, [Elaine Howard Ecklund] says, nearly half of them say they are religious. But when she did follow up interviews, she found they practice a ‘closeted faith.’ ‘They just do not want to bring up that they are religious in an academic discussion. There’s somewhat of almost a culture of suppression surrounding discussions of religion at these kinds of academic institutions,’ Ecklund says . . . ‘The secular public schools are almost becoming, for lack of a better term, quasi-religious in their outlook and devotion to one particular worldview and excluding all those who disagree,’ [ADF Attorney David French] says.”

Reuters: “The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union said they agreed to pursue the case in July at the request of the father of Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico. U.S. authorities have tied Nasser al-Awlaki’s son to the failed bombing attempt of a U.S. commercial jet on Christmas Day in 2009 and also to an Army major who went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people last year at Fort Hood in Texas.”

Blog of LegalTimes: “Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said today that he will vote against confirming Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, attacking her as unqualified and out-of-touch.”

Christian Science Monitor: “Turkey is a member of a select geopolitical club: rising democracies. This club encompasses not only Turkey, but also India, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa. Their emergence is a crucial – but untold – development of the 21st century. Rising democracies offer the West an opportunity to perpetuate the international order founded in the wake of the Second World War.”

“Let’s be perfectly frank. These bans are outrages against religious freedom and freedom of expression . . . And yet the burqa must be banned . . . If Europe does not stand up now against veiling . . . there will be many cities in Europe where no unveiled woman will walk comfortably or safely.”

Spartanburg Herald-Journal: “The Woodruff City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. today to discuss and take action on a prayer policy for council meetings . . . Woodruff’s prayer policy was drafted by city officials, local attorneys and those with the Alliance Defense Fund — a Christian organization.”

CBN News: “‘It sounds like the proposed Koran burning is rooted in revenge,’ said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. ‘Yet the Bible says that Christians should “make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else” (1 Thess. 5:15).’ The Simon Wiesenthal Center — an international Jewish human rights group — joined the Christian community in condemning the proposal.”

MSNBC: “The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging the way property taxes are assessed for households headed by same-sex couples.” | ACLU Press Release [Google Viewer]

Associated Press: “California’s high court on Monday upheld the state’s 14-year-old law barring preferential treatment of women and minorities in public school admissions, government hiring and contracting.” | Coral Construction, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco, No. S152934 (Cal. Aug. 2, 2010)

Wall Street Journal: “On the eve of expected city approval of a mosque and Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero, backers of the project are pledging to include a memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as part of an effort to allay opponents’ complaints that the mosque’s location is insensitive.”

Daniel Allott writing at The American Spectator: “The Obama administration’s attempts to impose abortion abroad [have] been unethical. Its attempts to do so in Obama’s father’s homeland may also be illegal . . . Obama’s abortion imperialism may have its greatest impact in Kenya, where the administration has spent millions to promote ratification of a national constitution that would radically liberalize the country’s abortion laws.”

The American Spectator’s Mark Tooley reviews William Murchison’s “Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity”: “The Episcopal Church’s current crisis technically began with its 2003 election of openly homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson, igniting growing tensions with the nearly 80 million member Anglican Communion, especially its increasingly dominant and conservative African members. But Murchison traces the church’s wrong turn to the 1960s, when Episcopal elites increasingly chose for cultural conformity rather than cultural transformation. Like other Mainline Protestant elites, Episcopalians began to shed ‘exclusivist’ claims about Christianity in favor of pluralism, where every ideology has a voice except for orthodoxy.”

Christian Post: “Two Christian women in Bangladesh’s northern district of Jamalpur said village officials extorted relatively large sums of money from them – and severely beat the husband of one – for proclaiming Christ to Muslims.”

ABS-CBN News: “The New York-based Centre for Reproductive Rights issued a report this week saying about 1,000 women died annually in the Philippines after having backstreet abortions.”

Mercury News (AP): “Boxer is intent on highlighting the distinction between Fiorina and herself on the right of choice, even as the state struggles with an unemployment rate above 12 percent . . . Abortion rights, she knows, can help drive voters her way”

Breitbart (AP): “Protesters shouting ‘Defend the cross!’ scuffled with police Tuesday but managed to prevent Polish officials from moving a cross erected outside the presidential palace in memory of the late President Lech Kaczynski.”

LifeSiteNews: “A number of pro-life activists have announced that they will pray on the public walkway in front of the Washington, D.C. Planned Parenthood (PP) on Saturday, August 14 as part of an event called ‘A Time to Stand’ – even if doing so means arrest and going to jail.”

The Hill: “On Tuesday, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) praised the center’s progress, saying that it represents the core of American values.”

Fox News: “The debate over Park 51′s construction has grown beyond the borders of downtown Manhattan into a national controversy, demonstrated by a television ad produced by the National Republican Trust Political Action Committee, which uses graphic imagery from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to argue that the construction of a mosque and Islamic center two blocks north of Ground Zero would constitute ‘an invitation for more.’”

Christian Today: “Virginia native John Upton was elected Saturday to lead the Baptist World Alliance as its new president.”

ACLJ: “The ACLJ is planning to file an Article 78 petition in state court to challenge the city’s actions. The ACLJ will allege that there’s been an abuse of discretion in the Commission’s decision and that filing is expected to occur tomorrow.”

As many as 400,000 voters cast ‘no’ votes on the measure because they thought a ‘yes’ vote meant they favored gay marriage, according to the study released by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Mentoring Project.”

NYT Editorial, “A Respect for World Opinion“: “Nativism in American politics has become so rampant that it is considered scandalous in Republican circles for a judge to acknowledge paying any attention to foreign courts and their legal rulings. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the few prominent jurists to speak out against this trend in recent years, gave an on-the-money speech last week pointing out the xenophobia on recent display in the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan.” | Via FedSoc Blog

VOAnews.com: “Zaytuna College’s motto is, ‘Where Islam meets America.’ It’s the first Muslim college in the United States.”

Associated Press: “Supporters and opponents of Elena Kagan painted vastly different portraits of the Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday, as they got their final say on the Senate floor before a near-certain vote to confirm her later this week.”

Boston.com (AP): “Chief Justice Robert Davis has retired from the Kansas Supreme Court, citing health concerns. His resignation is effective immediately.”

WorldNetDaily: “Elena Kagan, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court likely will be before the full U.S. Senate for a vote soon, has suggested state regulations are ‘little’ burden for homeschoolers, according to notes she made on a case while she was clerking for Justice Thurgood Marshall.”

Honolulu Star Advertiser: “The Hawaii State Bar Association’s board of directors’ rating of appeals Judge Katherine Leonard as ‘unqualified’ to be Hawaii’s next chief justice drew strong criticism last night from Gov. Linda Lingle. The association’s board gave Leonard the rating by a secret vote and did not disclose the reasons as part of its confidential policy to help ensure that the lawyers on the board vote freely on appointees.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Earlier this month, Pennsylvania joined 20 other states to consider legislation prohibiting minors from sexting – electronically sending sexually explicit photos or text. Grove’s bill would impose a range of penalties, from a summary offense much like a traffic ticket to felony charges.” | HB 2189 | Rep. Seth Grove’s June 29 press release on the passage of the bill in the PA House

LifeSiteNews: “A year after the same maneuver ended in defeat, a Senate committee has again approved an amendment to the foreign appropriations bill that would codify President Obama’s repeal of the Mexico City Policy. The measure would make international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortion permanently eligible for U.S. foreign funds.”

Radio Free Europe: “A graduate of a local religious school, or madrasah, himself, Ahmadov has an official license to teach in such Islamic schools and to conduct private courses. His classes, which take place inside the grand mosque is the village of Ponghoz, in Tajikistan’s northern Sughd Province, are registered by local authorities. It’s how the Tajik authorities — who maintain tight control over all things religious in this predominantly Muslim country — insist things be run when it comes to Islamic education.” | Via Religion Clause

Religion Clause: “In Pounds v. Katy Independent School District, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77175 (SD TX, July 30, 2010), a Texas federal district court granted a motion to reconsider its earlier decision involving a First Amendment challenge to a holiday card fundraising project at a Texas elementary school . . . In sending home the order form supplied by an outside company, the school blacked out one message choice– a religious quotations from the New Testament. The court held that the school’s admitted viewpoint discrimination violated parents’ First Amendment free speech rights and was not justified by an attempt to avoid an Establishment Clause violation.”

LifeNews: “More than 200 physicians who have served U.S. soldiers have signed a letter to members of the Senate protesting a Senate bill amendment that would turn U.S. military base hospitals into abortion centers.”

Fox News / Live Shots: “The final debate on Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court will start Tuesday according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.”

Associated Press: “At Arlington National Cemetery, just over the Potomac River from Washington, eight justices rest together in one section – one justice short of a full court. In all, 12 justices are buried at Arlington, and another 18 lie at other nearby cemeteries.”

Associated Press: “The head of the nation’s largest labor federation on Tuesday urged union leaders to step up support for Democrats in the November elections, despite some frustration with the pace of gains on labor’s agenda.”

Walll Street Journal: “The commission’s chairman, Robert B. Tierney, said the building at 45-47 Park Place ‘does not rise to the level of an individual landmark.’ The 11-member panel is appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has vehemently defended the mosque as an example of religious freedom.”

Associated Press: “The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-0, saying the 152-year-old building blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks wasn’t special or distinctive enough to meet criteria to qualify as a landmark. Commissioners also said that other buildings from the era were better examples of the building’s style.”

Press Release from Patrick A. Trueman at PornHarms.com: ‘Attorney General Holder would be well advised, however, to also vigorously prosecute illegal adult pornography and not just child pornography, Trueman urged. ‘This would prevent many from ever getting involved with child pornography because many child pornographers today are not pedophiles and likely did not have a natural attraction to child pornography prior to their involvement with pornography. Rather they began with adult pornography but moved to harder and more deviant material and eventually to child pornography to maintain their sexual excitement,’ he added.”

Press Release from Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas): ‘For Americans, as well as Congressional Democrats who didn’t bother to read the bill, this first look at the final health care law confirms what many fear, that reform morphed into a monstrosity of new bureaucracies, mandates, taxes and rationing that will drive up health care costs, hurt seniors and force our most intimate health care choices into the hands of Washington bureaucrats,’ said Brady, the committee’s senior House Republican. ‘If this is what passes for health care reform in America, then God help us all.’”

Frank Gaffney writing at Townhall: “In fact, it is not ‘bashing’ all Muslims if one points out that the comprehensive doctrine to which some of them adhere is a threat to our liberties, our government and our way of life. Objectively, that is the case; a global theocracy – the end-state commanded by Shariah – administering a severely repressive, even barbaric criminal code aimed at enforcing submission by Muslims and non-Muslims alike is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.”

NBC San Diego: “According to Whittier Law School professor I. Nelson Rose, legal sports betting could bring California about $1 billion annually. That’s a big number (see first paragraph). Wright’s committee has a bill on hold that would legalize Internet poker. Would doing so help open the door for sports gambling and the estimated 10,000 jobs it might create?”

OneNewsNow: “The high court has agreed to hear the case, and in the opening brief, Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys made two essential arguments. ‘One of those is that the plaintiffs do not have a constitutional injury . . . [David Cortman] goes on to report that the second argument his firm presented was ‘that this is a neutral constitutional program that allows taxpayers to decide what private 501(c)(3) organizations they want to donate to voluntarily to then support private schools that are both religious and non-religious.’” | ADF News Release

Charleston Gazette: “Kanawha County officials are trying to stop a man from opening what they say is an ‘adults only’ store in Jefferson . . . ‘I carry posters that you can sell to 6-year-olds,’ he said. ‘I carry condoms that you can sell to 6-year-olds. I carry lingerie that you can sell to 6-year-olds.’” | Via the Family Policy Council of West Virginia

Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West in the Wall Street Journal, “African-Americans for Charter Schools” [full text via Google]: “Support for charters among African Americans rose to 49% in 2009, up from 42% in 2008. This year it leapt upward to no less than 64%. Among Hispanics support jumped to 47% in 2010, from 37% in 2008.”

Cal Thomas writing at Townhall: “Radical Islamists are here. Who else besides Newt Gingrich and too few others will sound the call? Who else has the power to do something while they still can?”

Conn Carroll writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: “In the first substantive legal ruling on President Barack Obama’s health regulation law, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson held that the Commonwealth of Virginia raised a valid substantive theory to challenge Obamacare and that its democratically passed Virginia Health Care Freedom Act provided it standing to challenge the federal individual mandate. On the issue of that mandate, Hudson wrote: ‘Unquestionably, this regulation radically changes the landscape of health insurance coverage in America . . . No reported case from any federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or the Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person’s decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce.’”

CNSNews: “‘The University has corrected, for the time being, its academic freedom violation by not just suspending the decision to terminate him, but by bringing him back to the classroom,’ ADF senior counsel [David French] told CNSNews.com. ‘It’s a huge win for academic freedom.’”

OneNewsNow: “ADF Senior Counsel [Kevin Theriot] explains that his firm is arguing the zoning law violates the Constitution and is pointing out that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act prohibits zoning officials from singling out churches. He laments that this unconstitutional restriction, which non-religious groups do not face, has damaged the church.” | ADF News Release

Inside Higher Ed: “The challenge to Southeastern Louisiana’s policies came from Jeremy Sonnier, a nondenominational Christian preacher who visits many college campuses to offer his views and frequently to disagree with conventional thinking about many moral issues . . . [Nate Kellum], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said that the problem with requiring outside speakers to cover security costs is that ‘you are attaching a cost to speech, and that’s inappropriate.’”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “A church that Avondale Estates shut down earlier this year has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the small DeKalb County city . . . The church is represented by Mauck & Baker, a Chicago-based law firm known for representing churches and religious institutions, and [Kevin Theriot] of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Advocate.com: “In her lawsuit, filed with support from the Alliance Defense Fund, Ward charged that her dismissal for refusing to treat the gay client violated her rights to free speech, religion, and due process. ADF lawyer [Jeremy Tedesco] said his group would press the case as far as necessary, according to AnnArbor.com.”

Chicago Tribune: “The group’s senior counsel, [David French], reminded the school that it cannot censor a professor’s speech. Especially not speech related to the topic of the course itself. And especially not just because the speech ‘offends.’”

Wall Street Journal: “A new Google Inc. question-and-answer page for Chinese users was inaccessible in China on Monday less than two weeks after Google announced the service. Users in China reported problems viewing the site, www.google.com.hk/wenda, but a Google spokeswoman said the company was having no technical problems.”

Christina E. Wells, Regulating Offensiveness: Snyder v. Phelps, Emotion, and the First Amendment (July 27, 2010). University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-14. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1649632

“In its upcoming term, the Court will decide in Snyder v. Phelps whether Albert Snyder can sue the Reverend Fred Phelps and other members of the Westboro Baptist Church for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress for protesting near his son’s funeral. Those arguing in favor of tort liability claim that the Phelps’ speech during a time of mourning and vulnerability is especially outrageous and injurious and that the First Amendment allows such regulation. Their arguments, however, effectively rely on the offensiveness of the Phelps’ message rather than on any external indicia of harm, such as noisy or disruptive speech, or resulting violence.”