Daily Archives: August 12, 2010

Associated Press: “U.S. District Chief Judge William Downes plans to retire next July, ending 17 years on the bench in Wyoming and a career that includes decisions on the return of wolves to the region and freedom of speech issues.”

CBS (AP): “A Chicago-area atheist is making good on his pledge to sue administrators of a towering southern Illinois cross about $20,000 the landmark received from the state.” Complaint is here.

” The judge raised the possibility that the backers of Proposition 8 — the ban approved by the state’s voters in 2008 — may not have a legal right to appeal his decision, since state officials have declined to defend the ban and seem unlikely to pursue their own appeal.”

Blog of LegalTimes: “In the last nine months, the backlog of cases in the immigration court in Harlingen, Texas—a city in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley— has grown 67 percent—the biggest jump as immigration case backlogs and wait times generally continued their upward drive, according to a university tracking program.”

Blog of LegalTimes: “A court battle over releasing the names of petition signers on a Washington gay marriage-related referendum has moved from the U.S. Supreme Court to a federal district court. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle on Wednesday ordered the state of Washington to keep private the names and addresses of signers of the referendum to repeal the state’s domestic partnership law.”

ABA Journal: “A candidate for Illinois state treasurer has a plan to save money: Eliminate two of the state’s three law schools, including his alma mater.”

Frank Turek writing at the AFA’s Rightly Concerned blog: “Before we address the top ten false ‘facts’ asserted by Judge Vaughn Walker, there is one real fact in his opinion that defeats the entire case for his opinion. Here it is: ‘The evidence at trial shows that marriage in the United States traditionally has not been open to same-sex couples.’ Since that fact is unquestionably true, how can Judge Walker honestly declare that Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment? Certainly no one in 1868 intended the Fourteenth Amendment to redefine marriage. Only the most tyrannical form of judicial activism can get Judge Walker to his conclusion.”

Associated Press: “A New York college professor says he was passed over for promotions for being heterosexual and then was fired for complaining. Dr. Csaba Marosan is awaiting a hearing after investigators for the state Division of Human Rights found probable cause to support his claims against Trocaire College in Buffalo.”

APP.com: “Greenawalt, who lives near Cleveland, and Clark, a college student in Washington, D.C., are part of an increasingly outspoken generation of donor offspring. They want to transform the dynamics of sperm donation so the children’s interests are given more weight and it becomes easier to learn about their biological fathers.”

CBS: “The CBS 5 poll, conducted by the research firm SurveyUSA, showed Fiorina edging Boxer 47 percent to 42 percent, compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago showing Fiorina over Boxer 47 to 45 percent.”

C-FAM: “Barack Obama’s sterling image among Kenyans has dimmed in the wake of a $23M U.S. campaign to promote a draft constitution that included abortion rights. The U.S. promoted the new constitution as a way to stop gross presidential power and corruption. Opponents say that same power and corruption were used to convince many Kenyans, falsely, that the document was pro-life. The constitution passed with 67% in favor on August 4th.”

Toronto Sun: “The head of a prominent Russian dairy said on Thursday he will fire employees who have abortions or refuse to be married in Russian Orthodox Church ceremonies. Critics said the rules set out by the president of Russkoye Moloko, Vasily Boiko-Veliky, violated the constitution and labour laws.”

WLOS (AP): “The University of North Carolina will let students remove coverage for elective abortions from their university-sponsored health insurance after a national group complained about the coverage.”

Goldwater Institute: “The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix is a private challenge to the health care bill championed by President Barack Obama. Arizona and 21 other states are pursuing public lawsuits against the federal law, based in large part on preserving their traditional authority to regulate health insurance. This new lawsuit, known as Coons v. Geithner, argues the federal health care bill exceeds the powers of Congress, violates individual rights, interferes with the authority of states, and violates the separation of powers by setting up a new bureaucracy without meaningful congressional oversight or judicial review.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys representing Allen County say that a court order denying most of an abortion provider’s motion to stop critical aspects of a new Patient Safety Ordinance means those provisions can go into effect and that the door is open for other Indiana counties to enact similar legislation.

“The Protectmarriage.com legal team will appeal immediately to the 9th Circuit to stay the trial court’s decision until this case is concluded.”

“A federal judge has ruled that gay marriages in California should remain on hold until at least Aug. 18.”

Center for Reproductive Rights: “Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights has been granted a temporary restraining order in the federal challenge we recently filed against two abortion restrictions passed by the Louisiana state legislature.”

KLFY (AP): “An order of Benedictine monks sued Louisiana regulators Thursday for blocking them from selling handmade caskets because the monks are not licensed funeral directors.” | Institute for Justice Web Release and video

LifeNews: “The bus tour the Susan B. Anthony List is sponsoring through the Midwest to highlight the way in which some ‘pro-life’ Democrats voted for the pro-abortion health care bill is raising the ire of the House members from Indiana and Ohio. They are responding to the criticism with assertions pro-life groups aren’t pro-life.”

The Arizona Republic: “Arizona will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that Arizona cannot deny family health insurance to employees’ same-sex partners, officials said Wednesday.”

The Alliance Defense Fund sent the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education a letter Thursday debunking false claims made by the American Civil Liberties Union that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows the district to deny the Boy Scouts access to its public school campuse

Christian Web News: “‘It’s not radical for more than 7 million Californians to protect marriage as they’ve always known it,’ remarked [Brian Raum], senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, which has appealed Walker’s ruling. ‘What would be radical would be to allow a handful of activists to gut the core of the American democratic system and, in addition, force the entire country to accept a system that intentionally denies children the mom and the dad they deserve,’ he added.”

Heritage Foundation | The Foundry: “What has been most surprising is the developing consensus from prominent legal experts and analysts, including many who support the redefinition of marriage, who find Judge Walker’s opinion unpersuasive.”

Rapid City Journal: “[Nate Kellum] of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Boardley, said: ‘The First Amendment is the only permit a Christian or any American needs to engage in free speech on public property . . . Certainly, it made no sense to enforce unconstitutional regulations that deny free speech at the foot of Mount Rushmore – a place where four men who championed America’s freedoms are immortalized in stone.’”

Aolnews.: “Utah will have to wait in line before it gets a chance to retry polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. First he’s going to a state where prosecution has been more vigorous. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he believes the case against Jeffs is stronger in Texas, where he will be extradited.”

Deutsche Welle: “Supporters of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s Law and Justice Party have remained defiant in their vigil at the site of a cross erected in memory of their late hero – despite calls from church leaders to allow its removal. Those loyal to the former president see him as defender of Polish Roman Catholic values and say that the cross should remain outside the presidential palace in a Warsaw square until a more permanent structure is found for the site.” | AP: Polish leaders try to calm passions over cross

Interfax: “The handover of Kosovo’s Serbian shrines under the control of the territory’s government may fuel tensions in the region, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko.” | Kosovo police to protect Serb monasteries

Reuters: “Afghanistan’s largest gathering of clerics, who met to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban, has called for the revival of strict Islamic law as the country seeks ways to win militants away from a growing insurgency.”

Camden New Journal: “St Luke’s Church, in Kidderpore Avenue, has drawn up plans for a new primary school with plans to have lessons in its church hall . . . Promising to be a school for children ‘of all faiths and none,’ St Luke’s Primary would allocate the majority of places based on geographical need, regardless of religious beliefs. It emerged this week that disagreements over the issue of Free Schools could threaten the stability of the coalition government, as a Lib Dem schools motion labelled them ‘socially divisive’.”

Christian Today: “Christians in China now number just over 23 million, according to the results of the communist country’s first official faith survey. Although that figure amounts to only 1.8% of the total population, it represents 73 per cent of China’s religious population.”

Courthouse News Service: “The pastor of a ‘breakaway’ Seventh-day Adventist church failed to convince the 6th Circuit that the name of his church, A Creation Seventh Day & Adventist Church, does not violate the main church’s trademarks because it was divinely inspired.”

Wall Street Journal: “Indonesia notched another big victory in the antiterror fight this week with the re-arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir, the al Qaeda-linked spiritual leader linked to the 2002 Bali bombings, as the Australian National University’s Greg Fealy explains on a nearby page. If only the country’s leaders would pursue Islamic vigilante groups just as aggressively.”

The Christian Post: “After Saudi Arabia, the Maldives is the only nation that claims a 100-percent Muslim population. The more than 300,000 people in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago featuring 1,192 islets 435 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, are all Sunnis. This South Asian nation, however, has more than 70,000 expatriate workers representing several non-Islamic religions, including Christianity.”

National Review Online: “National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez talked to Bennett about this private-sector effort to help families . . . KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Shouldn’t parents know who is texting their children, and what the communications are about? WILLIAM J. BENNETT: On the first part, absolutely. On the second, yes, in ugly or bad cases. A key thing about allowing children to text and have smartphones is for parents to have a conversation with their children first — a very serious conversation. MouseMail and other products for older children require such a conversation and enhance it.”

Conservative Home: “In Part 1 we examined Labour’s sustained attack on Christian liberties in Britain and in part 2 the how the Conservative opposition in the Lords had led the defence of Britain’s historic heritage freedom of belief and the right to express it. We also observed that a very large number of practising Christians who had not recently vote Conservative had become profoundly disillusioned with the Labour government. In part 3 examined how large and how potentially significant this move away from Labour among practising Christians was. Today we consider whether the Conservative Party alienated Christians at the general election.”

John W. Whitehead writing at The Huffington Post: “There can be no easy fix for these problems. Certainly, there are no legislative or governmental solutions, and fighting gay marriage isn’t going to do it. Morality and the decline of the family have become convenient platforms for those on both sides of the political aisle. Having reduced the very real problems plaguing America’s families to soundbites bandied about in the quest for political dominance, today’s politicians, gay rights activists and traditional marriage activists are not providing a lasting solution to the marriage meltdown. The solution, if there is one, is to be found where the problems start: with each man, woman and child taking responsibility for keeping their family together. So let’s forget about politics. Forget about the debates over who gets to marry whom. Instead, let’s look around at what’s left of our neighborhoods, our communities and our families, and put our children first.”

Politico: “Univision’s Jorge Ramos, an anchor on the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network, says Obama broke his promise to produce an immigration reform bill within a year of taking office. And Latinos are tired of the speeches, disillusioned by the lack of White House leadership and distrustful of the president, Ramos told POLITICO.”

“Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Putnam County Library on behalf of an author whom officials denied access to a public meeting room for a discussion about a Christian book she wrote. Library officials told Ilene Vick that the meeting rooms could not be used for anything religious because library policy forbids it.”

The Christian Institute: “A Scottish council is set to shower thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a controversial homosexual arts festival despite facing large budget cuts, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.”

The Christian Institute: “The Government is planning to expand its promotion of abortion services in developing countries, according to the International Development Secretary. Andrew Mitchell launched a public consultation on the Government’s controversial plans to increase the availability of ‘family planning’ last month.”

Catholic World Report: “Marquette University’s decision to withdraw an administrative appointment to an openly lesbian faculty member whose publications have denigrated Catholic teachings on marriage, sexuality, and the family gave faithful Catholics a glimmer of hope that those running Catholic colleges are beginning to notice the problems there . . . Though Seton Hall officials deny it, strong resistance from some on the faculty to hiring an orthodox Catholic to lead the school had an impact on the outcome. Still, that an orthodox candidate even made it that far is noteworthy in today’s climate.”

Daniel Blomberg appeared on the Jody Hice Show to provide an update on efforts to normalize homosexual behavior in the military.  | MP3 16:50 mins | ADF Media resource page

LifeSiteNews: “American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood project (STOPP) is mobilizing parents to counter Urban Outfitters Inc., the youth-oriented retailer selling Planned Parenthood’s ‘Proper Attire’ condoms on its web site.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Thousands of Catholic Church employees in Wisconsin are now eligible for birth control coverage through their health insurance plans, under the budget bill passed by the Legislature last year. But because the church considers artificial contraception ‘gravely immoral,’ at least some of those workers – including non-Catholics – could face sanctions, even termination, if they use it, one church official said Wednesday.”

“[H]ere in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.”

The Globe and Mail: “The most ancient traditions of Islam are going high-tech, with a slew of modern offerings for those observing the holy month of Ramadan, which began Wednesday. Cellphone applications such as ‘iPray’ or ‘iQuran’ offer a beeping reminder of requisite prayer times, while the ‘Find Mecca’ and ‘Mosque Finder’ programs help the Muslim traveller in an unfamiliar city find the nearest place to pray.”

Chicago Tribune: “Gay rights opponents on Wednesday promised an intense and well-financed campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices who joined last year’s unanimous decision that legalized gay marriage in the state.”

The Raw Story: “Beck told Fox News host Bill O’Reilly why he didn’t devote airtime to the issue. ‘Honestly I think we have bigger fish to fry,’ said Beck. ‘You can argue about abortion or gay marriage or whatever all you want. The country is burning down’ . . . ‘I believe what Thomas Jefferson said,’ Beck continued. ‘If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?’”

Religion Clause: “At Tuesday’s State Department daily press briefing (full text), Assistant Secretary Philip Crowley discussed the travel of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the group planning to build the controversial mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, as part of the State Department’s International Information Program.”

David Aikman writing at OneNewsNow: “It is as absurd to claim that the issue is one of First Amendment religious freedom as it would be to make the same argument if a Japanese group wanted to erect a Shinto shrine within yards of the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor . . . No, the issue is one of decency and good taste. Of course, there are many Muslims both in America and overseas who were horrified by the events of 9/11. Nevertheless, the terror that day was carried out by devout Muslims who thought they were pleasing Allah and whose hatred of freedom and everything the U.S. stands for prompted them to act.”

CBS (AP): “Saudi Arabia will test what it is billing as the world’s largest clock in the holy city of Mecca during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the official news agency reported Tuesday.”

CBS: “‘Permits should not be granted to build even one more mosque in the United States of America, let alone the monstrosity planned for Ground Zero,’ Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association wrote this week on the AFA website. ‘This is for one simple reason: each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government.’”

“Lesbian and gay couples were lining up this morning at the San Francisco clerk’s office, hours before a judge is expected to rule on whether same-sex marriages can resume while his landmark decision in the case is appealed.”

CNN: “A group of young and tech-savvy moderate Muslims are trying to turn the tide against the growing number of radical messages online. It’s an uphill trek but one they say has to be done. CNN’s Deb Feyerick tracks Islam’s virtual battle.” | Video at link.

Recent appearances by ADF attorney Doug Napier on radio to discuss the Cal. marriage ruling include the Hugh Hewitt Show, MP3 10:23 mins and the Janet Mefferd Show, MP3  18:17 mins.

Washington Post: “African American couples are more likely than others to share core religious beliefs and pray together at home — factors that have been linked to greater happiness in marriages and relationships, according to a study released Tuesday. In what is described as the first major look at relationship quality and religion across racial and ethnic lines, researchers report a significant link between relationship satisfaction and religious factors for whites, Hispanics and African Americans. The study appears in this month’s issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.”

KTAR: “The Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sent a letter to Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and other sponsors of a bill that the ACLU says could lead to more ‘government spying’ on U.S. citizens.”

Christian Science Monitor: “The key phrase here is ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’ say some experts. Illegal immigrants are not subject to US jurisdiction, in the sense that they cannot be drafted into the US military or tried for treason against the US, said John Eastman, a professor at the Chapman University School of Law, in a media conference call Monday. Their children would share that status, via citizenship in their parents’ nation or nations of birth – and so would not be eligible for a US passport, even if born on US soil, according to Dr. Eastman.”

“[I]n fact the Prop 8 proponents offered a thorough case that Walker almost entirely ignored—a case resting on a broad array of judicial authority, recognized scholarship in various academic fields, extensive documentary evidence, and elementary common sense.”

Rasmussen: “The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Wisconsin Voters shows Johnson with 47% support and Feingold picking up 46% of the vote. Two percent (2%) prefer another candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.”

Mercury News (AP): “A Hong Kong court began reviewing Monday a government decision to bar a transgender woman from marrying her male partner in the first such case to be heard in the city’s legal system, the woman’s lawyer said.”

Associated Press: “Gov. David Paterson said Wednesday that developers of an Islamic cultural center that would include a mosque near ground zero have rejected his offer to help them find a different site.”

Arizona Daily Star: “About one out of every 15 children in the United States was born to a family in which at least one parent is in this country illegally, according to a new report issued today.”

Victor Davis Hanson writing at Townhall: “We live in a complex, multiracial and religiously diverse society. A majority of black voters in California opposed gay marriage. Most Muslims probably concurred . . . In other words, there is no simple ideological, racial or religious divide between a monolithic ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Instead, we have devolved to the point where promiscuously crying “Bigot!” and “Racist!” signals a failure to persuade 51 percent of the people of the merits of an argument.”

Associated Press: “Billions of dollars in U.S. rescue funds wound up in big banks in France, Germany and other nations. That was probably inevitable because of the structure of the Treasury Department’s program, the Congressional Oversight Panel says in a new report issued Thursday.”

ADF Attorney Steven H. Aden writing at Constituting America: “The decision to give the President the exclusive power to initiate appointments was thoughtful and deliberate. The Framers were attempting to structure three departments of government so that each would have affirmative powers strong enough to resist the encroachment of the others. A fundamental tenet was that the same persons should not both legislate and administer the laws . . . Time and experience have revealed both the wisdom of the balance the Framers struck by the Appointments Clause and their myopic failure to foresee the real dangers posed by a life-tenured federal judiciary.”

PrideSource: “Ward’s counsel, the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents religious cases throughout the country, refused Between The Lines’ request for an interview. However, in a press release they stated their belief that, ‘(The remediation plan’s) purpose was to help her “see the error of her ways” and change her “belief system” as it relates to counseling about homosexual relationships.’ David Kaplan, chief professional officer for the American Counseling Association – the organization that provides the Code of Ethics to which Eastern’s program follows – disagreed that Eastern had any intention to change Ward’s beliefs, but instead handled the situation appropriately by allowing her an opportunity to be trained.”

OneNewsNow: “The Alliance Defense Fund is hoping the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear a case challenging the constitutionality of a speech policy at Southeastern Louisiana University . . . ‘[W]e think we have a really good chance for en banc review — and hopefully the Fifth Circuit will reaffirm the classic principle that religious speech is fully protected under the First Amendment and it’s not second-class speech,’ [said ADF Attorney Jonathan Scruggs].” | ADF News Release

ADF Attorney David French writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “Just once, I’d like to see a mainstream academic directly confront the evidence. Please, tell us where we’re wrong, where the research is deficient, or where the problems Christians face on campus pale in comparison to the problems faced by others. Let’s start that kind of dialog . . . because hearing, for the one millionth time, how nameless, stereotypical evangelical students allegedly can’t think clearly about evolution just doesn’t quite constitute a response.” | David French: Evangelicals and their “made-up ideas”

John Allen writing at the National Catholic Reporter: “In a rare stroke of good news for Rome vis-à-vis the sexual abuse crisis, attorneys for three alleged victims in Kentucky have said they’re dropping what many analysts regarded as the most serious civil lawsuit against the Holy See in American courts.”

Associated Press: “Deals to buy religious land, or its development rights, are being made with the help of conservationists from Washington state to Colorado and New Jersey. In a tough economy, such land is a tempting asset for churches and religious orders to trade for solvency. But many are choosing to conserve it, sometimes for less money than private developers would offer.”

LifeSiteNews: “The American Bar Association adopted a resolution supporting the legalization of same-sex ‘marriage’ across the United States at the conclusion of its annual national convention in San Francisco on Tuesday . . . ‘The ABA was not originally designed to endorse political agendas,’ said [Doug Napier], ADF Senior Legal Counsel.”

“His action – expected between 9 a.m. and noon – will either lift the stay, which could enable gay and lesbian couples to get married, or to leave it in place, which would maintain the ban.”

Ben Shapiro writes at Townhall: “Alexander Hamilton answered that if judges “should be disposed to exercise WILL instead of JUDGMENT … [that] would prove that there ought to be no judges distinct from that [legislative] body.” In other words, the legislature could trump the judiciary just as easily as the judiciary could issue rulings trumping the legislature. It’s time for the legislature to trump the judiciary. A simple, two-step process would do it. First, Congress need only invoke its power over appellate jurisdiction and remove it for all federal cases involving issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration — in fact, Congress has already limited federal judicial jurisdiction in certain immigration cases. When the courts declare such legislation unconstitutional, Congress can simply ignore them or defund the courts accordingly.”