Daily Archives: September 22, 2010

AP: “A pot grower won’t be allowed to use Colorado’s medical marijuana law to fend off federal drug charges.”

“The Maine Human Rights Commission ruled Monday that Orono Middle School unlawfully discriminated against a sixth-grader during the 2008-2009 school year by not letting the male-to-female transgender student use the girls’ bathroom.”

The Arizona Legislature acted “reasonably and constitutionally” when it decided last year to pass a law that once again distributes taxpayer-funded benefits for state employees on the basis of marital status. That’s the conclusion of a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to a federal court Monday by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys on behalf of Center for Arizona Policy.

The Christian Institute: “A proposal to allow disabled people in Scotland to kill themselves is set to be dropped following pressure from disability campaigners. Bill Scott, Policy Officer at the campaign group Inclusion Scotland, welcomed the decision, saying: ‘That clause was dangerous, particularly at a time of cutbacks, to say to people you can’t live independently but you can apply for state-assisted suicide as if it’s a way out.’”

“No mandatory duty or obligation requires the government to appeal.”

WCF Courier: “An effort to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices for their role in striking down Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage is at best ‘misguided’ and at worst ‘an abuse’ of the system, said the Polk County District Court judge who first ruled on the case.”

“U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said he would issue a ruling Friday in the closely watched case of former Maj. Margaret Witt. As her trial closed, he expressed strong doubts about government arguments seeking to have her dismissal upheld.”

Timothy P. Carney writing at The Washington Examiner: “Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle, Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter are the four highest-profile victims of the Tea Party insurgency. All four were pro-choice, with particularly contentious records on abortion. All four lost to staunch pro-lifers . . . In 2010, abortion certainly isn’t the driving factor behind Tea Parties, but the Tea Party’s Senate lineup is 100 percent pro-life. Every insurgent GOP Senate candidate who bucked the establishment to win the nomination — Miller, Rubio, O’Donnell, Toomey, Ken Buck in Colorado, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and Mike Lee in Utah — is dedicated to the pro-life cause.”

KVIA: “It was not the rosary, but how a Mayfield High School student wore it that got him suspended . . . Torres said his wooden rosary was draped around his neck last week for all to see when his teacher told him to conceal it . . . ‘They told me it was gang-affiliated,’ Torres said. ‘And that I wasn’t allowed to wear it because it was an identifier to other gangs.’”

Europa Press [modified Google translation]: “The justice minister, Francisco Caamaño, on Tuesday defended the ‘full’ constitutionality of the Law of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy, although [he indicated] that the Constitutional Court ‘will have the final word on the matter.’”

Telegraph: “Britain’s world-leading position in stem cell research faces its own ‘valley of death’ if government cuts are too deep, claim leading scientists.”

The Christian Institute: “Schools and colleges should hold antenatal classes for pregnant pupils, according to controversial new guidelines issued by the Government’s health body. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), wants the scheme to run in schools in areas with high levels of teenage pregnancy.”

Spring Hope Enterprise: “Churches will not be allowed in Bailey’s downtown business district. The town board voted Monday night to not change an ordinance banning storefront churches in the commercial area.”

EducationNews.org: “National education standards expert E.D. Hirsch attributes a dramatic decline in American students’ knowledge of civics over the last half-century to a simple failure to teach it that has resulted from complacency about the proper function of schools in a democracy in a transcript released today of The Sacred Fire of Liberty, an event featuring Professor Hirsch and former Clinton administration education advisor Andrew J. Rotherham.”

CatholicCulture.org: “A group called ‘Catholics for Equality,’ which lobbied for admission of overt homosexuals into the US military forces, ‘cannot be legitimately recognized as Catholic,’ according to the archbishop who heads the US military ordinariate.”

Breitbart: “Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says the state will stop enforcing its law banning adoption by gay people after an appeals court ruled it unconstitutional.”

Gustav Niebuhr writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: “Take a look at the religious landscape: The Episcopal Church ordains not simply gay priests, but consecrates gay bishops; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began ordaining gay pastors this summer; the United Church of Christ has permitted its regional jurisdictions to do so for years. There are gay rabbis among Reform and Reconstructionist Jews. The Unitarian-Universalists have been staunch supporters of gay marriage almost before anyone else dared raise the issue. Do the math and you realize these organizations account for many millions of Americans; you can find their buildings standing prominently in city, suburb and rural areas alike.”

Tulsa World: “The Tulsa school board voted unanimously Monday to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy for staff, students and parents.” Related: Tulsa, OK: Council adds sexual orientation to city’s nondiscrimination policy

Pioneer Press: “Police are investigating a large Somali gang human trafficking ring that is based in Minnesota and has a Tennessee connection, according to a search warrant affidavit.”

FOX News: “Grambling State University in Louisiana has banned its students and faculty members from forwarding ‘campaign solicitations’ using the school’s e-mail system, contending it is a violation of Louisiana law because it would amount to an institutional ‘endorsement’ of a campaign . . . The spokeswoman, Vanessa Littleton, included in the e-mail a copy of the school’s e-mail use policy. It states that the school’s e-mail system cannot be used ‘for the creation or distribution of any disruptive or offensive messages, including offensive comments about race, gender, hair color, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious beliefs and practice, political beliefs, or national origin.’”

Center for Reproductive Rights: “Today, members of the House of Representatives joined the Center for Reproductive Rights in releasing a new report documenting the real-life impact of the Hyde Amendment on poor women. Hyde prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion except under limited circumstances. During the healthcare debate, the amendment was represented as sound policy and as the accepted standard for laws around public funding for abortion. But through the stories of women adversely affected by Hyde, Whose Choice? How the Hyde Amendment Harms Poor Women refutes that position.” Whose Choice: How the Hyde Amendment Harms Poor Women

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a group founded and funded by TV preachers, is urging evangelical pastors to openly break federal tax law this Sunday by using the pulpit to endorse or oppose candidates. The ADF calls its stunt ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday.’”

Actualitate [modified Google translation from Romanian]: “The government today approved a draft decision on the withdrawal of the . . . bill that would provide protection [of] sexual minorities in Moldova.”

The Hill: “Notifications.USA.gov allows the public to get instant updates on everything from product recalls to natural disasters. There are more than 7,000 updates available covering 6,200 topics across 144 federal agencies and officers. Alerts can be delivered via e-mail, text or RSS feed.”

“The malpractice [insurance] is too expensive. It was about $1,600 a baby, just in terms of malpractice costs for me to deliver children.”

ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “This time, it was the President himself who neglected to identify the Source of the inalienable rights we possess. In a speech before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, President Obama described the values that bind Americans together as follows: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, endowed with certain inalienable rights — life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ In a virtually word-for-word recitation of the key passage of the Declaration, the President omitted three essential words: ‘by their Creator’ — precisely what the State Department did in its written report to the U.N.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Amendment 62 sponsors filed a lawsuit today against the Colorado Legislative Counsel, attempting to stop the continued publication and statewide distribution of the ‘Colorado Blue Book’ . . . Amendment 62 sponsors and organizers maintain that the ballot information booklet (The Colorado Blue Book), is not fair or impartial, but in fact glaringly biased against Amendment 62. Sponsors attempted several times to change the prejudiced text, in writing and at the public hearing, yet none of their objections were recognized.” Ballotpedia: Colorado Fetal Personhood, Amendment 62 (2010)

Earl M. Maltz, Federalist Society: “In the wake of Governor Chris Christie’s decision not to reappoint Justice John E. Wallace, Jr., to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the President of the State Senate has refused to hold hearings on the nomination of Anne M. Patterson, whom Governor Christie has chosen to succeed Justice Wallace. With the timing of the confirmation of a permanent replacement for Justice Wallace thus uncertain, some have urged Chief Justice Stuart J. Rabner to temporarily assign either a retired justice or a senior judge of the Superior Court to fill the seat until Justice Wallace’s replacement has been confirmed. This paper addresses the constitutional issues that would be raised by a decision to make such an assignment.”

Christian Science Monitor: “A mob in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua killed two suspected kidnappers in the country’s latest bout of vigilante justice. Townspeople in Ascencion, about 100 miles from troubled Ciudad Juarez, blocked federal police Tuesday from rescuing two men accused of kidnapping who were being beaten by the crowd. The mob shouted and held up signs calling for an end to the kidnappings that have plagued the area.”

Rebecca Burgoyne, California Family Council: “What do George Washington Carver, Kevin Jennings, John Pérez, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky have in common? They are among the 31 ‘icons’ to be honored throughout October – GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) History Month. Chosen by Equality Forum, a pro-homosexual, civil-rights organization, ‘The 31 icons, living or dead, are selected for their achievements in their field of endeavor; for their status as a national hero; or for their significant contribution to GLBT civil rights.’”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans defied expectations and did not act Thursday to remove Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) from her top Republican role on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”

Courthouse News Service: “Five outpatient abortion providers and a doctor say Louisiana’s new ‘zero tolerance policy’ allows state officials to suspend or revoke their licenses ‘based on any violation of any state or federal law or regulation’ without warning, in violation of their due process rights. They say the policy was enacted ‘to close down outpatient abortion facilities regardless of whether those facilities are operating safely.’” Related: Clinics, doctor sue Louisiana over new abortion clinic licensing law

The Hill: “‘We do not yet have a complete understanding of what would cause a United States person to radicalize to the extent of violence,’ said Napolitano, adding that the department was aiming its efforts at the community level by sharing information about what forms early signs of violent radicalization may take.”

Liberty Counsel: “In 2004, the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the same law against a challenge brought under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Florida’s equal protection clause is construed the same way as the federal Equal Protection Clause . . . The Eleventh Circuit stated ‘The legislature is the proper forum for this debate, and we do not sit as a superlegislature to award by judicial decree what was not achievable by political consensus.’ However, today, in the case of In re: Matter of Adoption of X.X.G. and N.R.G, the state court of appeals struck down the same law, stating that it lacked a rational basis.”

Courier Mail: “Intimate beauty treatments are becoming popular with girls as boyfriends demand they look like porn stars, the experts say . . . ”Everything they are watching, seeing, doing is about sex. They’re growing up in an R-rated society,” she said.”

CNN: “Armed Islamist militants raided and looted two radio stations in Somalia’s beleaguered capital this weekend, according to statements issued Sunday by the government’s Ministry of Information and a Somali journalists’ group.”

Reuters: “A resolution submitted by Pakistan for the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) asks the council to speak out against what it dubbed ‘the recent call by an extremist group to organise a “Burn a Koran Day.”‘”

Catholic News Agency: “Heroic Media, an Austin, Texas advertising agency dedicated to promoting a pro-life message, is accustomed to controversy. However, even they are surprised at the response to their new campaign, which accuses Planned Parenthood of targeting African-Americans. Media outlets have banned the ads without explanation.”

Dallas Morning News / Trail Blazers: “The Log Cabin Republicans will give the two lawmakers–who lead the Republicans’ Senate and House campaign efforts, respectively–the Barry Goldwater Award at its fundraising reception and dinner.” CNSNews: Conservatives Blast Chair of Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee for Helping Homosexual Activist Group Raise Money

OneNewsNow: “In a recent speech before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Barack Obama omitted the word ‘Creator’ when quoting the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. Was it an accident or by choice?”

OneNewsNow: “‘If you go ahead and do something as radical as allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military, those [who volunteer for military service] are going to begin to evaporate in a major way,’ [Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.)] warns. ‘We’re going to jeopardize the safety of this country because we’re going to have to return, as far as I’m concerned, to the draft.’”

LifeNews: “Congressman Paul Ryan, a respected Republican leader on the health care debate, put himself in the ranks of governors Mitch Daniels and Hailey Barbour when he said fiscal issues would need to trump social ones this election cycle and that pro-life advocates would have to ‘agree to disagree’ about abortion . . . Now, in a new opinion column posted on his congressional web site, Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, is walking back his previous remarks. The title of the column — ‘The Cause of Life Can’t be Severed from the Cause of Freedom’ — appears to indicate Ryan disagrees with the ‘truce’ language Daniels and Barbour proffered.”

Latin American Herald Tribune: “Puerto Rico’s gay community blames island authorities for tolerating an atmosphere of homophobia that might have encouraged the slaying of 10 of their number over the past year.”

“The risk of divorce is 50 percent higher when one spouse comes from a divorced home, and 200 percent higher risk when both of them do . . . ”

Joel Garreau writing in The New Atlantis: “For some individuals and societies, the role of religion seems increasingly to be filled by environmentalism. It has become ‘the religion of choice for urban atheists,’ according to Michael Crichton, the late science fiction writer (and climate change skeptic) . . . In parts of northern Europe, this new faith is now the mainstream . . . This new faith has very concrete policy implications; the countries where it has the most purchase tend also to have instituted policies that climate activists endorse. To better understand the future of climate policy, we must understand where ‘ecotheology’ has come from and where it is likely to lead.”

New York Times: “Education is not the only area in which China is making inroads in Central and Eastern Europe. From the Baltic states to the Balkans, Chinese companies, flush with money, are buying real estate and competing for public infrastructure contracts, especially as Poland and Ukraine work at breakneck speed to jointly play host to the 2012 European soccer championship.”

The Toronto Star: “The head of the Vatican bank is under investigation for suspected money laundering and police have frozen 23 million euros ($30.21 million U.S.) of its funds, Italian judicial sources said on Tuesday.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Catholic bishops of Iowa and Minnesota are sending Catholics a strong message this year: get out of the pews and into the political arena to protect marriage in their state constitutions.”

LifeNews: “After the New Jersey state Senate defeated an attempt to override the decision of Gov. Chris Christie to cut off state taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood abortion businesses, the first facility run by the national abortion giant is closing.”

LifeNews: “President Barack Obama is promoting the pro-abortion health care plan he signed into law on the six month anniversary of him signing it. Despite the hoopla, Democrats are fleeing from ObamaCare on the campaign trail and polls showing Americans strongly opposing it explain why.”

Randy E. Barnett, Commandeering the People: Why the Individual Health Insurance Mandate is Unconstitutional (September 21, 2010). NYU Journal of Law & Liberty, Forthcoming; Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 10-58. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1680392

“In this paper, I do not critique the individual mandate on originalist grounds. Instead, I explain why the individual mandate is unconstitutional under the existing doctrine by which the Supreme Court construes the Commerce and Necessary and Proper Clauses and the tax power.”

WorthyNews: “According to International Christian Concern (ICC), on September 13, the Muslim men forcefully took Muhammad Ali, a new Christian convert from Islam, to a mosque on suspicion that he had left Islam. They asked Ali to enter and pray at the mosque. When he refused, they stabbed him on the hip with a knife.”

New York Times Editorial: “One option raised by scholars would be to have the justices as a group hire all clerks into a pool; the clerks would then be assigned randomly to justices, case by case. Another approach would have a nonpartisan committee of former clerks, law professors and lawyers who appear before the court choose clerks and assign them.”

Lancaster Online: “The mother of a Lampeter-Strasburg High School student is seeking a religious exemption from the district’s random-drug-testing program. Janet Malin of Willow Street told the board Monday that she and her son belong to the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. A core tenet, she said, is integrity.”

The Star (Reuters): “The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it is monitoring 11 cases of potential land-use discrimination against Muslims, a sharp increase in cases under a federal law designed to protect religious minorities in zoning disputes.”

The Jakarta Post: “House of Representatives politicians have recently requested the enactment of a new law on religious harmony to replace a controversial joint ministerial decree on the establishment of houses of worship.”

Sify: “Nevada Religious Freedom and Unity Day event in Reno (Nevada, USA) on September 19 had Hindu invocation. After event coordinator Reverend Neal T. Anderson, Minister of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada, launched the event at City Plaza, Hindu leader Rajan Zed read from ancient Hindu scriptures Rig-Veda and Upanishads.”

AnnArbor.com: “The Ann Arbor City Council responded to a perceived increase in anti-Islamic sentiment across the country on Monday by unanimously approving a resolution reaffirming the city’s commitment to religious tolerance.”

Las Vegas Sun: “Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said going to a judicial merit selection system is good for business and has enjoyed strong support from the private sector across the country.”

CathNews India: “The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh has set Sept. 24 to pronounce its verdict on the ownership of a plot of land in the state’s Ayodhya town, where a disputed 16th century mosque stood. Hindu zealots demolished it in December 1992, sparking off nation wide Hindu-Muslim riots. Protracted legal battles continued over the ownership of the land.”

Evening Herald: “Muslim girls should not wear a full veil in Catholic secondary schools, new guidelines have recommended . . . The guidelines come from the Joint Managerial Body which represents Catholic secondary schools . . . They relate to the Inclusion of Students from Other Faiths in Catholic Secondary Schools and were drawn up by Aiveen Mullally, an expert on religion and culture.”

UPI: “Robert Meltzer, a Framingham, Mass., a constitutional law lawyer, said the Wellesley School District’s May field trip to a mosque violated the sixth-grade students’ First Amendment rights because they were too young to sanction the religious message, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.”

MSN News: “The Bioethics Advisory Committee has proposed that a national body be set up to monitor all stem cell research, including human—animal stem cell combinations, in Singapore. And this could materialise early next year.”

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia: “Yesterday we asked you to call Gov. Joe Manchin and senate candidate John Raese to ask where they stand on key social issues . . . 1. Does Mr. Raese support repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy? Answer: ‘No. Those decision need to be made by the military and not by Congress.’ . . .”

Haaretz: “Calm appeared to be prevailing on the streets of Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, after hours of bloody clashes apparently sparked by the shooting of a Palestinian by an Israeli security guard in the early hours of the morning. Police also redeployed from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, situated on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.”

Fresno Bee (AP): “A nonprofit group filed a motion Tuesday in a federal court on behalf of the California department of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a VFW post in Barstow. The motion will be heard next month.”

New York Times: “In addition to the military policy, two laws restricting gay rights — the federal Defense of Marriage Act and the California ban on same-sex marriage — have been declared unconstitutional by federal judges in recent months. The fact that these decisions have come from federal courts signals a shift for activists on gay legal issues. Until recently, the activists’ conventional wisdom held that gay rights cases should work their way through state courts, which were viewed as more accommodating than the federal judiciary.”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on Wallbuilders Live to discuss the ADF attorney alliance and some of its ongoing efforts. | MP3 audio 14:59 mins | ADF National Litigation Academy | ADF Allied Attorney Success Stories Archive

ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg appeared on the Rusty Humphries Show to discuss ADF’s opposition to efforts to normalize homosexual conduct in the military.| MP3 audio 13:35 mins | Related ADF Media: More veteran chaplains express grave religious liberty concerns over homosexual agenda in military

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on Faith Talk Radio with Paul Edwards to discuss “See You at the Pole” Day. | MP3 audio 9:35 mins | Web: See You at the Pole | Related ADF Media

KRMG: “Gabe Sherman with Whistler Outdoor Advertising spoke with our partners at the News On Six. He says the [Freedom From Religion Foundation] initially wanted his firm to post the ad . . . Whistler decided it couldn’t and opted to display ads promoting God.”

“By attacking the family, government is creating the very problems it claims to be solving.”

“The issue of insurance-funded abortions for Kent County workers has fueled questions about how an election official’s religion should figure into public policy decisions . . . It has sparked a call for public debate Tuesday after Kent County Commissioner Stan Ponstein, R-Grandville, last week said his vote asking county administrators to remove abortion as a benefit from county health plans was influenced by his Christian faith.”

“A Miami appeals court has upheld a ruling overturning Florida’s law banning adoption by gays.”

Politico: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration. But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help . . . Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.”