Daily Archives: September 28, 2010

Washington Times: “The House ethics committee split along party lines Tuesday as Republicans demanded pre-election trials for two prominent Democrats, Charles B. Rangel and Maxine Waters.”

Herald Sun: “One in three GPs in major cities believe people older than 70 who feel ‘tired of life’ should have the right to professional help in ending it, according to a poll conducted for Philip Nitschke’s Exit International.”

Flathead Beacon: “The state Department of Administration said it was glad to remove its ban on sectarian-based groups in the program — which dates back to the mid-1990s — after looking into the issue. The program allows state employees to automatically donate to their favorite charity through automatic paycheck deduction. Earlier this year, the Montana Family Foundation filed a lawsuit contending the state was wrong to exclude religious-based groups from the state employee charitable donation program.”

The News on 6: “The sign squabble started because the couple, who sell mobile homes, wrapped the ends of some of them with large pictures that contained a Bible verse and a picture of a family reading a Bible. The city didn’t get complaints, but sign inspectors told the couple the signs required a permit. The Board of Adjustment didn’t agree.”

Catholic News Agency: “Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City and archdiocesan spokesman, Father Hugo Valdemar, have rejected a request by the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (NCPD) to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit against the clergy members for speaking out against gay ‘marriage.’”

“The Bozeman City Commission . . . unanimously approv[ed] a resolution backing seven same-sex couples suing the state of Montana for the same rights as married couples.”

“A federal appeals court has lifted the injunction a federal judge put in place stopping President Barack Obama from forcing taxpayers to finance unproven embryonic stem cell research while scientists continue with their lawsuit against the funding.”

Congress.org: “The split has only grown in the months since, with activists such as Choi staging aggressive, low-budget protests to pressure key Democratic leaders, while the Human Rights Campaign has worked quietly behind the scenes in meetings with some of the very same politicians. The tension between those two radically different approaches came to a head last week when Senate Republicans successfully filibustered an attempt to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

Fox 59: “The City of Indianapolis is responding to a complaint that a local bakery refused to make cupcakes for a gay customer. ‘It’s unacceptable. They are in the City Market, it’s an equal accommodations establishment,’ said Robert Vaden, spokesperson for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard (R).”

Orlando Sentinel (Central Florida Political Pulse): “Orange County commissioners Linda Stewart and Bill Segal could have an awkward lunch date Thursday. The pair of Democrats plan to meet and discuss the best way to get a human rights ordinance passed that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as an extension of domestic partner benefits to county workers.”

Metro.co.uk: “The woman, known as JM, was awarded £2,550 in damages and £15,275 in costs after the European Court of Human Rights ruled there was no justification for the discrimination . . . Her child maintenance payments to her ex-husband were assessed in 2001 – but she was told a reduction if the absent parent had entered into a new relationship, whether married or not, did not apply to same-sex couples . . . ‘her maintenance obligation towards her children had been assessed differently on account of the nature of her new relationship.’”

Case of J.M. v. The United Kingdom (Application no. 37060/06)

The Christian Institute: “Critics have raised concerns about Mr Miliband’s stance on traditional marriage after he pledged last month to redefine marriage and impose it on society . . . Mr Miliband says he is ‘angry’ that there is a free speech law that allows people to express their opposition to homosexual conduct.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at Inside the Issues: “The New York Times in its Sunday edition criticized efforts in Iowa to remove three state supreme court justices for voting to redefine marriage to include same sex couples . . . 1. One court decision by judges can be so outrageous that the only appropriate response by voters is to remove them from office . . . 2. The Iowa Supreme Court decision redefining marriage was really bad example of judicial activism- it usurped constitutional authority from the people . . . 3. It is very difficult to amend the Iowa Constitution, so how else do Iowa voters respond to a renegade decision by the state supreme court? . . .”

ACLU: “The U.N. Working Group on the Rights of People of African Descent reported that, while the U.S. government has taken some steps to promote the rights of people of African descent, much more needs to be done to bring the U.S. into compliance with international treaty obligations.”

“‘These laws, individually and together, force prostitutes to choose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,’ Justice Susan Himel of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice said . . . ”

Zenit: “The Holy See is stressing the necessary role of parents in the lives of their children, especially in the area of education on sexuality. This was one of the points underlined by the Holy See delegation to the 2010 U.N. World Youth Conference in Leon, which took place Aug. 23-26.”

Politico: “The American Bar Association, which was dogged for decades by criticism over a perceived liberal bent, is risking reigniting that debate by taking bold stands on a pair of hot-button social issues . . . Critics contend that the back-to-back moves on the polarizing issues of gay marriage and immigration show that the ABA is again sliding to the left politically and putting its reputation at risk.” Via FedSocBlog.

“Abortion opponents are trying to remake the Kansas Supreme Court by ousting four of its seven justices.”

Dakota Voice: “The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that pastors from approximately 100 churches nationwide participated in the Alliance Defense Fund’s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept 26.” (includes pastors list)

Human Rights Campaign: “[T]he Human Rights Campaign, in collaboration with the Courage Campaign, unveiled ‘NOM Exposed,’ a live, interactive website which reveals NOM’s deep anti-gay affiliations, its long connections to the Mormon and Catholic churches and its quest to keep voters in the dark about its financing. The site is at www.NOMexposed.org.”

CNSNews: “Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion except in certain cases, should be repealed, and also said ‘there’s no evidence’ that increasing access to abortion services encourages people to get abortions.”

Andrew C. McCarthy writing at National Review Online: “In hair-raising testimony that named names, Coates described the Obama-Holder Justice Department’s policy of racially biased civil-rights enforcement. In so doing, he corroborated the prior account of his fellow whistleblower, J. Christian Adams, who resigned from the department in order to comply with a commission subpoena . . . Both Coates and Adams assert that they came forward because the Obama administration’s policy flagrantly violates civil-rights law and the Constitution. Both also said that public statements and testimony by high-ranking DOJ officials about the Panthers and DOJ policy case have been false.”

The Huffington Post: “White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said on Monday that the debate over abortion — specifically, the extreme views of some Republican candidates on the procedure — will ‘certainly be an issue’ for Democrats in the fall elections.”

CQ Politics: “Using population estimates released this summer by Esri, a demographic research company, the report finds that Missouri now appears likely to lose one of its nine seats and Minnesota will stay at eight seats instead of losing one. New York is now expected to lose two seats instead of one, with Florida gaining two instead of one. If these predictions hold, both New York and Florida would end up with 27 Congressional districts after 2012.”

ABC News: “The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would decide whether corporations like AT&T Inc can claim personal privacy to prevent the disclosure of government records about them under the freedom of information law.”

Common Dreams: “The Internal Revenue Service should investigate an Edmond, Okla., church whose pastor endorsed a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State . . . Blair issued the endorsements as part of ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday,’ an annual event sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). The ADF, a Religious Right legal group founded by TV preachers, prods pastors to openly defy the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit.”

CNN: “‘I am a Christian by choice,’ Obama began, standing beneath a blazing sun, when asked why he is a Christian . . . The same questioner also asked Obama about regulations on early and late-term abortion, a politically charged issue in the abortion debate. Obama responded that abortion should be ‘safe, legal and rare’ in America, adding that families — not the government — ‘should be the ones making the decision.’”

From The American Muslim: “We, the undersigned, unconditionally condemn any intimidation or threats of violence directed against any individual or group exercising the rights of freedom of religion and speech; even when that speech may be perceived as hurtful or reprehensible.” Via Eugene Volokh.

Liberty Counsel: “Liberty Counsel stands in support of U.S. House Resolution 1378, which condemns the theft of the Mojave Desert Cross Memorial.”

Christian News Today: “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least eight evangelical churches in northern Syria have been closed by the Syrian government.”

Middle East Online: “For a generation of women left widowed or unmarried by conflict, and for a generation of men who are unwilling or unable to take them as wives, mutta has emerged as a controversial alternative to conventional wedlock. ‘Today’s youth find it harder to afford marriage and build a family,’ said Adel. ‘Mutta marriages facilitate physical relationships. They are easily available to whoever that goes looking for them.’”

Leagle: “Menahem alleges that the city denied him due process because he is Jewish and that comments by city officials disparaging Jewish and Hispanic residents provided tacit approval of discrimination.”

Huffington Post: “‘What we would not want is an unauthorized cemetery,” says Bob McCarthy, town supervisor of the Delaware County town of Sidney, population 5,993. ‘We’re taking care of a bunch of cemeteries, and they just came in and buried the bodies, and didn’t go through . . . there’s no funding there, it’s not a standard kind of deal, and it’s going to become a liability to the town.’”

Bloomberg: “The Dutch Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Alliance intend to reach an agreement today on forming a government with support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party, creating the Netherlands’ first minority administration since World War II.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Daniel Huff, writing in The Sacramento Bee: “A federal law would do two things. First, it would deter violent tactics, by focusing national attention on the problem and invoking the formidable enforcement apparatus of the federal government. Second, its civil damages provision would empower victims of intimidation to act as private attorneys general to defend their rights.”

LifeSiteNews: “College campuses today are the abortion battleground. Forty-six percent of all abortions are performed on college age women and on top of this, Planned Parenthood directly targets the youth in order to further its abortion agenda. At the same time that students are being targeted by Planned Parenthood, more and more young people between the ages of 18-29 identify themselves as pro-life.”

ADF’s Weekly Update is on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l-tD8G2g4E

Washington Post / Political Economy: “Some of this talk is a little premature: It is not a given that the Fed will take action at all at its the Nov. 2-3 meeting . . . But here is a guide to the range of technical and strategic questions that Fed leaders will need to resolve, should they choose to act, on how to ease monetary policy and stimulate growth. These are the questions that have already started to occupy both officials within the Fed and the outside analysts who scrutinize their every move.”

KansasCity.com: “Police in Lehi, Utah are investigating the polygamist family in TLC’s new reality show, ‘Sister Wives,’ for possible charges of felony bigamy – something that is rarely investigated in Utah.”

Boston.com (AP): “Labor unions are preparing what they say will be a march of 100,000 workers on European Union institutions in Brussels on Wednesday, as well as a general strike in Spain to protest the budget-slashing plans and austerity measures of governments seeking to control debt.”

CNSNews: “A recent Gallup Poll (taken Aug. 27-30), finds that 30 percent of Americans say they are supporters of the Tea Party movement, while 27 percent say they are opponents – a 2 percent increase in support since March. The remainder were neutral or did not have an opinion.”

Law.com: “The Mississippi Supreme Court is considering requiring attorneys to perform 20 hours of pro bono service or else pay a $500 fee. If adopted, Mississippi would be the only state to require pro bono service, according to the American Bar Association.”

Politico: “GOProud is the tea party of the gay rights movement, with well-tailored dark suits in place of revolutionary war garb. The event, complete with lithe young men in black ‘Freedom is Fabulous’ t-shirts guiding guests to the elevator, marked a new high tide in the shift of the Republican Party away from ‘social issues’ and toward a broader complaint about Democratic management of the economy, national security, and the idea of America.”

Washington Post: “As polls show that growing numbers of Americans back greater rights for gay men and lesbians, some well-known Republican figures, such as former party chairman Ken Mehlman,who recently came out, are calling for the party to shift its stances on such issues. But Christian conservatives warn that the GOP could lose its base if it endorses same-sex marriage or takes other pro-gay-rights stands.”

LifeNews: “Democrats are expected to push a bill in the Senate after the elections that would authorize abortions at taxpayer-funded military base hospitals. The bill is one of a couple dozen measures they plan to seek votes on during the lame-duck session after an election that is expected to result in gains for pro-life advocates.”

Nathan Harden writing at Phi Beta Cons: “During a recent gubernatorial debate held at the University of Alabama, students were reportedly given maps that illustrated approved ‘First Amendment areas’ around campus . . . I invite David French, our resident expert in constitutional law, to correct me if I’m wrong here, but I simply can’t recall ever seeing the cartographic section of the Constitution, showing where the First Amendment applies and where it doesn’t.”

New York Times (AP): “Ten years ago, after long and bitter debate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of the abortion pill by American women. It is hailed as safe and effective, but new turmoil may lie ahead as the pill’s proponents consider using telemedicine to make it more available.”

Stephen Prothero writing at CNN’s Belief blog: “In this, the first major study of religious literacy among American adults, Americans as a whole flunked, answering correctly 16 of 32 questions about Christianity, the Bible and the world’s religions – for an embarrassing score of only 50 percent.”

A collection of judges, judicial candidates, and advocacy groups from two states are seeking Supreme Court review of state regulations that place limits on the ability of judicial candidates to campaign for judicial office.

Washington Post: “Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic plan to encourage companies to bring jobs back from overseas, as a united GOP caucus voted against a motion to debate the measure on the Senate floor.”

At The Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr responds to an NYT column by Linc Caplan, who wrote: “[Justice Breyer] fits no conventional model of a liberal. The historian Jeff Shesol wrote in The Times Book Review: ‘Breyer has been less willing than any of his fellow justices to overturn acts of Congress.’”

Excerpt from Kerr’s response: “Recall this chart I posted in 2008. As that chart shows, liberal Justices vote to strike down more state laws than conservative Justices and conservative Justices vote to strike down more federal laws than liberal Justices.”

Las Vegas Review-Journal: “A majority of Nevadans say they believe it is time to revive a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget, according to a new poll. And in a measure of how residents feel about Uncle Sam these days, a majority either support or would not rule out letting states repeal federal laws if two-thirds of the legislatures agree.”

Associated Press: “Beginning with the new term next week, the court will post audio files of each week’s arguments on its website Friday. The court has for several years put the argument transcripts on the site within hours of the arguments.”

Associated Press: “A stopgap spending bill that’s needed to avert a government shutdown on Friday advanced in the Senate as lawmakers prepared to head for the exits for the midterm elections.”

Associated Press: “The Indian Supreme Court rejected Tuesday a plea to delay judgment on whether Hindus or Muslims should control a disputed holy site, clearing the way for a verdict in the explosive case later this week.” Today: Indian court to deliver verdict on temple dispute tomorrow

The Hill: “Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) might use Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) playbook to force the White House to clarify its policy on oil-and-gas drilling off his state’s coast, telling reporters he hasn’t ruled out blocking an administration nominee over the issue.”

Sexuality, Integrity, and the University
November 12-13, 2010
Princeton University

Speakers include: Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Dr. Robert George (Q&A moderator), Dr. Donald Hilton, Dr. Micah Watson, and more.

Hosted by: The Love and Fidelity Network, Princeton, NJ

Co-sponsored by: Collegiate Cultural Foundation

The Daily Caller: “A new report by former Democratic strategist and economist Robert Shapiro will make moving forward on said regulations that much more difficult. In a report titled ‘The Public Costs of Higher Education: A Comparison of Public, Private Not-for-Profit, And Private For-Profit Institutions,’ Shapiro makes the case that for-profit colleges such as University of Phoenix Online and Kaplan don’t receive nearly as much in federal subsidies as nonprofit private colleges and public universities.”

Pacific Justice Institute: ” . . .  The question must be asked, what happens if the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court determine that Prop 8 proponents and Imperial County lack sufficient injury under Article III of the U.S. Constitution to have standing? The answer is that an amendment to the California Constitution will be erased without a meaningful review by the courts. The voters will have been disenfranchised . . . Under Article V of the Constitution, the Governor and Attorney General are a part of the executive branch and both have a duty to support and defend the State Constitution. Their oath of office requires them to do so “without mental reservation.” Unfortunately for the citizens of California, they are having second thoughts.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “The Pacific Justice Institute [filed an amicus brief] Friday afternoon with the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Prop. 8.”

Rob Bluey writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: “There are other troubling aspects of Obama’s education agenda besides his assault on school choice. One of the most alarming is the concentration of power taking place in Washington with national standards. The Common Core State Standards, as they’re officially known, were developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers. Ultimately they will centralize control with federal bureaucrats. Congress had no say in the matter.”

For background information on the Common Core curriculum, see this ADF Alliance Alert search.

Associated Press: “Republicans are promising to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul if they win control of Congress. But with what? . . . Some have proposed major changes to workplace coverage, even turning Medicare into a voucher plan. Many prefer small steps that tiptoe around political land mines. Others want a clean start.”

Associated Press: “Malaysia’s prime minister called Monday for creation of a ‘global movement of moderates’ from all faiths to marginalize extremists from all religions.”

Associated Press: “Michoacan state Attorney General Jesus Montejano said the bodies of Tancitaro Mayor Gustavo Sanchez and city adviser Rafael Equihua were discovered in a pickup truck abandoned on a dirt road near the city of Uruapan.”

Associated Press: “Aquino broke that customary silence over the weekend during a forum with Filipino Americans while on a trip to the U.S., where he suggested his administration would be willing to distribute contraceptives to poor couples who couldn’t afford it. The Rev. Deogracias Yniguez of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines criticized that stance on Tuesday . . .”

Freedom From Religion Foundation: “It’s wrong to fund religious schools with taxpayer dollars, say the Freedom From Religion Foundation and other advocates for state-church separation in an amicus brief filed in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, the court will consider if an Arizona tax credit for donations to groups that offer scholarships to attend private schools is constitutional. The groups are called School Tuition Organizations (STOs).”

Associated Press: “Beijing police raided a popular outdoor hangout for gay men and took dozens in for questioning over the weekend as part of a security sweep ahead of China’s National Day holiday, an activist said Tuesday.”

LifeNews: “The Obama administration argued with an appeals court on Monday to overturn the decision a federal judge issued to temporarily halt taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research that destroys human lives to produce. They claimed the temporary funding ban would hurt scientific research . . . [Steven Aden], a lead attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund applauded Lamberth’s decision. ‘The American people should not be forced to pay for experiments — prohibited by federal law — that destroy human life,’ he said. ‘The court is simply enforcing an existing law passed by Congress that prevents Americans from paying another penny for needless research on human embryos.’”

Rapid City Journal: “The only South Dakota pastor listed by the Alliance Defense Fund as a participant in its Pulpit Freedom Sunday initiative said Monday that he didn’t talk about candidates from the pulpit last weekend . . . Despite his participation in the 2008 ADF effort and his interest in provoking a court challenge to the Johnson amendment, Hickey said he didn’t ‘follow the pack’ this year. ‘I preach the Bible on the weekend, and I didn’t have a sense I should do it this Sunday,’ he said.”

Hartford Courant / Still Small Voice blog: “The pastors, with the backing of the conservative Christian non-profit, Alliance Defense Fund, planned to challenge what is legally-acceptable speech within tax-exempt organizations in what they called Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”

ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: “Last week, the Alliance Defense Fund, at which I’m the director of the Center for Academic Freedom, released part four of ‘Hanna’s Story,’ our based-on-true-events dramatic series (yes, dramatic series — and I think it’s pretty darn good) about a new student’s struggle to start a pro-life club . . . The conservative academic-freedom movement has come a long way in just a few years. I can remember the good ole days of hardcover books, primitive websites, and using actual Wite-Out on complaints. Now there’s YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and documentary films.

OpEdNews: “To start with, nobody is forcing the clergy to have tax exempt status. It is their own decision to be tax exempt. If they don’t like the conditions of the tax exemption they should give it up . . . Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] of the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund, the group which organized the Christian clergy movement to ‘resisteth’ the IRS, said, ‘The ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit; we want to get government out of the pulpit.’”

California Catholic Daily: “‘What’s at stake in this case is bigger than California and bigger even than marriage,’ said ADF senior counsel [Brian Raum]. ‘These briefs demonstrate the wide-ranging concerns about marriage, voter rights, judicial activism, religious liberty, and other issues and how they will be affected nationwide if this lawsuit is allowed to prevail. A diverse number of Americans understand that this lawsuit seeks to impose — through a San Francisco court — an agenda that America has repeatedly rejected.’”

The Indy Channel: “It was part of an effort by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian nonprofit group, to challenge a law that prevents tax-exempt churches from supporting or opposing a political candidate.”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on Point of View Radio to report on Pulpit Freedom Sunday which was held this past Sunday. | MP3 audio 9:20 mins