Daily Archives: September 29, 2010

KTHV: “The Arkansas attorney general’s office is asking the state supreme court to uphold an adoption ban, voters approved two years ago. It bans unmarried couples who live together, from adopting a child in the state. Some argue it is a law that targets homosexuals and a lower court overturned it.”

AFP: “Australia’s former prime minister John Howard has attacked ‘multiculturalism’ in English-speaking nations, saying that some sectors have gone too far in accommodating Muslim minorities.”

MercatorNet / Sheila Reports: “[Californians] who want their constitutionally expressed will to be legally established have tolerated the repeated necessity of fighting for it in court . . . The breadth of support for the marriage amendment is showing . . . ‘What’s at stake in this case is bigger than California and bigger even than marriage,’ said ADF Senior Counsel [Brian Raum].”

Allie Bohm writing at the ACLU Blog of Rights: “Fortunately, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) are saying no. Today, they introduced the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010, which would repeal the entire Title V statute . . .”

The Portland Press Herald: “The owner of a full-nudity strip club on Warren Avenue that was shut down by city officials earlier this month has sued the city of Westbrook and Fire Inspector Charles Jarrett.”

Millburn-Shorthills Patch: “Millburn Public Library officials last week approved changes to its room rental agreement after concerns were raised it was unconstitutional. Bill Swinson, library director, said the Alliance Defense Fund based in Kansas sent the library a letter warning the policy was unconstitutional because it specifically mentioned there could be no religious services or religious discussion groups to meet at the library.”

CNN: “Google has opened itself up to a potential PR problem, because some of these omissions will be at best bewildering and at worst offensive to particularly sensitive (or progressive) users who don’t understand how Google Instant actually works. For example, ‘bisexual’ and ‘lesbian’ are among the restricted words. Type them in to Google and the instant search will immediately stop delivering new results. You have to hit enter to confirm, yes, you really do want to know about something in some way related to bisexuals or lesbians.”

Politico: “South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint last week accused his Senate Republican colleagues of doing ‘everything’ in their power to help Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign against GOP nominee Joe Miller . . . A number of Republican senators told POLITICO Tuesday that DeMint was skewing the GOP Conference’s position solidly backing Miller, saying he was intensifying a rift within a party that’s trying to unite following a divisive primary season.”

Associated Press: “A government official said Wednesday that Obama was nominating Caitlin Halligan, general counsel at the D.A.’s office, to the court. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination had not been made public.”

WMFD: “The first reading of a measure detailing regulations for sexually-oriented businesses was the topic of discussion at Tuesday’s Galion City Council meeting.”

The New American: “The Alliance Defense Fund is involved in the lawsuit that challenges the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research. [Steven Aden], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund reacted to the Appeals Court decision. ‘We believe it’s a shame that they would rush to push funding of embryonic stem cell research, and a waste of taxpayer money.’”

The Blog of Legal Times: “Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has put into writing a proposal he first discussed publicly in June: allowing a retired U.S. Supreme Court justice to hear a case when a sitting justice has recused.”

Winnipeg Free Press (AP): “The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered the Board of Immigration Appeals to review Mladen Zeljko Todorovic’s case again. The board had ruled that Todorovic’s testimony could not be used because he wasn’t a ‘credible witness.’”

Pink News: “Four of Labour’s best-known out gay MPs are among the 49 standing for the shadow cabinet elections. Former ministers Chris Bryant, Ben Bradshaw, Angela Eagle and Stephen Twigg were on the list on nominees published at 5pm today.”

Expatica: “The European Court of Human Rights said Wednesday it had agreed to consider a case brought by the Jehovah Witness Christian sect against the French government over taxation of donations.”

The Minnesota Daily: “The DVD defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and includes an appearance from Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis saying the definition of marriage should be brought before Minnesota voters . . . Naylor , who held her position at the Basilica for 15 years before her suspension Sunday, said she was planning to create the artwork because she ‘wanted to send the message that not all Catholics share the exclusionary views of the archbishop.’”

The Oklahoma Daily: “Nearly three hours of debate Tuesday night at Norman City Council’s meeting resulted in a 7 to1 pass vote of a proclamation that designated October as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered History Month in Norman.”

Christian Post: “The Batak Christian Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, or HKBP) in Ciketing village, Bekasi, decided in a congregational meeting on Sunday to accept a government offer to move worship services to the former Organization and Political Party (OPP) building on the condition that local officials will keep a promise to build a new house of worship for them within two years in the Mustika Sari district.”

CNN: “The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts is marking its fifth year under his leadership, with a high-powered bench that has been invigorated with four new members in that time to make for a shaky, divided conservative majority.”

James Ledbetter writing at Slate: “There’s no point in dancing around it: Amazon is distributing men’s erotic fiction, and its bargain-basement Kindle pricing—in many cases, this material, too, is given away for free—means that some of it shows up on ‘best-seller’ lists . . . How comfortable is Amazon with being identified with this material? There are thousands of pornography sites on the Web (paid and free), and while you can’t access them without some kind of device and software, you’re not pointed toward them in any meaningful way. The Kindle, however, pushes Amazon over the line from mere enabler of erotica to promoter and producer.”

CBC: “The federal Conservatives will appeal an Ontario court ruling that struck down key parts of Canada’s prostitution laws, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Wednesday.”

Iona Institute: “The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will vote next week on a report which could drastically weaken freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals across Europe. The report says that conscientious objection should be limited to doctors and nurses but not to medical institutions like hospitals, that doctors and nurses with an objection to a procedure such as abortion must refer the patient to someone who does not have such an objection, and that in ‘emergencies’ they must carry out the procedures themselves.”

Report: Women’s access to lawful medical care: the problem of unregulated use of conscientious objection

European Centre for Law and Justice Press Release

Associated Press: “The Charter School Growth Fund is announcing a $160 million fundraising campaign Wednesday — the largest-ever aimed at helping start more of the nontraditional public schools nationwide. The goal is to establish 335,000 more spots for children at charter schools in the next decade.”

Reuters: “Serbian Orthodox Church and political leaders gather on Sunday to enthrone a new patriarch to guide a religion embodying the spirit of Serbia, but the once a generation ceremony will take place on foreign soil in Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but many Serbs still see Kosovo and the monasteries there as the cradle of their Orthodox religion. Old churches and monasteries dot the landscape of the smallest country in the Balkans.”

Independent Catholic News: “Dublin was the setting for this year’s Iona Institute conference, which examined freedom of conscience and religion in Europe. Speakers dealt with the rise of of ‘aggressive secularism’ and the growing legal threat to religious freedom in Ireland and other Western countries.” More information from the Iona Institute.

BBC: “New Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he intends to marry partner Justine Thornton but that political events have prevented them setting a date. So, does modern life get in the way of marriage? . . . Modern history lecturer Dr Marcus Collins says the cohabiting arrangements that would once have barred Mr Miliband from high-office are now ‘not much of an issue’ . . . ‘Now many people move in together, maybe have children, then maybe get married,’ says the author of Modern Love: An Intimate History of Men and Women in 20th Century Britain.”

Omaha World Herald: “A small northeast Nebraska school district plans to hold an assembly Wednesday, despite a warning from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska . . . Students at Lyons-Decatur Northeast High School are scheduled to hear Wednesday from Keith Becker, who has referenced Scripture during his presentations that urge students to make good decisions. Becker’s brother died in an alcohol-related crash.” Related: ACLU warns school district about Todd Becker Foundation presentation

LifeSiteNews: “The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court has issued a decision requiring Orthodox Coptic Pope Shenouda III to pay damages of approximately 19,500 Egyptian pounds to church member Magdi William who sued the Coptic Church over its refusal to issue a certificate to re-marry after he divorced his wife.”

For background information, see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/country-egypt+global-marriage-and-family/

Times Picayune: “With Congress heading toward the exits for the election recess, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., maintained her hold Tuesday on the appointment of a key administration official until the Obama administration lifts its drilling moratorium, which Sen. David Vitter, R-La., predicted could happen next month.”

LifeSiteNews: “Last Monday, when the head of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales (CBEW) told a BBC interviewer that the U.K. bishops had not opposed the creation of legal civil partnerships for homosexuals, he was speaking from a longstanding policy that was published in 2005. But a source close to the CBEW has told LifeSiteNews.com that that policy was rejected by the Vatican for not being in line with Catholic teaching. The UK bishops, however, have implemented it without change, ignoring Vatican-mandated corrections.”

LifeSiteNews: “California’s Loyola Marymount University (LMU) has become the third Jesuit institution of higher education in the U.S. to establish an office dedicated to ministering to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.”

The Hill: “House Democrats on Wednesday barely won a 210-209 vote to adjourn the House without extending the Bush tax cuts. Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against adjournment after Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged opposition to the motion in a floor speech that said it would be irresponsible for Congress to leave without providing certainty on the tax issue. Dozens of Democrats in tough races voted against adjourning.”

Boehner: A vote to adjourn is a vote to raise taxes

Wesley J. Smith writing at First Things / Secondhand Smoke: “Too many policy advocates these days attempt to elevate what they consider to be desirable public polices to the status of basic human rights . . . [S]hould birth control be considered a basic right akin to the rights to life, speech, and personal autonomy, such as freedom from rape? Is access to birth control really so central to the minimum level of human existence that everyone should be legally required to have access to it? Nope.”

WCF Courier: “Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, and Barmuda Cos. CEO Darin Beck, a Republican, discussed their stances on a variety of issues during a civil half-hour exchange hosted by the Cedar Falls Rotary Club. It was their first public appearance together.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency board on Thursday defeated a motion to renew the abortion giant’s lease in the three counties’ health system with a 3-3 vote. A majority would have been needed to renew the lease, which expires next month, for Planned Parenthood’s four locations.”

CBS News: “The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV has risen slightly this season to 23 out of a total of nearly 600 roles, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.”

CNS News: “Denmark’s foreign minister met Wednesday with ambassadors from 17 Muslim countries in a move to avoid tensions ahead of the five-year anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons . . . Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said she met with the Muslim ambassadors Wednesday and with the heads of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League last week ‘to prevent a new confrontation’ over the cartoons.”

Sify News: “Singapore said Wednesday it will continue a ban on 100 websites, rejecting a recommendation from a government-appointed panel to scrap Internet restrictions. The government will block the websites — which contain pornographic content, incite racial and religious intolerance, or promote terrorism and extremism — as a symbolic gesture to reflect Singapore’s values, the Information Ministry said.”

WSLS: “A person could go to the Virginia ABC board to establish a strip club in Pittsylvania County, but the board could cite them for violating a community standard and a judge would decide whether it breaks the law, said Pittsylvania County Administrator Dan Sleeper.”

Asbury Park Press: “The Lord’s Prayer was said at the start of the Borough Council meeting Tuesday night with seemingly more passion and enthusiasm than the blessing had been recited in years . . . Almost two weeks ago, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey filed a lawsuit.”

For background, see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-new-jersey+topic-prayer/

Religion Clause: “The Military Religious Freedom Foundation announced yesterday that it has sent a letter (full text), co-signed by the heads of nine other groups, to the Secretary of Defense making three demands for changes to deal with the allegedly worsening situation involving Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy.”

Religion Clause: “[In] Palmer v. City of Prescott, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101136 (D AZ, Sept. 7, 2010) . . . Plaintiff [an evangelical Christian who proselytizes Mormons] moved to disqualify federal district court Judge David Campbell from hearing the case because Campbell is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . . . The judge refused to disqualify himself, saying that plaintiff’s proselytizing activities have nothing to do with the claims in this case, and citing federal precedent holding that church membership does not create a sufficient appearance of bias to require disqualification.”

Associated Press: “India has imposed a nationwide ban on sending bulk text messages amid concerns that a potentially explosive court judgment on who should control a disputed holy site could spark unrest, a top official said Wednesday.”

Spiegel Online: “All across Europe, right-wing populist parties are enjoying significant popular support. Led by charismatic politicians like Geert Wilders, they are exploiting fear of Muslim immigration and frustration with the political establishment — and are forcing mainstream parties to shift to the right.”

EducationNews.org: “In a town meeting in Mercer County, Christie outlined a plan to jettison seniority, advanced academic degrees, and tenure as automatic steps toward higher pay . . . the New Jersey School Boards Association embraced Christie’s ideas – particularly tenure reform – calling them ‘long overdue’ and consistent with the negotiating trends in local districts.”

New York Post: “A book about the publication of cartoons in Denmark that angered Muslims by showing images of the Prophet Muhammad will be released despite recent terror threats, the publisher said Wednesday. ‘The book will come out as planned,’ said Karsten Blauert, of Jyllands-Posten Editions.”

The Montana Family Foundation will no longer be singled out for exclusion from a state employee giving program in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund. Because the state agreed to include the organization in the program and permanently change the problematic policy that led to the lawsuit, ADF attorneys voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday.

“Growing Generations, a surrogacy agency based in Los Angeles that has become the destination of choice for many gay families nationwide. According to the company, it has helped bring approximately 850 babies to couples since it launched in 1996.”

Rasmussen Reports: “Speaking at a dinner of American and Chinese businessmen in New York last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the China-U.S. relationship ‘enjoys a bright future because common interests between our two countries far outweigh our differences.’ But just 32% of Americans agree.”

Lawrence Journal-World: “The First Amendment and free speech will be at the center of an argument next week before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a Kansas church’s protests outside a soldier’s funeral in Maryland. Two constitutional scholars Monday night disagreed on how the nation’s highest court should rule during a Constitution Day forum at Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics.”

Yahoo Finance (Reuters): “U.S. chief executive officers’ view of the economy darkened in the third quarter, with top executives saying they were less willing to hire new workers as they fear sales growth will slow.”

Breitbart: “Bill Gates and Warren Buffett hosted a banquet Wednesday for China’s super rich that sparked debate about Chinese philanthropy, amid reports that wealthy invitees had been reluctant to attend.”

Wisconsin State Journal: “President Barack Obama served as the closing act Tuesday for a rock-n-roll, fire-up-the-troops extravaganza on the UW-Madison campus — a giant rally meant to recapture the excitement of the campaign trail and bridge the so-called “enthusiasm gap” among younger, Democratic voters.”

ADF President and CEO Alan Sears writing at Inside the Issues: “This tacit agreement on the part of Christians to stay out of the political sphere ignores both the priority of protecting our religious freedom and the noble, centuries-old tradition of American pastors bringing moral context to the most volatile, far-reaching political questions of their day. (Christian pastors were outspoken catalysts in sparking the American Revolution and the Civil Rights movement, to cite just two examples.)”

Religion Clause: “Reaction is now beginning to activities of churches which last Sunday participated in Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Sunday challenging tax code restrictions on non-profits, including churches.”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at the Washington Examiner: “I happen to have worked as legal counsel to many of those [state marriage] amendments’ primary supporters, who weren’t Karl Rove or George Bush . . . The American people initiated these marriage amendments as a massive grassroots response to two events in . . . As this marriage amendment movement gained strength, Rove and the Bush White House largely ignored it. In 2004, the pro-marriage forces called upon the expertise of the Alliance Defense Fund to help draft the proposed state constitutional amendments and defend them in court.”

David Waters writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: “ADF’s widely (and often breathlessly) reported campaign to ‘bait the IRS with pulpit politics‘ seems to have been more of a bait and switch . . . It’s possible that some of the promised ‘nearly 100′ dissenting pastors did endorse someone from the pulpit Sunday, but I have scoured the Web and can’t find any reports of such . . . ‘Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government — in this case, the IRS,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley]. Fear not, pastors.”

Statesman Journal: “A settlement has been reached in the case of Frederick Pearson v. the city of Stayton regarding a civil-rights violation. Pearson of Oregon filed the lawsuit . . . for violating his right to display anti-abortion signs featuring images of aborted fetuses. It was Stayton’s first civil-rights lawsuit at the federal level . . . Pearson was represented by Beaverton-based attorney Kelly Ford, who is a member of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Tennessee-based organization of Christian attorneys advocating for religious freedom.”

Catholic News Agency: “While the case would directly affect the 61 million Americans under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, ADF senior council [Brian Raum] said what is at stake is ‘bigger than California and bigger even than marriage.’ ‘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,’ he commented. ‘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 European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has dealt the Roman Catholic Church in Germany a blow over its employment practices by saying that the church cannot dismiss an employee because of an inappropriate personal relationship.”

KULR (AP): “Opponents of a revised sex education plan for Helena schools are bashing the new version for teaching too much, too soon, while supporters are lauding it as necessary instruction.”

Politico: “A new Pulse Opinion Research survey of the three-way contest released Tuesday showed Maes capturing just 15 percent of the vote, 19 points behind American Constitution candidate Tom Tancredo, who launched a bid after he rendered the Republican unelectable. Democratic Mayor John Hickenlooper leads Tancredo 44 percent to 34 percent, according to the Sept. 25 survey, conducted for Fox News.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “Prime Minister Julia Gillard has ruled out Labor MPs being allowed a conscience vote on a new move to allow same-sex marriage.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “The Utah Supreme Court dismissed an appeal Tuesday in which the Navajo Nation sought to undo the adoption of two Navajo siblings by a non-American Indian family. The justices unanimously ruled the Navajo Nation failed to file a properly signed appeal on time, leaving the high court no jurisdiction over the case.”
In re A.B., No. 20080211 (Utah Sept. 28, 2010)

The Courier-Journal: “A boy at the center of a court battle between an Indiana couple who wants to adopt him and his biological father in Ohio left a Floyd County court building Tuesday night in the arms of his adoptive father, but there was no clear indication of where he would stay.” Background from CBS.

Global Winnipeg: “A court decision in a neighbouring province could end up decriminalizing aspects of the sex trade in Manitoba.”

CTV Calgary: “The Harper government says it will likely appeal a court ruling which strikes down parts of Canada’s prostitution laws.”

CKOM: “The striking down of three key prostitution laws by an Ontario court could have repercussions on a Saskatoon case.”

The Jakarta Globe: “More than 100 members of the Islamic Defenders Front launched protests against foreign-run venues participating in Indonesia’s gay and lesbian film festival on Tuesday.”

People Management: “But while deliberation in American political circles continues, the British Army’s diversity unit confirmed it had been advising its military counterparts across the Atlantic on integrating such an equality policy and sharing the successes of the repeal in the UK.”

Attorney General Eric Holder writes in The Washington Post: “Nominee after nominee has languished in the Senate for many months, only to be confirmed by wide bipartisan margins when they finally do receive a vote. As Congress finishes its last week in session before the November elections, our judicial system desperately needs the Senate to act.”

Charlotte Observer: “Of all the judicial nominees awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate, none has waited longer than Charlottean Albert Diaz. Now supporters hope the wait is about to end. Diaz, who would be the first Hispanic judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is among the nominees the U.S. Senate could consider before its expected recess this week.”

Attorneys and allied attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed their opening brief with the Arkansas Supreme Court Wednesday in defense of Act 1, a voter-approved measure that protects children who are adopted or placed into foster care. An Arkansas judge struck down the law in April in a decision that erroneously characterized voters as attempting to target “homosexual couples…one politically unpopular group” even though the law does not do so.

ChristianNewsWire: “Attorneys from the Chicago-based Thomas More Society will appear tomorrow morning before an Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) administrative law judge to begin a trial in defense of charges that a Catholic home schooling group engaged in ‘disability discrimination’ and ‘retaliation’ in violation of the state’s civil rights laws. The charges arise out of a disagreement over menu choices for a teenager with severe food allergies — a disagreement that ignited a two-year long civil rights lawsuit against Fishers Catholic Enrichment Society (FACES), a volunteer group of 11 homeschooling families.”

Montreal Gazette: “The professional order representing Quebec nurses is opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide, suggesting the province should instead invest more to catch up in providing palliative care.”