Daily Archives: January 6, 2011

CBC: “A local Lebanese association goes before a city appeal board Thursday in hopes it can keep operating a religious centre in west Edmonton.”

Orange County Register: “A day after city officials were made aware that recently installed play equipment at a public park had a religious theme, it was removed and replacement pieces have been ordered, city officials said.”

Global Winnipeg: “The Saskatchewan court of appeal is just about ready to release its decision on whether or not marriage commissioners have the right to refuse to preside over same sex marriages.”

The Australian: “A contraceptive device fitted in women’s arms has misfired, with more than 400 Australian users becoming pregnant. And women in Britain have received thousands of pounds in compensation for unwanted pregnancies. Thousands of Australian and British women used the Implanon implant, which was designed to stop them getting pregnant for three years by releasing hormones into their blood from a tiny tube in their arm.”

Bruce Walker writing at The New American: “The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group based in Arizona, had been fighting efforts to remove the cross. [Joe Infranco], senior counsel for the group, urged that the cross be left, saying: ‘There memory of those who sacrificed their lives shouldn’t be dishonored because the ACLU finds a small number of people who are merely offended’ . . . Why should cities with such profoundly religious names be allowed to tax people to support them? Maybe that could be the next stage in the taxpayers’ revolt.”

Christian Post: “Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, says the post provoking anger towards Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A chicken restaurants for ‘endorsing’ its efforts are misleading . . . Setting the record straight, Geer said Chick-fil-A is not sponsoring the event. ‘There are a couple restaurants that are giving us food,’ he clarified. The food, mostly chicken sandwiches, is for a day-and-half-long workshop for couples who want to strengthen their marriages.”

SEO Law Firm: “Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Counsel [Jim Campbell] said of the issue, ‘The people of California have the right to be defended, and thus the official proponents of Proposition 8 must have standing to defend that law. Otherwise, the governor and attorney general will succeed in indirectly invalidating a measure that they had no power to strike down directly.’”

Catholic News Agency: “The association Professionals for Ethics in Spain announced that 3,000 Spaniards have written to the country’s Minister of Health, Leire Pajin, demanding that she respect the right of health care workers to object to abortion and euthanasia.”

“A Denver appeals court has stayed an order that would remove 14 crosses from Utah’s highways intended to honor fallen officers and encourage safe driving.”

Charles Meade, founder of Delaware Marriage Equality, writes: “Delaware’s Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed so gays and lesbians can have their relationships legalized. Many heterosexual couples go to the court to get married, and there’s no valid or legitimate reason why gay and lesbian couples shouldn’t be able to go to the courthouse to have their relationship legitimized by having a civil marriage.”

NBC 11: “For the first time in the city’s history, an atheist delivered the opening invocation.”

Ms. Magazine: “Today, as the U.S. Constitution is being read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Senator Robert Menendez, chief sponsors of the Equal Rights Amendment, called a press conference together with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Co-Chair of the House Women’s Caucus and women’s rights leaders to draw attention to the absence of the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Seattle Times: “Charlie Wiggins has been known to spend his free time searching the Bible for references to ‘justice’ and re-enacting the state Constitutional Convention in costume . . . The bow-tied, 63-year-old appeals lawyer from Bainbridge Island is being sworn in Friday at the Temple of Justice in Olympia. He beat three-term Justice Richard Sanders by 13,000 votes out of nearly 2 million cast.”

Washington Post: “The Pentagon will have to cut spending by $78 billion over the next five years, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday, forcing the Army and Marine Corps to shrink the number of troops on active duty and eventually imposing the first freeze on military spending since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.”

William McGurn writing in the Wall Street Journal: “The notion that Wall Street and Main Street are fundamentally at odds with one another remains a popular orthodoxy. So much so that we may be missing the first stirrings of a true American class war: between workers in government unions and their union counterparts in the private sector.”

Catholic News Agency: “The new president of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, announced Jan. 5 that he appointed Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, California as chairman of the conference’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage.”

LifeSiteNews: “RU-486 abortions are allowing more and more women in Finland to abort their children at home, a practice that has become a nationwide trend, Finnish authorities said this week.”

Hampton Roads: “During an appearance on FOX & Friends this morning to discuss his bill to ban ‘active homosexuals’ from the Virginia National Guard, Del. Bob Marshall said that Gov. Bob McDonnell is incorrect in concluding that the Guard must abide by Defense Department regulations on gays in the military.”

Jay Sekulow’s Trial Notebook: “Our attorneys are now reviewing the documents which validate the substance of our suit and reveal an inappropriate involvement between the Mayor’s Office and developers of the mosque.”

ACLJ: “There’s been an important victory in a case that we’ve been involved with out of Alabama . . . For over ten years, a federal court injunction against a small group of activists had been used by the clinic and the Birmingham police to intimidate others from standing on the adjacent sidewalks. Being relegated to a distant sidewalk made effective offers of assistance and information difficult or impossible . . . In a written order issued on January 4th, Judge Ed Ramsey agreed with our arguments, and dismissed the lawsuit against Rev. Mahoney and the Christian Defense Coalition.”

Eugene Volokh: “This happened in Monday’s United States v. Robbins (W.D. Va.); the court disagreed with the district court in Strandlof and the Ninth Circuit panel in Alvarez, which held that the statute violates the First Amendment.”

Religion Clause: “Associated Baptist Press yesterday carried three interesting pieces projecting future trends in religious liberty and church-state matters.”

LifeSiteNews: “Labour Party health spokesman Jan O’Sullivan said that legislation must now be introduced to provide for ‘the right to the termination of a pregnancy’ in the very limited circumstances specified in the judgment. O’Sullivan said the absence of legislation providing for abortion in circumstances where the mother’s life was at risk left those with crisis pregnancies and doctors in an ‘impossible position.’”

Dutch News: “MPs from the three-party ruling alliance have reacted furiously to comments from Amsterdam police chief Bernard Welten in which he said his officers would not necessarily arrest a woman wearing a burqa, once a ban is brought in. MPs from the ruling VVD have called on Welten to take back the statement, while Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam PVV said the police chief should ‘pack his things and go’ if he refuses to uphold the law.”

Albuquerque Journal: “Outlawing gay marriage already was headed to the Legislature’s inbox, but [an attorney general's opinion] supporting the validity of some same-sex unions could give the issue a higher profile . . . Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, said Wednesday that King’s opinion has galvanized opponents of same-sex marriage and could help his efforts to get a measure through the 2011 session making such marriages illegal.”

Click on Detroit: “By a margin of 38.5%-50.2%, Michigan voters oppose allowing gay men and lesbians to get married. 54.9% of Democratic voters support gay marriage, 42.3% of Independent voters support gay marriage, but only 19.6% of Republican voters support gay marriage.”

“In a brief interview on Wednesday, Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, said he had already lined up 27 co-sponsors and was hoping for more, but would introduce the bill no matter what the number on Thursday in hopes of spurring an early-session hearing and vote on the measure.”

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: “Of the 535 members of the new Congress, 304 – or 57% – are Protestants, which is slightly higher than the share of Protestants in the U.S. adult population (51%). Compared with the previous Congress, the 112th Congress has added 12 Protestants, an increase of roughly two percentage points.”

Deutsche Welle: “Susanne Baer is Germany’s most famous female lawyer, known for addressing equal opportunity and discrimination issues. In 2011 Germany will, for the first time, have a self-confessed feminist sitting as a judge in the country’s highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court. Jutta Wagner, the president of the German Women Lawyers Association, welcomes the decision to nominate Baer for two reasons.”

Deutsche Welle: “‘We ask that Christians and others religious minorities be able to live in security and dignity in their homeland, where they and their ancestors have lived for hundreds, and in some cases thousands of years,’ Karl Juesten, prelate and head of the Commissariat of German Bishops, told the Hannoversche Allgemeine daily.”

Deutsche Welle: “Frankfurt’s Goethe University has introduced a three-year bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies, the first such course in Germany. The program places Islamic theology on the same footing as Christian and Jewish theology at German universities. The aim is to provide students with an academic and scientific approach to the topic.”

Daily Independent: “Results of a study by a group of researchers have identified the use of Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) as a cost-effective and safe abortion procedure for Nigeria. They, however, note that the procedure must be carried out in during the first trimester and in a certified clinic operated by highly trained health experts.”

Star-Ledger: “Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill advocates say gives New Jersey the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation. Christie signed the ‘Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights,’ according to a press release from Garden State Equality, the state’s largest gay rights organization, which advocated for the bill.”

The Hill: “The abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America on Wednesday launched a new website called StandUpToBoehner.org. The site allows supporters to take an oath to support abortion rights and have their location pinpointed on a map of the U.S.”

Louisville Courier Journal: “The Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee Thursday morning approved a bill requiring a woman seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus before the procedure takes place.”

The Globe and Mail: “A landmark court proceeding to weigh the constitutionality of Canada’s polygamy law resumed Wednesday with testimony from a religious scholar who said fundamentalist Mormon beliefs do not provide for someone to be forced into a polygamous relationship.”

Yahoo (AP): “Ushering in change at the top of his team, President Barack Obama has chosen William Daley to be his new chief of staff, choosing a veteran political manager with Wall Street ties to direct an operation now steaming toward re-election mode.”

Associated Press: “Brazil’s national association of doctors has approved new rules for in vitro fertilization that let same-sex couples and single people qualify for the process.”

The Globe and Mail: “The Ontario government has moved decisively to head off a potential power struggle with a Roman Catholic group over control of a troubled Windsor hospital. Health Minister Deb Matthews appointed a supervisor of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital on Wednesday to assume all the powers of the board of directors and report directly to her. She also put the religious group on notice that the hospital has only one master – the provincial government.”

Los Angeles Times editorial: “[I]t seems priggish to object to the idea of a justice sharing his views with members of Congress rather than law students or members of a bar association. Yet Scalia is being criticized for accepting an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to speak on Jan. 24 to any member of Congress who wants to show up. We find it hard to share the outrage.”

Washington Post: “In a move certain to escalate the legal tug of war over illegal immigration, state lawmakers from across the country announced Wednesday that they are launching an effort to deny automatic citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.”

McClatchy: “The increasing radicalization of Pakistani society was laid bare Wednesday when the nation’s mainstream religious organizations applauded the murder of provincial governor Salman Taseer earlier this week, while his killer was showered with rose petals as he appeared in court.”

Ahram Online: “A draft law calling for a 15-year ban on property sales between Lebanese Christians and Muslims has sparked controversy, with many saying it is aimed at stemming the sale of Christian land to Hezbollah supporters.”

Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. government Thursday said it has strongly protested Vietnam’s treatment of a U.S. diplomat who was detained and wrestled to the ground while attempting to visit a dissident Roman Catholic priest—a development that could further inflame concerns in the U.S. about the Southeast Asian nation’s human rights record.”

Baltimore Sun / Maryland Politics: “The head of gay rights group Equality Maryland declared that a proposal floated by GOP Senate leader Allan Kittleman to establish civil unions ‘falls short’ of the group’s goal to establish a same-sex marriage law.”

Associated Press: “New Jersey’s governor has signed legislation to allow construction of smaller, ’boutique’ casinos in Atlantic City.”

USA Today: “IRS liens filed against taxpayers jumped 60% since the start of the national recession, according to a new federal report that urges the tax agency to moderate the collection policy and study its effectiveness.”

Associated Press: “As Republicans prepare to take control of the House and exert more influence in the Senate . . . States will continue to face substantial deficits over the next few years, but they will have to get by with the end of stimulus spending and less financial help from the federal government. In recent interviews, top GOP lawmakers made clear it will be much less.”

Associated Press: “Egyptian authorities put up a heavy security cordon early Thursday around the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo hours before Christmas Eve Mass, using bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors and officers to try to prevent another attack like the New Year’s suicide bombing of a church that killed 21 people.”

The Hill: “Senate Democrats have introduced a package of rules reforms that would limit the minority party’s ability to slow or block controversial legislation. Democrats have postponed a vote on the package until late January, when lawmakers will return from a two-week recess, giving them time to smooth over differences in their conference.”

Wall Street Journal editorial: “It’s worth noting that the new Constitutional authority rule will exercise the same discipline on Republicans as on Democrats. No doubt most of the Members will cite the elastic Commerce or General Welfare Clauses to justify nearly everything. But even that will be instructive, and who knows? The exercise might even cause some lawmakers to reflect on the sources—and limits—of their own power.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “A female jail guard’s strip search of a male inmate was a ‘humiliating event’ that violated his rights, a divided federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday.” | Byrd v. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, No. 07-16640 (9th Cir. Jan 5, 2011)

Karl Rove writing in the Wall Street Journal: “The Obama administration’s behavior to date suggests that it will not hesitate to take care of its friends. The Senate Republican Policy Committee’s health policy analyst, Chris Jacobs, points out that the administration has already given an extravagant gift to the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), a key player in passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

The Hill: “White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday defended a 2006 vote by then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) against raising the nation’s debt ceiling.”

Jewish World Review: “The need to repeal his radical agenda is ever more apparent as it unfolds further. The legislative enactments were bad enough. But now Obama is using his executive authority to implement anything he couldn’t get through even his Democrat-dominated Congress . . . We need to use the tools at hand. The three bills Obama must pass are our leverage. The Republican House needs to demand rollbacks in his legislative agenda and curbs on his executive actions as the price for permitting the government to operate.”

FRC Washington Update: “Rep. Pence’s bill would ban groups that perform, or provide funds to another entity that performs, abortions from taking Title X money. Planned Parenthood raked in $657.1 million from taxpayers in 2002-2008, mostly through Title X. To try to avoid this scrutiny during tough economic times, Planned Parenthood didn’t release its 2008-2009 annual report until right before Christmas–months after they usually do. What were they trying to hide?”

CBS Local: “A new Rick’s Cabaret is about to open near the South entrance to DFW International Airport . . . The new strip club is trying to get a liquor license from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Prominent Tarrant County leaders, including County Judge Glen Whitley, are protesting the permit.”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “A home school case being argued in the New Hampshire Supreme Court Jan. 6 is a window into the kind of subtle bias against Christianity that permeates our modern institutions. Only, in this case it’s not even subtle. The reasoning of a lower court is a jolting revelation of how Biblical Christian values may be publicly marginalized.”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on NC Family Policy Matters to discuss the Christian Flag War Memorial Dispute. | MP3 audio 14:17 mins

ADF attorney Matt Bowman appeared on the Schilling Show to discuss the issue and the litigation. | MP3 audio 13:20 mins

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Georgene Rice Show to discuss the issue of standing in the Proposition 8 litigation. | MP3 audio 11:57 mins

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on AFR Focal Point with Bryan Fischer to discuss the NH Homeschool case. | MP3 audio 11:09 mins

ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Vicki McKenna Show to discuss the Mt. Soledad veteran’s memorial ruling and the NH homeschooling case. | MP3 audio 19:16 mins

At Powerline, John Hinderaker comments on a NYT editorial on the Republican takeover of the House: “Presumptuous to read the Constitution out loud? Seriously? And, in fact, the founders didn’t leave the Constitution ‘open to generations of reinterpretation;’ they provided for the document to be changed by amendment . . . citation of Constitutional authority is ‘fundamentalism?’ And why is it ‘vacuous’ for legislators to consider whether proposed legislation does, in fact, have a basis in the Constitution? Isn’t this one of their most basic duties? . . . Maybe instead of jeering at the Constitution, the Times editors should read it.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “If the Church in America will educate her people to stand against government-imposed sexual immorality, our leaders will lose the political will or power to merrily continue on this road to debauchery. But if this trend of rejecting biblical sexual morality continues, it won’t be long till it’s illegal to even preach against it. It is time for American pastors to unleash the light – lest we find ourselves where Europe and Canada have already landed.”

Columbus Dispatch: “Upper Arlington will allow a day-care facility of any size to occupy a building in this zone, but it won’t allow this school. Federal law specifically prohibits zoning officials from subjecting religious organizations to this type of unequal treatment, [said ADF attorney Erik Stanley].”

Columbus Local News: “Attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, Jan. 5, against the city of Upper Arlington on behalf of Tree of Life Christian Schools . . . ‘A city’s zoning code cannot give preferential treatment to non-religious institutions that function similarly to a Christian school,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] in the news release.”

Gina Miller writing at Dakota Voice: “‘”Unfortunately, the decision does not surprise me based on the philosophical beliefs and records of the judges on the panel. The decision was more likely than not,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. ADF filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the American Legion.’”

Charisma: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) allied attorney John Anthony Simmons will argue before the high court on behalf of the girl’s mother, who is objecting to the judge’s order on appeal.”

CNA: “‘It’s tragic that the court chose a twisted and tired interpretation of the First Amendment over the common sense idea that the families of fallen American troops should be allowed to honor these heroes as they choose,’ [ADF attorney Joe Infranco] said.”

Christian Post: “Over 2 million children are being homeschooled in the United States, a new study finds . . . The New Hampshire Supreme Court is set to hear a custody case on Thursday involving a homeschooled girl that was ordered by a state judge to enter public school after a guardian ad litem testified that the girl vigorously defended her Christians beliefs . . . ‘Parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children,’ said John Anthony Simmons, an Alliance Defense Fund-allied attorney representing the girl’s mother.” | ADF News Release

OneNewsNow: “The ongoing fight over whether the Bible and other religious texts should be allowed in Idaho’s classrooms is about to go before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals . . . ‘The Supreme Court has ruled several times already that it’s consistent with the Establishment Clause to study the Bible as part of history or literature objectively in public schools,’ the [ADF Attorney David Cortman] notes. ‘So some interesting questions are presented here.’”

Crosswalk religion summaries: “Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Joe Infranco] labeled the ruling in Trunk v. City of San Diego a tragedy.”

Michael Foust reports at Baptist Press: “‘Politicians should not be able to nullify a democratic act of the people by refusing their duty to defend it,’ Alliance Defense Fund attorney [Jim Campbell] said.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “The Utah Attorney General’s Office requested the stay. UHP and its association plans to appeal its case to the Supreme Court, said [Byron Babione], an Arizona-based attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Utah troopers’ case.”