Daily Archives: February 8, 2011

ADF Attorney David French writes at National Review Phi Beta Cons: “If the university gladly sends tens of thousands of dollars to radical groups like Sex Out Loud, why begrudge a Catholic student group its own piece of the very pie their students helped fund? The answer is clear: The University prefers one message over the other, and would rather fund events like “Condoms and Candy” than a Catholic meeting centered around — gasp — prayer.”

NECN: “A proposal to create civil unions for same-sex partners is being considered in the Hawaii House of Representatives after it already passed the Senate.”

LifeSiteNews:The Christian owners of the UK Bed & Breakfast who recently went to court for refusing to provide a double room to a homosexual couple, say they are now being deluged with offensive phone calls and blasphemous, obscene emails.

To abate crime, Puerto Rico adopted a Controlled Access Law, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 23, §§ 64-64h (2008), allowing local entities (called “urbanizations”), organized by the community but approved by the municipality, to control street access to areas within towns that have voted in favor of such plans.

Forbes: “Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY’-sik) has asked the Parole Board to determine whether the felony conviction of a woman who used her father’s address to enroll her children in a neighboring school district was an appropriate punishment.”

Reuters: “The U.S. House of Representatives is likely to vote to block funding for President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare overhaul when it takes up a budget plan next week, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said on Tuesday.”

TIME: “French investigative magistrates — independent legal sleuths who lead inquiries into suspected wrongdoing in sensitive cases involving state security, finance and politics that sitting judges later preside over in court — have long been a favored enemy and scapegoat of the nation’s politicians on both the left and right. But now the judicial officials are mounting a major push-back against what they decry as efforts by the government to meddle in France’s legal system.”

Today, Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee asked a federal court to prevent Wisconsin’s public funding scheme from being implemented for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates, asserting it is an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment free speech rights.

Christian Today: “The 10-minute film, Exposed, has been developed by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in response to the increasing popularity of sexting among teenagers . . . The film is available at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/teachers”

Bloomberg: “A state appeals court on Wednesday will consider a charter school’s lawsuit arguing that its funding share should be calculated from a pie that includes Head Start and other early childhood education funds.”

Daily Mail: “A transsexual is to launch legal action after Jobcentre workers told her she would have more chance of getting a job if she dressed as a man.”

Miller (D-Calvert) put the chances of the legislation passing the Senate at 60 percent to 70 percent, but said the vote count “is going to be very close.” He suggested that the bill would get somewhere between 22 and 25 votes in the chamber. Twenty-four are required for passage.

The Telegraph: “The cost to the nation of family breakdown is immense. It is time for politicians to act, argues Jill Kirby .”

Harvard Crimson: “Mitchell Reich, a second year at Harvard Law School, was elected the first openly gay president of the Harvard Law Review. Reich, a Yale College and Dalton School graduate and Manhattan native, is the 125th president of the esteemed publication.”

David Boaz writes at the LA Times: “Social conservatives say they want to address family breakdown, crime and welfare costs. But those problems have nothing to do with abortion or gay marriage, the issues they most often target.”

Gay Politics: “Numerous national and statewide groups will lobby the Maryland state legislature this month on the question of marriage equality, but the personal relationships built by seven openly gay and lesbian members of that legislature may have as great an impact, according to recent news coverage of the issue . . . ”

Daily Mail: “A pregnant woman could lose her child after a pharmacy mistakenly gave her an abortion pill.”

Christian Post: “President Obama has sent his nomination for the position of Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom to the Senate to be approved, the White House announced Monday.”

ADF President Alan Sears writes at the ADF Blog: “Please join me in giving thanks for Daniel Watkins of Newport Beach, and the nearly 1,900 other attorneys in the ADF alliance, who are graciously contributing their talents in defense of religious freedom. And join me, too, in giving thanks for children who still want to proclaim the love and truth of Jesus Christ in their community. May God grant us wisdom and success in preserving their freedom to do just that.”

DCIST: “The Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee will hold a public hearing today on the ‘Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act’ — one of the most important milestones to date for legislation which could find Maryland joining five other states and the District of Columbia in granting licenses for same-sex marriages.”

The Australian: The move comes after Mr De Bruyn, the SDA’s national secretary, said the more Labor “panders” to the Greens, the more it will lose the middle ground. “There are no votes for Labor in the marginal electorates in the big metropolitan areas on the gay marriage issue,” he said. “We all know that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Des Moines Register: “It would be legal for an Iowa business owner who cites religious beliefs to refuse to provide jobs, housing, goods or services to people involved in a marriage that violates his or her religious convictions, according to a bill an Iowa House subcommittee will consider on Wednesday. House Study Bill 50, called the Religious Conscience Protection Act . . . ”

WJBD Radio: “A Chicago-area atheist’s efforts to force the return of a state grant given to restoration efforts of a southern Illinois cross landmark has suffered another legal setback.” | Sherman v. State of Illinois, No. 3:10-cv-03206-MPM -DG (C.D. Ill. ) (link is to Pacer login)

“An unborn child’s heartbeat can be detected as soon as 18 days after conception, and supporters of a bill slated to be unveiled in the Ohio Legislature Wednesday say that women should be prohibited from ending pregnancies beyond that milestone.”

Reuters: “Planned Parenthood will retrain staff in all clinics on reporting risks to minors’ welfare and tighten disciplinary action to terminate staff in any confirmed instances where policies are not followed, the organization said on Tuesday.”

Suwannee Democrat: “The chairman of the Suwannee County Commission said Friday that while the county has not received any letters from atheist organizations regarding prayer at commission meetings, the practice of opening meetings with prayer will continue.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Danish study, entitled “Induced First-Trimester Abortion and Risk of Mental Disorder” and financed by the pro-abortion Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, found that women in Denmark who have abortions are two to three times more likely to seek psychiatric help for the first time in their lives in the months surrounding their abortion than women who give birth.”

LifeNews: “No sooner did a bill to make Hawaii the third state to officially legalize assisted suicide receive a hearing than it was tabled in committee, essentially killing the legislation.”

LifeNews: “In light of a slew of new videos showing officials at local centers of the nation’s largest abortion business helping sex traffickers, a New Hampshire legislator has filed a bill to cut off state taxpayer funding.”

The Hill: “One of the Senate’s most influential fiscal hawks says he is open to a proposal from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to cut federal spending by $500 billion.’

LifeNews: “A new video in a series of undercover investigations reveal staff at a New York City Planned Parenthood abortion business going further than centers in New Jersey and Virginia in helping alleged sexual traffickers.”

Daily Tech: “The police are watching you. If you’re the wrong religion, they’ll spy on your every move. If you voice the wrong political opinions they’ll be watching you. According to Mike German, a 16-year veteran with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations, this is happening right in the U.S.”

Townhall: “In recent years, a brand-new definition of “judicial activism” has been created by the political left, so that they can turn the tables on critics of judicial activism. The new definition of “judicial activism” defines it as declaring laws unconstitutional.”

Washington Post: “Federal judges have been retiring at a rate of one per week this year, driving up vacancies that have nearly doubled since President Obama took office. The departures are increasing workloads dramatically and delaying trials in some of the nation’s federal courts.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Vestal, New York, a lawsuit was filed by Candlehouse Teen Challenge over the town’s refusal to make zoning changes that would permit creation of a Christian-based rehabilitation center for recovering female drug addicts.”

Vancouver Sun: “A B.C. judge has approved the use of TV cameras and webcams to cover the closing arguments of the case examining the constitutionality of Canada’s anti-polygamy laws.”

Religion Clause Blog: “The Minneapolis Star Tribune yesterday reported that the settlement involves Islamic Relief paying the ACLU $267,500, and the state increasing its screening of charter schools to assure that they do not promote religion.”

Rasmussen: “The view that government and big business work together against the interests of others is shared across partisan, demographic and ideological lines. Seventy percent (70%) of liberals hold that view, along with 69% of conservatives. Seventy-one percent (71%) Republicans think it’s true, and so do 64% of Democrats.”

SCOTUS Blog: Out of Court, Justice Ginsburg suggests that Virginia will not be allowed to pursue an immediate appeal to challenge the new federal health care law.

Diario Panorama (Translation from Spanish by Google): “Regardless of the parliamentary vote, there is a distinct possibility that groups of activists to submit the case to the European Court of Human Rights, with the hope that this court contesting the decision of France. On Tuesday, a militant group based in the UK launched a campaign to have the court revoke the prohibition of marriage between same sex force in the United Kingdom. You may not be far from France a similar campaign, since the case is ripe for review by the court in Strasbourg, according to Roger Kiska, Legal Counsel of Alliance Defense Fund. However, provided there is no chance that the European Court of Human Rights can successfully challenge the decision of the Council. According to Kiska, and has presented a case of same-sex marriage before the European court, which resulted in a ruling that states that it is within the margin of discretion of each State to decide on their own family laws. The French Constitutional Council’s decision, that the difference in the treatment of the laws that make family law is justified, it is within the margin of discretion described in the European court’s ruling, and therefore the latter should not failure to challenge the French. With this in mind, and with the hope that the French Parliament support traditional marriage when it inevitably be put to the vote, Kiska seems optimistic about the future of legislation on marriage in this powerful European nation.”

AICA.org: (Translation from Spanish by Google): “According to the report, one of the greatest threats in Latin America is the support that the OAS would be providing a draft international treaty for the region called “American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights.” This convention would be the first binding document that would recognize the so-called sexual and reproductive rights. . . . Experts like Marie Smith (Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues) and Piero Tozzi (Senior Counsel of Alliance Defense Fund) stated that the Convention continues to work privately within various entities of the OAS and could be approved without any discussion at the next Assembly General to be held in El Salvador in June 2011 . . . ”

LavozLibre (Translation from Spanish by Google): “Families objectors to Education for Citizenship ( EPC ) does not give up their struggle. Although in Spain the Supreme Court has ruled against their interests, they continue their battle in Strasbourg where the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and accumulated 371 lawsuits against the Spanish for “violation of fundamental rights.” . . . Demands, by Professionals for Ethics and Alliance Defense Fund , argue that Spain has violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights . . . ”

CNN: 5. Hobby Lobby. The privately held chain of more than 450 arts and crafts stories isn’t shy about its Christian orientation. “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles,” reads the company’s mission statement. “We believe that it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured.” The company supports a slate of Christian interests, from Oral Roberts University to the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, and is known for taking out overtly religious newspaper ads around the holidays.

IndyStar.com: Attorney General Greg Zoeller submitted a letter supporting the resolution and committing to defend a constitutional ban against legal threats. Austin Nimocks, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, testified that the purpose of marriage is “to increase the likelihood that procreative relationships benefit society.” He pointed out that President Barack Obama does not endorse gay marriage.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: “Judge Fischer also found that the city owed counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented Ms. Brown, $209,277 in fees and costs.”

One News Now: The principal first told the student that she thought the lyrics were offensive, which was obviously troubling to us because all the lyrics are is that ‘We shine because we belong to Jesus,’” the attorney explains. “And then she [asked] our client…’Can’t you pick a song that doesn’t say ‘Jesus’ so many times?’” The principal did not stop there, says Cortman. “And then finally she actually equated the religious lyrics with vulgarity — and so each reason she gave, in my mind, just dug herself deeper in as far as violating the First Amendment.”

The Politico: “A handful of moderate Senate Democrats are looking for ways to roll back the highly contentious individual mandate — the pillar of President Barack Obama’s health care law — a sign that red-state senators are prepared to assert their independence ahead of the 2012 elections.”

The Hill: “Rand Paul has broken with tradition by eschewing the unwritten rules for freshman senators: Keep a low profile, learn the chamber’s arcane procedures and cozy up to senior colleagues.”

NCPA Policy Digest: “President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address and Congressman Paul Ryan’s response were strangely missing a focus on the key to restoring America’s future: an agenda for economic growth, says Forbes Magazine. The basis for a bipartisan growth strategy can be brought into focus by combining five proposals made by either President Obama or Congressman Ryan.”

NCPA Policy Digest: “The statutory debt limit, or debt ceiling, was designed to control congressional spending by limiting the amount of debt the federal government could accumulate. Clearly, it has not fulfilled its legislative purpose. In fact, the government has lost its ability to monitor its own spending, says Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.”