Daily Archives: March 10, 2011

Telegraph: “Hundreds of thousands of doctors, civil servants and other public sector workers will be denied early retirement to cut the cost of their pensions to the taxpayer, a report will signal.”

David French writes at National Review: “Why has this been so easy? Because until now Planned Parenthood, ACORN, and NPR have not experienced real media accountability or real journalistic scrutiny — at least not to the extent that conservative politicians and organizations do. The mainstream media (and NPR is obviously part of the MSM) is sympathetic to their goals and purposes, and reporter calls tend to come from friendly voices seeking talking points rather than skeptical reporters demanding answers.”

Volokh Conspiracy: “Questions have been raised whether the 2-hour notice given of the Wisconsin Senate committee meeting was adequate. Rob Marchant, the Clerk of the Senate issued this statement . . . ”

RTTNews.com: “The controversial bill seeks to allow Italian citizens to sue the judges for miscarriage of justice and calls for ending the right of prosecutors to appeal against acquittals. Under current Italian laws, both prosecutors and defendants are permitted to appeal against verdicts.”

KARE11.com: Cloning humans would become a felony in Minnesota, if a new bill becomes law. In fact, the bill introduced Wednesday night by Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, would make assisting with such a lab procedure a serious crime.

Reuters: “Over 8,000 workers converged on the Indiana statehouse on Thursday to protest proposed legislation they say would weaken unions and public schools.”

The Cap Times: “If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the union, what you’re going to find is President Obama’s going to have a much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”

LifeNews: The bill inspired by the pro-life group Americans United for Life would expand the definition of who is a “mandatory reporter” of suspected sexual abuse to include everyone inside an abortion clinic – not just the abortion practitioner and nurse.

KTKA.com: “The ranking Republican and Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee say they intend to leave a law criminalizing gay sex in Kansas law books, even though it is unconstitutional.”

C-FAM: The EU plans on introducing a joint statement here similar to a 2008 EU-led declaration calling for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected non-discrimination categories that was submitted to the UN General Assembly and signed by 66 countries.

New American: “In an era of trillion-dollar budgets and out-sized deficits, the U.S. government continues to finance studies that nobody needs. The latest goofball “research analysis” hit the news on Thursday, March 3, 2011, telling us that virginity was on the rise (albeit with miniscule numbers).”

House Speaker Boehner announces that U.S. House will initiate legal defense in wake of Dept. of Justice’s refusal to do so

Washington Legal Foundation: On January 19, 2011, after refusing to consent to the amicus briefs, the same U.S. Attorney’s Office took the unusual step of filing a “resistance,” arguing that the amicus briefs “should not be filed.” In the process, the United States urged the adoption of a restrictive standard for the Eighth Circuit’s acceptance of amicus briefs—one that, according to the government, Mr. Rubashkin’s amici failed to meet. The government further argued that the amicus briefs were simply “an attempt to inject interest group politics into this case” and criticized what the government viewed as improper coordination between amicus counsel and Rubashkin’s lawyers

Reuters: “The Iowa House began debate of a controversial labor bill on Wednesday that Republicans say makes common sense changes to Iowa’s labor rules, while Democrats say it will “gut” the state’s collective bargaining law.”

UnionLeader.com: House committee on Wednesday put off until next year a decision on whether to block state funds from going to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. A subcommittee last week voted unanimously to kill the bill, HB 228.

The American Federation for Children (AFC) today applauded the advancement of the bill to reauthorize the highly-successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program by a U.S. House of Representatives Committee.

One News Now: “Members of a U.S. House subcommittee have heard testimony from students and parents urging them to reauthorize the school voucher program in the nation’s capital.”

“The state Constitution allows citizens to petition just-passed laws to the ballot if they collect enough voter signatures.”

Christian Newswire: Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (www.aftah.org), warned that a White House “Bullying Prevention Summit” today may promote a pro-homosexuality agenda in schools in the guise of stopping cruelty between students.

WUSA9.com (includes video): The men maintained if they were a married straight couple, Echegoyen, a U.S. citizen, could sponsor his spouse for U.S. residency. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) bans the federal government from recognizing same sex union for immigration.

Reuters: “The bill passed 94-2 without debate and will now go to the state Senate, said state Representative Pam Peterson, who sponsored the bill.”

Oregon Live: “Only one, House Bill 3512, has been scheduled for committee action. It would make abortions illegal in Oregon after 20 weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies.”

ADF attorney Roger Kiska writes at Turtle Bay and Beyond: “The European Court announced today to participating parties in the Lautsi v. Italy case (also known as the Italian crucifix case) that the Grand Chamber had reached a judgment on February 16 and that the judgment will be announced in public by the Grand Chamber on March 18 in Strasbourg . . . The Alliance Defense Fund acted as a third party on behalf of 33 Members of European Parliament: http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/4037.”

Argus Leader: “The fund has become an issue as the Legislature debated a bill that would increase the waiting period for an abortion, and opponents questioned whether South Dakota could afford to pay for a legal challenge.”

Stella Morabito writes at the Washington Examiner: “There’s much restlessness in Annapolis now as the House of Delegates readies itself for a very close vote on legalizing same sex marriage. Part of the opposition’s disquiet may come from the Orwellian language of the bill itself. Entitled “The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act,” it brazenly bids silence from anyone who doesn’t accept its strange doublespeak.”

Wichita Eagle: The House voted to approve the so-called “Community Defense Act,” which would restrict new adult business from opening within 1,000 feet of a school, park, church library or a residence.

Christian Today: “The Christian Institute is calling upon the Government to put a stop to the use of explicit material in sex education classes.”

Des Moines Register: “Iowans who want a vote on banning gay marriage will rally at the Iowa Capitol on Tuesday. The marriage rally is set for 11:30 a.m. on the west steps of the building, according to Bob Vander Plaats of the Family Leader, a social conservative advocacy group.”

KSL.com: “Instead of every two years, HB171 requires the Utah Department of Health to inspect without notice the state’s three abortion clinics twice a year. All three clinics are located in Salt Lake County. Doctors’ offices that perform elective abortions also must undergo the semi-annual inspections.”

Fox News carries this video that features ADF Attorney Erik Stanley. Related ADF Press Release: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance

AVVO: “The board is also reportedly seeking a congressional investigation into the department’s handling of immigration records and has announced that it may file an additional lawsuit in order to get information of other illegal immigrants who were released back into the community.”

WPUR.org (NPR) (includes audio): “Rep. Peter King (R-NY) opens hearings Thursday on the radicalization of Muslims in America. NPR takes a look at what it is like for Muslim Americans with valid U.S. passports to cross the border into the country. Border agents are asking them about their religion, and where they pray and how often — all of which might be a violation of the First Amendment.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Texas House has joined the Senate to require women to see a sonogram image of their unborn child before undergoing an abortion, in a 107-42 vote held yesterday.”

LifeNews: “The inspections, which hadn’t taken place in over a decade, turned up problems at two abortion centers also located in Philadelphia and the owner and operator of the centers has decided to shut them down and retire as opposed to correcting the problems.”

LifeNews: “When the next short-term continuing resolution is discussed, the Family Research Council wants House Republicans to include those provisions.”

Christian Today: Roger Kiska, ADF legal counsel, said: “Parents, not the government, are the ones ultimately responsible for making educational choices for their children, and jailing them for standing on this universal right is simply unconscionable. “Irene Wiens was well within her rights under the European Convention of Human Rights to opt to teach her children a view of sexuality that is in accord with her own religious beliefs, instead of sending them to four days of classes and an interactive play that she found to be objectionable.”

Boston Globe: “It’s content-based discrimination,” said Attorney Michael Tierney, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund that represents the religious group. The ADF is a national group of Christian lawyers and religious groups. Tierney said the proposed sign would not flash, scroll or blink and would feature a single Bible verse each day. He said he knows of no similar, electronic signs that display religious verses in the state.

AP: “China will never adopt multiparty democracy or other Western-style political reforms that could challenge the Communist Party’s grip on power, the head of the country’s national legislature said Thursday.”

Rasmussen: Pro-life state legislators are pushing several measures that critics view as restrictions on abortion, and most Americans agree that two of these proposals are at least somewhat likely to reduce the number of abortions in America.

AP: “The main Christian grouping in Muslim-majority Malaysia said Thursday it was “fed up” with the government’s refusal to allow the distribution of tens of thousands of Bibles, saying this was an affront to religious freedoms.”

The Hill: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he’s ready to compromise on spending after a GOP spending-cut bill won more votes in the Senate than the Democratic alternative.”

The Hill: “The Democratic bill attracted two fewer votes than the rival GOP measure that would cut spending by another $57 billion this year. The 11 defections will give Republican leaders ammunition in subsequent talks, as they were able to keep their caucus more unified. ”

AP: “The hearing is scheduled for late Thursday in the Statehouse.”

UPI on Polijam: “Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to hire outside counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.”

Florida Baptist Witness: “Baptist Press asked Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund—a Christian legal group—to explain the importance of the Justice Department’s decision. Following is a transcript . . . ”

Chillicothe Gazette: Burkhart said the Alliance Defense Fund would be willing to assist the city in a legal defense if it adopts the guidelines he and city Law Director Toni Eddy developed. Burkhart also said the Alliance Defense Fund has been successful in previous federal cases defending the policies. “Policies along these lines have been approved by federal courts before,” he said.

At the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr takes issue with a new commentary by Linda Greenhouse concerning the purpose of Justice Scalia’s bombastic dissents.

Des Moines Register: “Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed a lawyer to the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission who is suing the commission on behalf of several Iowans. Branstad chose William R. Gustoff of Des Moines to serve on the commission, which selects the finalists for vacancies on the Iowa Court of Appeals and Iowa Supreme Court.”

Orlando Sentinel: “The House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted 10-4 Wednesday to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would require Supreme Court and appeals judges to get at least 60 percent of the vote in a merit-retention election, instead of a simple majority as now.”

One News Now: Matt Sharp, litigation staff counsel with ADF, says his client was treated unfairly. “What’s interesting…is that every other student was allowed to hand out birthday party invitations, Halloween party invitations, even Valentine’s dance and local community groups — a basketball league and a bowling club were allowed to have flyers sent home with students as well,” he points out. “So basically everyone else could invite students to their events — some that you had to pay to attend — but our client was denied from being able to invite students to this free event at her church.”

The New American: “Some legal observers speculated that ultimately a conservative legal advocacy group such as the American Center for Law and Justice or the Alliance Defense Fund, both of which have had years of experience in defending individuals and organizations against the machinations of the ACLU, will step forward to defend the school district.”

Rep. Sandy Adams writes at the Washington Times: “In recent years, Supreme Court justices have interjected international law into their rulings, creating an environment of disregard for national sovereignty and threatening the institutions put in place by our forefathers.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank, on Tuesday released a report (executive summary ) titled  Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants and the Threat to Rights and Security ( full text).”

“The Windy City Times reported yesterday that the recent passage of a same-sex civil union law by the state of Illinois (see prior posting) complicates the question of whether to permit faith-based foster care agencies that contract with the state to refuse to place foster children with same-sex couples.”

Religion Clause Blog: AFP reports that in Egypt on Tuesday violence broke out between Muslims and Christians in a working class district of Cairo as 1000 Christians protested the burning of a Coptic Christian church last week. Ultimately 13 people– 7 of them Copts– were killed in the ensuing fighting, while 140 people were injured.

NCPA Policy Digest: To make ends meet, cuts must be made where the money is — and since state and local governments spend nearly half their budgets on employee salaries and benefits, public-employee compensation costs will be front and center in budget discussions all over the country, says Josh Barro, the Walter B. Wriston Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Mats Tunehag writes at Varlden idag: Religious freedom is essential to other freedoms. It is an intersection point and the key to freedom of conscience, to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly. Where religious freedom does not work there is an insufficient basis for a democratic society.

AP: “The number of schools labeled as “failing” under the nation’s No Child Left Behind Act could skyrocket dramatically this year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday.”

“Within an hour and a half of the vote, the protesters had seized the building’s lower floors, creating an ear-splitting free-for-all of pounding drums, screaming chants, horns and whistles. Police gave up guarding the building entrances and retreated to the third floor.”

Bloomberg: “Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., eliminated government-related debt from his flagship fund last month as the U.S. projected record budget deficits.”

n 2010, Megan Sampson was named an Outstanding First Year Teacher in Wisconsin. A week later, she got a layoff notice from the Milwaukee Public Schools. Why would one of the best new teachers in the state be one of the first let go? Because her collective-bargaining contract requires staffing decisions to be made based on seniority.

Protesters forced their way into the Capitol following the senate vote Wednesday night. Fitzgerald says many of those protesters had help getting into the building, claiming “When the Democrat staffers opened the windows for protesters to get in…that’s not how democracy is supposed to work.”

The Senate – without Democrats present – abruptly voted Wednesday to eliminate almost all collective bargaining for most public workers.