Daily Archives: April 25, 2011

ADF President Alan E. Sears writes at Townhall: It’s hard to understand what, exactly, public university officials across the country have against the Christians on their campus . . . Across America, an estimated 274 public universities currently have speech codes that can be used to shut down points of view that a student, professor, or administrator might find “offensive.” (At Penn State, officials even went so far as to say that “intolerance will not be tolerated.”) And nothing offends the academic Left faster than a Bible, a prayer, or a Christian with a conscience.

“The statement is silent on the reasons for the decision, but the firm faced protests at its Atlanta office and a national campaign against it.”

AP: Lawyer Andy Pugno tells The Associated Press on Monday that backers of the voter-approved measure believe that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker should have removed himself from the case because his impartiality could “reasonably” be questioned.

American Spectator: Huffington Post reported last week on a testy exchange between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Sen. Rand Paul while Ryan was briefing Senate Republicans on his 2012 budget proposal, which has already passed the House. Rand Paul has proposed a budget that balances within five years while Ryan’s takes years to reach principal balance.

AP: The Senate budget approved by the Finance Committee spends $11 billion more than the House version, and members of the upper chamber seem unwilling to leave family planning drastically underfunded

Politics on the Hudson: It’s a bit of a different direction for the League of Women Voters of New York State, but they have joined with the newly formed New Yorkers United for Marriage to support the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York.

ADF attorney Brett Harvey at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: It is a straight forward notion that is easily understood: “people are not property.” This country suffered through a civil war and struggled with a civil rights movement in part due to the misguided notion that people can be bought and sold. So why is the State of Washington considering opening its doors for the sale and commercial manufacture of human beings? I recently asked myself this question as I sat in a committee meeting of the Washington State Senate.

Deseret News: “According to TG Daily, Catholic Leagues President Bill Donohur said, “What they’re doing is publicly funding an appetite for the most debased fare available. It’s not like a Playboy centerfold anymore — it’s far worse.”

Kansas City State: Budgets winding their way through the Legislature would redirect about $300,000 in federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood to state and local heath clinics.

TheLocal.se: A top Italian official on Saturday called an Ikea advertisement with two gay men holding hands “in bad taste”, invoking the ire of opposition parties and rights groups.

Breitbart’s Big Government: Anne Kloppenburg’s allegation that Justice David Prosser met with Governor Scott Walker after the Supreme Court race – a contention that Prosser and Walker adamantly deny – may violate the Wisconsin Judicial Code of Conduct.

Christian Chronicle: A front-page New York Times news story last week headlined “Gay Rights at Christian Colleges Face Suppression” featured prominent mentions of two universities associated with Churches of Christ: At Abilene Christian University in Texas . . .

Globe and Mail: “There is just no energy out there,” Charles McVety, the evangelic leader and Christian activist, said in an interview. “Frankly, my fear for Stephen Harper is that being so overt standing against the pro-lifers, he risks not motivating Conservative voters.”

The Daily Caller: “As a principal of a high school, I have to take the paternal side as well, I have to make sure he’s going to be okay,” Heilmann told Fox, adding he was worried the student would be subjected to bullying.

Wall Street Journal: Now, the law firm representing Jones, the conservative Thomas More Law Center, says it will file an appeal tomorrow challenging the court verdict as unconstitutional. Richard Thompson, chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the verdict amounted to a prior restraint of Jones’ First Amendment rights.

UPI.com: Holder said. “And let me be very clear about this: We will continue to rely on our most powerful and most proven tool in bringing terrorists to justice — our federal court system.”

Christian Newswire: Against this backdrop, the World Congress of Families will hold the world’s first demographic summit – “Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and the Future of Humankind” – at the Russian State Social University (RSSU), June 29-30.

NY Daily News: State prison officials are allowing conjugal visits for gay inmates involved in same-sex marriages or civil unions. Recent regulation changes will also allow gay prisoners to take leave from their cell when their loved one is terminally ill.

ABC (includes video): The students took their complaint to the The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, who sent the school a request on April 14 to review its policy. This week, after consulting with attorneys, the school district changed its policy and it will no longer require students to stand during the Pledge.

Westport-News.com: Washington County Circuit Judge Donald E. Beachley said he will consider the issue, which apparently hasn’t arisen before in Maryland state courts. His decision could test the limits of the general principle that a marriage valid in the place it occurred remains valid in Maryland.

Christian Post: Deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians in the north of Nigeria following the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan has brought the death toll to over 500, according to a local civic group.

Business & Media Institute: Only 1 percent (3 out of 280) of oil price stories since the spill has made any connection between the administration’s anti-oil actions and the jump in gasoline prices.

David Lapp at FamilyScholars.org: “I just received in the mail today a copy of Oklahoma’s 2001 baseline statewide survey on marriage and divorce. As many of you know, Oklahoma launched in 1999 the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. One of the first things it did was to adminster this survey of Oklahoman’s marriage attitudes and behaviors. It has some interesting data. Here is some of the stuff that jumped out at me . . . | Hat tip: IMAPP

Statesman.com: Edwin Graning’s lawsuit claimed officials with the nine-county public transportation system discriminated against him based on his religion after he refused to take the women to Planned Parenthood. Graning was “concerned that he might be transporting a client to undergo an abortion,” said the lawsuit, which was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Austin.

One News Now: Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada says 21 year old Hassan Adawe Adan was gunned down by two Muslim extremists connected to the terrorist group. “He had converted from Islam to Christianity several months ago. And it was found out that he was a Christian. He was dragged out of his house, and he was shot and killed.”

One News Now: According to one conservative advocate, abortion is a prominent issue on the agenda for the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD).

Baltimore Sun: Interviewed by the police, Thoms confirmed she was punched in the face during the melee, which apparently erupted after Polis had attempted to use the women’s bathroom. The police officer, identified only as Sgt. George, observed that Thoms had “redness around her right eye, which is consistent with someone punching her in the face.”

Global Post: “10 years since The Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage, gay couples marry at a much lower rate than heterosexual couples.”

A Christian missionary charged with helping a woman take her 9-year-old daughter to Central America during a custody dispute with her former lesbian partner was allowed Monday to remain free on $25,000 bond . . .

AP: Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada is turning in his official resignation letter Friday, a day after announcing he would step down amid a developing ethics probe he feared would result in further “wear and tear” on himself and his family.

AP: Virginia’s prison system did not violate a Muslim inmate’s religious rights when it refused to allow him to grow a 1/8-inch beard, which he believes is required by his religion, a federal judge has ruled.

Heritage Foundation: Last Thursday, the Indiana Senate approved what could become the nation’s largest school voucher program. If signed by Governor Mitch Daniels (R), the plan will allow children throughout the state to use a scholarship to attend a private school of their choice.

LifeNews: A bill to allow parents the ability to know when their minor daughters are considering an abortion is advancing in the New Hampshire legislature and is expected to eventually get to Governor Lynch’s desk.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Labor unions fight on in Wisconsin, as the Germans did during the bitter winter of 1944-1945. But the war is lost . . . If persuasion isn’t working, maybe threats will. Herb Sanders is president of a local in Michigan of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. At a protest at the state capitol April 13, he told an interviewer: “If necessary, we will use the valuable public service jobs that we perform as a weapon and shut this state down.”

“It’s time we start focusing on our constitution,” said Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, one of five lawmakers who filed the impeachment resolutions Thursday in the Iowa House. “The Supreme Court is granting itself power where no power exists. The power exists in the Legislature.”

LifeNews: Local pro-life advocates helping to offer women alternatives to abortion outside an abortion clinic in El Paso, Texas have found the body of an unborn child victimized by an abortion in the parking lot of the facility.

Journal-Sentinel: Nemoir said he was looking to a recount going on in a judicial race in Sheboygan County for clues about what a statewide recount would look like. Since recounts are handled at the county level, a statewide recount will essentially be 72 county recounts added together, he said

Akhil Reed Amar and Gary Hart at Slate: “The upper house has the clear constitutional authority to end the filibuster by simple majority vote on any day it chooses.”

LifeSiteNews: On behalf of Baby Joseph’s family, Brother O’Donnell told LifeSiteNews that that their son was weaned off ventilator support 12 days ago and has been successfully breathing on his own since then.

FavStocks.com: at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund legal group, praised the decision. “Public officials should be able to participate in public prayer activities just as America’s founders did.”

California Catholic Daily: Most pressing for Paul Clement will be to have the House intervene in two lawsuits in Massachusetts, in which a federal court struck down federal DOMA as unconstitutional,” said Lorence. “These cases are now on appeal to the federal appeals court in Boston, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.” “The House of Representatives made an excellent, solid choice by picking Paul Clement to defend DOMA,” said Lorence. “His presence and advocacy in this case will refute President Obama’s dubious conclusion that there is no reasonable legal basis to defend the constitutionality of DOMA.”

Oregonian: In response to a Oregon Supreme Court ruling this year, the Oregon Senate voted today to make it a crime to view child pornography online for free. | Oregon v. Barger, No. CA A138678 (Ore. Jan 6, 2011) | Senate Bill 803

Philly.com: He has considered ignoring N.J. justices if they order more school funding. Legal scholars said that would be a historic breach.

Washington Post: The question is whether Carrigan should even have participated in an application for a new casino in this boomtown near Reno. It has turned into a major constitutional showdown with national implications for how states may police public officials who face a potential conflict of interest in conducting the people’s business.

Law Prof. Richard W. Garnett write at USA Today: In a nutshell, Hosanna-Tabor is a lawsuit brought by Cheryl Perich, a former teacher at a church-run Lutheran grade school who argues that the church violated a federal law against disability-based discrimination when it rescinded her “call” as a “commissioned minister” — and fired her as a third- and fourth-grade teacher, after a disability-related leave of absence.

Washington Post: At the largest mass grave site ever found in Mexico, where 177 bodies have been pulled from deep pits . . . Instead, most died of blunt force trauma to the head, and a sledgehammer found at the crime scene this month is believed to have been used . . .

How Appealing links a news report and the ruling in Doninger v. Niehoff.

Michael Barone at Townhall: Yes, I know that “defined benefit” is not a common household phrase. But most people know what a defined benefit pension is. It’s when your employer promises to pay you a certain amount of money, pegged to your salary or according to some other formula, when you retire.

Texas Pastor’s Council: As pastors deeply involved in our communities, profoundly committed to the Biblical standards of justice and passionately dedicated to leading our congregations to be proactive in defending the sanctity of innocent human life, we urge the passage of CSHB 15. There is no legitimate question that every abortion involves the taking of an innocent human life without due process of law, nor that the collateral emotional and physical harm to women have devastated millions of lives. CSHB 15 is a basic, albeit limited measure which would do the following . . .

Texas Pastor’s Council: “A broad consensus of studies finds that divorce has serious negative lifelong psychological consequences for children, and costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually. A significant number of these divorces are avoidable. The goal of this Act is to reduce divorces where minor children are involved.”

Rasmussen Reports:
“The Justice Department recently cracked down on three top online poker websites, but Americans still appear to have more faith in the private sector than in the government when it comes to gambling on the Internet.”

The Volokh Conspiracy reports here.

AP on Findlaw: Two Republicans want to bar transgendered people from using proof of their sex change to get a Texas marriage license.

Choosing, for now, to remain on the sidelines of the national constitutional debate over the new health care law, the Supreme Court refused on Monday to put Virginia’s challenge to the law on a fast track with review by the Justices ahead of any appeals court decisions.

Xinhuanet: China should reduce its excessive foreign exchange reserves and further diversify its holdings, Tang Shuangning, chairman of China Everbright Group, said on Saturday. The amount of foreign exchange reserves should be restricted to between 800 billion to 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars, Tang told a forum in Beijing, saying that the current reserve amount is too high.

LifeNews: Late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart, who moved from Nebraska to Maryland after a new state law banning abortions after 20 weeks went into effect, now faces an investigation from the state medical board.

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, at the Wall Street Journal (via Google): “A month ago, education ministers and teachers union presidents from the 16 top-performing and improving countries—including Finland, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil and Canada—came to New York to participate in an international conference on public education sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the U.S. Department of Education. The education leaders of these countries presented with impressive clarity all the methods they are using to improve student learning and strengthen teacher quality.”

The Hill: While the House of Representatives has cast over 200 votes and sent major legislation directly on point to expand the gasoline supply of the United States, lowering prices and cut government spending, the Senate is largely moribund,” he said.

Life News: When Barack Obama won 54 percent of the Catholic vote in the 2008 presidential election, commentators barely noticed that John McCain won a majority of the religiously-active Catholic vote (51 percent to 49 percent).

For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China. And it’s a lot closer than you may think.According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.

CNBC.com: The greenback is approaching pre-financial crisis lows and threatening to smash through its all-time low when measured against the world’s predominant national currencies.

Wall Street Journal (via Google): As Easter approached this year, Beijing’s crackdown on all forms of dissent expanded to include a renewed assault on the right of Christians to worship freely. Authorities in the capital prevented the prosperous Shouwang congregation from occupying premises it bought to hold services

Wall Street Journal: “The Arizona state Senate joined the House in approving a measure that will pare back the costs of government retirement benefits.”

Christian Concern: A Christian employee, Colin Atkinson, who refused to remove a Palm Cross from the dashboard of his Housing Association vehicle is rejoicing this Easter Sunday, after threats of the sack have been lifted, and his employers have agreed to allow him to continue to keep the cross he has displayed for 15 years, in the cockpit of his van.

Ken Klukowski at the Washington Examiner: Federal law allows state officials to sue each other in federal court, but it’s unconstitutional to sue a state for refusing to allow misbehaving inmates to attend religious services. Thus said the Supreme Court in two decisions this week, both by a 62 vote. (Justice Elena Kagan was recused from both cases.) And they could affect Obamacare.