Daily Archives: July 25, 2011

LifeSiteNews.com: A coalition of religious and conservative groups in Colombia have collected a mind-boggling four million signatures in favor of a pro-life amendment to the nation’s constitution, according to the Spanish-language Catholic news agency ACI Prensa.

LifeSiteNews.com: Presidential candidate Rick Santorum jumped on Perry’s statements in a Twitter post asking, “So Gov Perry, if a state wanted to allow polygamy or if they chose to deny heterosexuals the right to marry, would that be OK too?”

LifeSiteNews.com: Five abortionists will be required to appear for hearings before the Texas Medical Board (TMB) regarding multiple violations uncovered at their clinics, health officials told Operation Rescue last week.

LifeSiteNews.com: The child was intact and her body was retrieved after a late-term abortion. The memorial service, organized by Operation Save America, was held outside of City Hall in Orlando.

LifeNews.com: he American Center for Law and Justice today filed papers with a federal appeals court to reinstate its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, saying its position is “grounded in the Constitution” along with Supreme Court precedent.

AP: The Democratic governor signed AB130 at Los Angeles City College.

AP: The Internal Revenue Service is making it easier for some “innocent spouses” to escape responsibility for the tax debt of their husband or wife.

James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal: This column is not unsympathetic to the idea of a plebiscite on the matter, although opponents should be careful what they wish for. True, ballot measures against same-sex marriage have passed in every state where they’ve been put to a vote. But in left-leaning states, the votes have been close, especially of late: 57% in favor in Oregon in 2004, 52% in California in 2008, 53% inMaine in 2009. A win is a win, but a win would be far from a sure thing in liberal New York.

The Jeffersonian view of separation is one wherein the First Amendment shackles the government but keeps the Church free, as is clearly seen in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists; the kind of separation leftist radicals embrace is one wherein the government is often used to silence public display of faith—a concept that the Founders never embraced or fostered.

ADF, allies send letters urging campus officials to change any job posting policies discriminating against religious organizations

Jeremiah G. Dys at The Charleston Gazette : Heather Hill (“Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are Shams,” June 20) is pounding the table. With neither fact, nor law on her side, Ms. Hill castigates the underpaid staff and hardworking volunteers of this state’s PCC’s, as “fake clinics, run by extreme anti-choice groups.” She maligns their longsuffering work toward women facing unintended pregnancies.

Courant.com: The U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee approved U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney’s nomination to the federal appeals court by a unanimous voice vote Thursday morning, sending the appointment to almost certain approval in the full Senate.

The Washington Post: LeRoy Carhart travels from his home in Nebraska almost every week to perform abortions at a clinic in Germantown, Md. He rarely stays at the same hotel twice. He rolls dice to pick the route he’ll take to work, because “the biggest part of security is not being predictable,” he said.

Religion Clause: According to The Nation, Pakistan’s Senate yesterday condemned the U.S. embassy’s hosting last month of Islamabad’s first ever LGBT Pride Celebration.

Religion Clause: The EEOC announced last week that it has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against Menorah House, a Jewish-affiliated Boca Raton, Florida nursing and rehabilitation facility.

Politico: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Monday that President Barack Obama “would be impeached” if the nation falls into default.

Religion Clause: Alliance Defense Fund announced last week that a settlement was reached last month in Michalek v. Garfield Heights Board of Education, (ND OH, complaint filed 4/15/2011).

Expatica Belgium: A burqa and niqab ban came into force in Belgium on Saturday with the threat of fines and jail time, but the law faced an immediate court challenge from two women who wear the full Islamic veil.

Religion Clause: In an unusual case, a student at Arizona’s Paradise Valley Community College last week filed a lawsuit charging that the instructor in a Philosophy course (Introduction to Ethics) “failed to teach the Philosophy Class according to the Course Description and instead taught her own Christian worldview.” The complaint (full text) in Smith v. State of Arizona, (D AZ, filed 7/20/2011) . . .

Tony Perkins at Townhall: Counselors like Dr. Bachmann’s colleague do not (and cannot) force homosexuals to change – they offer reorientation therapy only to those who want to change. But radical homosexual activists not only want to deny help to those homosexuals who seek it, they have no tolerance for Christian professions who offer it. They seek to force them to change their faith-based beliefs, or forfeit their livelihoods. These self-styled apostles of “tolerance” should try practicing a little themselves.

Washington Examiner: I believe it has a good chance of passing,” acknowledged Del. Pat McDonough, R-Baltimore County, a vocal opponent of same-sex matrimony. “If if does pass, it’ll definitely end up in a voter referendum. Conservatives and religious people against gay marriage are going to show up to vote en masse.”

Des Moines Register Staff Blogs: Teresa Heck, wife of Rebecca Andrews, previously had sought time off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act to care for the seriously ill Andrews during her bout with ovarian cancer. According to the ACLU’s statement, the Iowa Department of Corrections initially denied Heck’s request citing provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriages.

The Washington Post: The ACLU of Virginia has asked Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) to revise or remove two questions from his questionnaire for judicial applicants regarding mental and physical disabilities that the group says may violate the American with Disabilities Act.

Anugrah Kumar at the Christian Post: About the levels of acceptance of gay marriage among Americans, polls have not had consistent projections. However, a recent poll by the Calif.-based Alliance Defense Fund Christian legal group showed that 62 percent of Americans say marriage should be defined “only as a union between one man and one woman.”

OneNewsNow.com: He appointed people who agree with him, and well, they agree with him — and so that’s what we’ve had here,” Blomberg explains. “Their certification was predetermined well before this issue was ever even looked at. And of course, well over 60 percent of the combat troops actually in the field predicted that this would harm the military to make this change.” [more quotes by Daniel Blomberg]

Chuck Colson at The Christian Post: Third, as Messner points out, same-sex marriage is not inevitable. “Nearly 30 states,” he says, “have protected marriage in their state constitutions. Nearly 40 states have protected marriage in their statutes.” And in Maine, after the legislature passed same-sex “marriage,” the voters struck the law down. And although the media elite don’t want you to know it, according to a recent Alliance Defense Fund poll, the majority of Americans want to reserve marriage to one man and one woman.

Vancouver Sun: The Bronx church is seeking a rehearing. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the church, expects the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the ruling. Lorence said in a news release, “Religious groups, including churches, shouldn’t be discriminated against simply because they want to rent a public building just like other groups can.”

OneNewsNow.com: “Even though the same-sex marriage law doesn’t provide adequate protection, other laws in New York echo what their highest court has said and requires these religious accommodations for people who are caught between their beliefs and what their employer is asking them to do,” says Carmichael. [more . . . ]

Jamestown Post Journal: The Alliance Defense Fund, however, has issued a memo to aid clerks objecting to issuing the mariage licenses. The alliance suggests law requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs, adding duties can be delegated to deputy clerks or other municipal official if a clerk opposes issuing the licenses.

Heritage Foundation, The Foundry via Fox News: First, the panelists noted the government’s profound interest in sustaining the integrity of the institution of marriage because of the unique contribution a married mother and father make to child welfare. As Austin Nimocks, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, explained . . . As Nimocks pointed out, however, “These advocates are asking the whole of society to ignore the unique and demonstrable differences between men and women in parenthood: no mothers, no fathers, just generic parents. But there are no generic people. We are composed of two complementary, but different, halves of humanity.” [Tom Minnery and Ed Whalen also quoted]

On Top Magazine: “Our troops’ religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior in our military,” Daniel Blomberg of the Alliance Defense Fund said in a statement.

God Discussion: he Alliance Defense Fund, a legal advocacy group for the Christian right, also expressed disapproval. “Our troops’ religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior on our military,” ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Daniel Blomberg said in a statement Friday.

The New American: The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal advocacy group, issued a statement predicting that implementation of the repeal would negatively impact the religious freedoms of Christian and other military personnel who believe that homosexual behavior is morally wrong. “Our troops’ religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior on our military,” declared ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Daniel Blomberg. “The first casualty of this disappointing move may well be the religious freedom of chaplains and service members, for whom no formal protections have been adopted despite many having been proposed.”

LifeNews.com: The state of Kansas has issued a new legal filing in response to a lawsuit the Planned Parenthood abortion business has filed in response to a new law it approved revoking the taxpayer funding for the abortion business. The state says the 10th Amendment allows it to determine tax funding.

Christian Post: “Our troops’ religious liberties are in unprecedented jeopardy because the government has caved in to pressure from small groups of activists to impose homosexual and bisexual behavior on our military,” ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Daniel Blomberg said in a statement Friday.

Dakota Voice: Perkins wasn’t the only one who smelled something rotten in Denmark with this whole “certification” farce. Daniel Blomberg, Litigation Staff Counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, issued this statement yesterday afternoon . . .

Sheila Liaugminas at Mercatornet: Among the news stories that cropped up across the media Friday, two things landed in my inbox. One was this Alliance Defense Fund post on the ramifications for military chaplains.

Desiring God: What is righteousness? Should churches be involved in social issues? How does one practice law to the glory of God? At an event on June 12 hosted by the Alliance Defense Fund, Pastor John spoke with with a group of law students about these important issues . . .

A rather heated exchange at YouTube over the issue of Islamic immigration and integration in Europe.

Hornell Evening Tribune: everal prominent national groups pushing freedom of religion, including the Alliance Defense Fund and the National Black Church Initiative, have said they will support those who oppose gay marriage, according to an Associated Press article.

Michael Foust at Baptist Press: “If a federal court finds these persuasive for purposes of interpreting a federal statute, then when it comes to interpreting a state constitutional amendment [defining marriage], they’ll have the exact same analysis,” Daniel Blomberg, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund — which supports the Defense of Marriage Act — told Baptist Press. “It will be identical. The government’s argument here could certainly be used to strike down not only all of DOMA but to force this definition on all of the states.”

Candace Chellew-Hodge at Religion Dispatches: Those hardships were brushed aside by religious right speakers, including Austin [Nimocks] from the Alliance Defense Fund who made the big government argument, discounting “private” concerns of marriage like happiness, and financial security should one partner die. Instead, Nimmocks trotted out the old “fact that children are the product of the sexual relationships between men and women,” thus big government is needed to regulate this institution as closely as possible. | Contrast – Gary Bauer at Human Events, “Libertarians and Gay Marriage;” George Weigel at EPPC, ‘Gay Marriage,’ Libertarians, and Civil Rights; ADF Alliance Alert: Message to Rush Limbaugh: Civil unions are not compatible with conservatism or a free society; Jennifer Roback Morse at Acton Institute, The Family is a Fiscal Issue

NJ.com: He also contacted the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers that, according to its website, advocates on behalf of “the spread of the Gospel.” The alliance told the township it may take the matter to court if officials don’t allow Racaniello to put the cross wherever he wants on his property.
“We believe this is private property, and therefore he has a right to engage in this expression,” Jonathan Scruggs, a lawyer for the alliance, said in an interview. “We believe that either cross is protected by the First Amendment.”

Helen Alvare at Public Discourse: The new, pro-contraceptive recommendations by the Institute of Medicine endanger the health and well-being of women.

Chicagotribune.com: President Barack Obama’s political arm at the Democratic National Committee is getting involved in the Wisconsin state Senate recall elections.

AP: The Vatican was “extremely unreasonable and rude” in expressing anger at the ordinations of Catholic bishops in China’s state-controlled church without the pope’s approval, the Chinese government said Monday.

Liberty Counsel: In response to the flagrant violations of the New York state constitutional and legal procedures, Liberty Counsel has filed a law suit in the New York Supreme Court (the trial court) for declaratory and injunctive relief against the same-sex marriage law (the “Act”) which was signed into law on June 24, 2011 by Governor Cuomo.

Mike Shedlock at Townhall: s cities across the United States struggle to keep their finances afloat, Central Falls, Rhode Island, is taking a novel approach to try to avoid bankruptcy. The city is asking police and firefighter retirees to give up 50% of their pension.

TheHill.com: Labor unions are revving up their political machine in response to entitlement benefit cuts under consideration in plans to lift the debt ceiling.

LifeNews.com: In a legal case that has received no mainstream media attention, a Florida abortion practitioner has been ordered by a court to pay the survivor of a failed abortion $36 million in damages for injuries she suffered from the abortion.

Byron Babione at Townhall: In a great victory for religious liberty and equal treatment under the law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned a federal district court’s ruling which barred Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenos Nuevas Christian Church from occupying and holding worship services in its own building in downtown Yuma, Ariz.

AP: Maltese will no longer have to travel abroad to divorce, following Monday’s overwhelming vote in favor of finally allowing couples to end their marriages at home on the heavily Catholic island nation.

AWR Hawkins at Townhall: So again, it seems the outpouring of support for same-sex “marriage” on the grounds that it was the missing ingredient to peace and harmony throughout the land has only resulted in the development of new categories, new job requirements, and harshness toward those who don’t want to play along. And this is just the start, of course. Some Christian-run businesses in New York, like the Wildflower Inn in Vermont, won’t want to condone same-sex “marriage” once the licenses are issued, and the Left is really going to get tolerant then.

SCOTUSblog: Giving the Obama Administration less than what it requested, the Ninth Circuit Court puts back into effect the “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy, but bars any discharges of gays and lesbians for violating the policy.

Kerr, Orin S., How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students. The GREEN BAG, An Entertaining Journal of Law, Vol 11, No. 1, p. 51, Autumn 2007; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 414; GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 414. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1160925