Daily Archives: July 28, 2011

CNN has the interview here.

In Beljakovic v. Longin, No. A-5330-09T4 (N.J. App. Div. (per curiam) July 18, 2011) “Moreover, plaintiff sought an injunction to end his continued exclusion from church property, as defendant Micic has prevented plaintiff’s reinstatement every year at the annual meeting. Yet, due to the ecclesiastical subject matter of the entire complaint, even if any claim survived the statute of limitations hurdle, we must decline to take jurisdiction.”

Persecution.org: Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) in 1998 and thus integrated IRF into U.S. foreign policy for the first time. IRFA created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bi-partisan organization that holds the State Department accountable to its IRF responsibilities.

Courthouse News Service: The Belleville Diocese has joined the legal fight against a state law that takes away foster-care contracts from Catholic organizations that refuse to allow same-sex couples to become foster parents.

FoxNews.com: The House is on the verge of voting to create a new diplomatic post charged with defending religious freedom overseas, following a string of attacks against religious minorities in the turbulent Middle East and beyond.

ADF letters explain that cities, counties do not need to abandon invocations at public meetings despite threats from secularist groups

Saying that the Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have standing to sue, U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller threw out the lawsuit.

Human Events: In a letter to the council Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) said that a review shows the council’s minutes on July 13 and its annual report approved July 22 do not “identify possible failure to raise the statutory debt limit by Aug. 2 as an imminent risk to the financial stability of the United States worthy of a warning to the American people, and do not come close to recent statements by Treasury officials warning of ‘catastrophe.’

CNS News on Fox Nation: Y-PEER, a youth initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has issued a call to make access to abortion and contraception an international human right for children as young as 10 years old.

EuropeNews: An exchange of harsh words on July 25 between Ruth, a Christian woman, and Gassem Fouad, a Muslim man who had parked his tricycle in front of her home, escalated into assault by the man on Ruth and other Christian villagers, and the arrest of one Copt. After Ruth, who is 5 months pregnant, was assaulted, a Muslim mob waited for Coptic farmers to return from the fields, where they were intercepted and beaten with iron rods and pipes.

LifeNews.com: The chairman of the committee, pro-abortion Sen, Pat Leahy of Vermont, had intended to bring up Six for a vote, but some last-minute wrangling from Six home state senators, pro-life Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, appeared to stall the nomination.

Acton Institute Power Blog: What may be surprising to many of those who are advocating for the protection of just about any welfare program is that these may not alleviate poverty but only redistribute wealth. Rev. Sirico explained in an interview with the National Catholic Register how the discussion should be about wealth creation, not wealth redistribution . . .

BaltimoreSun.com: The anti-abortion protesters who just won a federal case after being arrested three years ago are coming back to demonstrate again in Bel Air today (Friday).

LifeNews.com: Recent claims – published by ABC News and Slate, among others—have asserted that “telemed abortions” are safe. In addition to the inherent dangers of medical abortions (and specifically RU-486), there are a number of glaring flaws with these claims.

A federal appeals court has upheld Oakland’s so-called “bubble” law prohibiting protestors from coming within eight feet of abortion clinics

John Smeaton, SPUC director: A new ruling by a English high court judge allowing euthanasia by omission is worrying, coming at the same time as another high court judge considers the M case.

The Sun: It’s the leafy London suburb that’s gearing up to be one of the host local authorities for next year’s Olympics. But yesterday bemused residents of Waltham Forest were reacting to news the borough had been declared an Islamic emirate by a fringe group of fundamentalists.

The Christian Institute: Posters had appeared in the east London borough of Waltham Forest claiming that it is “a Sharia controlled zone” where Islamic rules will be enforced.

An underground military gay group wants military recruiters to reach out to the homosexual community in the same way they target blacks, Latinos and women.

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life is an association of citizens that wants to support candidates who agree with the pro-life position. And The Taxpayers League of Minnesota is an association of citizens that wants to support candidates that favor limited taxes. Both groups want to make general-fund contributions to their chosen candidates.

Christian Post: “The Obama administration continues to prevent the word ‘God’ from being used at the funerals of our heroes,” said Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas). “It’s unacceptable and I’m going to put a stop to it as fast as humanly possible.”

The American Spectator: The FBI has arrested a U.S. soldier in a motel near Fort Hood where he was found with bomb making material. It is believed that he was plotting another attack on Fort Hood.

National Review Online:Rick Perry clarified his remarks calling New York’s legalization of gay marriage “fine” in an interview today.

AP: Eleven religious leaders protesting budget cuts affecting the poor were arrested in the Capitol Thursday as the House began debate on a bill to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling.

LifeNews.com: The National Health Service in England is increasingly rationing standard operations that patients may have normally taken for granted — in a move that worries bioethicists in the United States.

The North Carolina state Senate completed the bid to overturn a veto by pro-abortion Gov. Bev Perdue of a bill that would allow women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn children.

StarTribune.com: The number of abortions in Minnesota took a dive last year to the lowest levels since 1975, and the rate of abortions among females of childbearing years may be the smallest on record, according to new data from the Minnesota Department of Health.

San Francisco Chronicle: To prepare 2L and 3L law students for on-campus interviewing, the following tips by Janet Stanton, CEO of JD Match, are being offered in time for the fall 2011 on-campus recruiting season.

Reuters: Across the street from the U.S. Capitol in the small north lawn of the United Methodist Building, Christians, Muslims and Jews will pray on Tuesday for the country’s budget, and hope to teach Republicans and Democrats a lesson in compromise.

ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on Life Today to discuss attacks on religious freedom and the work of the Alliance Defense Fund. | The Book: ACLU v. America

Warren Richey at the Christian Science Monitor via the Alaska Dispatch: “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said Steven Aden, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose,” Mr. Aden said in a statement.

Deseret News: he Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, a coalition of more than 70 groups, said “NBC is now contributing to and encouraging a highly dangerous sexualized culture as they stoop further into the gutter for programming and profits.” That coalition includes Morality In Media, Focus on the Family, the Alliance Defense Fund, the Family Research Council and Concerned Women For America, among others.

Spiegel (translation by Google): Berlin pays money parents and fathers invents months – yet the effect is close to zero: German couples are hardly convincing, to have more children. Because work and family in this country are difficult to reconcile. The way in which other countries?

Spiegel: The European Union has pledged to address far-right extremism following the deadly attacks in Norway motivated by hatred of Muslims. While a number of populist groups initially spoke out against such violence, two right-wing leaders have since defended part of the ideology behind the massacre.

Catholic News Agency (CNA): Katherine Nikas, who worked with the coalition as part of the Alliance Defense Fund’s Blackstone Legal Fellowship, said it was “incredible to see the amount of young people who are actually on our side – the young people who wanted a different voice, who stood up for family values.” Nikas said she has found that many members of her generation are “tired of the pain and the heartache of just having abortions pushed at us and condoms thrown at us.”

Eryn Brown at the San Francisco Chronicle: Sherley and Deisher can appeal the ruling. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that assisted with the lawsuit, said in a statement that its attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case were “weighing all of their options for appeal.”

Carolyn Y. Johnson at The Boston Globe: “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,’’ said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit alliance of Christian attorneys that was cocounsel in the lawsuit.

San Antonio Express-News: The Alliance Defense Fund, a network of Christian attorneys opposed to abortion and gay marriage, has sent letters to 136 public colleges . . . Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said the federal Civil Rights Act and the Texas Employment Discrimination law exempt religious employers from the discrimination ban.“It is not permissible for an auto manufacturer to say, ‘We don’t want any Hindus on the manufacturing line,’ but it is permissible for the local synagogue to say, ‘We want our rabbi to be Jewish,’” Baylor said. Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School and expert on religious liberty laws, agreed . . .

The Washington Post: ttorneys involved in the challenge, including Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, said that they were weighing their options for appeal of the ruling.
“Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments and violate federal law,” he said. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

LaTimes.com: Sherley and Deisher can appeal the ruling. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that assisted with the lawsuit, said in a statement that its attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case were “weighing all of their options for appeal.”

WSJ.com: Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, one of the lawyers for the scientists, suggested the legal fight wasn’t over. “We’re evaluating all of our options for appeal,” he said.

NPR: “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,” said a statement from Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.” | Hundreds of reports appear in connection with this ruling.

ScienceInsider: Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a statement that they “are weighing all of their options for appeal.” The plaintiffs’ first recourse would be to go back to the appeals court, where the same three-member panel would probably hear the case, says Greely. If they lose again, which seems likely, the plaintiffs can appeal to the Supreme Court. “I think they will lose [in the Supreme Court], but it’s probably worth it for them to give it a shot,” says Greely.

DF said today it might appeal the dismissal, which was viewed as a White House victory.
“Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” said ADF senior counsel Steven Aden. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

LifeNews.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, responding to today’s ruling by Judge Lamberth saying he must follow the decision of a Federal appeals court that wanted the case thrown out, said its attorneys will join Samuel B. Casey of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and pro-life attorney Tom Hungar to consider filing the appeal. The pro-life legal team members are weighing all of their options for appeal in light of a federal judge’s ruling that the embryonic funding can continue despite it violating a 1996 law prohibiting the funding of research destroying human embryos.

Charisma: Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, together with Samuel B. Casey of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and Tom Hungar of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, are weighing all appeal options. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments and violate federal law,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “The district court’s injunction simply enforced that law, which makes sure Americans don’t pay any more precious taxpayer dollars for needless research made irrelevant by adult stem cell and other research. The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision. In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

Nature News Blog: Today, Lamberth wrote: “While it may be true that by following the Court of Appeals’ conclusion as to the ambiguity of “research,” this Court has become a grudging partner in a bout of “linguistic jujitsu”, such is life for a [lower] court.” . . . Plaintiffs’ attorney Stephen Aden of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance Defense Fund, portrayed Lamberth as having his “hands tied” by the court of appeals’ April decision. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” Aden said in a statement. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision.”

LifeNews.com: Thomas G. Hungar, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, which includes the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 when the lawsuit was filed, “the language of the [Dickey-Wicker] statute is clear” that it “bans public funding for any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos.” “NIH’s attempt to avoid Congress’s command by funding everything but the act of ‘harvesting’ is pure sophistry. The guidelines will result in the destruction of human embryos and are unlawful, unethical, and unnecessary,” he told LifeNews.com at the time.

USATODAY.com: Reached by phone, Steve Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund, which supported the lawsuit by researcher James Sherley of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute, says, “we think the law is clear and intend to examine all our options to appeal.” ADF is a “network of attorneys brings a wealth of experience to the fight to defend religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family,” according to its website.

Boston Globe: In a statement, attorneys who brought the lawsuit said they are considering next steps. “The law is clear, and we intend to review all of our options for appeal of this decision,” said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit alliance of Christian attorneys and co-counsel in the lawsuit.

Reuters at Chicagotribune.com: Attorneys involved in the challenge, including Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Steven Aden, said they were weighing their options for appeal of the ruling. “Americans should not be forced to pay for experiments that destroy human life, have produced no real-world treatments, and violate federal law,” he said. “In these tough economic times, it makes no sense for the federal government to use taxpayer money for this illegal and unethical purpose.”

LifeNews.com: The one-child policy in China has resulted in more than just forced abortions and sterilizations — it has led to massive cases of child trafficking as families attempt to buy children.

LifeSiteNews.com: Pope Benedict XVI has appointed three strong pro-life and orthodox bishops in Quebec in the last two weeks. The appointments appear to confirm the beginning of a massive sea change for the province in the wake of Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s appointment as head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops.

LifeSiteNews.com: The Court will reportedly proceed next to the possibility of allowing homosexuals to adopt children.

ABC7News.com: Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services asked experts on blood donation to reexamine the policy and see if there is a way to let at least some homosexuals donate blood.

LifeSiteNews.com: Katherine Nikas, a Blackstone intern with the Alliance Defense Fund, said that the statement’s initial reception at the General Assembly was very encouraging. “It was incredible to see the amount of young people actually on our side,” said Nikas, adding that the statement filled a sorely unmet need.“We’re tired of the pain and the heartache of just having abortions pushed on us and condoms thrown at us.”

LifeSiteNews.com: This past Sunday, an estimated nearly 10,000 people participated in a New York City rally and march in support of the traditional definition of marriage. The rally, which was organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), took place on the same day as the first homosexual “marriages” were legally performed in New York State.

LifeNews.com: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning members of the U.S. House that she will personally urge pro-abortion President Barack Obama to veto a State Department funding bill over cuts to groups that perform and promote abortions.

LifeNews.com: An abortion practitioner who works on a contract basis for Planned Parenthood in California has had his medical licensed suspended by the California Medical Board and he now faces a hearing before an administrative judge on August 2.

Georgia Family Council: Georgia Family Council’s Center for an Educated Georgia (CEG) is proud to welcome Jerri Nims Rooker, J.D., as the new director. Jerri has extensive experience in policy development and all aspects of program management that makes her …

AP: On a visit to Kiev on Thursday, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church Catholicos Ilya II asked Russian Patriarch Kirill to “restore friendship and brotherhood between our people.”

Fellowship of European Broadcasters : The Reverend Dr John Stott has died at the age of 90. Dr Stott died at his retirement home at St Barnabas College at 3.15pm on Wednesday 27th July 2011 surrounded by close friends.

What they spent more on was big necessities: mortgages (up 76 percent), cars (up 52 percent), taxes (up 25 percent), and health insurance (up 74 percent). And the reason for all but the last of these was the entry of women into the workplace.

West Virginia Record: harleston attorney Stephanie Thacker is President Obama’s pick to fill an opening on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Deseret News: The group’s attorney, Brian M. Barnard, said there’s no reason for the nation’s highest court to hear the case because the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled the crosses violate the doctrine of separation of church and state. That court also declined to reconsider the decision in December 2010 and this past April.

Yahoo! News: The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Religion Clause: The Bay Citizen reports that in a tentative ruling yesterday, a San Francisco (CA) Superior Court judge held that the San Francisco ballot initiative to ban male circumcision should be struck from the November ballot.

Testimony by Ed Whelan before Congressat EPPC: I will briefly explain in my testimony why I oppose S. 598 and why I support the continuation in law of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). S. 598 should also be understood in the broader political context of the Obama administration’s stealth campaign to induce the courts to invalidate DOMA and to invent a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. I will therefore discuss more extensively how, even before its February announcement of its formal decision to abandon defending DOMA, the Obama administration’s Department of Justice was systematically sabotaging its supposed defense of DOMA.

EducationViews.org: Southern Nevada’s battered economy is taking a toll on young attorneys just as it is other professions, with graduates of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law entering a job market that has fewer openings and lower starting pay.

Collin Levy at WSJ.com: Former California Chief Justice Rose Bird was removed from office after her 1986 retention election in a wave of anger against her history of liberal rulings. The same fate befell two other Brown appointees, Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin.