Daily Archives: January 24, 2013

Heather Gebelin Hacker at Speak Up Movement: Finally, it is extremely alarming that some of America’s most respected public institutions of higher education are graduating students who are essentially illiterate in important aspects of America’s history and heritage, which can only have negative impacts on how these graduates, our next generation, view our country, as well as the values they hold.

Engage Family Minute: This new video shows how our government is seeking to undermine marriage and push redefinition. But national groups like Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and state groups like the Family Policy Council of West Virginia (FPCWV) are actively defending traditional marriage.

Wellsboro Gazette: When a young man turns 18, he is required by law to register with the Selective Service System. It’s important to note that this law applies to almost all male U.S. citizens and male aliens living in the U.S. who are 18 through 25.

Europe Online Magazine: Supporters of laws that would allow gay Poles to engage in civil unions said homosexuals in the country had a “right to happiness” as a parliamentary debate on the measure began Thursday.

Boston Globe: Gen. Martin Dempsey is chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He said Thursday the assault problem is due partly to the military’s separate classes of personnel—male ‘warriors’ versus the rest of the force, including women.

Boston Globe (AP): The Democrat on Thursday announced he has tapped Superior Court Judge Christine Keller to serve on the Connecticut Appellate Court. Keller is married to former House Speaker Thomas Ritter of Hartford.

Catholic World Report: Guidelines for nonprofits are often misunderstood. And they are sometimes misrepresented by those seeking to quiet churches.

C-FAM: Abortion advocates and others are concerned about the impending expiration of the Millennium Development Goals in two years. Some of them met last week to begin developing a manifesto to insert, among other things, universal coverage of abortion into the post-2015 development agenda.

Wendy Wright at C-FAM: A European court victory for environmentalists has inspired a continent-wide campaign to end European Union funding of embryo-destructive research and abortion.

Rick Garnett at Mirror of Justice: Over at the site of the (excellent) Religious Freedom Project (a project of Georgetown’s Berkley Center), Roger Trigg has a very informative essay called “Canary in the Coal Mine,” in which he discusses four recent decisions handed down by the European Court of Human Rights. Here is his concluding paragraph . . .

Legal History Blog: As Roe’s fortieth anniversary approaches, scholars have offered new perspectives on the efficacy of pro-life incrementalism. As framed by the movement, incrementalism involves a focus on small victories—legislation restricting but not banning abortion. Incrementalists themselves claim to be making significant headway, pointing to the proliferation of restrictions on abortion in the states, several of which the Supreme Court has upheld. By contrast, in a forthcoming piece, by contrast, Caitlin Borgmann argues that incrementalism has failed to deliver on its promise to change hearts and minds.

Ed Whelan at National Review Bench Memos: As this Politico article reports, Senate majority leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell agreed today to some changes to the Senate rules governing filibusters but rejected the “more sweeping changes” that some on the Left were urging. I won’t try to summarize here the changes that affect legislation and executive-branch nominations . . .

Christian Institute: A Roman Catholic adoption charity faces de-registration — because it expects couples to be married for at least two years before adopting kids. Scotland’s charity regulator admits the St Margaret’s adoption agency provides a valuable service – but says the marriage policy discriminates against gay couples.

Christian Concern: Former minister Edward Leigh is seeking to change the law to protect workers who hold traditional views on marriage. Following the case of a Christian housing trust manager who was demoted for airing his views on same-sex ‘marriage’ on Facebook, the Conservative MP is calling for a change to the Equality Act to prevent this happening again.

Christian Concern: The Air Cadet Organisation has announced its intention to provide an alternative ‘non-religious’ oath for new members that excludes any references to God.

The brief asks the high court to review a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit decision that prohibits public school districts from renting church facilities for non-religious purposes, such as graduation ceremonies.

Daily Herald: A newly elected suburban state senator is rounding up fellow Illinois Republican officials to try to oust the chair of the beleaguered party over his support for legalizing same-sex marriage. Sugar Grove dairy magnate and state Sen. Jim Oberweis emailed several fellow state central committeemen several days ago about organizing a special meeting to remove Illinois GOP chairman Pat Brady of St. Charles, the Daily Herald has learned.

WacoTrib.com: A group proposing a citywide ordinance barring employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Waco has postponed its plans for a discussion with the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee.

Barna Group: From its place in schools, to the public square, to people’s individual lives, the current and future role of the Bible in U.S. society is an often-debated topic. A new release from Barna Group shows how this debate plays out regionally and takes a look at how 96 of the largest cities in the nation view the Bible.

Daily Mail: Fewer than one in four British voters believes Islam is compatible with the British way of life, the UK’s first Muslim woman Cabinet Minister reveals today. Baroness Warsi will quote private police figures which show that more than half of race hate attacks in Britain are against Muslims as she condemns critics of Islam for peddling ‘hate’.

LifeSiteNews: John Carpay, president of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), whose organization is a co-sponsor of the Free Speech Wall, praised the Students for Liberty initiative to encourage free speech at Carlton. However, he also pointed out the inconsistency in the school administration’s handling of the vandalism committed on campus by Arun Smith in comparison to their decision to arrest pro-life students for trespassing when they attempted to set up a display of the Genocide Awareness Project.

AP: A Vermont federal judge has ordered a pastor to be held in custody after the man refused to answer grand jury questions about his role in helping a woman and her daughter flee the country in a same-sex custody case.

AP: The Senate’s senior Democrat and Republican reached a tentative agreement Thursday to impose modest limits on the filibuster, the delaying tactic that minority parties have long used to kill legislation.

Rice Lake Online: Thirty-five people braved the bitter cold and a packed auditorium Monday night, Jan. 21 to urge the Barron County Board to continue its longstanding practice of praying at the start of its meetings.

Andrew P. Napolitano at Washington Times: Here is an uncomfortable pop quiz: Who has killed more children, Adam Lanza or Barack Obama? We’ll hold off on the answer for a few paragraphs while we look at the state of governmental excess — including killing — in America. Still, you can probably guess the correct answer from the manner in which I have posed the question.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: The Center for Law and Religion Forum had a post a couple of weeks ago about a talk by Erwin Chemerinsky (dean of the new UC Irvine law school), in which he made a rather striking proposal. Indeed, Dean Chemerinsky has made the proposal in print several years ago, in an article titled Separate and Unequal: American Public Education Today, so I thought I’d quote that article and put the matter in Chemerinsky’s own words, because I think it more broadly illuminates the danger that excessive equality arguments pose to liberty . . . A clearer example of how an excessive focus on equality undermines liberty is hard to find. And the implications of this argument, if it were accepted, are striking.

Detroit News: Bridget Mary McCormack was sworn in as Michigan’s newest Supreme Court justice Wednesday afternoon in a festive and traditional investiture ceremony attended by family and friends.

Emily Bazelon at the New York Times: In October, the Fifth Circuit ruled in Amy’s favor, in a 10 to 5 decision. The court also accepted the theory of joint and several liability, finding that this means of allocating shared responsibility can ensure “that Amy receives the full amount of her losses, to the extent possible, while also ensuring that no defendant bears more responsibility than is required for full restitution.”

Daily Writ: I have a new Article out in the Journal of Legal Metrics entitled Top Supreme Court Advocates of the Twenty First Century. You can download the article here here. This Article identifies the Supreme Court litigators who have argued at least five times since October 2000, making them — by some measures — “expert Supreme Court litigators.”

Religion Clause Blog: Vos Iz Neias? reported yesterday on a federal lawsuit filed in a New York federal district court by a minor student enrolled in a Nassau county yeshiva and by her father against the New York State Assembly and its legislative leaders.

Religion Clause Blog: On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Sherman v. Illinois, (Docket No. 12-621, cert. denied 1/22/2013).

Religion Clause Blog: A trial court and the state court of appeals so far has accepted the hospital’s defense is that the fetuses are not persons under the wrongful death statute.

Daniel K. Williams at Public Discourse: Actually, Roe did not introduce legal abortion to the United States; it did something even worse. Prior to Roe, legal abortion existed, but so did a large, vigorous pro-life movement, and that movement was beginning to win the public debate on abortion. Roe deprived the pro-life movement of its legal victories and allowed abortion to become more available to poor and minority women. It subverted the democratic process and led to a partisan polarization that only grew worse with time. Perhaps worst of all, it nullified the pro-life movement’s constitutional arguments and enshrined in case law a constitutional interpretation that deprived the unborn of any constitutional rights.

Denver Post: Kellie Fiedorek with the Alliance Defending Freedom said the bill “fails to provide significant safeguards for the religious liberties of all Coloradans.”

On Topic Magazine: Christian conservative groups which oppose the measure, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and CitizenLink, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the measure threatened religious freedom.

Daily Caller: Many of those opposed to the bill said that it discriminated against those who are opposed to same-sex civil unions for religious reasons, with an attorney for the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom equating it to “religious intolerance.”

Daily Camera (includes video): Kellie Fiedorek with the Alliance Defending Freedom said the bill “fails to provide significant safeguards for the religious liberties of all Coloradans.”

Times Union (AP): Attorney Kellie Fiedorek, with Alliance Defending Freedom, which opposes the measure, said she’s concerned that the legislation violates people’s religious beliefs. She cited as an example a photographer in New Mexico who refused to shoot a same-sex wedding because of her beliefs and was later sued. “It’s important to note that it’s not a belief about homosexual behavior, it’s a belief that marriage is between one man and one woman and should be protected and strengthened by society, not undermined. Yet where these laws are enacted, people of faith are being persecuted, often forced to suffer economic loss.”

Peshtigo Times: To view the U.S. Dept. of Education guidelines, go to: www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionand schools. Source: Gateways to Better Education (www.gtbe.com), P.O. Box 514, Lake Forest, CA 92609, 1-949-586-5437. Or contact: Alliance Defending Freedom, 1-800-835-5233 (www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org). Rev. Jean L. Waldron, Peshtigo

Christian Post: The attorneys for Sioux Chief who submitted the suit include Kevin H. Theriot, Esq. of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Jonathan R. Whitehead, an “allied attorney” with the ADF. In a statement, Whitehead explained that the issue at hand with this and other similar suits is that of the American constitutional tradition of religious freedom. “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences wherever they are,” said Whitehead. “They have the God-given freedom to live and transact business according to their faith, and the First Amendment has always protected that. Forcing Americans to ignore their faith just to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”

AP: Gay rights advocates are renewing their push for President Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against gay employees.

AP: Panetta says the military is more capable and more powerful when it is open to, quote, “all of the diverse strengths of the American people.”

Ryan Smith at Wall Street Journal: Yes, a woman is as capable as a man of pulling a trigger. But the goal of our nation’s military is to fight and win wars. Before taking the drastic step of allowing women to serve in combat units, has the government considered whether introducing women into the above-described situation would have made my unit more or less combat effective?

The Record (Jan. 24 email): The Christian Civic League will host a free webinar on Feb. 24 with Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys who will answer questions about how the redefinition of marriage in Maine can affect your church or ministry. The ADF attorneys want to be well prepared and have requested that we send them our questions now. If you have a question, please contact Carroll Conley: clcll@yahoo.com 659-6447.

SCOTUS Blog has posted as their petition of the day: Butt v. Utah.

Telegraph: The cost of raising a child has hit an all-time high, according to a new report. Figures from insurer LV=’s annual Cost of a Child Report show that the cost of a bringing a child up to the age of 21 has reached £222,458 – more than £4,000 higher than last year and up £82,000 on ten years ago.

NewsMax: Former Navy SEAL commander and Montana State Sen. Ryan Zinke reacted sharply Wednesday to news the Obama administration will drop the prohibition against women serving in military combat roles, warning it is “nearly certain” to cost lives.