Daily Archives: February 28, 2013

A Missouri-based plumbing products manufacturer is the latest company to win a court order against the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate, bringing the total number of court rulings against the mandate to 12 compared to four in its favor.

Blog of the Legal Times: The committee unanimously voted to approve Nelson Roman to be a judge for the Southern District of New York and Shelly Dick for the Middle District of Louisiana. The other nominees had opposition from Republicans: William Orrick for the Northern District of California was approved 11-7, and David Medine for the privacy board was approved 10-8.

SCOTUS Blog: The State of California itself has today filed this amicus brief in Hollingsworth v. Perry, in which it argues not only that California’s own Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment, but also that the petitioners–four of the Proposition 8 sponsors–do not have article III standing to represent California’s interests in federal court, notwithstanding the ruling of the California Supreme Court that California law assigns such a function to those sponsors to represent California’s interests as a matter of state law  . . . In addition, 13 states and the District of Columbia have filed this brief urging the Court to affirm the judgment of the court of appeals declaring that Proposition 8 is invalid.  – See more at: http://www.scotusblog.com/#sthash.SB3z2dOx.dpuf

Wesley J. Smith at National Review: This post is about the rule of law, not same sex marriage. When California voters passed Proposition 8, which defines marriage in the California constitution as exclusively heterosexual, some gay couples sued to have it declared unconstitutional. They won in the trial court and court of appeals, and now the case is to be argued in the Supreme Court of the United States.

American Spectator: In a 2-1  decision, a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals threw out a lower court’s injunction against the Douglas County School District’s voucher program, an injunction which has been in place since 2011.

Huffington Post: New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley plan to file a friend-of-the-court brief on Friday, their offices said. Officials in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, will join the amicus brief.

Christian News Net: The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Biblical speech opposing homosexual behavior, including in written form, is essentially a hate crime.

John Smoot at LifeSiteNews: Yesterday I explained the problems that arise from commercialized sperm donation—namely degraded men who are absent fathers to children disturbed by the circumstances of their birth. Today I explore more closely the role that money plays as men’s greatest motive for donating sperm, and its impact on future children. I conclude by proposing how we can challenge the sperm-sale industry.

Pete Williams at NBC: Obama administration to express support for gay marriage before Supreme Court

Administration officials say the Justice Department will urge the U.S. Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage to resume in California, wading into the protracted legal battle over Proposition 8 and giving gay-rights advocates a new court ally.

Business Insider: “[A]dministration lawyers worry that taking such an expansive view in legal briefs could unnerve some justices in the Supreme Court’s conservative wing, the people familiar with the matter said,” the Journal reported.

LifeSiteNews: Much of the data revealed in this report supports the research published by the Marriage and Religion Research Institute. For example, data published by MARRI highlights the association between living in an intact, married family and higher GPAs in school. – See more at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-research-shows-all-north-american-children-in-two-parent-homes-do-bette#sthash.EoTjf1Lj.dpuf

Christian Institute: Conservative chairmen in Surrey and Gloucestershire have become the latest to resign over the Party’s highly controversial push for same-sex marriage.

Christian Institute: It is a “great idea” to allow the morning-after pill to be handed out in schools, a leading GP in England has said.

C-FAM: As the UN Human Rights Council considers whether to endorse a report praising comprehensive sex education programs, a new review of the disputed curricula finds they can do more harm than good.

Telegraph: A Chinese wealth survey has found that Asia has more billionaires than any other continent, apparently surpassing North America for the first time.

The video is here.

National Review Bench Memos: As regular Cornerite Peter Kirsanow notes, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (on which he serves) will hold a hearing next month on religious liberty, and will solicit comments for a month after that. Here’s a Commission press release . . .

Ed Whelan at National Review Bench Memos: In the Prop 8 case, an amicus brief filed on behalf of former New York chief justice Judith Kaye, law professor Stephen Gillers, and others undertakes to refute the case that I made in the last quarter of my amicus brief that both Ninth Circuit judge Stephen Reinhardt and trial judge Vaughn Walker improperly failed to recuse themselves. (I don’t yet have an online link to the Kaye/Gillers brief; I’ll add it in when I find it.) The Kaye/Gillers brief commits critical errors and evasions.

Yahoo News: A debate about how religious schools should handle homosexual students is at the forefront again, as a Manitoba Christian academy fights back against new anti-bullying legislation that would force them to allow the creation of a gay-straight alliance.

ChristianNews.net: However, over two dozen individuals and organizations have filed contrary briefs with the court supporting Biblical marriage. According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is at the forefront of the cases currently before the court, attorney generals from 19 states have filed joint briefs with the Supreme Court in favor of marriage remaining between a man and woman, and at least four legal organizations discussed the religious liberty concerns that the legalization of homosexual “marriage” would raise.

Mike Florio at NBC Sports: The fact that the NFL isn’t ready for openly gay players continues to be proven by the words and actions of men who currently occupy, who previously inhabited NFL, and who will be joining NFL locker rooms.

Politico: Along with more than 80 prominent Republicans, the “Dirty Harry” star has signed an amicus brief in opposition to California’s Proposition 8, Breitbart News firstreported.

My Fox Austin: You can find it in Chapter 21 of the Texas penal code. It’s the chapter that addresses sexual offenses. Section 21.06 is titled “Homosexual Conduct”, which reads that it is a misdemeanor if a person engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex.

First Things: The Knights of Columbus should be commended for commissioning this Marist survey. The mainstream media enjoys reporting on polls that purportedly show strong public sentiment in favor of legal abortion. However, by asking people what they thought about abortion in specific circumstances, Marist is able to present a more nuanced and a more accurate view of public attitudes toward abortion.

Jackson Free Press: Mississippi’s only abortion clinic is scheduled for an April 18 license revocation hearing before the state Department of Health, and officials say a decision could come days or weeks later.

Argus Leader: A South Dakota Senate committee Wednesday approved an extension of what is already the nation’s longest waiting period for a woman to receive an abortion. Women seeking abortions in South Dakota currently must wait three days after seeing an abortion clinic doctor before they can have the procedure.

Heather Gebelin Hacker at Speak Up Movement: Recently, our friends at FIRE celebrated a huge victory (along with legal network attorneys Robert Corn-Revere and Cary Wiggins) in obtaining a jury verdict holding Valdosta State University President Ronald M. Zaccari personally liable for violating student Hayden Barnes’ constitutional rights and awarding him $50,000 in damages

Heritage Foundation: He argued that religious freedom “is the fundamental right on which all others are built; because if I don’t have the right to believe and practice what I believe, the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, those are worthless. It all starts with: do I have the right to make conscious moral decisions?”

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: Our children are under legal attack. Across the country, a slew of efforts are underway to punish youngsters for the faith of their parents … to intimidate children and their parents out of any public expression of their faith … and to circumvent even the most innocuous program that might somehow benefit Christian children in school.

Topeka Capital-Journal: Citing a first-of-its-kind Kansas Supreme Court ruling made Friday, Topekan Angela Bauer on Wednesday sought the right to intervene in a case in which the state contends sperm donor William Marotta is legally the father of the daughter born to her former lesbian partner, Jennifer Schreiner.

World Net Daily: President Obama, who simply said his administration would stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act because he doesn’t like it, has admitted in a court brief that the law that says for federal purposes only marriage between one man and one woman will be recognized is constitutional. That’s from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a premiere civil and religious rights legal team that analyzed the Obama team’s filings in a challenge now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. [more]

River Front Times: In Missouri, when state troopers are killed in the line of duty, the state provides “survivor benefits” for spouses in the form of an annuity of the late employee’s salary. But because the state doesn’t recognize same-sex couples, Glossip hasn’t been able to obtain any of these benefits since his spouse, a Highway Patrol corporal, died.

CNSNews: “This is a principle–this is a constitutional principle–that’s been handed to us from our Founding Fathers, and it’s not something that I think we should be negotiating on,” said Rep. King. “I would like to see the conscience protection language go into that CR, and I’d like to see conservatives band together and refuse to pass the CR until such time as we get that language in there.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “I think it’s a strong indication that the people are grappling with these issues, which means that there is absolutely no reason for the Supreme Court to cut short the political dialogue that is under way,” said John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University and chairman of the National Organization for Marriage. “The wisest course is for the Supreme Court to resist demands to prematurely end the national debate over the future of marriage,” said attorney Jim Campbell of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Prop. 8′s sponsors.

One News Now: The state, in its appeal of Kelley’s ruling, is asking the state’s highest court to find the voucher program constitutional “in all respects.” Matt Sharp, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, tells American Family News his firm now has joined sides with the state in defending the program in court. “ADF wrote an amicus brief – a friend of the court brief – to the Louisiana Supreme Court arguing that in addition to the source of funding arguments made by the state, we also think that there’s important liberty interests here of parents,” he explains.

The Stokes News: Alliance Defending Freedom has agreed to provide counsel at no charge to the city. The Alliance Defending Freedom, “a civil liberties education and legal defense organization that provides legal representation,” will face off against Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Both groups have handled cases garnering national attention.

Colorado Springs Gazette: Romero would not comment on the lawsuit. Byer was referred to Romero by Michael Norton, a senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, which connects Christian lawyers and advocacy groups. Norton said he does not think women’s health is Planned Parenthood’s priority. “They’re concerned about promoting abortions,” he said. “The bottom line for Planned Parenthood is not women’s health, it’s revenue.”

LifeSiteNews: Last year the the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released a 23-page report that found upwards of $99 million in waste or possible Planned Parenthood fraud, including the alleged illegal taxpayer funding of abortion and abortion-related procedures. “Planned Parenthood has to play by the same rules as everyone else,” Steven Aden, vice president for human life issues and senior council at ADF, told LifeSiteNews.com last year. “It is not entitled to a dime of taxpayer funds, especially if it is committing Medicaid fraud.”

Medill Reports Northwestern.edu: Tyndale’s pro bono attorney, Matthew Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, believes the for-profit publishing company should be able to advocate on its own behalf. “I think it’s a pattern throughout the Obama administration’s tenure,” he said, “where they are taking large areas of human activity – like healthcare, or education, or business – and saying that because the government wants to control those areas, the government is going to declare that religious freedom does not exist in those areas.” Bowman said he expects the lawsuit to run through the summer, at least. In the meantime, it will be business as usual at Tyndale House. “We’re not going to do anything different than we’ve been doing for many years: continuing to sell Christian-oriented books and Bibles,” Mark Taylor said (includes Tyndale timeline)

Christian Post: “The Supreme Court has made clear that defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman is constitutional as a matter of public policy,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “Thus, Congress and President Clinton acted constitutionally when DOMA was enacted. The wisest course is for the Supreme Court to resist demands to prematurely end the national debate over the future of marriage. The court should respect the freedom of both Congress and citizens to affirm a bedrock social institution that diverse cultures and faiths have honored throughout the history of Western Civilization.”

NY Times: The brief drew 278 signers, including more than 200 companies — among them giants like Citigroup, Apple, Mars and Alcoa — as well as city governments, law firms and other groups.

Religion Clause Blog: The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments (video of full arguments) in Freshwater v. Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education. In the case, a state appeals court upheld the firing of John Freshwater, a middle school school science teacher

Religion Clause Blog: In Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. Whatcott, (Sup. Ct. Canada, Feb. 27, 2013), the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 116-page opinion, upheld the constitutionality of a key provision in theSaskatchewan Human Rights Code, Sec. 14.

Religion Clause Blog: In Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas v. Sebelius, (ND TX, Feb. 26, 2013), a Texas federal district court dismissed on ripeness grounds a challenge by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to the contraceptive coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act.

Religion Clause Blog: In Briscoe v. Sebelius, (D CO, Feb. 27, 2013), a Colorado federal district court refused to grant a temporary restraining order to a for-profit corporation, two related for-profit LLCs and their evangelical Christian owner who were challenging the application of the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate to them.

AP: Indonesia’s government, security forces and courts must do more to protect religious minorities from growing episodes of intolerance and violence, an international rights group said in a report Thursday.

AP: A record 61 percent of Californians now approve of allowing same-sex couples to marry, according to a poll released Thursday.

AP: The law took effect immediately after the Republican-led Senate voted 19-14 on Thursday to override the Democratic governor’s veto.

Buzz Feed: The president, who has said he personally supports marriage equality, has never said whether he believes the Constitution requires it. Supreme Court briefs supporting the challenge to Proposition 8 are due February 28.

SCOTUS Blog: All sides in the case on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to more than double the time for oral argument on March 27, and to hold separate arguments on the constitutional issue and on the Court’s authority to decide the case.  The motion in the case of United States v. Windsor (12-307) is here. The Court has not yet acted upon it. – See more at: http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/separate-doma-arguments-urged/#more-160200

NCPA Policy Digest: For Texas students, vouchers may provide more individualized curricula and specialized schooling that addresses these problems, say John Merrifield, Lewis Warne, Lloyd Bentsen IV, Courtney O’Sullivan and Joe Barnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

The News-Gazette: And Kellie Fiedorek, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, insisted that the measure offers inadequate religious freedom protections to individuals and some organizations. “I analyzed this bill and it contains no language that will provide comprehensive safeguards for the religious freedom of citizens and religious organizations in the state of Illinois, no language that purports to address, let alone protect, the right to religious freedom of every citizen,” Fiedorek said.

World Magazine: Before the committee vote, Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Kellie Fiedorek criticized the bill, according to the Chicago Tribune, telling lawmakers it “advances religious intolerance and discrimination towards Illinois citizens with sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Pink News: Kellie Fiedorek, an official with the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that the bill “advances religious intolerance and discrimination towards Illinois citizens with sincerely held religious beliefs.”

KPTV.com: “It gives an open door to any sexual predator, not the transgender community, but any sexual predator that pretends to be transgender. That person can go into the women’s restroom and this gives them easy access to women and, especially, children,” said Joe La Rue of the group Alliance Defending Freedom.