Tag Archives: State: California

AP: “An AIDS advocacy group is bringing labor complaints against nine porn talent agencies for promoting actors willing to have unprotected sex on camera.”

Google News (AP): “Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said Wednesday the ACLU is considering taking Lancaster to court if the prayers keep singling out Christianity over other religions . . . ”

Cal. Health Line: “On Tuesday, the Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Center filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court alleging that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the IRS violate civil rights by barring same-sex domestic partners from receiving coverage under state-run long-term care plans . . . ”

“Yesterday a 9th Circuit panel dismissed the appeal of the latest discovery order in the Perry case. California Equality, the ACLU, and other No on 8 groups brought the appeal because they claimed that the order would compel them to disclose private campaign communications protected under the First Amendment . . . ”

Freedom from Religion Foundation: “The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters April 12 to six mayors from Orange County, Calif., objecting to the Orange Coast Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast, headlined by Focus on the Family CEO Jim Daly.”

The California Family Council reports on a dangerous bill pending in the California legislature. “AB 2380 (Lowenthal, D-Long Beach) would allow “hearsay” statements to be included in the definition of “reasonable suspicion” in child abuse cases.”

“Gay rights activists say they have failed to qualify a measure that would repeal California’s same-sex marriage ban for the November ballot . . .”

LA Times: “Ballot Measure I asks whether the city should continue its policy of randomly selecting clergy from different faiths to deliver the invocation at council meetings, ‘without restricting the content based on their beliefs, including references to Jesus Christ.’”

San Diego Union Tribune (AP): “A Missouri couple who recently gave birth to twin daughters and a California couple who donated the embryos they used are suing each other for control of two remaining frozen embryos . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Headley v. Church of Scientology International, (CD CA, April 2, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed a claim by a Church of Scientology staff member that the Church violated state and federal labor laws . . . ”

Metropolitan News-Enterprise: “Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth A. Grimes was unanimously confirmed as a justice of this district’s Court of Appeal, Div. Eight following a public meeting of the Commission on Judicial Appointments yesterday.” | Via LA Legal Pad

Press Democrat: “It took five years to get a once controversial gay and lesbian retirement project before Santa Rosa’s City Council for final approval but when it got there Tuesday it only took 30 minutes to approve it.”

CNSNews: “California legislative committee has narrowly advanced a bill that would repeal a state law designed to find the causes and cures for homosexuality.”

ADF Attorney David Hacker writing at the Academic Freedom File: “The University of California System is considering a new speech code in the wake of a few unfortunate speech incidents on its campuses . . . The proposed speech code, which has surfaced from the UC Students Association, will prohibit ‘hanging a noose, burning a cross, or placing a symbol, such as a swastika, without authorization, on university property or at official university functions.’ The restrictions seem benign at first glance. No one should be allowed to encourage criminal activity on campus or incite violence, and for this reason much of the restriction might pass constitutional review. But the restriction on ‘placing a symbol,’ runs afoul of the First Amendment. Vague? Overbroad? Prior restraint? You bet!”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Oakland officials and community leaders are taking steps to fight sex trafficking in the city.”

California Family Council: “[SB 906] (Leno, D-San Francisco) makes several unnecessary changes to the state Family Code related to the definition of marriage by replacing the term ‘marriage’ with the phrase ‘civil marriage,’ attempting to create a new class of marriage. The bill includes language that sponsors assert will clarify that religious institutions would not be required to perform marriages that violate their religious tenets. However, despite Senator Leno’s and supporters’ claims, SB 906 is actually a direct assault against the more than 7 million voters that supported Proposition 8. Supporters have repeatedly stated that this bill is necessary to assist in their efforts to repeal Proposition 8 in a future election.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “In a wide-ranging interview Friday, Fiorina also explained her opposition to abortion rights in the most personal way since her campaign officially started last fall . . .
‘I recognize that a lot of women disagree with me on that,’ Fiorina said. ‘But I also know that women in general are not single-issue voters. When I talk to women on this, it’s not the issue that is on the table in this election.’”

Christian Examiner: “The U.S. Supreme Court—which will review a religious discrimination case brought by a Christian legal society from San Francisco college of law—has received nearly two dozen legal briefs supporting the student club . . . ‘Just as all student groups have the right to associate with people who share common beliefs and interests, Christian student groups have the right to be Christian student groups,’ said [Gregory S. Baylor], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. ‘Requiring leaders of a Christian club to live by a Christian code of conduct is no different than an environmentalist club requiring its leaders not to be lumberjacks.’” | For more information on the case see the ADF Alliance Alert case tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/wordpress/tag/zz-christian-legal-society-v-martinez/

“Our goal is not to necessarily elect Republicans,” [Brian Brown of The National Organization for Marriage] said. “Our goal is to elect candidates who will stand up and protect marriage.”

One News Now: “The bill would force adoption agencies to consider placing children in same-gender households, even it if violates that group’s moral and religious beliefs.”

Christian Post: “A retired Presbyterian minister who was cleared of wrongdoing two years ago for performing same-sex ceremonies for two lesbian couples is facing new charges and again awaiting trial.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “A city northeast of Los Angeles that sparked national outrage for its attempts to shut down a home Bible study has conceded defeat while hinting that it might try to shutter similar groups . . . ”

USA Today: “Larry Stickney speaks passionately as he tries to explain why the names of people who signed a 2009 Washington state ballot measure against gay rights should be kept secret. ‘I had been in the political game for 16 years, but we had no idea the viciousness that we would come under,’ . . . ‘Every angry homosexual in the world, I am telling you, was sending hate mail’ . . . The ACLU, a strong supporter of free speech, is siding with Hastings, echoing the school’s interest in prohibiting discrimination . . . Many of the groups siding with the conservative speakers represent conservative religious interests, such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the Hastings case and Alliance Defense Fund, in the Washington state case . . . ”

AP: “The graffiti was found as people arrived at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension to prepare for Palm Sunday services. They found a giant swastika, profanity and other racial epithets spray-painted on the outside walls and ground.”

San Francisco Chronicle, City Insider: “The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to take the unusual step of providing a bailout to the nonprofit San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center.”

“The California Supreme Court has ruled against the Hare Krishnas in their free-speech challenge to a ban on soliciting donations inside the Los Angeles International Airport.”

Capitol Weekly: “The vast majority of Tom Campbell’s supporters in his bid for the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer don’t know that he supports gay marriage, according to a new poll by a national anti-gay marriage group. Only 2 percent of current Campbell supporters were aware that he explicitly supports same-sex marriage and opposed Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that ended these marriages in California.”

ADF attorney Greg Baylor appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the Christian Legal Society v. Martinez case that is currently pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The MP3 runs approximately 32 minutes.

ADF Resource Page

SCOTUS Wiki

AP: “When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again – this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults.”

Public Policy Institute of California: “Among all Californians, residents are more likely to favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage for the first time in the PPIC Statewide Surveys.” Public Policy Institute of California: “Among all Californians, residents are more likely to favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage for the first time in the PPIC Statewide Surveys.”

Citizen Link: “California has issued a joint resolution asking the IRS to defer to state law on how to treat the property belonging to registered domestic partners and same-sex couples. [AJR 29] does not have the strength of law, but conveys the Legislature’s opinion.”

ACLU: “Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Monday that the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality California must turn over campaign documents, including internal e-mails and memos regarding efforts to overturn Prop 8, even though the groups are not parties to the legal challenge brought by Ted Olson and David Boies seeking to strike down the discriminatory ordinance . . . ”

The Advocate (“LGBT monthly news magazine”): “According to The New York Times, the latest complaints are an extension of marriage equality opponents’ long-running argument that the question does not belong in the courts . . . ‘To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right,’ said Jordan W. Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund and a member of the trial team for the people and groups who intervened to defend the ban after state officials would not, according to the Times. ‘There should not have been a trial.’”

The MetroWest Daily News: “Have you ever thought of having a Bible study in your home? If so, don’t plan on moving to either San Diego, California or Gilbert, Arizona. It seems there are regulations, which forbid you to hold a ‘religious assembly’ in your home . . . The ADF argues ‘that such bans violate the Constitution’s free-exercise clause, and even the state’s Free Exercise of Religion Act protects such meetings.’”

AP: “Civil rights groups that campaigned against California’s same-sex marriage ban have lost an attempt to withhold internal memos and e-mails from lawyers for the other side . . . ”

New York Times: “Opponents of same-sex marriage have long said the issue does not belong in the courts. Lately they have gone a step further . . . ‘To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right,’ said Jordan W. Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund and a member of the trial team for the people and groups who intervened to defend the ban after state officials would not. ‘There should not have been a trial.’”

Fresno Bee: “Fresno City College officials said they plan to take action against an instructor accused of presenting religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in a health class. But school officials declined to say what action they will take. In a March 8 letter to three students who complained, the school said its investigation found that instructor Bradley Lopez violated district policy and engaged in conduct that could create a hostile learning environment. The students were part of a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in February.”

Mike McKee writes at the Recorder: “A law professor’s long-proposed study about affirmative action’s effect on bar exams’ pass rates has encountered another obstacle. In a tentative opinion released last week, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow deflated UCLA School of Law professor Richard Sander’s plans by finding that the documents he seeks — California State Bar historical data on past bar exams — don’t fall within the scope of documents traditionally subject to public disclosure.”

Lambda Legal: “Lambda Legal and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed a friend-of-the-court brief today with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the University of California Hastings School of Law in a case brought by the Christian Legal Society (CLS) challenging the school’s nondiscrimination policy.”

BallotPedia has issued this update with links to various ballot initatives.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “A city in Southern California is demanding that a small home Bible study group stop meeting because it does not have an expensive permit. The permit is not required for similar-sized gatherings in homes, such as book clubs, birthday parties or gatherings centered around sporting events.”

“. . . Jesse Panuccio, a lawyer for Proposition 8 supporters, told Walker that it was only reasonable to require opponents of the ban to abide by the same disclosure requirements as supporters.”

Contra Costa Times: “Education budget cuts have prompted school districts across the state to send out more than 23,000 pink slips, notifying teachers and other certificated employees they may not have jobs next year.”

“The disturbing result of the activists’ tactics, says one anonymous CAMFT intern, is that pro-family therapists in California are becoming increasingly afraid to speak up in favor of natural marriage and the family.”

California Family Council: “For instance, Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has introduced Senate Bill 906, which continues his effort to incrementally change the definition of marriage. SB 906 would create a new class of “civil” marriages in California, undermining the traditional definition of marriage. This measure will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.”

Mercury News: “While both states prohibit same-sex marriage, officials in California said the two qualified for the license because Severson’s birth certificate lists her as a man. But officials in Nevada nixed the request, saying they consider Severson a woman because that’s what her driver’s license says.”

Spartan Daily: “Jim Campbell, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization fighting to uphold Proposition 8, said the argument isn’t valid because gays have yet to be proven as a suspect class in federal court . . . ‘It’s a very unworkable standard to set that as a suspect classification,’ he said. ‘Most suspect classifications we deal with in the law, such as race, are very cut and dried, not as something as complex and debated, as unclear and undefined as sexual orientation is.’”

Citizen Link: “U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled that the San Diego, Calif., teacher’s constitutional rights were violated. Johnson’s signs had been hanging in his classroom for more than 25 years . . . .”

United States District Court for the Northern District of California: “Broadcasting closing arguments would require Chief Judge Walker to request that these arguments be included in the Ninth Circuit’s pilot program and approval of that request by Chief Judge Kozinski. No such request has been made.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Since opening in 2002, the $12.3 million, city-subsidized center has struggled to pay its mortgage and is now on the verge of foreclosure.”

Pacific Justice Institute: “Castro Valley High School sparked controversy last year by hosting several questionable presenters, including Rev. Arlene K Nehring, a lesbian minister who talked to students in math and science classes about her gay wedding, encouraged them to ‘come out’ to God, their families and themselves, and invited them to a gay prom at her church. Because of the religious overtones in past and pending presentations, students in the Revelation Club were surprised when the school rejected their request to host Christopher Yuan because of ‘separation of church and state.’”

OneNewsNow: “A Christian student in the Los Angeles Community College District is carrying his free-speech case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals . . . Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney David Hacker tells OneNewsNow that Lopez chose to speak about his Christian beliefs. ‘And during that speech, when he mentioned that marriage is between a man and a woman according to his Christian beliefs, the professor called him this horrible name, refused to let him finish the assignment, and told other students in the class, “If you’re offended, you can leave,”‘ Hacker explains.”

The Marriage Cases—Reversing the Burden of Inertia in a Pluralist Constitutional Democracy
William N. Eskridge, 97 Cal. L. Rev. 1785 (2010)

“This Foreword will examine the court’s opinion and the many doctrinal issues it raises through the lens of California’s pluralist-constitutional democracy. That voters can override the court through a constitutional amendment like Proposition 8 makes California’s constitution self-evidently democratic– indeed, more so than the U.S. Constitution. This feature has played a pivotal role in the state’s politics of gay marriage. An equally important feature of the California Constitution is its commitment to pluralism: the idea that a key role of the State is to serve as a peaceful forum in which rival social and economic groups bargain, compete, and deliberate. An institutional challenge in a pluralist democracy is to keep rival groups engaged in politics, to direct their efforts toward the public good, and to avoid feuds and other mutually destructive conflicts. This challenge is especially difficult because the pluralist balance changes, often radically, over the course of a generation. New groups, clamoring for public recognition, will emerge, upsetting a balance of alliances that worked well only ten years prior. Few groups reflect this phenomenon better than sexual and gender minorities; reviled as outlaws two generations ago, they are now part of the political process in California. Given the state’s role as harbinger for the nation, this is a significant advance for these minorities.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “With businesses and trial lawyers pouring money into state judicial races around the nation, California Chief Justice Ronald George appointed a Commission for Impartial Courts in 2007 to study judicial elections in California and decide whether changes were needed to promote judicial independence and public confidence in the courts. The commission’s chairman, state Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin, spoke to Chronicle reporter Bob Egelko about some of the proposals that the commission is recommending.”

Santa Cruz Sentinel: “The one-time lesbian parents of twin boys have settled a paternity dispute that allows the women to maintain joint custody, The National Center for Lesbian Rights announced Friday.”

LompocRecord.com: “The city of Lompoc’s policy on prayer at the beginning of City Council meetings, decided in a split vote just two weeks earlier, will be returning to the council’s agenda in April for possible change . . . Ruhge had voted in the 3-2 majority in accepting a policy that called for ‘an invocation consisting of inspiring words,’ and outlawed any sectarian language . . . ”

WorldNetDaily: “The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has begun reviewing a request by the Los Angeles Community College District for permission to reactivate speech restrictions . . . ‘Seventy percent of American colleges have unconstitutional speech codes,’ Hacker told WND. ‘Christians and all students should not be punished for simply expressing views on topics that are appropriate on campus.’”

Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Staff Counsel David J. Hacker will be available for media interviews following his arguments at a hearing Wednesday in a lawsuit spurred by a Los Angeles Community College District professor who called a Christian student a “fascist bastard,” accused him of offending others, and wrote “Ask God what your grade is” on the student’s speech evaluation after he spoke about his faith during a classroom speech.

Baptist Press: bortion doctors and their clinics continue to be the targets of legal investigations. The following accounts were reported by major newspapers in recent days . . .

Reality Check: “California Federal District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled late this past Friday that the Poway Unified School District in San Diego, CA, violated math teacher Bradley Johnson’s constitutional rights when it ordered him to remove two patriotic banners from the walls of his classroom because they “over-emphasized” God. ”

Thomas More Law Center press release

Johnson v. Poway Unified School Dist., No. 07cv783 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 25, 2010)

CNSNews: “The first openly gay lawmaker to lead either house of the California Legislature has been sworn in as speaker of the state Assembly.”

NBC Bay Area: “The two sides in the case — a pair of same-sex couples on one hand and the sponsors of California’s Proposition 8 on the other — filed their final briefs late Friday shortly before a midnight deadline.”

Telegraph: “Jamie Dimon, chairman of JP Morgan Chase, has warned American investors should be more worried about the risk of default of the state of California than of Greece’s current debt woes.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Despite a rebuff from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bay Area’s federal judges are again proposing to allow cameras in their courtrooms, a plan that could lead to telecasting of closing arguments in a suit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage.” Renewed Notice Concerning Revision of Civil Local Rule 77-3

Long Beach Press-Telegram: “On Feb. 19, Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, introduced AB 2199. The bill would repeal Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which declares the State Department of Mental Health ‘shall plan, conduct and cause to be conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex crimes against children, and the causes and cures of homosexuality…’”

SDNN.com: “Educators and community activists in the Los Angeles area have established a new school aimed at preventing cases such as King’s. The new charter school provides LGBT and LGBT-friendly youth the opportunity to earn their high school diploma in a safe environment, free from persecution.
The first of its kind in Southern California, the new school is a collaboration between Opportunities for Learning (OFL) and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center program LifeWorks . . . ”

San Francisco Chronicle: “The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday voted to reject a number of applications from charter school operators, choosing instead to hand control of nearly 30 schools to nonprofit educational groups formed by teachers and administrators already employed by the district.”

“In a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, a Bay Area woman has won the right to parental status and visits with the daughter of her former lesbian partner, who moved out when the girl was 3 months old.”

LifeNews: “Southern California abortion practitioner Andrew Rutland faced a court hearing yesterday, but a judge allowed him to keep his medical license despite violating a court order and the state medical board.”

“Pacific Justice Institute is announcing its second annual effort to encourage student clubs and churches to host baccalaureate services for high school seniors. For decades, baccalaureate services have provided meaningful spiritual encouragement to graduate . . . ”

“Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley will participate in a debate Thursday at Stanford Law School on the constitutionality of Internal Revenue Service restrictions on the free speech of pastors. The debate is being co-sponsored by ADF and The Federalist Society at Stanford.”

Religion Clause Blog: “A large number of California school districts and teachers unions have refused to accept education reforms being pushed by the Obama administration, and that could hamper the state’s chances of winning hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants, some officials fear.”

Fresno Bee: “Critics allege that Fresno City College instructor Bradley Lopez crossed the line by presenting religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in an introductory health class . . . Charles Magill, a Fresno attorney hired by the Pacific Justice Institute to represent Lopez, said instructors shouldn’t have to keep their personal feelings and religious philosophy out of the classroom.”

Mike Adams writes at Townhall: “Muslim students are not always cowards. But the Muslim Student Union (MSU) is often the least tolerant and most cowardly student group on a given college campus. The gulf between the speech they prevent and what they practice with administrators’ consent is enormous. What follows is a summary of a recent, and increasingly typical, incident. I have included links to video of the incident for verification. I have also included the chancellor’s complete contact information so that ‘infidels’ can express disgust with unchecked Muslim bigotry and intolerance on our nation’s campuses . . . Readers of this column need to watch this five-minute video . . . ”

OneNewsNow: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed suit against Los Angeles County officials over a constitutional free speech issue . . . ‘The way they are applying it, they have a rule that says you can’t do any expressive activities within 100 feet of any door,’ [Jonathan Scruggs] notes. ‘And they are interpreting that to include doors that are emergency exits that aren’t being used.’”