Tag Archives: State: California

“A 10-year-old girl conceived from the frozen sperm of a dead man cannot receive his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals court ruled . . .”

LA Times: “The governor’s decision to remain neutral in a federal challenge to Proposition 8 means no statewide official will be defending the measure in federal court.”

LA Times: “Supervisors suggest putting unemployed parents to work caring for their own children as part of proposed changes to CalWorks and other state government aid programs.”

Associated Press: “Civil rights groups are urging a hospital in central California to change its policies after employees briefly barred a lesbian from visiting her partner, who went into seizure at a gay marriage march.”

Associated Press: “Meanwhile, two federal lawsuits filed on behalf of gay couples seek to put the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, including one by famed attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson, who opposed each other in the famed election challenge in Bush v. Gore in 2000. Protect Marriage and the Alliance Defense Fund, two groups that backed Proposition 8, have asked a federal judge in San Francisco for permission to intervene in the latter case.”

Roger Brigham reports in EDGE: “The Alliance Defense Fund, which is seeking to argue in support of Prop 8 in federal court next month, has a well-known and predictable track record against LGBT rights. That of the judge who will hear initial arguments, however, is something of a mixed bag.”

LifeNews: “A California pro-life group is sponsoring a new petition to call on state government officials, specifically pro-abortion Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to stop using state money to pay for abortions. The California Pro-Life Council says paying for abortion is wrong, especially in this current difficult economic climate.”

Gay Marriage Watch Blog: “Gays United Network is organizing civil disobedience actions at the San Francisco Marriage License Office on Monday June 17 at 8am, exactly one year after the Calif. Supreme Court upheld same-sex marriage rights.”

Los Angeles Times editorial: “By California’s rules, [Chief Justice] George faces a retention election in 2010, and some predict that he could face challenges from either side — or even both — in this polarizing debate.”

David Van Biema writing in Time Magazine: “Even as Mormons have become more prominent, they have struggled to overcome lingering prejudices and misrepresentations about the sources of their beliefs. Polls suggest that up to half of Americans would be uncomfortable with a Mormon President. And though the Prop 8 victory was a high-water mark for Mormon political advocacy, it also sparked a vicious backlash from gay-rights activists, some of whom accused Mormons of bigotry and blind religious obedience.”

ABC News (Christian Science Monitor) reports: “Since the economic downturn began, six financially stressed churches in various states have sought advice from The Well in California’s Orange County.”

Lillian Kwon reports in The Christian Post: “Alliance Defense Fund attorney Brian Raum plans to join in the motion. ‘We’re confident that the arguments the U.S. government is making are correct,’ Raum told The Christian Post. ‘Hopefully, the court will dismiss [the case] . . . The plaintiffs say DOMA violates the Constitution and no federal court found that to be the case so far,’ he added.”

LA Times: “With the Obama administration facing growing discontent among gay supporters, the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco joined in voicing concern today about a new U.S. Justice Department brief supporting the federal Defense of Marriage Act.”

Mercury News (AP): “. . . the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health requires that safe sex be practiced on all adult movie sets. ‘But we have persistent reports that that is not the case,’ he said, adding his department receives an average of 15 reports a week from the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation of actors testing positive for other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia.”

Howard Mintz reports in the Mercury News: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown on Thursday urged a federal judge to keep Proposition 8 in force for now, arguing that it would create too much uncertainty across the state to put the voter-approved ban on gay marriage on hold while the latest legal challenge unfolds in the federal courts.”

Google (AP): Student Christina Popa’s statement read, in part, “I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The student affairs adviser for the department objected to the Jesus reference and asked her to substitute it with “I want to thank God” instead, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious-freedom group that took up Popa’s cause.

AP: “Californians could legally possess up to one ounce of pot and cities could sell and tax the drug under an initiative marijuana advocates want to place on the state’s 2010 ballot. The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 . . . ”

www.taxcannabis2010.org

Equality California: “We are outraged the Obama Administration filed a brief defending the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act — a law Obama promised to repeal when running for President. It is unacceptable that he is defending DOMA instead of supporting its repeal as unconstitutional.”

Business Wire: “After the Los Angeles Times reported today that an actress in the adult entertainment industry recently tested HIV-positive, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) renewed its call for California legislation that would require the use of condoms by actors performing in porn videos produced by California’s multi-billion dollar adult entertainment industry—a mainstay of the San Fernando Valley economy.”

The LA Times staff blog reports: “Public health officials said today they have had no cooperation from the adult entertainment industry health clinic that recently confirmed a porn actress had tested positive for HIV, hampering their efforts to investigate how she contracted the virus.”

AP: “Prejean . . . calls her firing a set up. She says ‘tolerance needs to be a two-way street.’”

AP: “The U.S. Justice Department has moved to dismiss the first gay marriage case filed in federal court, saying it is not the right venue to tackle legal questions raised by a couple already married in California.”

Christian Examiner: “‘Christian students shouldn’t be silenced when expressing their beliefs at public universities and are entitled to the same rights as all other students,’ said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker.

‘We are pleased that UCLA officials understand that denying religious liberty to students is a violation of the First Amendment, not a requirement of it. A personal statement at a graduation ceremony is exactly that—personal—and in no way signifies an endorsement of religion by the school. We commend UCLA for acting quickly to protect Ms. Popa’s constitutional rights.’”

WorldNetDaily: “Tami Farrell, the newly crowned beauty queen who is replacing the ousted Carrie Prejean as Miss California, apparently holds the same view as her predecessor, Carrie Prejean, and President Obama that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

Bay Area Reporter: “‘Correcting that error won’t change the outcome, but given the continuing importance of the distinction between amendment and revision for our state constitution, we hope the court will set the historical record straight,’ he wrote.”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Huber v. Jackson, (CA Ct. App., June 9, 2009), a California appellate court held that the Episcopal Church and its Diocese of Los Angeles are the owners of the property of St. Luke’s parish.”

Stanford News Service: “Kim Meredith, the chief development officer for Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), will lead the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. She takes over as executive director on July 1.”

Chelsea Schilling reports at WorldNetDaily: “But Capitol Resource Institute’s Karen England released a statement condemning the program and accusing the district of violating federal law. She said the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment governs any survey, analysis or evaluation given to students.”

Mercury News (AP) reports: The student affairs adviser for the department objected to the Jesus reference and asked her to substitute it with “I want to thank God” instead, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious-freedom group that took up Popa’s cause . . . ADF senior counsel David French said he was pleased at the university’s swift response. ‘They did exactly the right thing,’ he said. ‘Her expression is her expression.’”

Citizen Link Turn Signal: The U.S. Supreme Court soon could decide whether an 8-foot memorial cross can remain in the Mojave National Preserve in California. Kelly Shackelford, founder of the Liberty Legal Institute, is on the case.

Pacific Justice Institute: “The parents of a seven-year-old are questioning a school’s decision not to allow their daughter to participate in the school talent show all because she chose a religious song.”

LifeSiteNews: Christian students shouldn’t be silenced when expressing their beliefs at public universities and are entitled to the same rights as all other students,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom had urged officials in a letter Friday afternoon to refrain from violating her free speech rights.

Dakota Voice: “In fact, in a move that could only be described as the height of silliness, they have demanded that a bag or box be put over the cross until the case is decided. Apparently they believe anyone who sees the cross will be instantly contaminated by the Christian faith and brutally damaged.”

OneNewsNow: “Joe Infranco, a senior counsel with ADF, comments on the case. ‘They’ve demonstrated a desire to protect the constitutional rights of this family,’ he says of the county officials. ‘They sent the family a very nice, and I think heartfelt, apology, and they have let the pastor know that he is free to have Bible studies in his home.’”

Nathan Black reports in The Christian Post:

“Tim Chandler, legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, stated, ‘One person’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by America’s veterans and families.’

‘Americans want these memorials to be protected,” he added. “What is more important: the feelings of a single ‘offended’ person or honoring the memory of thousands of American heroes in a way that has been considered constitutional throughout our nation’s history? If the Mojave cross is not allowed to stand, then numerous other veterans’ memorials are vulnerable to legal attack.’”

Christian Telegraph: The country’s leading abortion provider is calling on California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore $36 million in proposed cuts to family planning funds, reports Baptist Press.

Equality California has published this pdf setting forth its legislative agenda for 2009.

Becket Fund: “Today (June 1), in a brief filed in the Supreme Court in Salazar v. Buono, the United States government defended the constitutionality of the 75-year old Mojave Desert Cross, which memorializes World War I veterans.”

Katherine T. Phan reports in The Christian Post: “The University of California in Los Angeles has responded to media pressure and agreed to allow a graduating student to thank Jesus in her personal statement.”

. . . the feelings of a single ‘offended’ person or honoring the memory of thousands of American heroes in a way that has been considered constitutional throughout our nation’s history? . . .

Liberty Counsel: “Today Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a 75-year-old National World War I Memorial with an 8-foot cross, located in the Mojave Desert of California. In Salazar v. Buono, the ACLU filed suit to remove the cross. Following the lower court ruling, the cross was covered with a cloth and now is boxed in with plywood so it looks like a blank sign. It remains that way pending the Supreme Court’s decision.”

Lornet Turnbull writing in the Seattle Times: “Patterned after online sites in Massachusetts, Arkansas and Florida, the idea behind WhoSigned.org is generating debate inside and outside the gay community and raising questions about privacy in the democratic process and whether such tactics amount to intimidation.”

Marcel Honore reports in The Desert Sun: “Rifkin said she worried about the timing of a federal lawsuit filed recently in California that contends Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution. The suit, she said, could do more harm than good if heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Its present roster makes a favorable ruling unlikely, she believed.”

PressDemocrat.com: “A battle over sex education is under way in Sonoma County, pitting a longtime abstinence-only group against California Department of Education officials who say the group breaks state law when it teaches in the classroom.”

Eric Resnick reports at Gay People’s Chronicle: “A day after the suit against Proposition 8 was filed, the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Arizona, an anti-LGBT legal advocate involved in the effort to pass Proposition 8, asked Judge Walker to allow it to oppose Olson and Boise.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss two cases that lead Medved to ask whether Americans any longer have the right “to worship God as [they] see fit.” The first is the San Diego County home bible study case (see the ADF press release). The second involves the bishop who was convicted for ringing church bells in Phoenix, AZ (ADF press release).

The mp3 of the first segment runs just over 10 minutes. The mp3 of the second runs just under 8 minutes.

Christian Newswire: “A professor at the government-funded University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has prohibited a graduating student from saying ‘I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,’ in her own graduation speech.”

CBB Christian Community: “Fortunately, our friends at the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), who have been working for more than 10 years to defend traditional marriage in our courts, have filed paperwork to enter the case. The ADF attorneys were instrumental in defending Prop 8 before the California Supreme Court, so if they become party to its defense in federal court, we can be encouraged that the defense of marriage is in good hands. And ultimately, though this case will likely wind its way through the ultra-liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, I believe marriage as the union of a man and a woman will prevail eventually.”

WORLD Magazine–The Buzz: “The decision [on Proposition 8] was unsurprising—Jim Campbell, litigation counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said the court’s ruling merely went with precedent—so same-sex marriage advocates were prepared to respond to defeat.”

Nexus: “This short Essay represents an attempt to encourage all participants in the same-sex marriage debate to engage in new thinking, new alliances, and new tactics. By critically examining the California and Connecticut Supreme Courts’ recent un-empirical and under-theorized claims as to gay and lesbian dignity, I aim to strip away the veneer of obviousness that attaches to presently popular (if unexamined) gay and lesbian dignity claims.”

Maggie Creamer reports in the Lodi News-Sentinel: “Mayor Larry Hansen said Wednesday night that the council wants to make a decision when all of the council members are present, and they want the opportunity to hear from the public.”

“The county has clearly responded in the right way to this incident so far, demonstrating a desire to protect the constitutional rights of this family,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “We look forward to a positive outcome from its internal policy review.”

“The resolution was passed in response to the Vatican’s directive that Catholic social service agencies should not place children in same-sex households.”

ACLU: “Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has asked school districts in Sonoma County to comply with California law by replacing abstinence-only sex education with curricula that teach about condoms and contraception, as well as abstinence.”

Advocate.com: “The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group that aided in the passage and subsequent defense of Prop. 8 before the California supreme court, filed a motion last week asking U.S. district court judge Vaughn Walker to allow the organization to defend the ballot measure’s constitutionality.”

ProtectMarriage.com and National Organization for Marriage are asking the Court to grant their motion for summary judgment, which asks the Court to find in their favor on all of the claims in their lawsuit. If successful, California will have to remove the names of donors who gave as little as $100 to the recent campaign for Proposition 8 from the state website, among other things.

Catholic League argues that in adopting the resolution the Board expressed disapproval of the Catholic religion in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause

Whittier Daily News: “Good Time, which was located at 13425 Whittier Blvd., shuttered its doors May 28 after a little more than a year in business, officials said. With its scantily-clad window mannequins in the front window, the store’s opening touched off an angry reaction from hundreds of Whittier residents, prompting many residents to ask the city to shut the business down.”

Roger Lowenstein writes at Bloomberg:
“With each new labor contract, GM management found it easier to grant sweeter future benefits than to raise current wages. Over time, benefits went up much more quickly. That left GM with a daunting unfunded health-care obligation . . .

Pacific Justice Institute: “After receiving a letter from attorneys with Pacific Justice Institute, Sacramento County has backed down from a requirement that people authorized to officiate at one marriage ceremony eliminate religious references.”

The Guardian: “After over a year of criticizing the student draft, the administration finally offered its counterproposal. Despite the fanfare, what the administration proposed is ultimately a dressed-up version of what has been practiced at UCSD for decades: Price Center, Library Walk, the Geisel Library tree and the Student Center grassy hill are generally available for student demonstration with amplified sound, while the rest of the university has limited access.”

John W. Dean writes at Findlaw: “It would be wonderful if Olson and Boies were to succeed. It will be a disaster if they fail. While they will go on to their next big case, untold thousands in the LGBT community could be devastated by their failure. Olson and Boies are placing at risk the slow, state-by-state, steady progress that has been moving apace across the nation.”

One News Now: Nimocks explains homosexual activists use the courts because it is about the only resource avaiable to them in most states, if they hope to gain victory. As he points out, popular votes tend not to support the radical homosexual agenda when it comes to marriage. “In 30 out of 30 states that have voted on marriage, [voters] have upheld marriage,” the attorney adds, “and so the advocates for redefining marriage want to use the courts to try to beat down the people and make sure the voice of the people is snuffed out.”

LA Times: “Three no-frills charter schools in Oakland mock liberal orthodoxy, teach strictly to the test — and produce some of the state’s top scores.”

Religion Clause: “As reported last week by the Christian Examiner and the San Diego Union-Tribune, Paster David Jones and his wife hold weekly Bible study sessions at their home. Around 20 people attend. After complaints about parking congestion, the county told the Jones’ that regulations required a permit to use premises for ‘religious assemblies.’”

CNSNews: “The Alameda, Calif., public schools are adopting a curriculum that will require first graders to read literature that equates same-sex unions with a family made up of a mother, father and child. Parents will not be allowed to opt their first graders out of the curriculum.”

ADF attorney Glen Lavy writes at the The Hill (also posted last week at Townhall): What motivated the justices to allow the creation of this unnecessary controversy-one that the court then “resolved” contrary to the clear language of the amendment? Was the court deliberately setting the stage for an “equal protection” claim under the federal Constitution? We will see.

760KFMB.com: “In the meantime, opponents are putting up a fight of their own. The influential Christian group The Alliance Defense Fund filed court papers this week to fight a federal lawsuit against Proposition 8.”

California Examiner: “Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Protect Marriage coalition that supported Proposition 8, said the new federal suit is based on “highly questionable grounds” since there is no federal right to same-sex marriage under the U.S. Constitution . . . The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed court documents asking U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to allow ADF to defend the constitutionality of Proposition 8.”

Christian Post: “In a bid to face off against the nation’s top two litigators, Christian legal firm Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion on Thursday to intervene against another lawsuit challenging Proposition 8.”

Mercury News (AP): “Lodi’s mayor says the city may switch from opening council meetings with prayers to moments of silence after a complaint from a group advocating the separation of church and state.”

KarieraWeb.cz: Některé státy přijímají své zákony, jiné ne,” připomněl republikánský poradce Jordan Lorence v deníku Washington Post, že tehdejší diskuse dospěla v roce 1973 před Nejvyšší soud, který rozhodl o federální legalizaci umělého přerušení těhotenství. … ROUGH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

The official proponents and campaign committee for Proposition 8, ProtectMarriage.com, filed a motion to intervene Thursday in federal court against a new Hollywood-backed lawsuit designed to tear down California’s voter-approved marriage amendment . . .

Becket Fund: “California pastor David Jones and his wife Mary Jones were questioned by San Diego County officials and threatened with fines over a weekly Bible study in their residence in Bonita, California, according to several news reports and televised interviews. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has offered to assist the couple or others facing the same situation in California or elsewhere in the U.S. ‘San Diego County has brought KGB tactics to Southern California,’ said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director at the Becket Fund. ‘Government agents have no place questioning American citizens about how they choose to worship in their own home.’”

AP: “An openly gay teen has been voted prom queen at his Los Angeles high school in a campaign that began as a stunt but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles and popularity.”