Tag Archives: State: Delaware

The Daily Times: A week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Indian River School District’s appeal of a ban on prayer at school board meetings, a small group of Sussex County residents continued delivering Christian prayers on behalf of the district.

Religion Clause: Yesterday’s Wilmington (DE) News Journal reports on an interesting line of questioning raised by a Delaware federal district judge in oral arguments in Mullin v. Sussex County, Delaware.

USATODAY.com: A hearing Wednesday in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the Sussex County Council from reciting the Lord’s Prayer before each meeting delved into the theological meaning and history of the prayer’s title and whether it is explicitly a Christian prayer.

DelMarVa Now: A federal judge will hear oral arguments tomorrow in a lawsuit challenging the Sussex County Council’s recitation of a Protestant version of the Lord’s Prayer at the commencement of its meetings

The News Journal | delawareonline.com: Public school districts throughout Delaware can allow students up to two minutes for a moment of silence at the start of the school day — provided they have a policy in place that allows it.

Dover Post: The Capital School District Board of Education will table its proposed social media policy for students tonight in light of the ACLU’s concern that the policy would violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech clause.

OneNewsNow.com: Brett Harvey of the Alliance Defense Fund says the court decided that the Indian River School Board was not the type of legislative body that was covered by a Supreme Court precedent.
“They decided to look at the school board because it was involved within the public school system; they ignored the way the board operated and analyzed it as if this was any sort of other typical school prayer case,” says Harvey. [more . . . ]

The News Journal: For years, the Sussex County Council has opened each of its meetings with the recitation of the Protestant version of the Lord’s Prayer. Despite requests to stop this practice, the council continued. Now, Sussex County and the council are facing a lawsuit filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based religious liberty watchdog group.

The News Journal: The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware has sharpened its teeth.

The News Journal | delawareonline.com: Sussex County has been sued by four county residents who want an end to its practice of starting council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer.

LifeNews.com: Pro-life advocates in Delaware are urging voters in the state to contact their state legislators and oppose a 25 percent increase in state taxpayer funding for the nation’s biggest abortion business.

The Washington Post: Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell says the Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against her during last year’s campaign by the Delaware Republican Party.

AP: Gov. Jack Markell has signed legislation making Delaware the 16th state to allow the use of medical marijuana.

NBCPhiladelphia.com: Mark my words, there will be litigation over this,” said Douglas Napier, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative religious rights organization.

Conservatives have long argued that “gay marriage” legalization would have negative consequences on religious freedoms, and they may have found another example in Canada, where Sportsnet TV host Damian Goddard was fired the day after he stated his opposition to “gay marriage” in a Tweet.

Washington Post: Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has signed a bill into law that gives same-sex couples legal protections and recognition beginning in 2012.

LifeNews: But Delaware lawmakers on the House Health and Human Development Committee said no. They rejected on Wednesday a bill requiring girls under the age of 18 to get the consent of at least one parent before an abortion.

Delaware Online: Douglas Napier, senior attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for traditional marriage, was among those who spoke against the Delaware bill in Dover. He does not see strong protections for employees who do not want to be part of civil unions. ”It is forcing clerks in the state to violate their religious liberties and conscience to perform civil-union ceremonies if they are asked,” Napier said. “Constitutionally protected freedoms should never be threatened by politicians who are doing the bidding of a very small group of activists — and this is exactly what happened when the Legislature imposed this counterfeit marriage bill on Delaware.”

One News Now: “The reality is that civil unions, like all homosexual activist legislation, [are] incompatible with religious freedom,” LaBarbera points out. “So in Illinois, it looks like they’re going to be going after private business owners [and Christian] bed and breakfast owners…who don’t want to have homosexual celebrations on their own property, and it looks like they’re going to be going after religious-based adoption agencies.”

South Florida Gay News: “Mark my words, there will be litigation over this,” said Douglas Napier, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative religious rights organization.

“Don’t be deceived. This bill is a precursor to same-sex marriage,” Napier said.

A House committee voted 4-1 Wednesday to release Delaware’s first civil unions bill, and the bill — S.B. 30 — is expected to reach the full House of Representatives for a vote late this afternoon.

Centre Daily: The state Senate is poised to vote on a bill giving public health officials authority to investigate and inspect sanitation and safety conditions in health care facilities where invasive medical procedures are performed.

Courier-Post Online (includes video): Alliance Defense Fund attorney Austin Nimocks warned that any civil unions bill would likely produce litigation, as such laws have elsewhere in the nation. He also warned that while the bill protects clergy from being forced to conduct civil-union ceremonies, it does not extend such protections to business owners and parachurch organizations.

Delmarva Now: Alliance Defense Fund attorney Austin Nimocks warned that any civil unions bill would likely produce litigation, as such laws have elsewhere in the nation. He also warned that while the bill protects clergy from being forced to conduct civil-union ceremonies, it does not extend such protections to business owners and parachurch organizations.

CTPost.com: The state Senate has approved a bill offering legal recognition to same-sex couples in Delaware.

The Republic: A bill offering legal recognition to same-sex couples in Delaware has drawn scores of opponents to Legislative Hall to lobby lawmakers to vote against it.

The Republic: “Delaware lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that would require parental consent before a girl under the age of 18 can receive an abortion.”

Delmarva Now: Majority Democrats on a state Senate committee agreed Wednesday to release a bill offering legal recognition to same-sex couples in Delaware . . . But Austin Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative religious rights organization, said supporters are pursuing the legislation with the ultimate goal of legalizing same-sex marriage. “Nothing in Delaware prevents people living as they want or having intimate relationships with whom they want,” Nimocks said.

Delaware Online (includes video): “Lawmakers by the baker’s dozen stood together with Gov. Jack Markell on the east steps of Legislative Hall on Tuesday afternoon, endorsing the first legislative effort to give same-sex couples the same legal protections and obligations now in place for married couples. Senate Bill 30 . . . ”

Delaware Online: “Legislation to subject abortion clinics and other facilities that conduct invasive medical procedures to safety and sanitation inspections cleared a House committee Wednesday despite concerns that the bill doesn’t go far enough. House Bill 47 . . . ”

LifeNews: “Two abortion practitioners in Delaware associated with embattled abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell were suspended for not reporting the massive abuses Gosnell perpetrated an for their own problems.”

LifeNews: “A local judge has ruled that embattled abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell — who has gained national notoriety for the shoddy abortion business he ran — can’t sell his assets to avoid a civil lawsuit.”

LifeNews: “The attorney general of the state of Delaware wants the licenses of two abortion practitioners who were colleagues of embattled abortionist Kermit Gosnell yanked because they did not report problems associated with their colleague.”

WBOC.com: “Delaware lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation in March that would legalize civil unions in the state. If passed, Delaware will join about a dozen other states that allow civil unions or domestic partnerships.”

Businesswire.com: “Planned Parenthood’s Guttmacher Institute has disclosed that a Delaware abortion provider has admitted to greatly underreporting the number of abortions it performs each year—including in statistics that it provided to Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).”

Delaware Online: “A technical sergeant at Dover Air Force Base was sentenced in federal court Thursday to six years in prison for distributing child pornography.”

“Five states allow same-sex marriage. By year’s end, that number could grow. However, several states are working to protect the definition of marriage.”

Via Gayopolis, Bill Humphrey, statewide director for Delaware Right to Marry Political Action Committee, asks for funds “to pass legislation for civil marriage equality in the state of Delaware.”

Religion Clause Blog: In Doe v. Cape Henlopen School District, (D DE, Jan. 7, 2011), the mother of a Muslim student sued claiming that her daughter’s fourth-grade teacher created a classroom environment that promoted Christianity and excluded Muslim beliefs . . . At issue were teacher Cindy Cunningham’s class discussions of the events of 9/11 and her reading of Christmas books to her class every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas”

Charles Meade, founder of Delaware Marriage Equality, writes: “Delaware’s Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed so gays and lesbians can have their relationships legalized. Many heterosexual couples go to the court to get married, and there’s no valid or legitimate reason why gay and lesbian couples shouldn’t be able to go to the courthouse to have their relationship legitimized by having a civil marriage.”

News Journal: “The Delaware Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could undermine, if not cripple, all 150 pending priest sexual-abuse lawsuits in Delaware. In the case of James Sheehan v. Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and Salesianum School, the religious order challenges the constitutionality of the Delaware Child Victims Act of 2007.”

News Journal: “The University of Delaware would face a rigorous process to establish its credentials in the legal community . . . To receive full accreditation, a school must comply with a list of 56 standards, Askew said.”

Above The Law: “Yesterday, University of Delaware President Patrick Harker announced that the university is thinking about founding a law school. It would be Delaware’s first public law school — Widener Law School is a private institution.”

LifeNews: “Abortion practitioner George Shepard of Delaware, who assisted with abortions at the Maryland business of abortion practitioner Steven Chase Brigham, has permanently lost his medical license.”

Delaware Online: “A jury awarded abuse survivor John Vai $30 million in damages for the childhood sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of defrocked priest Francis DeLuca today, and found that St. Elizabeth’s Parish was grossly negligent in its failure to supervise DeLuca in the late 1960s, and should pay at least $3 million of that damage award.”

The News Journal: “At the center are scars from a bitter Senate primary between Christine O’Donnell and Mike Castle that thrust Delaware politics into the national spotlight . . . But in the wreckage of Nov. 2, party members are divided about what they need to do to compete with Democrats, who have 110,000 more registered voters. The division mainly pits the more conservative voters of Sussex, Kent and southern New Castle counties against moderates in the more populous north.”

Politico: “Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell questioned on Tuesday whether the Constitution provides for the separation of church and state.”  Similarly, the AP files this report. The Washington Post also carries this report that includes video of the debate.

John R. Guardiano writing at The American Spectator: “[W]hile O’Donnell may not have been as articulate as she should have been, she’s nonetheless right: The phrase ‘separation of church and state’ appears nowhere in the Constitution . . . The First Amendment had been designed to protect religion from governmental interference and obstruction. Today, by contrast, the courts seem intent on protecting the people from religion . . . So while the elites cluck in disapproval at what they believe is O’Donnell’s faux pas, the reality is she knows and understands the Constitution better than they do.”

C-Span carries video of the entire debate here. It runs one and a half hours.

Washington Post: “But it was O’Donnell and Coons’ reflections of the role of religion in politics that provided a rare point of agreement for the Republican and Democrat.
From a transcript of the debate . . . ”

Fox43.com (AP): “Making sure that we’ve got on the record Ms. O’Donnell’s views on things like prayer, abortion and evolution is important,” Coons said. “These aren’t just random statements on some late-night TV show. These are relevant to her service in the United States Senate, what sort of judges she would confirm, what sort of issues she would take up.”

AP: “At the Christina School District in Delaware, 71 percent of black male students were suspended in a recent school year, compared to 22 percent of their white male counterparts, Ali said.”

Associated Press: “A new poll shows Republican Christine O’Donnell badly trailing Democrat Chris Coons in a Delaware Senate race that Republicans were heavily favored to win until the tea party-backed O’Donnell pulled off an upset in the GOP primary last month.”

Washington Times: “Rep. Michael N. Castle, Delaware Republican, said he will not pursue the state’s U.S. Senate seat as a write-in candidate . . . ‘While I would have been honored to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate, I do not believe that seeking office in this manner is in the best interest of all Delawareans.’”

Associated Press: “A spokeswoman for Delaware Congressman Mike Castle says he’s considering a write-in campaign for Senate after his Republican primary loss to Christine O’Donnell.”

Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: “An unusually large contingent of female Republican candidates with strong anti-abortion views is heating up debate on the issue and could change the political equation in the next Congress.”

The Hill: “CNN has conducted polls in nine other Senate races this fall, and the Democratic candidate has never gotten double-digit support among Republicans in any of them. But 15 percent of Delaware Republicans are choosing Coons.”

Associated Press: “Rep. Mike Pence tells ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ any verdict on O’Donnell’s fitness to serve in the Senate is ‘up to the voters of Delaware.’ The Indiana Republican says there’s a welling up of anger and a demand for political leaders who will ‘put our fiscal house in order.’”

AFA / Rightly Concerned: “Christine O’Donnell started a fund-raising push after winning the GOP nomination on Tuesday. Her goal: $50,000. When I checked Wednesday morning, she already had 210% of that goal, according to a nifty graphic on her website. So, like any smart campaign, O’Donnell and co. raised the ante to $200,000…then $350,000…$500,000…$750,000…and now she’s going for a cool million.” Guardian: Christine O’Donnell’s shock Tea Party win puts $1m in war chest

Amy Gardner and Sandhya Somashekhar writing at The Washington Post: “A sentiment had taken hold that party elders weren’t listening, weren’t true to conservative beliefs and assumed that everyone who votes Republican would go along with their decisions, just as they always had.”

PR Newswire: “Truth Wins Out called on GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell, last night’s victorious Tea Party candidate in Delaware, to apologize for running a failed ‘ex-gay’ ministry while she headed the Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth (SALT). O’Donnell heavily promoted the ‘ex-gay’ industry and hired Wade Richards, an ‘ex-gay’ poster-boy, to deliver this message.”

LifeNews: “Delaware Congressman Mike Castle lost his bid to become the Republican Senate nominee to a pro-life candidate, Christine O’Donnell. With the defeat, the pro-life movement makes a huge gain by ridding itself of one of its top proponents of forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research.”

The Hill: “Republican leaders scrambled Wednesday to unify their party in the wake of a nasty GOP primary in Delaware that knocked Rep. Mike Castle, their top recruit, out of the race.”

Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins: “‘The Republican establishment is in shock today after FRC Action PAC-endorsed candidate Christine O’Donnell defeated liberal Republican Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) in the Delaware Senate primary. Immediately she was denounced, not congratulated, by Rep. Castle, as well as Karl Rove, who seems to have a personal vendetta against the candidate.’”

LifeNews: “‘Christine O’Donnell’s win, combined with the successes of Carly Fiorina and Sharron Angle, continues building momentum for 2010 to be remembered as the “Year of the Pro-life Woman,”‘ SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser told LifeNews.com. ‘Christine O’Donnell’s come-from-behind victory is evidence that voters across America are hungry for conservative pro-life candidates.’ Meanwhile, in the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary, two pro-life candidates are separated by less than one percent in their bid to keep the seat of Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, who is pro-life.”

Greg Gutfeld writing at Big Hollywood: “On the CBS Early Show, Nancy Cordes portrayed O’Donnell as weird, because she quote, ‘crusaded for abstinence and against porn.’ Christine also wrote that ‘when a married person uses pornography, it compromises the spouse’s purity’ . . . is it really that fringy to say porn screws up relationships? Look, everyone over 30 knows that. You don’t need ANY religion to make that conclusion. And if you believe that porn is harmless, then clearly you’ve only dabbled in it.”

George Stephanopoulos writing at ABC News: “The Republican nominee for the Delaware Senate seat fired back at Karl Rove today for what she called ‘un-factual’ accusations about her record. ‘Everything that he is saying is un-factual. And it’s a shame because he is the same so-called political guru that predicted I wasn’t going to win. And we won and we won big,’ Christine O’Donnell told me this morning. ‘So I think, again, he is eating some humble pie and he is just trying to restore his reputation.’”

CNN: “Tea Party favorites won two primary elections over more mainstream Republicans on Tuesday, demonstrating again the clout of the conservative political movement on the political right . . . The results in Delaware and New York highlighted the last major day of primary voting before the upcoming election in just under seven weeks.”

The Hill: “Speaking at a fundraiser for Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak, Biden referred to ‘the woman in Delaware, my home state, who’s giving a scare to Mike Castle’ when expanding upon the positions taken by Tea Party-affiliated candidates.”

Christian Science Monitor: “The contest in Delaware has become a battle pitting O’Donnell’s fervent grassroots supporters against Republican heavyweights. The race is shaping up to be a measure of the anti-establishment sentiment that views incumbency as a handicap and political inexperience as a valued quality.”

Christian Science Monitor: “Mike Castle might lose the Delaware Republican Senate primary Tuesday night. That’s what a new poll suggests, anyway. The Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey shows ‘tea party’ choice Christine O’Donnell holding a three-point lead over Castle, 47 to 44 percent . . . One possibility is that Castle’s possible fall, and Ms. O’Donnell’s possible rise, reflects the depth of voter anger against incumbents and the power of the tea party brand.”

The Hill: “The Castle campaign is hoping for solid turnout Tuesday in and around Wilmington to help the centrist congressman offset more conservative primary-goers in the southern part of the state who may be backing Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell. O’Donnell is banking on support from an energized conservative base to help her to an upset Tuesday.”

LifeNews: “A new poll from Delaware shows pro-life Republican Senate primary candidate Christine O’Donnell has pulled into a virtual tie with pro-abortion GOP candidate Mike Castle. However, pro-life advocates continue to be concerned about strategy in the race because O’ Donnell appeals unlikely to win in November.”

The Hill: “The National Rifle Association endorsed conservative commentator Christine O’Donnell Friday in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary. The Tea Party-backed O’Donnell is looking to upset Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) on Tuesday.”

The Hill: “Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced Thursday she has endorsed Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell against Rep. Mike Castle (R) in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary.”