Tag Archives: State: North Carolina

WCNC.com: “Two men are charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a west Charlotte strip club on Thursday.”

Jay Schalin writing at the John William Pope Center: “One incident that threatens some very basic beliefs of a long-established religion is occurring at Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, North Carolina. It is also one of the latest instances of what David French, a senior legal counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, says is an emerging battle of ‘freedom of conscience issues in health care.’ In this battle, health care providers and professionals clash with the government over their right to refuse to perform procedures that conflict with their religious convictions.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “The North Carolina State Board of Education was briefed yesterday about the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) preparations for implementation of the state’s new sex education law. Governor Beverly Perdue signed the ‘Healthy Youth Act’ (HYA) into law in June 2009, and the new curriculum requirements for all public school students in grades 7–9 will go into effect beginning with the 2010-11 school year. The HYA amends the state’s nearly 15 year–old Abstinence-Until-Marriage law to include more information on contraception, and removes the previous requirement for a public hearing before school districts could implement a contraceptive-based approach.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “This week the State Board of Education will consider a $188,000 contract with Appalachian State University to promote contraceptive sex education and pro-homosexuality activities and training for North Carolina teachers and parents.”

Chuck Colson at Break Point: “When will this end? The more serious question is, however, when does the next round of government regulation against religious freedom begin? We’ll see soon enough in the current health care debate . . . Congress, after all, has rejected every attempt to include language to protect the consciences of medical professionals in the health care debate. Pro-life groups have warned about the very real possibility of religiously based hospitals shutting down before being forced to provide services that violate their religious principles.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “1. Early sexual activity has a myriad of negative consequences for adolescents that go beyond sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and teen pregnancy, which condoms cannot protect against . . . 2. Postponing sexual activity—even for a few years—is associated with fewer lifetime sexual partners and healthier lifetime outcomes for men and women . . . 5. Since AUM education was implemented in the mid-1990s, teen sexual activity has declined sharply nationwide, along with significant declines in the teen pregnancy rate, the teen birth rate (until 2006), and the teen abortion rate. . . .”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “A new government study found that the Gardasil vaccine—which helps to protect against genital warts and certain cancers that are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)—results in higher, but expected, instances of fainting and blood clotting than similar vaccines . . . The North Carolina General Assembly recently amended the state’s sex education curriculum for 7-9th graders to ‘include information about the effects of contracting the Human Papilloma Virus, including sterility and cervical cancer.’”

Rocky Mount Telegram: “The thought of the word ‘abortion’ should be unthinkable, Alveda King said during a community meeting Thursday . . . ‘This country was founded upon the respect for personal freedom,’ King said, referencing to an open letter drafted to President Barack Obama earlier this week. ‘Nobody should go against his or her conscious or moral values in order to keep their job. This is what abortion will do.’”

North Carolina News-Record: “People near and far are weighing in on whether the High Point Housing Authority got it right when officials began denying the use of a common space in a subsidized housing community for religious services. Most question whether the policy at Elm Tower is being interpreted incorrectly after largely elderly and disabled residents who live there were stopped from meeting with a preacher on Sunday mornings. That’s prompted the High Point Housing Authority, which operates the complex, to go back to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development for direction.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “After conceding that ‘same-sex adoption’ does not exist in North Carolina law, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals has affirmed that a woman is a legal parent of the biological child of her former partner. The case, Boseman v. Jarrell, involved a custody dispute between State Senator Julia Boseman (D-New Hanover) and Melissa Jarrell, over Jarrell’s six-year old son, who was conceived through artificial insemination in 2002 and later adopted by Boseman.”

Catholic News Agency: “Students at Catholic universities, citing religious freedom concerns, have voiced their opposition to a federal ruling that Belmont Abbey College engaged in unlawful discrimination by refusing to fund contraceptives in its health care plan.”

News Observer: “A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals this week unanimously upheld Sen. Julia Boseman’s 2005 adoption of her partner’s child, entitling Boseman to joint custody. Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, adopted the child in Durham because it is one of only two counties in the state where judges have allowed such adoptions. ‘Now I think it’s very clear that if a couple of the same sex choose to go out and adopt the child … that homosexual couples can adopt children,’ said Jim Lea, a Wilmington domestic law specialist who was one of Boseman’s attorneys in the custody case.”

One News Now: “One of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate believes that a system in which the loser pays in civil suits would go a long way to dissuade organizations like the ACLU from intimidating Christians and conservative groups.”

Christian Newswires carries this release by the American Life League: “Students at Catholic universities across the nation are banding together with students at Belmont Abbey College in a stand for religious liberty and conscience rights.”

LifeNews: “The president of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic school, says he will close the college before it gives in to an Obama administration ruling forcing it to provide contraception coverage in its insurance plans for employees. The EEOC ruled the school must provide the coverage, even though it violates Catholic teachings.”

“Once again public officials are mistakenly equating the liberty of conscience with individual autonomy, failing to see the importance of institutional venues for living out shared moral convictions.”

WRAL: “The debate over who should be able to wed legally took center stage Monday evening as the Durham City Council passed a resolution supporting same-sex marriage . . . Durham council members do not have the authority to change state law, but Monday’s resolution was aimed at showing support for same-sex marriages.”

Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage Blog: “. . . the court’s failure to rule definitively that a court can waive the provision terminating a biological parent’s rights does leave the door open for some trial court judge in the state to rule that the law does not permit such waiver.”

Today’s ruling in Boseman v. Jarrell, No. COA08-957 (NC App. Aug. 18, 2009)

“Increasingly it is clear to Catholics and other religious groups that without very clear exemptions for religious employers—and conscience protections . . . federal health-care laws and guidelines could severely restrict religious freedom in the U.S.”

The Catholic League has submitted a letter to the EEOC in connection with its investigation of a Catholic College in North Carolina due to its refusal to provide health insurance coverage for contraceptives.

AP: ” A rural North Carolina school district with a proud military tradition has surrendered to a Quaker peace activist’s request for access to high school students so she can warn them about joining the military, attorneys said Wednesday.”

First Amendment Center: “But if you think old laws punishing profanity and blasphemy no longer exist, you’re wrong — a surprising number of state laws still prohibit such speech. Even though the laws are rarely enforced, they are still on the books.”

LifeSiteNews: “The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has accused Belmont Abbey College of discriminating against its female employees by not covering contraceptives in its health insurance plan.”

Charlotte Christianity Examiner: “When a persecuted Christian student speaks up and says ‘Enough is enough.’ the ADF has stepped in many times in the past to help them out. At this point they have been enormously successful in standing up for and restoring Christian’s rights.”

FayObserver.com: “Services include gynecological exams, temporary and permanent birth control for women, and vasectomies for men. Johnson said the center plans to offer abortions, but not immediately.”

AP: “Republican Sen. Richard Burr says he will vote against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.”

North Caroline Family Policy Council: “The proliferation of pornography in the United States is endangering children and families, and federal efforts to combat it need to be expanded, according to the hundreds of pro-family advocates who sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Erik Holder last week. The joint letter to the newly-appointed Attorney General, which was dated July 15, was signed by Alan Sears, CEO and General Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, and nearly 400 pro-family advocates, including North Carolina Family Policy Council president, Bill Brooks.”

The North Carolina Family Policy Council reports on a John Locke Foundation survey of private schools: “A new policy report from the John Locke Foundation shows that while most private schools in the state support expanded school choice options for North Carolinians, such as voucher programs or tuition tax credits, most express concern about any programs that expand the state’s control over private schools.”

Zoe Ortiz reports at NewsBusters: “Frank Lombard is an associate director at Duke University’s Global Health Institute and a homosexual who was charged last week with the molestation of his adopted 5-year-old black son and actively trying to sell him for sex on the internet.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “By a vote of 25–21, the North Carolina State Senate approved a bill Tuesday that will force the 104 of the state’s 115 school districts that currently teach Abstinence-Until-Marriage (AUM) sex education programs to change to a more contraception-focused Comprehensive Sex Education program (CSE). HB 88—Healthy Youth Act had been pulled on and off the Senate calendar for nearly two months while changes were made and votes were counted.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “A bill to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in a school bullying bill has passed the North Carolina House by a vote of 59 to 57 and will be on the calendar for a final vote on Tuesday, June 23. House Speaker Joe Hackney (D–Orange) took a personal interest in SB526–School Violence Prevention Act, sponsored by Sen. Julia Boseman (D–New Hanover), as he conferred with a legislative aid on the dais numerous times during the debate and prior to the vote on the bill. An earlier amendment by Rep. Jonathan Rhyne (R–Lincoln) to send the bill back to the House Education Committee failed by a vote of 57 to 59.”

“Adult businesses are not entitled to challenge whether they cause adverse effects in their neighborhoods after a new zoning law has been enacted, a federal appeals court has ruled . . . ”

Jordan Schrader reports in the Citizen-Times: “Students would hear both a message of abstinence and more instruction about contraception under changes legislators made Wednesday to a proposal for statewide sex education.”

Wesley Young reports in the Winston-Salem Journal: “Both sides presented their last written arguments in the case in mid-May. The county is being defended by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has fought similar ACLU suits elsewhere . . . Michael Johnson, the lead ADF attorney for the county, said that both sides are ready to argue the case and get a ruling. ‘I’m frustrated that it is going to take that long,’ Johnson said, referring to the judge’s timetable.”

Keren Rivas reports in the North Carolina Times-News: “During that time, the affidavit said, the undercover officers documented about 288 violations of the county ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses, at least 349 violations of conduct in a licensed premise, and 17 drug violations.”

Duke Law Journal: “The Supreme Court’s decision striking down a Texas statute prohibiting homosexual conduct in Lawrence v. Texas is vague in many ways. The opinion failed to articulate both the contours of the right the Court was recognizing and the level of scrutiny courts should apply when enforcing the right. When a question concerning the rights of minors arises under Lawrence, the answer is even more obscure.”

WFMY News: “The 703 charges include 228 violations of the county’s ordinance regulating a sexually-oriented business; 349 alcohol violations; 23 drug-related counts; 43 violations related to ABC licensing.”

Winston Salem-Journal: “Three county residents sued Forsyth County in March 2007, asserting that the county was violating the First Amendment by allowing clergy to make references to Jesus in prayers given before meetings of the county commissioners . . . The county’s defense is being handled primarily by the Alliance Defense Fund.”

WSOCTV.com: “A fight at a south Charlotte strip club led to a shootout in the parking lot early Wednesday. Police said a pair of men began fighting inside the Carousel Club at about 3 a.m.”

WITN reports: “The Williams are not alone. Of the nearly 2 million children schooled at home, the number of black families has grown by 40,000 in the last few years to a whopping 140,000. That makes blacks the largest number of minorities joining the home schooling movement. That jump in numbers has researchers looking for a cause.”

NC Family Policy Council: “The North Carolina Senate gave final approval Wednesday afternoon to a bill that would grant special legal protections based on ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ for the first time in North Carolina history. SB 526—School Violence Prevention Act, passed by a vote of 26–22 after no senators stood to debate the bill during Wednesday’s third reading.”

Liberty Counsel: “After several members of Grace Baptist Church of Wilson gathered at Fort Macon State Park to play group games, swim in the ocean, and picnic, they shared about Jesus Christ with some park visitors. Ranger Richard Crocker approached the group and explained that they were not allowed to communicate with others unless they first obtained a permit. Pastor Rivers was given a warning and told that if the group continued, the church members would be cited for a park rule violation.”

Winston-Salem Journal: Several residents sued the county [for] . . . allowing prayer-givers to include references to Christ in the prayers given before meetings of the county board. The county’s defense is being handled by the Alliance Defense Fund, which is handling court costs under an agreement with the county. “We have not been advised of a date for an oral argument,” said Michael Johnson, the ADF attorney representing the county. “My suspicion is that there may not be one.” . . . “We remain confident in the merits of the case,” Johnson said. “The board has acknowledged respect for the diversity of religious denominations. (There is) no ulterior motive to establish Christianity or disparage others.”

JDNews.com: “Adam & Eve, a retailer with 32 franchises across the country, is opening a new location on Wilmington Highway, according to the city planning department and a representative from the corporation. Another adult-themed business, Intimate Bliss, is set to open even sooner on Workshop Drive.”

“The big news last week was a continued lack of movement on the Marriage Amendment in either chamber and final passage in the House of HB 88-Healthy Youth Act, which would overturn North Carolina’s abstinence law. As amended in committees and on the floor, the bill would mandate the teaching of Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) in all 115 school districts in the state.”

Salisbury Post: “Revisions in the charter school legislation passed by the 1996 General Assembly need to be made as a result of the success of the charter school movement in our state. While the mandated cap of only 100 charter schools for a state with 9.2 million people and more than 1 million students receives most of the attention, there are a number of other changes which need to be made to strengthen, expand, and improve the public charter schools in our state.”

Citizen-Times.com: “State lawmakers and activists pushing for a state license plate that bears an anti-abortion message unveiled a design today for how the plate would look. Supporters of the ‘Choose Life’ plate suggested they may sue if the General Assembly again ignores their requests this year.”

Digtriad.com: “The Greensboro Police Department may push for the closure of a strip club that has been the site of at least two homicides.”

Times Online: “A former leukaemia patient who had his sperm frozen as a teenager has fathered a baby after doctors successfully thawed his sample a record 22 years later.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “On April 7th, the North Carolina House Judiciary 3 Committee began considering a bill to establish a study on the expansion of grandparent visitation rights that could violate the fundamental right of parents to raise their children as they see fit.”

WRAL.com: The ruling is the latest chapter in a three-year battle over the proposed Capital Cabaret club on Mount Herman Road, near Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Neighbors have fought the club . . .”

Mark Barret reports in the Citizen-Times: “Buncombe County commissioners unanimously approved this afternoon a moratorium on 14 types of businesses [including sexually oriented businesses] designed to last until the county can re-adopt its zoning ordinance.”

WRAL.com reports: “A poll commissioned by the North Carolina Family Policy Council found that almost three-quarters of registered voters would likely support an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting gay marriage.” The study is available here.

NC Family Policy Council:

“Sixty-two of the 120 members of the North Carolina State House of Representatives have signed onto a bill that would require all school boards to have stated policies ‘prohibiting bullying or harassing’ any student for any reason by December 31, 2009 . . . This bill is in contrast to the pro-homosexual HB 548 — School Violence Prevention Act, which also mandates a statewide anti-bullying policy, but requires the inclusion of language to highlight specific characteristics of bully victims including their ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity or expression.’”

The Enquirer-Journal (password required): “The county hired, at no cost, a conservative organization called the Alliance Defense Fund, to defend against the lawsuit after being contacted by the fund. …”

Winston-Salem Journal: “The lawsuit against Forsyth County is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two county residents. The county hired, at no cost, a conservative organization called the Alliance Defense Fund, to defend against the lawsuit after being contacted by the fund. Both the ACLU and the Alliance Defense Fund say the law is on their side. Because the two sides are not really disputing the facts in the case, they are expected to ask the court for summary judgment — in other words, to make a ruling on the case without bringing it to trial.”

BaptistPlanet: “Squared off since 2006 over civil prayer’s wording in Forsyth County, N.C., are the Americal Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).”

Mary Giunca writing in the Winston-Salem Journal: “Prayer to a specific deity is at the heart of a lawsuit against Forsyth County and a controversy that has dragged on since 2006. The issue could, however, be coming toward an end. A judge could rule on the lawsuit next month. The lawsuit is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two county residents. The county hired, at no cost, a conservative organization called the Alliance Defense Fund, to defend against the lawsuit after being contacted by the fund.”

The Religion Clause Blog: “Monday’s Elizabeth City, North Carolina Daily Advance reports that a lawsuit was filed in a North Carolina federal district court last week challenging Elizabeth City’s refusal to permit Albemarle Teen Challenge to operate a residential addiction treatment center for women in an historic district in the city.”

OneNewsNow: “While some states are dropping abstinence education, others will continue to use it – including North Carolina. School districts can teach either abstinence or comprehensive sex education, the latter of which Jere Royall of the North Carolina Family Policy Council believes encourages promiscuity. …

The North Carolina Family Policy Council:
The so-called Bullying Bill, which purports to be about safety but actually seeks to promote acceptance of homosexuality and transgenderism in North Carolina public schools, was introduced in the General Assembly yesterday.

Huliq News: “As reported by WorldNetDaily.com, on Friday, March 6, Judge Ned W. Mangum stripped Raleigh resident Venessa Mills of her right to homeschool, and ordered her three children to enter public school.”

MyNC reports: A UNC System Task Force said Tuesday a uniform policy on hate crimes is needed on all 16 of the System’s campuses. This comes in light of the November incident where someone painted racist graffiti on NC State’s …

AP on One News Now: “After the protesters numbering at least 3,000 by police estimate ended their rally in near-freezing temperatures, Democratic leaders in the House required that a marriage amendment bill co-sponsored by 66 of the chamber’s 120 members …

AP: “Supporters of a ban on gay marriage in North Carolina will lobby the Legislature for the second time in a week . . .”

Sean Parnell writes at USA Today: “Chilling independent political speech in judicial elections and forcing taxpayers to subsidize candidates will not lead to better judges or keep politics and interest groups out of campaigns. Conspiracy-theorists concerned about the Grisham-like tale of …

. . . New Hampshire’s state motto is ‘Live Free or Die.’ But is New Hampshire the most free place to live in the United States? Apparently it is, according to a new study, Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom . . .

The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Columbia University, Robert Bifulco, Helen F. Ladd, and Stephen Ross, Occasional Paper No. 172: School choice proponents argue that choice could lead to school integration by freeing families to …

of 600 registered voters, 76 percent said they supported a “constitutional amendment in North Carolina defining marriage as between one man and one woman,” while 21 percent said they opposed the amendment . . .

The NC Family Policy Council reports: “Today, legislators, in conjunction with the NC4Marriage Coalition, introduced the House and Senate versions of bills that would allow North Carolina citizens to vote on a Marriage Protection Amendment to include the definition of …

AP: North Carolina’s two Roman Catholic bishops are headlining a call to adopt an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage. Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh and Peter Jugis of Charlotte are together responsible for the state’s estimated 800,000 …

The NC Family Policy Council reports: The “Why Not NC? Rally” held Tuesday in front of the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh brought attention to the fact that North Carolina is the only southern state that refuses to allow …

County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to support legislation seeking a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment declaring marriage between a man and woman the only legally recognized union.

QNotes, “Carolina’s multimedia LGBT new source”, reports on competing rallies to be held over the definition of marriage in North Carolina. Christian Action League: Rally for Marriage Planned for March 3 Equality North Carolina: ENC Day of Action 2009

Proposed budget cuts submitted to Governor Bev Perdue by agency officials include a complete elimination of the State Abortion Fund. As North Carolina lawmakers face a potential budget shortfall of $2 billion, the Governor directed agencies to find ways to cut seven percent of their budgets. The Division of Social Services proposed nearly $17 million in cuts, including the entire $50,000 State Abortion Fund.