Tag Archives: State: Pennsylvania

The Legal Intelligencer: A federal judge overseeing a dispute over death benefits between the parents and wife of a deceased Cozen O’Connor partner has requested the parties brief the constitutional question of same-sex marriage, increasing the potential for a determination of whether the Defense of Marriage Act and a similar Pennsylvania statute are valid.

CourtHouse News: A sex superstore in southeastern Pennsylvania can’t enjoin a Catholic group from protesting outside its business, a federal judge ruled. | Routes 202 and 306 and Novelties and Gifts v. The Kings Men, No. 2:11-cv-05822-PBT (E.D. Pa.)

News from The Associated Press: Prosecutors say 34-year-old Andrea Moton assisted with abortions done by cutting the spinal cords of babies allegedly born alive.

Morning Call: Matthew Sharp, an attorney from the Alliance Defense Fund in suburban Atlanta, a group that provides legal defense of religious freedom and represented the Ayers family, did not return a call. Michael Ayers declined to comment.

Federation for Childre: he Pennsylvania State Senate today took a significant step towards expanding educational options to low-income children and kids in failing schools, passing legislation that would create a new voucher program and increase funding for the state’s existing scholarship tax credit program.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: n Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate student has filed a complaint with the school’s human resources department, alleging one of her business professors subjected her to humiliation and insults based on her sexuality.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: An Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate student has filed a complaint with the school’s human resources department, alleging one of her business professors subjected her to humiliation and insults based on her sexuality. | The Penn: Rally held speaking against hate, for tolerance

AFC: The American Federation for Children (AFC) today called on the Pennsylvania State Senate to immediately pass legislation that would create the state’s first school voucher program for children in failing schools and significantly expand the Keystone State’s highly-successful Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program.

OneNewsNow.com: “Christian students have positive messages to share with other students that are not only protected by the Constitution, but that should be welcomed in public schools,” notes ADF attorney David Cortman. “The court was right to stop this unconstitutional ban on Christmas party invitations.” Though school officials prohibited invitations to the church party, ADF staff counsel Matt Sharp says they indiscriminately permitted other students to distribute invites to other events . . . [more]

The Republic (AP): The Alliance Defense Fund sued the Pocono Mountain School District in March, claiming the student’s free speech rights were violated.

A federal court issued an order Thursday that prohibits the Pocono Mountain School District from continuing to stop a student from distributing fliers that invite other students to church parties and other religious events.

Federation for Children: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett today announced a sweeping education reform package that would create an expansive voucher program for low-income families stuck in failing schools, ensure strict accountability standards for charter schools, and increase eligibility for the state’s highly-successful Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.

Timesonline.com: An American Civil Liberties Union attorney says a western Pennsylvania school superintendent has removed references to prayer from his blog on a district web site after the agency said a former teacher complained.

Examiner.com: The Patriot-News recently published an article discussing non-believers – Ernest Perce, Carl Silverman and Mikki Weidman — who protested a “See You At The Pole” event at East Hanover Elementary School in which students gathered to pray. The article briefly mentions complaints that were voiced regarding this particular event, but it does not delve into great detail concerning the legal problems associated with the event.

News from The Associated Press: Employees who worked for an abortion doctor charged with murdering a patient and seven newborns must stand trial with him, even if they are not charged with killing anyone, a Philadelphia judge ruled Friday

Examiner.com: The Patriot-News recently published an article discussing non-believers – Ernest Perce, Carl Silverman and Mikki Weidman — who protested a “See You At The Pole” event at East Hanover Elementary School in which students gathered to pray. The article briefly mentions complaints that were voiced regarding this particular event, but it does not delve into great detail concerning the legal problems associated with the event.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A clash is reigniting over a pair of measures regarding the state’s abortion clinics, with anti-abortion lawmakers pushing for stronger rules that opponents say will make the procedure less accessible.

Post-Gazette.com: Several dozen state lawmakers this morning called for the swift approval of two measures to increase oversight of abortion providers and further limit the use of taxpayer funds in paying for those medical procedures.

OneNewsNow.com: “That case will be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the next few weeks,” the attorney tells OneNewsNow, “and I believe later this year, before the end of December, we’ll have a word from the high court about taking these cases. And I’m sure that the … court will schedule arguments in the early part of 2012, and by the end of June we will have a ruling on the constitutionality of ObamaCare.”

The Washington Post: he new academic year has ground to a halt for Roman Catholic high schools in the Philadelphia area, where on Tuesday the archdiocese called off classes for about 16,500 students due to a teachers strike.

President Obama’s plan to require individual Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty exceeds the powers granted both the president and Congress by the Constitution, a federal district court judge ruled Tuesday in Harrisburg

Fortune: Brought down to individual terms, a typical Wharton MBA in this class will graduate with average debt of nearly $124,000. With monthly payments of $1,477 over 10 years, the total would come to $177,256, including nearly $53,000 in interest alone. It would be the proverbial bite that would be hard to chew for most because a graduate would need an annual gross salary of $176,560 to comfortably pay down the loan, according to financial advisors. That’s not a comforting thought when the median starting pay of a Wharton grad was only $110,000 last year. (You can crunch your own numbers on an online loan calculator to estimate the impact of your own debt.) And none of these numbers include the debt assumed by students during their undergraduate years.

LifeNews.com: U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer, this summer, granted a request from pro-life advocate Mary Kathryn Brown and ordered the city to pay $209,276 in attorney fees and costs, mostly to attorneys from The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group that represented Brown. Fisher reduced the amount requested from Brown’s attorneys by $48,272, the Tribune Review reported . . . Alliance Defense Fund attorneys challenged the local law as unconstitutional for prohibiting speech and helped represent a pro-life nurse who took on the ordinance, which prohibited her from counseling and speaking with women.

Mayor Michael A. Nutter, telling marauding black youths “you have damaged your own race,” imposed a tougher curfew Monday in response to the latest “flash mob” — spontaneous groups of teens who attack people at random on the streets of the city’s tourist and fashionable shopping districts.

CBS Philly: Mayor Michael Nutter today announced a tighter weekend curfew in the Center City and University City regions of the city, as he continues grappling with the threat of “flash mobs” in Philadelphia.

FoxNews.com: Two doctors at a Pittsburgh abortion clinic gave hundreds of prescription diet pills over several years to a staffer seeking to treat anxiety and depression, state authorities said Tuesday in charging the three and a former registered nurse not affiliated with the clinic.

Legal Intelligencer: The parents of a Cozen O’Connor partner who left the bulk of her estate to her wife argued the profit-sharing benefits the daughter accrued at the firm should go to them because Pennsylvania and federal law does not recognize same-sex marriages. | O’Connor v. Tobits

The Morning Call: The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia heard arguments Thursday on whether charter schools can sue their parent districts — a question Judge Marjorie O. Rendell called hugely important for the future of charter schools in Pennsylvania.

ABC News (includes video): Starting July 16, McDain’s, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant, will ban children under the age of 6 from its dining area. Restaurant owner Mike Vuick said the policy came in response to complaints he’d received from older customers about kids causing a ruckus.

Centre Daily: The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania announced that a vote by the State College Area School Board to extend health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of its employees will partially settle a discrimination lawsuit brought against the school district by the ACLU . . . ACLU officials said the district also will add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to anti-discrimination policies for staff and students under the settlement agreement.

PennLive.com: The New York effort, widely acknowledged as groundbreaking and shrewd, was made possible by appealing to a select group of wealthy Wall Street Republicans with gay relatives, friends and business partners, or who are gay themselves . . . “There are at least 10 active cases in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act,” said Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel, at the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based national legal alliance advocating conservative views.

WSJ.com: School may be out for the summer, but school choice is in, as states across the nation have moved to expand education opportunities for disadvantaged kids. This year is shaping up as the best for reformers in a very long time.

Religion Clause: Two recent unrelated cases involve disputes over whether certain property is used for religious purposes so that it is exempt from property taxes

Philadelphia Inquirer: The battle over proposals to impose tougher standards at Pennsylvania’s 20 abortion clinics took a new turn Monday as state senators voted to study what those standards would cost the clinics.

AP: A judge has overturned a kindergartner’s expulsion from a Philadelphia charter school for touching his teacher on the thigh.

WFMZ Allentown: The Diocese of Allentown has found itself the target of a lawsuit that claims a woman was fired for being a Muslim.

Forbes.com: Pennsylvania’s senate on Tuesday approved a bill to ban abortion coverage from policies obtained through health insurance exchanges that are to begin in 2014 under last year’s landmark federal health care law . . .

ADF attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Messiah College, a Christ-centered educational institution in Pennsylvania, is being pressured to abandon its commitment to biblical sexual ethics.

AP: The Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court on Monday to take a new look at a Pennsylvania city’s crackdown on illegal immigrants in light of the high court’s recent decision upholding an Arizona employer-sanctions law.

Christian Institute: In March this year it was revealed that a schoolchild in America was banned from handing out invitations to classmates for a Christmas party held in a church . . . The case was taken up by religious liberty group, Alliance Defense Fund.

Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Despite complaints of inadequate funding, the Pennsylvania judiciary’s payroll increased almost 20 percent, from $159 million to $190.4 million, during the past six years, a Tribune-Review analysis of payroll records found. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, whose $195,138 annual pay is third highest among state chief justices nationwide . . .

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.

Education News: Governor Tom Corbett, a former history and civics teacher, detailed his measures to increase school choice and combat teachers union power.

ABC27: “A gay college student says he’s transferring from a Pennsylvania Christian college after being harassed by students and a professor. Messiah College freshman Isaiah Thomas . . . ”

ABC27.com: A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced legislation that would amend the state Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. | HB 1434

Washington Times: A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area. The product in question: unpasteurized milk.

A Christian missionary charged with helping a woman take her 9-year-old daughter to Central America during a custody dispute with her former lesbian partner was allowed Monday to remain free on $25,000 bond . . .

Religion Clause Blog: In Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America v. Meena, (PA Commonwealth Ct., April 18, 2011), a Pennsylvania appellate court, in a 6-2 decision written by Judge Pellegrini, held that it must defer to the decision of the governing Synod to impose synodical administration on a local church and close it because of its diminished attendance and income.

AP: epublicans have moved quickly to convert November election gains to legislative advances in the states. A look at some GOP successes, and setbacks, in the first months of the new order . . .

LifeSiteNews: A Pennsylvania man arrested by police for walking by an abortion clinic because he was recognized as a regular pro-life witness has been paid $10,000 by the city of Ligonier.

AP: School officials in eastern Pennsylvania will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that allows students to wear breast cancer fundraising bracelets that say, “I (heart) boobies! | ACLU information and link to court documents

Education News: Republicans are delaying the vote to shore up waning support while Democrats dispute the bill’s true cost.

LifeNews: Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Health Committee voted for legislation (HB 574) that would require the state’s abortion clinics to be regulated like every other ambulatory surgical facility.

AP: A federal judge in Pennsylvania says the popular “I (heart) boobies!” breast cancer fundraising bracelets aren’t lewd or vulgar, so it’s OK for public school students to wear them.

LifeNews: The office of Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who claims to be a pro-life Democrat, has confirmed he will not vote for an amendment to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

The Alliance Defense Fund would like to express its deep appreciation for a dear friend and ally, Scott Shields, who lost his life Friday in a skydiving accident in New Jersey . . .

Religion Clause Blog: Yesterday’s Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review reports on a lawsuit filed against a Beaver County (PA) bathroom remodeling company by a woman who alleges she was forced out of her job with the company by the company’s insistence that she attend faith-based training sessions to increase her trust in God.

Mercury News: Lawyer Jack McMahon says the Gosnells have agreed to freeze those assets at the request of a Virginia family suing Gosnell over their mother’s death from a botched abortion.

NECN.com: The private college is among the first in the midstate to make gender-neutral restrooms available for LGBT staff and students.

ABC27.com: “Faculty and students at Shippensburg University rallied Tuesday morning in protest of Gov. Tom Corbett’s state budget proposal.”

Pocono Record: Matt Sharp, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian attorneys’ organization that filed the March 7 suit on behalf of the student, said the law backs up students’ right to distribute invitations to religious events in schools. “Schools have been misinformed that students are supposed to check their religious beliefs at the school door, and that’s not true,” Sharp said.

The Christian Institute (includes photo of David): ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman said: “Christian students and churches shouldn’t be discriminated against, censored and excluded in public schools because of their beliefs. “Disallowing a 5th-grade student’s invitation to a Christmas party just because it takes place in a church is simply unconstitutional”, he added, “especially when Hallowe’en parties and promotional events for businesses and other community groups indiscriminately receive a free pass”.

Philly.com: Students are free to pray alone or in groups as long as the activity is not disruptive and does not infringe on the rights of others,” according to a resolution adopted unanimously in Council yesterday at Blackwell’s request. It calls for Council’s Education Committee, headed by Blackwell, to schedule hearings on prayer in Philadelphia public schools.

ADF attorney Matt Sharp appeared on the Raffaele Report: ADF attorneys file suit against Pocono Mountain School District over discriminatory policy barring 5th-grader from inviting schoolmates to church event. | MP3 audio 4:22 mins

LifeNews: “The inspections, which hadn’t taken place in over a decade, turned up problems at two abortion centers also located in Philadelphia and the owner and operator of the centers has decided to shut them down and retire as opposed to correcting the problems.”

One News Now: Matt Sharp, litigation staff counsel with ADF, says his client was treated unfairly. “What’s interesting…is that every other student was allowed to hand out birthday party invitations, Halloween party invitations, even Valentine’s dance and local community groups — a basketball league and a bowling club were allowed to have flyers sent home with students as well,” he points out. “So basically everyone else could invite students to their events — some that you had to pay to attend — but our client was denied from being able to invite students to this free event at her church.”

The Morning Call: “The girl, identified in court papers only by the initials K.A., filed the suit through her father, Michael Ayers. She is represented by lawyers from the Alliance Defense Fund in suburban Atlanta, a group providing legal defense of religious freedom and values.”

ABA Journal: “Other students can hand out fliers for birthday parties, pizza parties, and Halloween parties,” ADF attorney David Cortman said, Fox News reports. According to Cortman, district policies forbid any student speech advertising Christianity.

ADF attorney Dave Cortman appeared on the Mike Pintek Show on 1020 KDKA to discuss this: Pa. elementary school: Invitations to children’s party OK…unless held at a church. | MP3 audio 15:23 mins

Fox News: District policies, according to attorney ADF David Cortman, prohibit any student speech promoting Christianity. “It’s another example where schools need to be educated about the First Amendment,” Cortman told Fox News Radio. “The policies that are at the heart of this lawsuit are unconstitutional.”

Charisma: “Christian students and churches shouldn’t be discriminated against, censored, and excluded in public schools because of their beliefs,” says ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Disallowing a fifth-grade student’s invitation to a Christmas party just because it takes place at a church is simply unconstitutional, especially when Halloween parties and promotional events for businesses and other community groups indiscriminately receive a free pass.”

TheTimesTribune.com: The suit, which states “students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate,” asks the court to declare the district’s policies and practices unconstitutional and to award “nominal damages” and pay reasonable attorneys’ fees. It was filed by Randall L. Wenger, a Harrisburg lawyer, and David A. Cortman and J. Matthew Sharp, two Georgia lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Pocono Mountain School District officials Friday on behalf of a 5th-grade student who was prohibited from distributing fliers that invited fellow Barrett Elementary Center students to a Christmas party at her church. District policies prohibit any student speech promoting Christianity.

Fox News: District policies, according to ADF attorney David Cortman, prohibit any student speech promoting Christianity.
“It’s another example where schools need to be educated about the First Amendment,” Cortman told Fox News Radio. “The policies that are at the heart of this lawsuit are unconstitutional.”

Westchester Fox 19: “Washington, D.C.-based Operation Rescue/Insurrecta Nex is protesting Planned Parenthood Monday morning at the West Chester office of Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester).”