Tag Archives: State: Pennsylvania

The Hill: “The 77-year-old Democrat was a close friend of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and had been a strong voice on military matters in Congress.”

FYI by PLS: “The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania hosted a teleconference to discuss legal and social ramifications of Pennsylvania’s proposed sexting legislation. Vic Walczak, Legal Director for the ACLU of PA said HB 2189 is ‘fatally flawed’ and would ‘make minors criminals.”’

LifeNews: “Some 38,807 abortions were done in Pennsylvania in 2008, a 5.8 percent increase over the 2007 total of 36,663.”

Mike Adams writing at Townhall: “I’m glad I live in the United States of America, where such a trial would be prohibited by the First Amendment. I’m also glad I don’t teach at Temple University in Philadelphia, where students now have to pay an unconstitutional after-the-fact security fee levied by the university . . . Two years ago, Temple’s speech code was struck down by the Third Circuit. That lawsuit was handled by my friends at the Alliance Defense Fund. If the university does not begin to respect the First Amendment, additional humiliation and litigation are certain to follow.”

Philadelphia Gay News: “Employees of Pennsylvania’s court system who are in same-sex relationships will now be entitled to the same benefits as their heterosexual married counterparts.”

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “The American Civil Liberties Union is looking into the case of a Fayette County high school teacher who was suspended from her job after someone posted photos of her with a male stripper to an online social networking site. ‘We’re investigating the situation and are deeply troubled by the school district’s disciplinary action against an employee for purely private, off-duty conduct,’ Witold “Vic” Walczak, the ACLU’s legal director in Pennsylvania, said Tuesday . . . ”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “So Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee will discuss House Bill 2189, introduced by Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, which would classify sexting by minors — youths under 18 — as a second-degree misdemeanor instead of a felony, as it now can be classified.”

LifeNews: On Thursday, the board approved revisions to four policies that dealt with dress and grooming, student expression and harassment . . . ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be censored for their views,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman told LifeNews.com previously. ‘It’s clearly unconstitutional for school officials to prohibit a student’s message on the grounds that someone might not like it. The school routinely allows students to wear a wide variety of messages on their shirts without any concerns, but this student has been singled out even though his shirt caused no disruption and is clearly within the bounds of constitutionally guaranteed free speech,’ he said.”

WHPTV: “There is no law on the books right now, that strictly deals with sexting, forcing local district attorneys to make tough decisions. District attorneys, like Ed Marsico in Dauphin County, say they would like state lawmakers to draw up one, clear law that strictly deals with sexting and has a less severe punishment.”

The York Dispatch: “Policy changes will end a lawsuit against West Shore School District in a freedom of speech case about a student’s T-shirt with ‘Abortion is not healthcare’ scrawled on it . . . The New Cumberland boy had already received temporary permission to wear the shirt, according to the boy’s legal representatives from the Alliance Defense Fund. The policy changes make it permanent . . . ‘Our biggest concern going in was to make sure the policies were revised. Christian students have the same First Amendment rights as other students,’ said David Cortman, senior legal counsel with Alliance Defense Fund. The lawsuit is now over, he said. ‘We certainly appreciate the district’s swift action.’”

OneNewsNow: “‘It’s questionable whether or not pictures of children who are topless are child pornography under Pennsylvania state law,’ says Alliance Defense Fund attorney Pat Trueman, former chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. ‘They certainly are not child pornography under federal law.’”

Hans A. von Spakovsky writing at National Review Online: “Eric Holder’s Justice Department has exiled Christopher Coates to South Carolina. Coates, you may recall, is a career attorney at Justice, the chief of the Civil Rights Division’s (CRD) Voting Section. More to the point, Coates recommended that the CRD file a lawsuit for voter intimidation against the New Black Panther party and several of its members, who were in paramilitary uniforms (one of them waving a nightstick) threatening elderly white voters at a polling station in Philadelphia during last year’s elections.”

WHYY.org: “Governor Rendell said ‘don’t hold your breath.’ He says Pennsylvania is essentially a ‘rural state,’ and that he doesn’t think same sex marriage goes with the mores of the majority of commonwealth residents.”

“In St. Elizabeth’s Child Care Center v. Department of Public Welfare, (PA Comnwlth. Ct., Jan. 7, 2010), a Pennsylvania state appellate court rejected free exercise challenges by a Catholic child day-care center to the requirement that it obtain a state certificate of compliance in order to operate.”

Education News: “The report, released yesterday, is titled ‘The Power of a Great Education: PSEA’s 20/20 Vision for the Future — Strong Schools, Successful Children, Vibrant Communities.’ It can be found at www.psea.org/vision.”

AP: “Pennsylvania’s slots casinos hit the jackpot Wednesday when the Legislature gave them the authority to install table games such as poker and blackjack.”

Citizen Link: “Lawmakers in Pennsylvania threatened job cuts and staff furloughs if plans for expanded gambling don’t pass the Legislature.”

Bucks County Courier Times: “Bucks County Judge Robert Mellon on Monday ordered bar owner Bruce Young to put a stop to all adult entertainment at his bar in Warwick. The judge decided that Young’s hurried attempt to add topless dancers at Just Sports bar before Warwick officials could amend their zoning ordinance to prohibit the practice was not enough to establish a non-conforming use.”

Op-Ed in The Patriot News: “The sex education programs mandated by the proposed legislation [HB 1162 & HB 1163] are simply the repackaged version of the failed ‘safe sex’ messages in that 1985 presentation. These programs and those who promote them are stuck in the 1980s. Because they briefly mention abstinence only as one option, the message that students hear is about condoms and birth control, and that we expect them to engage in sexual activity as teens.”

DelawareOnline.com (AP): “A suburban Philadelphia man already convicted in federal court in a child pornography case pleaded guilty in county court to sexually assaulting four children, including infants. John Jackey Worman . . . ”

Washington Post: “The unions had argued that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act trumped a section of the state constitution that requires an appropriation to be passed, in most cases, before money can be paid from the state treasury. The justices agreed . . . ”

One News Now: “The Pittsburgh City Council previously established a huge buffer zone that prevented pro-lifers from communicating well with women entering abortion facilities. Alliance Defense Fund provided pro-lifers with legal representation in the lawsuit.”

AFP: “In a town in Virginia where a key Civil War battle was fought in 1861, the battleground this year has moved to the courthouse and the prize being fought over is Christmas . . . In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a manger scene and menorah were removed from the grounds of the Luzerne County courthouse last week after civil liberties groups threatened to sue over what they saw as government endorsement of religion.”

Times-Leader: “A Nativity and menorah will be returned to the Luzerne County Courthouse lawn – likely by Monday – as part of a holiday display featuring other secular objects, county Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said Friday . . . Minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he didn’t support the removal and learned about it from a news article. He said he spoke with other organizations that are willing to help the county in its defense, including the Alliance Defense Fund and the Pa Family Institute.”

LifeNews: “David Cortman, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, told the newspaper he supported the judge’s order. ‘It basically grants us all the relief that we were looking for,’ he said. He also said the order from the judge makes it clear that abortion center staff can’t stand inside the 15-foot zone and harass pro-life advocates. ‘One of the reasons that we challenged the fixed zone is that, on the face of it, it was based on content,’ he said. ‘It allowed some people to speak but not others.’”

myfoxphilly.com: “A protest rally was set for Friday afternoon outside Just Sports in Jamison, Bucks County.”

Religion Clause Blog has this post discussing several cases where local governments are conceding to left wing groups threatening them with litigation over alleged ‘Establishment Clause’ claims.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “Pittsburgh can ban abortion debates and demonstrations within 15 feet of a medical facility entrance, but it can no longer prevent advocates from walking up to people outside that buffer zone, a federal judge ruled Thursday . . . David Cortman, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian legal organization representing Brown, commended the judge’s order. ‘It basically grants us all the relief that we were looking for,’ he said.”

TimesLeader.com: “A familiar nativity scene and menorah were removed from the Luzerne County Courthouse lawn Wednesday night because the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to get a restraining order.”

Catholic Culture reports on the situation at Duquesne University.

AP: “A proposal to expand casino gambling in Pennsylvania cleared a crucial first hurdle in the state House of Representatives on Monday, despite searing criticism that it is full of favors for casino owners and lawmakers’ pet causes.”

Libertarian News Examiner: “During a protest and counter protest between a Christian group and a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) group on the Kutztown University campus last summer campus police Corporal Steven Armbruster was ordered by his chief to ‘push’ members of the Christian group off of the campus [and he refused] . . . The Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund is defending him in the ongoing suit while Oath Keepers named Armbruster their Oath Keeper of the year at their October conference.”

Pennsylvania Family Institute: “The House Education Committee heard testimony on two bills, crafted with the help of Planned Parenthood, seeking to eliminate abstinence-only education in public schools. HB 1163 would require schools to teach so-called ‘comprehensive’ sex education and mandate state funding for this curriculum, and HB 1162 requiring parental notification (not a bad thing) by schools, but only when abstinence is being taught, when there is no such requirement for condom demonstrations!”

CNSNews Audio (runs just over 5 mins): “Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) declined to say whether he agreed with Cardinal Rigali that the Senate health care bill cannot be supported as long as it permits abortion funding.” Casey did say there was a consensus for two decades that taxpayer dollars should not fund abortion and he expects pro-life amendments pertaining to abortion which he will likely support.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Stephen Sims, 55, of San Leandro, Calif., is accused of acting as the gatekeeper for the network, requiring new recruits to send him images of naked children before he allowed them to become full member. Mr. Sims and seven other people have been arrested and charged in connection with the case, acting U.S. Attorney Robert S. Cessar announced yesterday. As many as 100 people have been connected to the network.”

Religion Clause Blog: “The Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Borough Council on Monday voted to allow only American flags and flowers on the town’s Memorial Square fountain war memorial. The decision means that the Nativity scene that was placed on the Square again this year by the Chambersburg Garden Club must now be taken down.”

PhillyBurbs.com reports on planned protests of topless dancers at Just Sports. “The residents will begin picketing the bar at 7 a.m. Monday and continue picketing for several weeks.”

Lancaster Online: “National abortion-rights groups are targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in next year’s election, saying the health-care amendment he co-authored threatens women’s ‘fundamental right’ to have the procedure.”

“If the pro-life movement has any chance of stopping abortion funding in the Senate version of the health care bill, they need Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson and Bob Casey to help lead the fight.”

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on Prime Time Chicago (Moody Radio) to discuss this: Court puts hold on policies used against ‘Abortion is not Healthcare’ T-shirt

The MP3 runs just over 9 minutes.

ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman writing at JURIST: “In what’s commonly referred to in some circles as the ‘abortion distortion,’ the courts have abandoned their zealous protection of speech and thrown out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Now, with the blessings of the courts, no longer are such regulations limited to prohibiting only unprotected conduct, they are prohibiting pure speech. And on a public sidewalk, no less.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Today’s Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader reports that Luzerne (PA) County officials are likely to follow the lead of several other Pennsylvania counties and remove the property tax exemption from closed churches and religious schools.”

Boston Globe (AP): “A Pennsylvania appeals court says state police mishandled a prostitution investigation in which they gave a private citizen $360 so he could pay for sex at a massage parlor along with $180 for his trouble.”

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Sun Cha Chon, No. 473 EDA 200, 2009 PA Super 212 (Penn. Super. Nov. 6, 2009)

WPXI: “A group called HDV wants to open a ‘Larry Flint Hustler Strip Club’ in the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the new Rivers Casino in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: In its letter to the IRS, Americans United requested an investigation. ‘This event appears to be a clear breach of federal tax law,’ wrote Lynn. ‘The church offered one candidate an opportunity to deliver a campaign address to the congregation, and the top official of the church praised her knowledge of the ‘ins and outs of our city government’ and introduced her as ‘the next mayor of the city of Harrisburg.’”

Medical News Today: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit this week struck down a Pittsburgh law that established two kinds of buffer zones around facilities that offer abortion services . . . The Alliance Defense Fund brought the suit on behalf of an antiabortion-rights advocate.”

Ms. Magazine: “The ordinance was challenged in 2006 by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Mary Kathryn Brown, a longtime Pittsburgh clinic protestor.”

WorldNetDaily: “‘We agree with the court’s conclusion that the ordinance violated the free speech rights of pro-life advocates by zoning them out of the areas where they have a First Amendment right to speak,’ said David Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued the case.”

OneNewsNow: “‘The reason is that it analyzes not only the Circuit precedent that’s in existence, but also the Supreme Court precedent,’ explains Cortman. ‘And the court reaches not only a proper decision, but one that analyzes what the Supreme Court has already held in this area. So it’s a proper application of what the Supreme Court has already held.’”

Jurist: “The ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought in 2006 by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) on behalf of Mary Kathryn Brown, a registered nurse who works in Pittsburgh and has sought to dissuade woman from undergoing abortions for more than 15 years.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “David Cortman, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents Ms. Brown in her case, praised the appellate decision. ‘This one finally draws the line,’ Mr. Cortman said. ‘This [ordinance], we know, goes too far. It draws a boundary line as to how far cities can go to restrict speech, and that’s important.’”

Tribune-Review: “David Cortman, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian legal organization representing Brown, said the appeals court vindicated his group’s contention that Pittsburgh went too far by focusing on speech instead of illegal activities such as blocking pedestrians’ paths. ‘You can prohibit blocking without prohibiting First Amendment-protected speech,’ he said. ‘If they would have kept their restrictions to prohibiting illegal conduct, we would never have challenged it.’”

LifeNews: “[David] Cortman told LifeNews.com, ‘We agree with the court’s conclusion that the ordinance violated the free speech rights of pro-life advocates by zoning them out of areas where they have a First Amendment right to speak.’”

CitizenLink: “‘The court basically drew a well-needed line in the sand that government officials may not cross,’ [David Cortman] said. ‘The court agreed with us that it prohibited too much speech.’”

Associated Press: “‘This is an extremely important victory for pro-life speech. The court drew a well-needed line in sand,’ David Cortman, the Alliance Defense Fund attorney who challenged the ordinance, said Monday.”

PennLive.com: “Party leaders have been saying for months that the election is so important because the Supreme Court could weigh in on legislative redistricting next year when the General Assembly goes to work realigning districts based on new census numbers.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit struck down an ordinance Friday that Alliance Defense Fund attorneys challenged as unconstitutional for prohibiting speech in specified zones outside Pittsburgh abortion clinics.

OneNewsNow: “The story begins with a marriage between Eric Harner and his wife. The couple soon had a daughter, but divorced three years later, leaving primary custody of the child with the mother. Alliance Defense Fund attorney David Dye tells OneNewsNow that both remarried. However, the former wife died, leaving the little girl in the custody of her biological father. Dye says the stepfather then sued for custody.”

The Reporter: “Not everything on the agenda of local municipalities deals with governmental matters — including an invocation, prayer or moment of silence . . . ‘The First Amendment allows public officials to decide what is appropriate for acknowledging our nation’s religious history and heritage,’ said Mike Johnson, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Patriot News Editorial: “Enter the West Shore School District. This week, the district relented in the case of a Crossroads Middle School student who had worn a T-shirt on the day that President Barack Obama gave his address to schoolchildren. The boy had hand-lettered ‘Abortion is not healthcare’ on the front [photo credit to the Alliance Defense Fund] of a white shirt.”

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “Mary Wurtz expected a fight when she set out to spread her anti-abortion message on the state’s license plates. But the roadblocks her counterparts encountered in New York, New Jersey and Illinois never materialized in Pennsylvania, said Wurtz, 42, who runs the nonprofit PA Choose Life from her suburban Philadelphia home.”

Lancaster Online: “A federal judge has ruled that a Lewisberry middle-schooler may wear a pro-life t-shirt carrying the message ‘Abortion is not Healthcare’ . . . The law center and the Alliance Defense Fund, a national network of Christian attorney, represented the Boyer family.”

York Daily Record: “The Harrisburg-based Independence Law Center and Alliance Defense Fund, Christian law group, are representing Boyer and his son.”

York Daily Record: “The suit, which was filed in federal court by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, and the Independence Law Center, of Harrisburg, was settled today with a temporary order from the judge.”

Sentinel: “A statement released today by the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance of Christian attorneys, said the temporary court order will prevent enforcement of the district’s ‘student expression’ policy, which prohibits speech that ‘seeks to establish the supremacy of a particular religious denomination, sect or point of view’ and speech that could be deemed harmful to impressionable students.”

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on WTBN-AM Drive Time with Bill Bunkley to discuss this: PA school bans ‘Abortion is not Healthcare’ T-shirt, ADF files suit

The MP3 runs just under 15 minutes.

OneNewsNow: “The school’s policy does provide for students’ right of free speech which is protected by the Constitution. But there is one catch, according to Cortman. ‘[T]his specific policy prohibits a student from — listen to this — “seeking to establish the supremacy of a particular religious point of view,”‘ Cortman says.”

LifeSiteNews: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court on October 5th against the West Shore School District for prohibiting the student from wearing the T-shirt. The ADF says that the school usually allows other students to wear a wide variety of messages on their clothing. ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be censored for their views,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman in a press release.”

LifeNews: “Officials at a Pennsylvania school targeted a middle school student who came to class wearing a pro-life t-shirt with the message, ‘Abortion is Not Health Care’ . . . Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against the West Shore School District for prohibiting the student from wearing the shirt. ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be censored for their views,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman told LifeNews.com on Monday.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “A western Pennsylvania town will pay a church $100,000 to settle a feud created after it forced the parish to stop housing the homeless.”

WorldNetDaily: “A Christian middle-school student is suing his school district after a principal ordered him to remove a T-shirt bearing the message ‘Abortion is not health care’ on the day of President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren . . . ‘These are highly unconstitutional policies that demonstrate that there’s a widespread need for schools to be educated about the First Amendment,’ ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman said in a statement.”

“These are highly unconstitutional policies that demonstrate that there’s a widespread need for schools to be educated about the First Amendment.”

CitizenLink: “In response to school officials telling his middle-school son to remove his pro-life T-shirt, a Pennsylvania father is challenging the school’s rules in court . . . David Cortman, an ADF attorney, is representing the student and his father. He said the boy was told his shirt might ‘insult somebody.’”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “An Allegheny County court awarded the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh more than $15 million in endowments, bank accounts and other assets that a secessionist diocese had sought to retain.”

Associated Press: “A Northeast Philadelphia couple accused of praying for their sick 2-year-old rather than taking him to a doctor have been ordered to stand trial in the boy’s death.”