Tag Archives: State: Utah

The Salt Lake Tribune.

Religion Clause: In Brown v. Herbert, (D UT, Feb. 3, 2012), a Utah federal district court held that members of an openly polygamous family (subjects of the television show Sister Wives) have standing to bring suit against the County Attorney to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s Anti-Bigamy Statute.

News from The Associated Press: Utah’s Supreme Court is deciding whether a sperm donor contract is proof that a man wanted to be a father, even after his death.

The Salt Lake Tribune: One man has sued his wife’s lover for $1.5 million in damages, claiming the extramarital affair ruined his life and caused his wife to run off with her lover to Idaho.

“The state’s high court has determined that an unborn child qualifies as a minor child and, therefore, wrongful death lawsuits may be filed on behalf of those who die before birth.”

A polygamous family made famous on a reality television show is asking a Utah federal judge not to block their challenge of the state’s bigamy law.

MSNBC: A school district in Utah is defending its decision to “out” a middle-school student as gay to his parents in light of safety and bullying concerns.

News from The Associated Press: The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Utah’s immigration enforcement law, arguing that it usurps federal authority and could potentially lead to the harassment and detention of American citizens and authorized visitors

Standard-Examiner (AP): Over the past week, the 12-foot-high Roman crosses have been stripped of the brown and gold beehive-shaped logo of the Utah Highway Patrol, association attorney Frank Mylar said . . . “We’re hoping we can keep the memorials as much intact as possible but change them so that it complies with the (court),” Mylar said. “They really feel strongly that that without the cross there’s no memorial.”

The Baptist Standard (Religion News Service): The conservative Alliance Defense Fund, which asked the Supreme Court to consider the case, was disappointed. “Justice is not well served when unhappy atheists can use the law to mow down memorial crosses and renew the suffering for the survivors,” Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Byron Babione said.

KSTU (includes video and link to ACLU documents): The ACLU sent out a letter to Utah school superintendants after a report of a high school girl who was allegedly told to leave after bringing a female date.

Utah Pulse: Numbers from the Pew Research Center shows that 46% of Americans oppose gay marriage, while 45% support legalization. However, 85% of “staunch conservatives” and 72% of “Main Street Republicans” oppose gay marriage, while Democratic groups are all over the map.

Religion Clause: The Summum organization has been attempting for several years to obtain permission to put up a Seven Aphorism’s monument in a park in Pleasant Grove City, Utah.

Religion Clause: Utah’s Senate Bill 314, signed by the governor last March, imposes new limitations on liquor licenses and the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The New American: ADF Senior Counsel Byron Babione expressed his disappointment in the High Court’s refusal. “One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by highway patrol officers and their families,” he said. “Thirteen heroic men fell, leaving their survivors to mourn and memorialize their loved ones, and now those widows, children, parents, colleagues, and many more must suffer through losing the very memorials that honored those heroes. Justice is not well served when unhappy atheists can use the law to mow down memorial crosses and renew the suffering for the survivors.” [more]

Frank D. Mylar at The Salt Lake Tribune: Justice Thomas sees the Supreme Court’s non-decision here as yet another contributing factor to an “Establishment Clause jurisprudence in shambles,” where no one really understands how the court might rule in a given case with memorials that can be interpreted by some as “religious.” It represents a shift further from the objective rule of law and what America’s founders intended, and instead makes us more vulnerable to the whims of the most easily offended observers — like those who see an effort to “establish” religion in memorials like the crosses in Utah . . . Frank D. Mylar, a Salt Lake attorney, was co-counsel for the Utah Highway Patrol Association with the Alliance Defense Fund (www.telladf.org).

Baptist Press: “It is baffling that the Supreme Court did not take this case, in light of the fact that just last year they said that roadside memorials to fallen troopers would not violate the establishment clause,” said Byron Babione, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund.

FRC: On Thursday, Family Research Council Action’s (FRC Action) Values Voter Bus Tour will make a stop in Murray, Utah next to a roadside cross that is now facing removal in the court case, Utah Highway Patrol Association vs. American Atheists. FRC Action and Congressional candidate Carl Wimmer will express deep disappointment in the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal on Monday to hear the case.

Crosswalk ReligionToday News Summaries: Justice is not well-served when unhappy atheists can use the law to mow down memorial crosses and renew the suffering for the survivors,” said ADF senior counsel Byron Babione. Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone dissenter, also harshly criticized the court’s decision, saying it rejected “an opportunity to provide clarity” to an area of law that was “in shambles.”

OneNewsNow.com: But Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Byron Babione tells OneNewsNow that American Atheists claimed the memorials are “a state establishment of religion.” . . . “It is baffling that the Supreme Court did not take this case in light of the fact that just last year they said that roadside memorials to fallen troopers would not violate the Establishment Clause,” the attorney laments.

WorldNetDaily: The Alliance Defense Fund has been fighting on behalf of the Utah Highway Patrol Association to memorialize fallen troopers “in a way they see fit . . . ADF Senior Counsel Byron Babione argued “one atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by highway patrol officers and their families.” “Thirteen heroic men fell, leaving their survivors to mourn and memorialize their loved ones, and now those widows, children, parents, colleagues, and many more must suffer through losing the very memorials that honored those heroes,” he said.

Ken Klukowski at the Washington Examiner: The Utah Highway Patrol Association participated in the case as intervenors represented by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). The ADF’s lead counsel for UHPA, Byron Babione, said, “One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by highway patrol officers and their families.” ADF would continue to fight to protect these memorials, he added. The slight silver lining in this denial is that Thomas’s dissent suggests that the High Court might not have seen the 10th Circuit’s judgment as covering all roadside crosses, instead regarding it as covering only roadside crosses bearing government insignia (which are presumably rare).

Joseph Infranco at National Review Online: The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it would not review an important case on whether displaying a memorial cross is an unconstitutional “establishment” of religion. Justice Thomas issued a 19-page dissenting opinion noting that “the Court reject[ed] an opportunity to provide clarity to an Establishment Clause jurisprudence in shambles.

The Washington Post: The conservative Alliance Defense Fund, which asked the court to consider the case, was disappointed. “Justice is not well served when unhappy atheists can use the law to mow down memorial crosses and renew the suffering for the survivors,” said ADF Senior Counsel Byron Babione.

FRC: Family Research Council (FRC) strongly criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to let stand one of the worst religious assaults in all of American history.

U.S. Supreme Court allows ruling against memorial trooper crosses to stand

Sometimes, it seems, a case may confound the Supreme Court: should it grant certiorari to hear oral argument and decide the question presented by the case, should it deny review even though the case presents important questions, should it rule summarily, without hearing oral arguments, or should it instead hold the case for a related one?

The Washington Post: The family from cable television’s polygamous “Sister Wives” reality show has told a federal judge in Utah how much they’ve been hurt by the threat of prosecution under the state’s bigamy law.

The Salt Lake Tribune: The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to make a decision about whether to hear a case involving the appropriateness of placing 12-foot-high crosses on public property in the Beehive State to memorialize state troopers killed in the line of duty.

OneNewsNow.com: Utah is considering a revolutionary approach to school funding by taking school choice to the next level of “class choice.”

The Salt Lake Tribune: That’s according to a poll released Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign, which kicks off a national bus tour in Salt Lake City on Friday to promote civil rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population.

Religion Clause: In Utah, according to yesterday’s Salt Lake Tribune, it is common for high school students to take advantage of the state’s released time program to enroll in LDS seminary classes that are offered in LDS Church-owned buildings near public high schools.

Deseret News: Even though a new proposal emerging Sunday night would spare the country from going into default on its $14.3 trillion deficit, Utah’s two Senators are sticking to their guns and vowing to vote against the measure when it comes before the Senate.

A law professor attempts to use a homosexual rights ruling to defend a polygamous family in Utah.

At The Volokh Conspiracy , Eugene Volokh comments on a Utah sentencing ruling which holds that viewing “legal” pornography can be considered as a factor at sentencing.

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Democrats made history Saturday afternoon, electing Jim Dabakis as state party chairman by a wide margin. He is believed to be the state’s first openly gay major party leader.

NPR (includes audio): The latest episode in Sister Wives is playing out in the courtroom, not on cable. On Wednesday, the Brown family — the husband, four wives, and 16 children who star in the reality TV show — plans to file a lawsuit in federal court in Utah. The family members say the state’s anti-bigamy law is unconstitutional and that Supreme Court precedent backs them up.

Religion Clause: Utah prosecutors have dropped, at least temporarily, two charges of desecration of a human body that had been brought against a Santeria clergyman (santero).

The Salt Lake Tribune: Rep. Jackie Biskupski, Utah’s first openly gay legislator, announced Monday she is resigning her state House seat because she and her adopted son will be moving out of her district.

The Salt Lake Tribune: A controversial Utah law restricting material deemed “harmful to minors” on the Internet should be barred because it unconstitutionally restricts free speech and interferes with commerce, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is arguing in U.S. District Court.

ADF attorney Gary McCaleb at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: When highway patrolmen wanted to honor thirteen troopers who died serving in the vast expanses of Utah, they decided to use roadside crosses. The private Utah Highway Patrol Association then used volunteer labor, donated materials, and a lot of heart to carefully place memorials at or near where each trooper died.

LifeNews.com: Troubled abortion practitioner Nicola Riley, who has been prohibited from gaining a medical license to do abortions in other states, has been banned from doing them in Utah after pro-life advocates exposed her record.

FRC: – Family Research Council (FRC) filed an amicus brief today in the U.S. Supreme Court case between Utah governmental officials and American Atheists, Inc. The case will determine whether 14 crosses bearing the names of fallen Utah state troopers that have been placed at the roadside locations where the troopers perished is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

Deseret News: “Two Salt Lake escort services have filed suit in federal court, charging that a new law that makes it easier to arrest individuals for sexual solicitation is unconstitutional and should be struck down.”

Religion Clause Blog: Cooke left the church at age 18 or 19 and moved to Phoenix where subsequently he was severely injured in an accident. After receiving the lease for land in Colorado City, Cooke and his wife moved back in a trailer home, but the city refused to provide water, electricity and sewer service. Cooke in this case sued for damages . . .

AP: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a new Utah immigration law that would have allowed police to check the citizenship status of anyone they arrest.

Deseret News: Utah taxpayers spend about $276 million on the effects of divorce and out-of-wedlock childbirth. But while there are effective tools to strengthen marriage and families, those who statistically need help most are the least likely to seek it out, experts say . . . The cost of divorce and out-of-wedlock births to taxpayers nationally exceeds $112 billion a year . . .

AP on Google: An internal tug-of-war over control of jailed polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs’ southern Utah-based church may force Utah courts to walk a constitutional tightrope that experts say could tread a little too close to separation of church and state.

One News Now: “One atheist group’s agenda should not diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol officers and their families,” contends ADF attorney Byron Babione. “We’re asking the Supreme Court to allow the families of the fallen to honor their loved ones through these constitutionally permissible memorials.”

LocalNews8.com: A federal appeals court is blocking a federal judge in Utah from handing control of a communal land trust back to leaders of Warren Jeffs’ polygamous church.

ADF attorney Jim Campbell appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the Utah Highway Patrol Cross Memorials. | MP3 audio 14:43 mins

Christian Post: Conservative legal firm Alliance Defense Fund praised Shurtleff’s action. “One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah highway patrol officers and their families. We are asking the Supreme Court to allow the families of the fallen to honor their loved ones through these constitutionally permissible memorials,” said ADF Senior Counsel Byron Babione in a statement . . . “The Supreme Court recently signaled that individualized memorial crosses honoring fallen troopers simply do not amount to a government establishment of religion,” said Babione. “That guidance applies directly to this case.”

ADF attorney Joe Infranco on the Janet Mefferd Show: ADF takes Utah roadside crosses case to U.S. Supreme Court | MP3 audio 18:22 mins

ADF attorney Byron Babione appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the Utah roadside memorial crosses case. | MP3 audio 5:56 mins

FRC: Family Research Council announced today that the organization is coordinating a nationwide support effort for the State of Utah in the case Davenport v. American Atheists, one of the most important religious liberty cases to be offered to the U.S. Supreme Court in decades . . . The Utah Highway Patrol Association is represented separately by the Alliance Defense Fund.

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 . . .

ABC: The gold standard, a monetary system in which the dollar is valued against a certain weight of gold, lasted until the Great Depression, when the Federal Reserve confiscated gold held by the public. President Nixon abolished the conversion of dollars to gold at a fixed rate in 1971.

LifeSiteNews: Advocating the use of contraception in Utah schools is against the law.

Salt Lake Tribune: “In a rare move, 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg on Monday ordered the court-appointed trust administrator not to comply with a federal court order giving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints temporary control of the trust.” Hat tip: Religion Clause Blog

Washington Post: “A federal judge in Utah has handed control of a $114 million communal land trust back to the leaders of Warren Jeffs’ polygamous church.”

AP: A joint venture between three of the nation’s four largest cell phone carriers will soon offer the United States’ first commercially available mobile fare payment program to a public transportation system.

“What’s different this year is not the raw number of anti-abortion bills, but the fact that many of the toughest, most substantive measures have a good chance of passage due to gains by conservative Republicans in last year’s legislative and gubernatorial elections.”

KSL.com: “Instead of every two years, HB171 requires the Utah Department of Health to inspect without notice the state’s three abortion clinics twice a year. All three clinics are located in Salt Lake County. Doctors’ offices that perform elective abortions also must undergo the semi-annual inspections.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah is steps away from banning insurance coverage of elective abortion and joining five other states with similarly restrictive laws. HB354 . . . ”

The Republic (AP): “The Utah Supreme Court says a federal court ruling on the state’s handling of a communal land trust belonging to Warren Jeffs’ polygamous church could affect two pending appeals.”

Fox13Now.com (includes video): “Three bills dealing with abortion sponsored by Rep. Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) are now being debated on Capitol Hill.” | House Bill 353 – Freedom of Conscience Bill | House Bill 354 Prohibits government issued or sponsored insurance to pay for abortion | House Bill 171 Will require additional licensing and inspections for abortion clinics

Religion Clause Blog: “In a surprising decision yesterday, a Utah federal district court held unconstitutional the five years of state court proceedings aimed at reforming the polygamous FLDS Church’s United Effort Plan Trust . . .In Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. Wisan, (D UT, Feb. 24, 2011), the Utah federal district court held . . . ”

Indiana University: “Polygamy practiced by some 19th century Mormon men had the curious effect of suppressing the overall offspring numbers of Mormon women in plural marriages, say scientists from Indiana University Bloomington and three other institutions in the March 2011 issue of Evolution and Human Behavior.”

MSNBC: “A Utah lawmaker has introduced two new bills that would allow doctors to refuse to perform abortions based on religious or moral grounds. Republican Rep. Carl Wimmer of Herriman says House Bill 353 . . . ”

Standard-Examiner: “Republican Representative Carl Wimmer of Herriman says House Bill 171 would increase the number of abortion clinic inspections to twice a year.”

KJCT8.com: And the Utah chapter of the ACLU says it worries the references to God “may be viewed as a state endorsement of religion.”

Toronto Star: “Only in Canada would this be a matter of constitutional challenge—which just goes to show how far the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been co-opted, manipulated, to turn fundamental concepts on their head in the ever-unravelling tapestry of classic Western democracy . . . While practitioners of plural marriage . . . have come forward to defend their lifestyle . . . so, too, have misguided sectarian allies added their support for striking down a law they claim criminalizes unconventional relationships.”

DFW Catholic: “In the new document filed last week, the Medical Board formally charges Riley with fraudulently attempting to obtain a medical license, unprofessional conduct, aiding an unqualified person in the practice of medicine, and lying on her medical board license application.”

Vancouver Sun: “It is no secret that there are child brides and teen mothers in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., and that many of them are illegal immigrants from the United States . . . The numbers come from the B.C. Vital Statistics Agency and were filed as an affidavit last week in B.C. Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Robert Bauman is hearing a constitutional reference case to determine whether Canada’s polygamy law is valid.”

Montreal Gazette: “A woman from the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., told a Vancouver courtroom Wednesday she wasn’t worried about her husband marrying a 15-year-old girl because she ‘seemed very responsible.’ The 24-year-old mother, who was married at 17, made the comment during her cross-examination at the polygamy trial in B.C. Supreme Court.”

Vancouver Sun: Child brides forced to make a marriage choice