Religion & Law

?Aiming to change birth records, transgender people say NYC rules ask too much, file lawsuits?

Posted on March 22, 2011
Washington Post: Some transgender people say New York City is making it too difficult for them to change their birth certificates to reflect the people they have become.

Student vows to bring gay-straight alliance into Ontario Catholic school

Posted on March 21, 2011
LifeSiteNews: A student at an Ontario Catholic high school whose bid to launch a ?gay-straight alliance? was denied and subsequently made national media, had refused the school?s offer to start a support group for homosexuals that?s in line with Catholic teaching.

MD Marriage Vote Uncovers Disconnect Between Catholic Legislators and Church Teaching

Posted on March 21, 2011
National Catholic Register: Reflecting on the lessons learned during the course of two political fights over legal same-sex ?marriage? in the Archdiocese of Washington ? the first in the District of Columbia and the second in Maryland ? Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington acknowledged that Church leaders are on a sharp learning curve...

Catholic Bishop Tobin: ?Teach Us How To Pray? ? In Cranston

Posted on March 21, 2011
The Rhode Island Catholic: "Now, it seems to me that if there has ever been an issue that cries out for some restraint and common sense, rather than litigation, it?s this one." . . . The desire to scrub every reference to God and religious faith from public life, including our schools, is tiresome and irritating...

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Mexico: 162 priests threatened with death, 2 killed, and more than 1,000 threatened

Posted on March 21, 2011
Fides.org: "Last year more than one thousand priests were victims of attempted extortions (for their ?protection?, amounts ranging from ten thousand to two million Mexican pesos have been demanded). About 162 were threatened with death. Two priests were kidnapped and killed...

Ethiopia: 10,000 Christians flee homes after 69 churches burned down

Posted on March 21, 2011
Catholic Culture : "Muslim extremists have burned down 69 Protestant churches-- 46 of them Pentecostal-- in southwestern Ethiopia."

WA: Planned Parenthood Sends Woman to Hospital After Botched Abortion

Posted on March 21, 2011
LifeNews: A Planned Parenthood in Everett, Washington sent a woman to the hospital late Friday following a botched abortion and the head of the local abortion business is coming under fire for her response to the events.

?Gay Marriage and the Glories of the World?

Posted on March 21, 2011
Jeff Mirius writes at Catholic Culture: "Have I hinted that the growth of support for gay marriage over the past few years tells us more about the tendency of people to espouse fashionable ideas than about any significant moral shift? It might almost be said that taking significant moral positions, at least from the point of view of one?s own interior life, depends precisely on the ability to resist the temptation to be fashionable...

European Court Upholds Crucifixes in Public Schools

Posted on March 21, 2011
Lawrence D. Jones writes at the Christian Post: "The European Court of Human Rights shouldn't overstep its authority and force a member nation to abandon traditions and beliefs that it has a sovereign right to protect if it so chooses," said Roger Kiska, legal counsel of Alliance Defense Fund, who was present at the announcement of the court's decision...

Piero A. Tozzi on the Zeb Bell Show: EU court rules crucifixes can stay in Italian classrooms

Posted on March 21, 2011
ADF attorney Piero A. Tozzi appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the ruling. A related ADF press release is here. | MP3 audio 10:46 mins

Dale Schowengerdt on the Paul Edwards Program: The President?s refusal to defend the Federal DOMA

Posted on March 21, 2011
ADF attorney Dale Schowengerdt appeared on the Paul Edwards Program to discuss President Obama's refusal to defend the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. | MP3 audio 9:08 mins

Jeremy Tedesco on the Radio: Mich. AG supports the case of a student counselor expelled for opposing homosexual behavior

Posted on March 21, 2011
ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the radio to discuss the case of Julia Ward Howe. | The Janet Mefferd Show; MP3 audio 18:22 mins | The Hugh Hewitt Show; MP3 audio 5:32 mins

Abortion battles spring up nationwide as states test the limits of Roe v. Wade

Posted on March 21, 2011
CBS: State bills are currently pending all over the country, and many states are considering multiple abortion-related bills. (Americans United for Life has a map on its website showing how widespread the anti-abortion efforts are.)

Book Review: Schools for Misrule: Law schools wield more social influence than any other part of the American university. To what effect?

Posted on March 21, 2011
Wall Street Journal: Mr. Olson reminds us that the mere presence of law schools on college campuses was deeply controversial at the turn of the last century. Thorstein Veblen said that law schools belonged in the academy no more than schools of dancing or fencing, because their practical, vocational training detracted from the enterprise of intellectual discovery...

Joe Infranco on the Rich Buhler: NH homeschooler ordered to public school

Posted on March 21, 2011
ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Rich Buhler Show to discuss this: NH Supreme Court sidesteps critical religious liberty issue in homeschooler case. | MP3 audio 14:00 mins

European court upholds Italy?s right to display crucifixes in classroom

Posted on March 21, 2011
Christian Today: Legal counsel Roger Kiska, of the Alliance Defense Fund, was present at the court when the ruling was passed down today. He welcomed the decision: ?The European Court of Human Rights shouldn?t overstep its authority and force a member nation to abandon traditions and beliefs that it has a sovereign right to protect if it so chooses.

Canada?s Supreme Court Will Decide Niqab In Court Case

Posted on March 21, 2011
Religion Clause Blog:  Canada's Supreme Court this week granted leave to appeal in N.S. v. Her Majesty the Queen, (leave granted, March 17, 2011).

Ministerial Exception Does Not Bar Catholic High School Teacher?s Age Discrimination Claim

Posted on March 21, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: "In Hendricks v. Marist Catholic High School, (D OR, March 16, 2011), an Oregon federal district court refused to apply the ministerial exception to prevent a Catholic high school teacher from bringing an age discrimination claim after his teaching contract was terminated...

MD: Pregnancy centers win again

Posted on March 21, 2011
Daniel McConchie writes at LifeSiteNews: Mark Rienzi, an attorney allied with the Alliance Defense Fund and Americans United for Life, helped fight the law in court. In an email, he stated, ?We?re very happy with the Judge?s ruling. The County has no business taking over the walls of pro-life pregnancy centers to tell women to go elsewhere...

In Egypt, Big Win For Constitutional Amendments May Boost Muslim Brotherhood

Posted on March 21, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: "The New York Times reported that 77.2% of Egyptian voters approved the country's proposed constitutional amendments in a referendum election held Sunday. 41% of all eligible voters turned out at the polls. Those in the more liberal wings of Egyptian politics say that the vote means early elections can be called...

Amish Alternative Bankruptcy Plan Would Violate Establishment Clause

Posted on March 21, 2011
Religion Clause Blog: "In re Beachy, (ND OH Bkrpt., March 18, 2011 . . . Because both the debtor and the vast majority of investors are members of the Amish or Mennonite communities, a group from those communities proposed a Plain Community alternative plan to the bankruptcy proceedings...

Homeschooled Christian Girl Court-Ordered to Public School

Posted on March 21, 2011
Yahoo News: "According to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), allied with the mother's attorney, the New Hampshire's Supreme Court has previously stated that American home education is a tradition and a right."

?Same-sex marriages give polygamy a legal boost?

Posted on March 21, 2011
Valerie Richardson writes at the Washington Times: ?Unlike same-sex marriage, which has no historical roots and is a new frontier ? you can?t say the same thing about polygamy,? said Austin Nimocks, attorney for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, which opposes same-sex marriage...

Ron Paul Renews Uphill Push to Abolish Fed

Posted on March 21, 2011
Newsmax: "The Texas lawmaker has long championed dismantling the Fed, but at a hearing on Thursday slammed its $600 billion bond buying program, which he said was creating inflation and undercutting the dollar. This week he introduced legislation abolishing the Fed...

Suit against Pocono Mountain teeters on fuzzy line between church, school

Posted on March 21, 2011
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...

IN: ?Senate stalls same-sex marriage vote?

Posted on March 21, 2011
Indiana Daily Student: "The Senate will vote on the amendment, sponsored by Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero, this week . . . Representatives from the Alliance Defense Fund and the American Family Association of Indiana testified in favor of the amendment."

ADF appeals free-speech cases to SCOTUS

Posted on March 21, 2011
One News Now: David Hacker serves as legal counsel with ADF. "The rulings from the courts in Maryland and California essentially conflict with other federal courts which have held for many years that...if a student is subject to a code of conduct on campus, he or she can challenge that if it stifles or chills their speech...

NH High Court Upholds Ruling Against Home Schooler

Posted on March 21, 2011
The New American: While home school advocates were concerned the case might set a precedent for other courts to force home schooled children to attend public school, Joseph Infranco, senior counsel for ADF, predicted that because the state court limited its decision to the facts in the case, the ruling could not be used ?as a battering-ram against religious liberty or home schooling ? and ADF will be vigilant to make sure that it?s not...

ADF lawsuit results in protection for student religious expression at L.A. school district

Posted on March 21, 2011
The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to change a policy that initially prevented a 5th-grade student afflicted with cerebral palsy from performing to a Christian song as part of a talent show in February.

New York City sued over law targeting pregnancy care centers

Posted on March 21, 2011
New code requires centers to post, publish notices advising women to seek help elsewhere, but law does not affect abortion facilities

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