In an astonishing concession under pressure from the Catholic Church, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission has agreed to remove language from a draft report that simply stated that New Zealand is a secular state and that religion was only for the “private sphere.”
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Category: Constitutional Law
The French Parliament has voted to become the second country (Belgium) to ban full burqas. The lawmakers voted to make it illegal for women to wear a full burqas or nijab in public. It is a direct assault on religious freedom from a nation that helped define the basic rights of all humans.
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There is an interesting controversy at the University of Illinois where the university has fired adjunct professor Dr. Kenneth Howell for teaching why homosexual acts violate natural moral law under the tenets of the Catholic church. Howell taught courses on the Catholic faith at the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center. He was fired after a student labeled his statements “hate speech.”
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In a major ruling, United States District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro has struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining lmarriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. The bill was supported and signed by former President Bill Clinton. Tauro was appointed to the bench by President Nixon back in 1972.
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The Obama Administration is continuing to feel the heat over its decision to challenge the Arizona immigration law — a move making immigration a rallying cry for the November elections. With polls showing that citizens oppose the federal lawsuit two to one and that over sixty percent want similar laws in their own states, some Democrats are complaining that the Administration has put a nail in their political coffins. The level of anger on the issue is reflected by the astonishing level of financial support donated to Arizona: roughly $500,000 to pay for the state to fight the federal lawsuit.
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Two prominent art curators in Moscow, Yury Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, are facing three years in prison for showing art that insulted the Russian Orthodox Church. It is the latest example of blasphemy prosecutions, a growing trend in the West and industrialized nations.
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The Obama Administration filed a challenge of the Arizona immigration law in a move that comes with great legal and political risks. As noted in a recent column, the Arizona law remains quite popular around the country and the Administration will be in the unenviable position of arguing that increased enforcement conflicts with its own policies. Legally, the Justice Department will have to make out a case for implied preemption.
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We often run Iranian blogs to show clown-like policies such as requiring Islamic haircuts or mannequin mascetomies. However, it is important to remember the plight of women and dissidents under Iran’s medieval Sharia system. There is no more frightening example than the scheduled stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, for conducting an “illicit relationship outside marriage.” Convicted in May 2006, Ashtiani has already been given 99 lashes under her Sharia sentence.
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Leaders of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir met in Australia this week to call on Muslims to reject Democracy and moderate Islam as “haram” or forbidden under the Koran (Qur’an). British Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Burhan Hanif told an audience that Democracy is a lie and that no laws but those in the Koran could govern mankind.
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U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson has issued a major decision in favor of free speech and free association. In a 68-page decision, Baylson struck down Pennsylvania’s blasphemy law.
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We have another outrageous case involving the government using eminent domain to take property from one private citizen to give to another. This case comes from New York where the Court of Appeals has upheld the right of the Empire State Development Company to seize the Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage building in Manhattanville and give it to Columbia University. It is part of the troubling legacy of the Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision.
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A German man may go to jail for six months over a ringtone. The man has been using a Hitler speech as his ringtone on his cellphone. In Germany, it is a crime to display Nazi symbols or Nazi works.
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In another 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against Christian law students at Hastings Law School in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Justice Ginsburg ruled that Christian students must adhere to non-discrimination policies if they are to accept funding or benefits from the school.
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In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court has effectively struck down Chicago’s gun law and extended its earlier ruling on the Second Amendment to all states as a fundamental right. It is the decision that some of us anticipated as consistent with past rulings on fundamental rights. The impact will be considerable as all states will now have to respect the individual right of gun ownership under the Second Amendment.
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Today the Senate will begin one of the longest running Kabuki shows in history. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearings — a process long ridiculed for its ritualized and exaggerated content. The big question is whether Kagan will abandon her previously stated position that nominees should have to answer substantive questions on their views — a rejection of the so-called “Ginsburg Rule.” I will be commenting on the confirmation process at noon on MSNBC and later on Countdown.
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