U.S. Army Private First Class Nasser Jason Abdo, 21, first made the news last August when, arguing that his Islamic faith contradicts serving in the American military, he filed for conscientious objector (C.O.) status. Referring to current American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Abdo asserted that a Muslim “is not allowed to participate in an […]
New York’s newly-enforced law recognizing same-sex “marriage” is being challenged by lawyers who say the state’s constitutional and legal procedures were “flagrantly” violated when lawmakers pushed the bill through last month. Liberty Counsel has filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court for declaratory and injunctive relief against the law that was signed on […]
Should a 13-year-old be able to purchase a school-shooting simulator without parents’ knowledge or consent? The Supreme Court says that freedom of speech requires that 13-year-olds have that opportunity. In a 7-2 decision, the court struck down a California law barring the sale of graphically violent video games to people under 18. I have not […]
Just when you thought it was not possible for the Holder Justice Department to become any more hostile to the national and homeland security interests of the American people, along comes yet another travesty. This one threatens both, as it apparently would involve turning loose in America a convicted terrorist known to be a top […]
In Poland, a nation-wide grassroots effort has lead to the proposal of bold, new legislation aimed at removing all exceptions to the country’s abortion laws thus protecting children from the moment of conception. The proposed bill is the product of an effort led by Warsaw’s PRO Foundation. Under Poland’s political system, organizers needed to collect […]
From the Irish Catholic comes news that confirms just how far Ireland has fallen from its tradition of being the “land of saints and scholars”: The Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Children are all indicating that a proposed new law will require priests to break the seal of confession if someone confesses […]
Pardon my exasperation, but there are times when the elitist views of the mandarins who set rules for the rest of us from the federal bench and other similarly exalted vantage points are indeed upsetting. As an example, consider the Supreme Court and its decision last month on selling and renting violent video games to […]
I wonder how many people who criticize the Casey Anthony jury have tried to get out of jury duty when they were called. There was a time, before I served on a jury, when I was one of those whose life was so busy there was no way I wanted the inconvenience of it. I […]
Casey Anthony’s acquittal of the killing of her precious child, Caylee, has shocked the nation. Many who watched the trial on TV – and who were not constrained from taking into account inadmissible evidence, the punditry of various talking heads, or the overwhelming public sentiment against Ms. Anthony – have been critical of the jury’s […]
With liberal activists emboldened by their recent legislative victory in New York (where a same-sex “marriage” bill was passed into law on June 24th) one can reasonably expect to see efforts redoubled to further promote the “gay rights” agenda nationally. With this in mind I’d like to offer some observations. Victory for Freedom? In […]
In the political battle that ended last week with New York’s legalization of gay marriage, Catholic defenders of man-woman marriage found themselves pitted against an unlikely batch of adversaries: fellow Catholics. Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who, like his father, has spent his career touting his Catholic credentials while ignoring church teachings that clash with his […]
The European Court of Human Rights just emphasised unanimously that “no one should show total, blind obedience to orders which so flagrantly infringed not only the principles of national legislation but also internationally recognised human rights, in particular the right to life.” (from the Court press release) This is the fundamental basement of the right, […]
1. Muslim slave trade in Africa has lasted 14 centuries and continues to this day in places like Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. 2. Over 17 million slaves (mostly black women and children) were transported out of Africa by Islamic traders. Another 85 million are believed to have died en route. 3. The Prophet Muhammad practiced and approved of […]
Yesterday, in a split 2-1 decision, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare in the case of Thomas More Law Center v. Barack Hussein Obama, the first case to challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Thomas More Law Center will ask the U.S. Supreme […]
Acrimonious and bitter is the fight in America about giving legal approval to gay and lesbian sexual activity. Polarization about putting same-sex unions on a par with traditional marriage pits members of New York City’s elite against one another. Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan said he was “very disappointed, very saddened and very worried” by the […]
“Gay rights have arrived at the United Nations as of today,” proclaimed a senior US official during a triumphant briefing. Her boss, Hilary Clinton, called it a “historic moment” for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered” (LGBT) persons. What they were referring to was a non-binding resolution passed [Friday, June 17] by a vote of 23-19 […]
The Legislature of the State of Texas meets every two years for 140 days. It is in session this year, and among the bills that it has passed is one that requires a woman who is seeking to abort her child to have a sonogram at least 24 hours prior to having an abortion. The […]
This November the citizens of San Francisco will decide whether to ban circumcision, a practice that dates from antiquity and is embraced by at least three of the world’s major religions. Now, the fact that something stretches far back into human history is by no means a guarantee that it has social value. Slavery, human […]
Today, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Elijah Group, an Christian church prohibited from worshiping in its building because that building was located in a retail district. The Becket Fund represented the church against the City of Leon Valley, Texas, which refused to allow churches into its retail zone, but welcomed businesses […]
He was the wrong messenger for the right message. Judging by the obituaries published since his death from pulmonary thrombosis last week, that seems to be the mainstream media consensus on Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the 83-year-old pathologist who helped kill more than 130 people during his decades-long campaign for assisted suicide. Although “Dr. Death” might […]
Last week witnessed popular Muslim preacher Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini boast about how Islam allows Muslims to buy and sell conquered infidel women, so that “When I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.” This week’s depraved anachronism comes from a Muslim woman—Salwa al-Mutairi, a political […]
Short Comments on the ECHR Judgment R.R. v Poland On May 26th, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered a judgment in the case of R.R. v. Poland (application no. 27617/04). The court ruled that there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and a violation of Article […]
Some early media reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden were, to use as charitable a word as possible, unserious. To such a point that one was reminded of a scene in The Wizard of Oz. The wicked witch has been killed, and the other characters dance about and merrily sing, “Ding-dong, the witch […]
The Italian crucifix case (Lautsi case) is the first case in the history of the Court which attracts so much attention and mobilizes so much people to act. With this case, the Court appeared publicly as an ideological battlefield where significant political decisions are passed in certain confidentiality. This case arose in the rather exceptional […]
