Guns Stop People From Killing People!

How about a little Second Amendment update!

In today's column, George Will posits this ironic headline from the mainstream media:

No one saw the possible problem with the word "despite" in this headline: "Gun crime continues to decrease despite increase in gun sales."

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Nebraska Marriage Amendment

Here is the text of the Amendment, Nebraska Constitution (art. I, sec. 29) , which I helped draft:

Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.

Neb. Const. art. I, sec. 29 (2000);
Adopted 2000, Initiative Measure No. 416.

Is this Nebraska Amendment constitutional under the 14th Amendment?

Obamacare Case Granted Cert

The Gotham Times has the story.

Here is an excerpt:

The Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from just one decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, the only one so far striking down the mandate. The decision, from a divided three-judge panel, said the mandate overstepped Congressional authority and could not be justified by the constitutional power “to regulate commerce” or “to lay and collect taxes.”
The appeals court went no further, though, severing the mandate from the rest of the law.
On Monday, the justices agreed to decide not only whether the mandate is constitutional but also whether, if it is not, how much of the balance of the law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, must fall along with it.
Even the Obama administration, while arguing that the mandate is perfectly constitutional, has said that it is “absolutely intertwined” with two other provisions — one forbidding insurers to turn away applicants, the other barring them from taking account of pre-existing conditions. 

Some are calling this the Supreme Court's "Term of the Century" because so many important cases are before the Court this year.

What's Good For Peter and Paul

Is Good For Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn. No?

From the ReligionClause Blog:

"Sister Wives" Challenge Utah's Ban on Polygamy

A lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Utah yesterday by the polygamous family featured on the TLC series "Sister Wives" challenging the constitutionality of Utah's statute which bars polygamy.  The complaint (full text) in Brown v. Herbert, (D UT, filed 7/13/3011) summarizes the claims of Kody Brown and his 4 wives as follows:

To the extent that Article III of the Utah State Constitution, Utah Code Ann. §30-1-2, and ... §30-1-4.1 are used as the basis for the criminalization of plural relationships or families, the Brown family seeks a declaration that these laws are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment ... and the Free Exercise, Establishment, Free Speech, and Freedom of Association Clauses of the First Amendment....

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, plaintiffs' lawyer filing the lawsuit-- George Washington University Prof. Jonathan Turley -- at a press conference said: "We can’t embrace privacy as a principle and pick and choose who can enjoy it."  Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says polygamy is different because it involves not just consenting adults, but also their entire families. According to AP, Utah has not prosecuted  prosecuted anyone for polygamy under its bigamy statute since 2003. However, according to the complaint in the lawsuit, the Browns have been subject to criminal investigations in Utah.

Sex for Phillies Tickets

Protected under Lawrence? Link

Suppose a man asks a woman on a date to attend the World Series. She accepts, goes to the game at his expense, and then they have sex at his apartment after the game. Protected under Lawrence?

Suppose a woman places an ad in the personals section of the New York Review of Books: "Busy forty-something professional woman seeks sexual relationship with busy professional man." They meet in a bar and she is arrested by the undercover police officer who responded to her ad? Protected under Lawrence?

Pro-Life Nurses Sue Hospital

Here is a Press Release about a law suit recently filed by ADF, a public interest law firm I often work with:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12 nurses sue NJ hospital for forcing them to participate in abortions

ADF represents nurses in lawsuit against Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ
Tuesday, November 01, 2011

ADF attorney sound bite:  Matt Bowman

NEWARK, N.J. — Twelve nurses represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit Monday against their employer, a hospital run by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, for requiring them to participate in abortions. Federal and state law both protect them from being forced to do so.

“Pro-life nurses shouldn’t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “No less than 12 nurses have encountered threats to their jobs at this hospital ever since a policy change required them to participate in the abortions regardless of their religious objections. That is flatly illegal.”

Federal law prohibits hospitals that receive certain federal funds from forcing employees to participate in abortions. UMDNJ receives approximately $60 million in federal funds annually. In addition, New Jersey law states, “No person shall be required to perform or assist in the performance of an abortion or sterilization.”

In September, UMDNJ initiated a policy change and began telling Same Day Surgery Unit nurses that they must assist abortions. The hospital imposed the policy on the nurses in October and repeatedly threatened that they must assist abortions or be terminated.

When one nurse objected to assisting abortions on the grounds of her religious beliefs, a supervisor responded that UMDNJ has “no regard for religious beliefs” of nurses who object to participating in abortions.

The hospital scheduled the nurses to begin training to assist abortions on Oct. 14. The training involves actually assisting surgical abortions, which the nurses believe is, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, “an act of violence against innocent human life.”

If the court does not issue an order requested by ADF attorneys that stops the training sessions while the lawsuit moves forward, the nurses and their colleagues will continue to be scheduled one by one to undergo the training and then to assist abortions on a regular basis. The lawsuit also requests that the hospital be ordered to return part of the federal taxpayer money it has received in light of its violation of federal law.

Demetrios K. Stratis, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance is local counsel in the case, Danquah v. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. ADF is currently involved in a similar lawsuit in New York state court involving a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

• Photo of nurse Lorna Jose-Mendoza, who is scheduled to assist with abortions Nov. 4 against her religious objections
• Pronunciation guide: Bowman (BOH’-min)