Appeals Court Reverses Denial of Name Change After Gender Reassignment

In In re Steven Charles Harvey, (OK Ct. Civil App., Nov. 20, 2012), an Oklahoma appeals court held that a trial court judge abused his discretion in denying Steven Charles Harvey, who was undergoing a sex change, the right to change his name to Christie Ann Harvey. The trial judge (full text of trial court opinion) had held that it would assist that which is fraudulent to allow the name change because "a sex change cannot make a man a woman or a woman a man." The trial judge argued this could lead to inadvertent or illegal same-sex marriage, or, in case of a crime, could lead police to ignore a female suspect because they had retrieved male DNA.  In support of his denial of the name change petition, the trial court judge quoted from the Biblical book of Genesis: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them...." and went on to say: "The DNA code shows God meant for them to stay male and female." The appeals court agreed with petitioner that there is nothing fraudulent in the use of a traditionally female name by one with male DNA. The Oklahoman reports on the appeals court decision.

British Court Says Employer Breached Contract In Disciplining Christian Employee For Facebook Remarks

In Smith v. Trafford Housing Trust, (EWHC, Nov. 16, 2012), a British trial court (the England and Wales High Court Chancery Division) held that a non-profit organization that owns rental properties across the Borough of Trafford was in breach of contract when it demoted a Christian employee because of Facebook postings he made opposing performing of same-sex marriages in churches. The housing trust had argued that their employee, by making the posting, violated its employee code of conduct and its equal opportunity policy. Rejecting those contentions, Mr. Justice Briggs wrote in part:

I do not consider that any reasonable reader of Mr Smith’s Facebook wall page could rationally conclude that his two postings about gay marriage in church were made in any relevant sense on the Trust’s behalf....

The prohibition on the promotion of the political and religious views in the Code of Conduct did not, as a matter of interpretation and application, extend to Mr Smith’s Facebook wall....

Mr Smith’s use of his Facebook involved his work colleagues only to the extent that they sought his views by becoming his Facebook friends, and that did not detract to any significant extent from the essentially personal and social nature of his use of it as a medium for communication.

BreakingNews.ie and The Register both report on the decision.

Other Election Results of Interest

In Tuesday's election, former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore won in his quest to again hold that office.  Moore captured 52% of the vote. (Results). As reported by AL.com, Moore, a Republican, defeated his Democratic challenger, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance.  When Moore previously served as chief justice, he was removed from office for refusing to comply with a federal court order to dismantle a 5,200 pound granite Ten Commandments monument in the lobby of the state judicial building.

Iowans voted Tuesday to retain state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins on the court. Opponents of same-sex marriage had urged a vote against retention because Wiggins was one of the 7 justices who voted in 2009 to invalidate the state's law that had barred recognition of same-sex marriages. Wiggins received a 54.6% vote in favor of retention. (Results.) Three other of justices who voted in favor of same-sex marriage in the 2009 case lost their bid for retention in the 2010 election. (Des Moines Register).

Tulsi Gabbard, who won the race for U.S. House of Representatives in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional district on Tuesday, becomes the first Hindu member of the U.S. Congress. (IndiaWest).

Mazie Hirono, currently representing Hawaii's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, won her bid for election from Hawaii to the U.S. Senate. She becomes the first Buddhist member of the U.S. Senate. (Wall Street Journal).

Same-Sex Marriage Proponents Win 4 Out of 4 Yesterday

In four states yesterday, voters approved of same-sex marriage.  In Washington state (official results), voters passed Referendum Measure 74 by a vote of 51.79% for approval, and 41.21% for rejection. The referendum approved the same-sex marriage law that the legislature passed earlier this year. Seattle Times reports on the measure.

In a Maryland referendum, voters approved (official results) the Civil Marriage Protection Act that had been enacted earlier this year by the state legislature. The vote on the referendum, Question 06, was 51.9% for the law, and 48.1% against the law. Washington Post reports on the vote.

In Maine, with 75% of the precincts reporting, it appears that voters have approved Question 1, authorizing the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The vote so far is 53% in favor and 47% opposed. (Results). Boston Globe reports on the vote.

In Minnesota (official results), voters defeated a state constitutional amendment that would have provided that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota. With almost 99% of the precincts reporting, only 47.65% voted in favor of the amendment. Duluth News Tribune reports on the vote.

NY Governor Criticizes Rabbi's Comments Blaming Sandy On Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a press release strongly criticizing comments made by Rabbi Noson Leiter, Executive Director of Torah Jews for Decency. Leiter in an appearance on VC America's Crosstalk (audio recording of program) blamed the flooding from Hurricane Sandy in New York on the state's legalization of same-sex marriage. Cuomo said in part:

The comments made by Rabbi Noson Leiter that sought to link the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy to our state's embrace of marriage equality are as offensive as they are ignorant.... This kind of hateful rhetoric has no place in our public discourse, and is particularly distasteful in times of tragedy.... I call on Rabbi Leiter to apologize immediately for his hurtful comments.

Vos Iz Neias? also reports on these developments.

Down-Ballot Votes To Watch Tomorrow

While the Presidential contest obviously looms largest at the polls tomorrow, those interested in church-state and religious liberty issues are watching a number of down-ballot issues and contests.

• Florida's Amendment 8 would remove the state constitution's ban on public funds going to religious institutions and instead would ban, to the extent consistent with the federal Constitution, the government from denying participation in funding or programs on the basis of religious identity or belief. (Background from Naples Daily News).
  
• Four states have same-sex marriage issues on the ballot: Maine (Question 1); Maryland (Question 6); Minnesota (Proposed Amendment 1); and Washington (Referendum Measure 74).
  
• Two states have ballot issues relating to abortion. Florida: Amendment 6 which, with limited exceptions, would prohibit the use of public funds for abortion. Montana: Legislative Referendum 120 would, with some exceptions, require physicians to notify parents 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor under 16.

Also two votes on state supreme court justices are of particular interest:

• In Alabama, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (known for his defense of a 10 Commandments monument in Alabama's Judicial Building) is again running for that office against Democrat Robert Vance (whose father, a federal appeals court judge, was assassinated by a mail bomb in 1989). (Background on the contest from AP).
• In Iowa, state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins faces significant opposition from same-sex marriage opponents in his retention election.  Wiggins was one of the 7 justices who in a 2009 case voted to invalidate the state's law that had barred recognition of same-sex marriages. (See prior posting.)

NY High Court Refuses To Review Case Rejecting Challenge To Marriage Equality Law

Yesterday, the New York Court of Appeals-- the state's highest court-- denied a motion for leave to appeal in New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms v. New York State Senate, (Entry List).  In the case, a state intermediate appeals court in July  rejected a challenge to the state's Marriage Equality Law (which permits same-sex marriage). Plaintiffs had argued that private lobbying of the Republican Conference of the State Senate in favor of the law by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo violated the Open Meetings Act. (See prior posting.) In a statement yesterday after the court's decision, Governor Cuomo said:

New York State has served as a beacon for progressive ideals and this statute is a clear reminder of what this State stands for: equality and justice for all. With the Court’s decision, same-sex couples no longer have to worry that their right to marry could be legally challenged in this State. The freedom to marry in this State is secure for generations to come.

The Legislative Gazette reports on the decision.

Women File Administrative Complaint Over NY Farm's Religious Objections To Hosting Same-Sex Wedding

In New York this month, two Albany women, Jennie McCarthy and Melissa Erwin, have filed a discrimination complaint with the New York Division of Human Rights after Liberty Ridge Farm, a Shcaghticoke (NY) tourist attraction, refused to host the women's same-sex wedding. According to yesterday's Lichtfield County (CT) Register Citizen, Robert and Cynthia Gifford, the farm's owners, have religious objections to same-sex marriage.  Their spokesman argued that "they ought to have the opportunity to say that this is a behavior that they just don’t agree with and they just don’t condone on their privately owned property."  The New York Human Rights Law bars places of public accommodation from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

President Obama's Brand of Christianity Is Analyzed

CNN's Belief blog on Sunday carried a lengthy analysis of President Obama's Christian faith, titling the article The Gospel According to Obama. This excerpt gives a flavor of the article:

Historians may remember Obama as the nation’s first black president, but he’s also a religious pioneer. He’s not only changed people’s perception of who can be president, some scholars and pastors say, but he’s also expanding the definition of who can be a Christian by challenging the religious right’s domination of the national stage.

When Obama invoked Jesus to support same-sex marriage, framed health care as a moral imperative to care for “the least of these,’’ and once urged people to read their Bible but just not literally, he was invoking another Christian tradition that once dominated American public life so much that it gave the nation its first megachurches, historians say....

Some Christians, however, still see Obama as the “other.” He doesn’t act or talk like other Christians, says the Rev. Gary Cass, a conservative Christian president of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission..... Cass says he’s never heard Obama say he’s “born-again.” There’s no emotional conversion story to hang onto.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Jerg Gutmann, Causes of Corruption in Religious Organizations, (October 19, 2012).
• Caroline Mala Corbin, The Contraception Mandate, (Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, Vol. 106, Forthcoming).
• Charlton C. Copeland, Creation Stories: Stanley Hauerwas, Same-Sex Marriage, and Narrative in Law and Theology, (Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 75, No. 4, 2012).
• Frederick Mark Gedicks, With Religious Liberty for All: A Defense of the Affordable Care Act's Contraception Coverage Mandate, (American Constitution Society for Law and Policy Issue Brief, Oct. 18, 2012).
• Menachem Mautner, Religion in Politics: Rawls and Habermas on Deliberation and Justification, (Hanoch Dagan, Yedidia Z. Stern and Shachar Lifshitz eds., The Israel Democracy Institute, 2013).
• Wassim Rajhi, Islamic Finance, Distress and Restructuring: Lessons from Asian Financial Crises, (October 17, 2012).
• Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Is the Jewish Tradition Intellectual Property?, (4 WIPO Journal, Forthcoming).

From SmartCILP:

• Rex Ahdar, Regulating Religious Coercion, [Abstract], 8 Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties 215-243 (2012).
• Yaseen Eldik and Monica C. Bell, The Establishment Clause and Public Education in an Islamophobic Era, [Abstract], 8  Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties 245-258 (2012).
• Mary Ann Glendon, Harold J. Berman Lecture. Religious Freedom--A Second-Class Right?, 61 Emory Law Journal 971-990 (2012).
• Myriam Hunter-Henin, Why the French Don't Like the Burqa: Laicite, National Identity and Religious Freedom, [Abstract], 61 International & Comparative Law Quarterly 613-639 (2012).
• John Witte, Jr. and Don S. Browning, Christianity's Mixed Contributions to Children's Rights: Traditional Teachings, Modern Doubts, 61 Emory Law Journal 991-1014 (2012).

2nd Circuit in 2-1 Decision Finds DOMA Unconstitutional

In Windsor v. United States, (2d Cir., Oct. 18, 2012), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (1 USC Sec. 7) is unconstitutional under the equal protection component of the 5th Amendment. In a suit by the surviving spouse of a lesbian couple who was denied the spousal deduction under the federal estate tax law, the majority held that it must apply heightened (intermediate level) scrutiny because homosexuals are a quasi-suspect classification:

A) homosexuals as a group have historically endured persecution and discrimination; B) homosexuality has no relation to aptitude or ability to contribute to society; C) homosexuals are a discernible group with non-obvious distinguishing characteristics, especially in the subset of those who enter same-sex marriages; and D) the class remains a politically weakened minority.

None of the justifications offered for DOMA-- maintaining a uniform definition of marriage; protecting the fisc; preserving a traditional understanding of marriage; or encouraging responsible procreation-- are strong enough to justify the discrimination involved.  In concluding, Chief Judge Jacobs, writing for the majority said:

Our straightforward legal analysis sidesteps the fair point that same-sex marriage is unknown to history and tradition.  But law (federal or state) is not concerned with holy matrimony.  Government deals with marriage as a civil status--however fundamental--and New York has elected to extend that status to same-sex couples.  A state may enforce and dissolve a couple’s marriage, but it cannot sanctify or bless it.  For that, the pair must go next door.

Judge Straub dissented, arguing first that the issue is controlled by the Supreme Court's summary dismissal of a similar challenge in 1972 in Baker v. Nelson. He concluded further that DOMA should be subject only to rational basis review, and that several of the rationales advanced for the law satisfy that level of scrutiny.

AP reports on the decision. In May, the 1st Circuit also found DOMA unconstitutional. (See prior posting.)

Recent Articles of Interest (Installment 2 For This Week)

From SSRN:

• Robin Fretwell Wilson, The Calculus of Accommodation: Contraception, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, and Other Clashes Between Religion and the State, (Boston College Law Review, Vol. 53, p. 1417, 2012).
• Amos N. Guiora and Julia Chamberlin, Religion and the Status of Women, (October 2, 2012).
• Aaron J. Rappaport, Tinka M. Veldhuis, and Amos N. Guiora, Homeland Security and the Inmate Population: The Risk and Reality of Islamic Radicalization in Prison, (Special Needs Offenders IN Correctional Institutions, p. 431, Lior Gideon, ed., 2012).
• Kay Wilson, Penelope June Weller, Benevolent Paternalism or a Clash of Values: Motherhood and Refusal of Medical Treatment in Ireland , (2011) 21 Journal of Mental Health Law 74.
• Hadassa A. Noorda, Review on Ahmed Al-Dawoody, The Islamic Law of War – Justifications and Regulations, (Journal of Military Ethics, 11:1, 67-69, 2012).

From SmartCILP and elsewhere:

• Susanna Mancini, Patriarchy As the Exclusive Domain of the Other: The Veil Controversy, False Projection and Cultural Racism, 10 I.Con: International Journal of Constitutional Law 411-428 (2012).
• Laura Nader, Rethinking Salvation Mentality and Counterterrorism, 21 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 99-117 (2012).
• Wadie E. Said, The Message and Means of Modern Terrorism Prosecution, 21 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 175-195 (2012).
• Stephanie M. Wurdock, Doctors, Dioceses, and Decisions: Examining the Impact of the Catholic Hospital System and Federal Conscience Clauses on Medical Education, 6 Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental & Public Health Law 179-212 (2012).
• Stanley W. Carlson-Thies, Which Religious Organizations Count as Religious? The Religious Employer Exemption of the Health Insurance Law's Contraceptives Mandate, Engage Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2012.
• Karen Lugo, American Family Law and Sharia-Compliant Marriages, Engage Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2012.
• Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Preaching Politics From the Pulpit--2012 Guide to IRS Rules on Political Activity by Religious Organizations, (2012).

California Governor Signs Law Excusing Objecting Clergy From Performing Same-Sex Weddings

In California, on Sept. 30, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 1140 making it clear that clergy who object to same-sex marriage need not perform same-sex ceremonies.  The new law defines marriage as a civil, not a religious, contract. It also provides that no member of the clergy shall be required to solemnize a marriage that is contrary to his or her faith. Refusal to do so will not affect the tax exempt status of any entity. LGBT Weekly reports on the new law.

Iowa Faces Another Contested Supreme Court Retention Election Over 2009 Same-Sex Marriage Decision

In Iowa, state Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor, but stand in retention elections one year after their first appointment, and every eight years after that.  In 2010, voters opposed to the state Supreme Court's unanimous decision supporting same-sex marriage ousted 3 of the 7 justices who voted to invalidate the state's law that had barred recognition of same-sex marriages. (See prior posting.) In November, another of the Justices who voted for the decision is up for retention and, according to the Des Moines Register, competing rallies by Justice David Wiggins' opponents and supporters are being held around the state.  Iowans for Freedom, who want Wiggins out of office, began a 4-day, 17 city bus tour with a rally at the Iowa State Capitol yesterday.  Among the speakers were former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum and former Iowa gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.  A spokesman for the group said: "This is nothing personal against Justice Wiggins, understand. He’s just number four in a line of seven who committed a grievance against the people."

Meanwhile a group of lawyers, elected officials and Democratic activists are shadowing the “No Wiggins” campaign, defending the merit selection process. The president-elect of the Iowa State Bar Association said: "We don’t want to return to the days where politics have been injected into our system, and remove the fair and impartial courts that we have, well-respected throughout this country."

Israeli Court Rejects Reception Hall Owners' Religious Objections To Same-Sex Marriage

According to Haaretz today, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has for the first time under Israeli law held that owners of a reception hall may not refuse on religious grounds to host a same-sex wedding reception. The court awarded damages of 60,000 NIS ($15,196 US) and imposed 20,000 NIS in legal fees and court costs on the owners of the reception hall who are members of a sect of Messianic Jews. A lesbian couple, Tal Ya'akovovich and Yael Biran, booked the hall for a reception, but the owners canceled the reservation when they realized the reception was for a same-sex couple. The owners say that based on verses from the Old and New Testaments, they believe that homosexuality is an "abomination." The court refused to accept the owners' claim that their business has a religious character.  The court said:

Every person who opens a public business in Israel should know that they must serve the whole public equally, without discrimination, according to laws, which cover sexual orientation as well. As soon as the defendants opened their doors to all, they cannot close them for those who they believe do not meet the requirements found in the Bible or New Testament, thereby damaging their dignity and sensitivities.

The court also said:

Rejection, verbal abuse, and humiliation of another based on their sex or sexual orientation constitutes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment does not only include sexual exploitation, but also, and perhaps principally, ridiculing another person for their sex or sexual orientation… and in this case, the plaintiffs were ridiculed because of their sexual orientation

European Court Hears 4 British Cases On Accommodating Christian Employees' Beliefs

Yesterday the European Court of Human Rights held a Chamber hearing on four cases from the United Kingdom raising issues of religious accommodation.  The cases are Chaplin v. the United Kingdom (application no. 59842/10), Eweida v. the United Kingdom (no. 48420/10), Ladele v. the United Kingdom (no. 51671/10) and McFarlane v. the United Kingdom (no. 36516/10). (Links are to prior postings on each case.) As reported by EurActiv, two of the cases involved Christians women who were not permitted by their employers to wear a cross around their neck. The other two cases involve Christian employees who object on religious grounds to same-sex marriage. One refused to provide counseling to same-sex couples. The other case involves a registrar who refused to officiate at same-sex civil union ceremonies. The European Court has issued a press release describing the cases, and has posted a webcast of the hearing.

Democratic 2012 Platform: Provisions on Faith In America, Civil Rights, and Social Issues

As reported by Raw Story, the Democratic Party released it 2012 Platform (full text) on Monday night. It includes a number of provisions on the role of faith in America and on issues that have been of particular concern to religious groups.  The Platform section titled "Strengthening the American Community" includes the following:

Faith has always been a central part of the American story, and it has been a driving force of progress and justice throughout our history. We know that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith and the countless acts of justice and mercy it inspires. Faith- based organizations will always be critical allies in meeting the challenges that face our nation and our world – from domestic and global poverty, to climate change and human trafficking. People of faith and religious organizations do amazing work in communities across this country and the world, and we believe in lifting up and valuing that good work, and finding ways to support it where possible. We believe in constitutionally sound, evidence-based partnerships with faith-based and other non-profit organizations to serve those in need and advance our shared interests. There is no conflict between supporting faith-based institutions and respecting our Constitution, and a full commitment to both principles is essential for the continued flourishing of both faith and country.

The Platform supports "comprehensive immigration reform that supports our economic goals and reflects our values as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants;" "policies that truly value families," and "a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay." It also provides:

We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

The Platform Section on Civil Rights says in part:

At the core of the Democratic Party is the principle that no one should face discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status. Democrats support our civil rights statutes and we have stepped up enforcement of laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace and other settings. We are committed to protecting all communities from violence. We are committed to ending racial, ethnic, and religious profiling and requiring federal, state, and local enforcement agencies to take steps to eliminate the practice....

 ...we must continue our work to prevent vicious bullying of young people and support LGBT youth... The Administration has said that the word 'family' in immigration includes LGBT relationships in order to protect bi-national families threatened with deportation.

 The Platform also contains sections on "Combating Human Trafficking" and on "Gay Rights As Human Rights."

Recent Articles and Book of Interest

From SSRN:

• Cornelia Koch, The Sky is Falling If Judges Decide Religious Controversies! - Or is it? The German Experience of Religious Freedom under a Bill of Rights, (P. Babie and N. Rochow (eds), Freedom of Religion under the Bill of Rights', University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide 190-215, 2012).
• Paul T. Babie and Neville Grant Rochow, SC, Protecting Religious Freedom under Bills of Rights: Australia as Microcosm, (P. Babie and N. Rochow (eds), Freedom of Religion under the Bill of Rights', University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide 190-215, 2012).
• Ngaire Naffine, How Religion Constrains Law and the Idea of Choice, (P. Babie and N. Rochow (eds), Freedom of Religion under the Bill of Rights', University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide 190-215, 2012).
• Jonathan C. Augustine, Environmental Justice and Eschatology in Revelation, (Loyola Law Review, New Orleans, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2012, Forthcoming).
• Bruce MacDougall, Elsje Bonthuys, Kenneth Norrie, and Marjolein Van den Brink, Conscientious Objection to Creating Same-Sex Unions: An International Analysis, (Canadian Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 127-164, 2012).
• Patrick McKinley Brennan, The Mighty Work of Making Nations Happy: A Response to James Davison Hunter, (Pepperdine Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Carl H. Esbeck, Defining Religion Down: Hosanna-Tabor, Martinez, and the U.S. Supreme Court, (First Amendment Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Terri Day and Leticia M Diaz, The Affordable Care Act and Religious Freedom: The Next Battleground, Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2012.
• Rachel Gillum and David C. Wilson, American Muslims or Muslim Americans?: Impact of Perceived Discrimination on Confidence in Security Institutions, (August 27, 2012).
• Bradley T. Borden and Katherine E. David, Sales of Church Real Property to Parishioners, (24 Tax’N Exempts 3, July/Aug. 2012).

From SmartCILP:

• Jack B. Harrison, The Strange Intersection Between Law, Religion, and Government in the Regulation of Marriage, 6 Charleston Law Review 547-568 (2012).
• Kim Benita Vera, From Papal Bull to Racial Rule: Indians of the Americas, Race, and the Foundations of International Law, [Abstract], 42 California Western International Law Journal 453-472 (2012).

Recent Book:

• Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, Zot Briti (This Is My Covenant: Conversion, Secularization, Civil Marriage ), edited by Amnon S. Dukov, Zohar Maor, Moshe S. Faloch, The Institute for the Advancement of Rabbi Shagar's Writings, 258 pages (in Hebrew ). Reviewed in Haaretz.

Republican 2012 Platform: Numerous Provisions On Religious Freedom

CNA reports that the the 2012 Republican Platform (full text), adopted Tuesday by the national convention, contains strong planks on religious freedom.  Among its provisions are ones calling for defending traditional marriage against an activist judiciary and calling for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

A section titled "The First Amendment:The Foresight of Our Founders to Protect Religious Freedom" provides in part:

The first provision of the First Amendment concerns freedom of religion....That assurance has never been more needed than it is today, as liberal elites try to drive religious beliefs—and religious believers—out of the public square.... 

The most offensive instance of this war on religion has been the current Administration’s attempt to compel faith-related institutions, as well as believing individuals, to contravene their deeply held religious, moral, or ethical beliefs regarding health services, traditional marriage, or abortion. This forcible secularization of religious and religiously affiliated organizations, including faith-based hospitals and colleges, has been in tandem with the current Administration’s audacity in declaring which faith-related activities are, or are not, protected by the First Amendment.... 

The section goes on to support public display of the Ten Commandments and the right of students to engage in prayer at public school events. It also supports

the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious symbols,or submitting to government-imposed hiring practices. We oppose government discrimination against businesses due to religious views. We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association of the Boy Scouts of America and other service organizations whose values are under assault and condemn the State blacklisting of religious groups which decline to arrange adoptions by same-sex couples. We condemn the hate campaigns, threats of violence, and vandalism by proponents of same-sex marriage against advocates of traditional marriage and call for a federal investigation into attempts to deny religious believers their civil rights.

A section on The Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life provides in part:

We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of  judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.

... We urge Congress to strengthen the Born Alive Infant Protection Act by enacting appropriate civil and criminal penalties on healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment and care to an infant who survives an abortion, including early induction delivery where the death of the infant is intended. We call for legislation to ban sex-selective abortions – gender discrimination in its most lethal form—and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain.... We call for a ban on the use of body parts from aborted fetuses for research. We support and applaud adult stem cell research to develop lifesaving therapies, and we oppose the killing of embryos for their stem cells. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

The platform's section on health care includes a section on "Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare." The Platform section on prison reform includes a call for government to "work with faith-based institutions that have proven track records in diverting young and first time, non-violent offenders from criminal careers..." A section on human rights supports the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and accuses the current administration of shunting it aside at a time that its voice needs to be heard more than ever. It pledges that: "A Republican Administration will return the advocacy of religious liberty to a central place in our diplomacy."

The Platform's section on foreign aid includes the following:

The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the cultural agenda of the current Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries, especially the peoples of Africa, legalized abortion and the homosexual rights agenda. At the same time, faith-based groups—the sector that has had the best track record in promoting lasting development—have been excluded from grants because they will not conform to the administration’s social agenda.

Massachusetts High Court: Polygamy Statute Applies To Marriage After Undissolved Civil Union

In Elia-Warnken v. Elia, (MA Sup. Jud. Ct., July 26, 2012), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that Massachusetts will recognize a Vermont same-sex civil union as equivalent to a marriage in Massachusetts. It went on to hold that the result of this is the application of Massachusetts' polygamy statute to a partner in a same-sex civil union who subsequently enters a same-sex marriage in Massachusetts without first obtaining dissolution of the civil union. The Massachusetts marriage would thus be void.  While the polygamy statute applies to a person entering a marriage while the person has a "husband" or "wife," the court held that these terms include any legal spousal relationship. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]