Marriage & Family Headlines

Rasmussen: "Vaccinations are common requirements for children all over the country in order to attend public school and college. However, half of American adults (52%) say they are concerned about the safety of vaccinations for children, including 27% who are Very Concerned."

Houston Chronicle: "Over the past five years, the number of Texans opting to home school has grown about 20 percent to an estimated 120,000 families and 300,000 children, according to the Texas Home School Coalition. 'The economy does have an impact on folks,' said Tim Lambert, president of the coalition. 'We saw families last year who had their kids in a private school, times were tough and they couldn’t afford to do that anymore, but they didn’t want to put them in a public school.'"

Beaufort County Now: "As [Douglas Napier], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund who defended Proposition 8, commented: 'The whole nation is watching, and the whole nation should be quaking to think that a single judge sitting in California can reverse the will of 7 million voters.'"

ADF Attorney Roger Kiska writing at The Christian Post / Advancing Religious Liberty: "A couple months ago in June, attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Home School Legal Defense Association filed Johansson v. Sweden with the European Court of Human Rights so that that the Swedish government will return a seven-year-old homeschooled boy to his parents. Dominic Johansson was forcibly seized by Swedish authorities from his parents in June 2009 after they had boarded a plane in their move to India. The reason? He was homeschooled . . . So, could Europe’s degree of intolerance and crackdown on homeschooling reach American shores anytime soon? It all depends on how vigilant we are in opposing decisions like the one in New Hampshire—and it’s precisely why ADF is fighting to protect parental rights in that case and abroad so that a very nasty cancer is not allowed to grow.

The Christian Century: "'At bottom, our strategy here is, and has always been, that in this country we should respect the rights of the people when they do what they have always done: vote based on their religious and moral convictions,' [ADF Attorney Jim Campbell] said. Abolitionists, antiabortion activists and civil rights activists have all been motivated by personal faith, Campbell argued. 'To be blunt, we felt [Walker's decision] was an all-out attack on religion.'"

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Supporters of Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions are seeking for the second time to have the state's domestic partnership registry declared unconstitutional . . . The plaintiffs, who are being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, argue that they're harmed by the registry because it costs taxpayer money to administer."

Race and Education at a Crossroads: How Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Wisconsin v. Yoder Shed Light on the Potential Conflict Between the Black Homeschooling Movement and K-12 Affirmative Action Programs Consuelo Valenzuela Lickstein, 13 J. Gender Race & Just. 835 (2010) "This Note analyzes the constitutional issues involved in the hypothetical described above. Part II.A discusses some of the reasons why black parents elect to homeschool their children. Parts II.B and II.C review the case law addressing a parent's fundamental right to direct his or her child's upbringing and diversity as a compelling state interest. Parts III.A and III.B set forth some of the arguments that the black parents who seek to homeschool their children and school district would make before the Supreme Court. Part III.C discusses how the Court is likely to analyze the arguments set forth by each party and predicts that the Court will rule in favor of the school district."

Maternal and Joint Custody Presumptions for Unmarried Parents: Constitutional and Policy Considerations in Massachusetts and Beyond Bernardo Cuadra, 32 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 599 (2010) "This Note examines the statutory custodial presumptions that distinguish the unmarried father from the unmarried mother, as well as from divorcing parents, with a focus on Massachusetts legal custody awards. Given the gender-based distinction built into these statutes and the distinctions drawn between the putative father and the divorcing father, this Note first asks if these statutes are subject to constitutional challenge. Second, this Note questions if these statutes reflect sound policy decisions by evaluating the benefits of joint custody arrangements. Third, this Note focuses on the Massachusetts custody statute to determine if it can be more narrowly crafted to protect the interests of willing and involved unwed fathers, especially those similarly situated to their child's unwed mother. This Note ultimately argues that the Massachusetts statutes should be amended to ensure equal treatment of unmarried fathers in custody disputes."

WorldNetDaily: "The superintendent of the Arizona Department of Public Education says his agency will consider a refusal by the school district in Tucson to videotape its 'Raza studies' classes as evidence the district is 'deliberately' concealing its agenda . . . So the state, which starting Jan. 1 can withhold 10 percent of the district's state funding, confirmed it would cite that refusal when the dispute comes up for judicial review."

Yahoo News / The Upshot: "Many national Republicans are apparently already practicing this tactic [staying quiet on same-sex "marriage"], as a federal judge's decision to strike down California's gay marriage ban was met with relative silence from GOP leaders this month. Meanwhile the abortion debate is still raging on the state level. As of June this year, 11 states had passed laws to restrict abortion."

Forbes: "There is one surprising area where young people differ from their elders about homosexuality. Since the pollsters started asking about it in the late 1977, the number saying homosexuality is something one is born with has been growing. But today, more young people than older ones believe it is a lifestyle choice. In May 50% of 18-29 year olds told CBS News pollsters that being homosexual is something people choose to be; 47% said it was something a person couldn't change. Among those 65 and over, however, 25% said it was a choice, 55% said it was something that couldn't be changed."

CBS News: "According to American Civil Liberties Union complaint on behalf of four Woonsocket, R.I., parents, uniforms would be an added financial burden for families. Additionally, the ACLU says the uniforms won't do anything to improve the quality of education at kids' schools."

Leonard Link: "One question that immediately began buzzing around the blogosphere was whether the Obama Administration's Justice Department will appeal these rulings. Others are when will the rulings take effect, and do they have any application outside of Massachusetts? Within the past few days, some answers have begun emerging."

Lanae Erickson and Jon Cowan writing at Politico: "First, advocates must reframe the conversation . . . Marriage is about lifetime commitment, responsibilities and obligations. If we can persuade people in the middle that gay couples want to get married for those reasons — not simply to gain a list of legal rights and benefits — we’ll connect with them in a far deeper way . . . In their ads, opponents of same-sex marriage tapped into fears about children, triggering concerns about what allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry would mean for kids. If we’re going to move the middle, we need to figure out how to quell these fears, rather than ignoring or dismissing them . . . Third, we need to continue to make progress along the spectrum of relationship recognition, from domestic partnerships to civil unions to marriage."

LaCrosse Tribune: "A social conservative group filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Wisconsin’s domestic partner registry, arguing it is a violation of the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The lawsuit filed in Dane County Circuit Court by members of Wisconsin Family Action contends the registry creates a legal status substantially similar to that of marriage."

"[S]ome researchers compare the evolution in thinking about gender to the struggle that began a generation ago for gay and lesbian rights."

The Hill: "The Pentagon plans to survey approximately 150,000 military spouses about the military's 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy. In a statement, Department of Defense spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the surveys 'will help the military leadership assess the impacts, if any, a change in the law ... might have on family readiness and military community life.'"

GLT News: "The California Assembly today passed legislation that clarifies the religious freedom of clergy members in California. The Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), reaffirms the separation of church and state and clarifies under state law that no member of clergy will be required to perform a civil marriage that is contrary to his or her faith. The Assembly approved Senate Bill 906 with a 46-25 vote. The bill will return to the Senator for a routine concurrence vote before going to the governor’s desk."

"[Walker's] decision is by no means neutral between competing moral viewpoints. It effectively writes a rejection of natural law theory into the constitution."

Excellent Education for Everyone (E3) / The Blitz: "The Hatikvah brief cites repeated efforts by the school district to deny parents transfer cards, delay or refuse to send transfer cards to Hatikvah school officials, harass parents who expressed interest in enrolling their students in the new dual language Hebrew charter school, and making false statements to the press."