Increasingly, Catholic colleges and universities are struggling to find sure footing when it comes to the rocky terrain of proving their Catholic identity. For many of these institutions, the days of being able to shrug off outside scrutiny may be gone. On May 26, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that one Catholic college … Read more
The abortion laws in the United States, as a result of a series of Supreme Court decisions starting with Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton and continuing through the 1980s and 1990s, have become the most permissive in the Western world, allowing abortions even in the third trimester. Most Western European countries, with the … Read more
Earlier today, the Supreme Court decided 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to be egregiously hateful by protesting at military funerals. Offensive as their speech may be, the majority opinion states that they have a right to it: Westboro believes that America is morally flawed; many Americans might feel the same about … Read more
Political discussions here on IC tend to include numerous commentors who have chastised the Republican Party for paying lip service only to their erstwhile pro-life plank, observing that, since 1973, despite years of GOP control over both Congress and the POTUS, we still haven’t seen any real progress toward outlawing abortions in our nation. The … Read more
After the passage of the new health care legislation, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Catholic, filed suit, questioning the constitutionality of the federal government requiring its citizens to buy health insurance. Yesterday, U. S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson (no relation) ruled that: “The mandate on individuals in President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation goes … Read more
“Man is a political animal,” said Aristotle, meaning that man is that sort of living creature who thrives best in the context of a polis, a free and self-governing city state. St. Thomas Aquinas would take up this dictum of Aristotle’s and flesh out its implications for a Christian culture, but before we consider that, … Read more
The Vatican released its list of new cardinals today. There are 24 total, including two from the United States. Two Americans are on today’s list, and neither a surprise, considering the positions they hold: Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Raymond Burke, the former Archbishop of St. Louis. Burke is the head of … Read more
There was a time, 150 years ago, when American law held that all human beings were created equal — except for black human beings. American law currently holds that all human beings are equal — except for the unborn child. The Supreme Court of the United States did legalize de facto abortion on demand in … Read more
According to Dahlia Lithwick at Slate, Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to overturn California’s Proposition 8 will be difficult for the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse. That is because Walker appears to have written his opinion with one specific Supreme Court justice in mind: I count — in his opinion today — seven citations to Justice … Read more
In his recent article “On Handguns and the Constitution,” Ronald J. Rychlak touched on the subject of private gun ownership and regulation in the United States. The occasion was the Supreme Court ruling McDonald v. Chicago, which established that the Second Amendment, like all the other items in the Bill of Rights, recognizes and protects … Read more
On June 28, in the case McDonald v. Chicago, the United States Supreme Court held that cities and states cannot interfere with the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. The city of Chicago had tried to ban handguns, but Chicago resident Otis McDonald challenged the law, arguing that it made him less safe. … Read more
Writing at Catholic Advocate, Matt Smith comments on the decision by Federal District Judge Joseph L. Tauro that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the Constitutional Right of married, same-sex couples to equal protection before the law. The decision was a classic case of a judge legislating from the bench: This court has determined that … Read more
Elena Kagan’s credentials to serve on the Supreme Court are being scrutinized closely, as they should. We know already she is strongly pro-abortion and gay marriage, which should be enough to cause most Catholics concern. Now we learn she is oblivious to the worst excesses of the government’s power to ban free speech, i.e., the … Read more
Elena Kagan’s credentials to serve on the Supreme Court are being scrutinized closely, as they should. We know already she is strongly pro-abortion and gay marriage, which should be enough to cause most Catholics concern. Now we learn she is oblivious to the worst excesses of the government’s power to ban free speech, i.e., the … Read more
It’s not every day that the Supreme Court makes headlines because of the cases it chooses not to hear: The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the Vatican’s appeal of an Oregon judge’s decision allowing a sex-abuse victim to proceed with a lawsuit against the Vatican. The Supreme Court made no decision on the … Read more
Does the First Amendment need protection from itself? A case from Washington State, although just rejected by the Supreme Court, suggests it might: Franz Biebl, a perfectly pleasant Bavarian composer, has been banned there, in Snohomish County. Worse, it was Biebl’s most popular work, his setting of “Ave Maria,” that was expelled from Henry “Scoop” … Read more
Over at Catholic Advocate I’ve described the sad situation, once again. The USCCB is a member of the Leadership Counsel for Civil and Human Rights, and one of its projects, The Coalition for Constitutional Values, has just published a video endorsing pro-abortion nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan. How can it be that the … Read more
Lots of buzz today about President Obama’s pick to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court — Elena Kagan. Conservatives are understandably nervous about her record on abortion; Steve Ertelt at Life News quotes Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony list, saying: “In the past Kagan has been a strong supporter of the … Read more
Rising Road: A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America Sharon Davies, Oxford University Press, 352 pages, $27.95 In 1954, Hugo Black joined his fellow Supreme Court justices in outlawing racial segregation in American schools in the unanimous, landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education. There is, indeed, as Reinhold Niebuhr might put … Read more
A few links for your Friday morning: The sole Protestant member of the Supreme Court may soon be stepping down, which raises the question: Does the religious make-up of the Court make a difference? Despite modern families’ feeling busier than ever before, a recent study shows that parents are actually spending more one-on-one time with … Read more