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Crosswalk Legal Update, September 9, 2004 Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk News Staff Welcome to the Crosswalk Legal Update, a free newsletter from Crosswalk.com. Crosswalk Legal Update brings you brief updates on the top developments in legal cases impacting Christians in America this week. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this newsletter and you will be removed immediately. In today's edition: > South Dakota Teacher Receives 'Good News' from 8th Circuit > Third Federal Judge Rules Against Partial-Birth Abortion Ban > Federal Appeals Court Urged to Uphold Constitutionality of Ten Commandments in > Wisconsin > Florida's High Court Affirms Religious Freedom Entitled to Expanded Protection * * * * * * * * * * * * ADVERTISEMENT * * * * * * * * * * * Earn your degree online from Grand Canyon University. We emphasize academic excellence in a Christian environment. You'll receive faithful, personal attention from caring faculty. Grand Canyon University education will engage and enrich your mind, heart and spirit. Contact us today! http://l.salemweb.net/gcu0804/legal/090904/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * >> South Dakota Teacher Receives 'Good News' from 8th Circuit Jim Brown, Agape Press It's being hailed as the first ruling of its kind in the nation. A federal appeals court has cleared the way for a South Dakota public school teacher to participate in an after-school Christian club for elementary students. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a decision by the Sioux Falls School District to bar Barbara Wigg from involvement in the Good News Club violated her right to "engage in private religious speech on her own time." The district had argued Wigg's involvement in the club was an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Her attorney, Mat Staver with Florida-based Liberty Counsel, says the ruling is an extension of a 2001 Supreme Court decision that allows students to take part in after-school Christian clubs led by an adult. He calls it a "great victory" for many people. "[T]here are many teachers and other school employees all over the country who, immediately after the last bell for the day, would like to begin teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching morals and character and the good news about the life-changing power of the gospel to students in the school," Staver says. "Up until now, these school employees have not been allowed to do so." >> Third Federal Judge Rules Against Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Melanie Hunter, CNS News Another federal judge, this time in Lincoln, Neb., ruled the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional, because it does not include exceptions for the health of the mother. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf's decision followed two similar rulings in New York and San Francisco. Those rulings are expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The decision by the court in Nebraska is disappointing but not surprising," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law and is supporting the Justice Department in defending the ban in court. "No one expected the constitutionality of the ban on partial-birth abortion to be decided at the federal district court level. We are hopeful that the appeals process will result in overturning the decisions of the lower courts and conclude that the law designed to end the horrific procedure known as partial-birth abortion survives these constitutional challenges," he ad ded. Sekulow said the cases are expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where both sides are in for a "lengthy and critical legal battle." Meanwhile, an abortion rights group applauded the ruling. "President Bush stands zero for three -- his federal abortion ban has now been struck down for the third time," Elizabeth Cavendish, interim president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. >> Federal Appeals Court Urged to Uphold Constitutionality of Ten Commandments in >> Wisconsin American Center for Law and Justice The ACLJ this week urged a federal appeals court panel to uphold the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument in La Crosse, Wisconsin and asked the appeals court to overturn a decision by a federal district court ordering removal of the monument. The ACLJ, which represents the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) in the case, presented oral arguments in the case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. "We presented a compelling argument urging the appeals court to recognize that the monument and the land it sits on is legally owned by a private organization - the Eagles - and that such an arrangement does not violate the constitution," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ. "There was no constitutional violation when the city sold the land to the Eagles. We are hopeful the court will keep the monument in place." In February, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled that the August 2002 sale of the mon ument and the land it sits on by the city to the FOE violated the Establishment Clause because the "sale itself demonstrated a preference for the religious message of the monument. >> Florida's High Court Affirms Religious Freedom Entitled to Expanded Protection Allie Martin and Jody Brown, Agape Press The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act expands protection for religious freedom. The court said religious freedom in the Sunshine State is entitled to greater protection than that guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Warner v. City of Boca Raton stating that the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act (FRFRA) "expands the scope of religious protection beyond the conduct considered protected" by cases from the U.S. Supreme Court. "We also hold that under the Act, any law, even a neutral law of general applicability, is subject to the strict scrutiny standard where the law substantially burdens the free exercise of religion," the court stated. What that means, according to an example offered by Florida-based Liberty Counsel, is that a person can have a religious belief in home schooling even if that approach to education is not an expressly stated doctrine of the person's church. Mat Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, drafted and lobbied for the FRFRA in 1998. He expects the ruling to have a major impact on other states. "This is a great sign for other states that don't have similar religious freedom laws to pass those laws," the attorney says. >> Visit Crosswalk's News channel for more great articles and weblogs on the latest >> news from a Christian worldview. http://www.crosswalk.com/news/ ____________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO_______________________ * This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. To unsubscribe from this newsletter immediately, simply click on the link below. If this link is not clickable, simply cut and paste it into the address bar of your browser. http://www.salememail.com/unsub/248/1698058.aspx * Copyright C 2004 Salem Web Network and its Content Providers. 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