Showing posts with label federal judge. Show all posts

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Federal Judge: Police Officers Cannot Pray in Public -TODD STARNES CHARISMA NEWS

Federal Judge: Police Officers Cannot Pray in Public

The city council of Ocala, Florida, has decided to fight back after a federal judge ruled that the city and its police chief violated the Constitution by promoting and holding a prayer vigil.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan ruled in May that Police Chief Greg Graham and city leaders broke the Establishment Clause by organizing, promoting and holding a 2014 prayer vigil after a drive-by shooting injured several children.

"The government cannot initiate, organize, sponsor or conduct a community prayer vigil," Judge Corrigan wrote in his order. "That is what happened here."

The American Humanist Association represented several local residents who were allegedly triggered and suffered microaggressions as a result of the vigil.

The lawsuit claimed the police chief was "reckless and callously indifferent" because of his involvement in the planning and promotion of the event.

The chief and the city were ordered to pay $3 in damages plus attorney fees, Ocala.com reported.

The city council filed a motion to vacate the judgement.

Mayor Kent Guinn told Fox News that about 600 people showed up to pray "for the children that got shot in the drive by shooting."

Renowned evangelist Franklin Graham said prayer is a basic human right and public employees should be able to petition the Almighty.

"George Washington prayed, Abraham Lincoln prayed, and other presidents have called on God publicly in times of war or crisis," the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse tweeted.

"Atheists have the right not to believe and not to call on God," he said. "People of faith have the right to pray, and it should not be taken away."

But AHA legal director David Niose said prayer rallies should be run by churches, not police departments.

"Police departments shouldn't be endorsing religion, yet that's exactly what the Ocala Police Department did here by sponsoring and promoting a prayer vigil," he said in a statement.

It really takes a perverted kind of reprobate to sue a police department for participating in a prayer vigil.

Have mercy.

Todd Starnes is host of "Fox News & Commentary," heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is The Deplorables' Guide to Making America Great Again.

Monday, March 19, 2018

Federal Judge Puts the Brakes on Ohio Abortion Ban - CBN News

Federal Judge Puts the Brakes on Ohio Abortion Ban

03-18-2018

CBN News

Last year, Republican Governor John Kasich signed a bill banning abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Now a federal fudge has blocked the new law in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Black issued a preliminary injunction which would keep the law from going into effect this week.

In the injunction he writes,“The woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy before viability is the most central principle of Roe v. Wade. It is a rule of law and a component of liberty we [the United States Supreme Court] cannot renounce.”

However, according to Cleveland.com, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is fighting back and plans to file an appeal in response to Black’s injunction.

That measure, passed by the Republican-controlled legislature, stops doctors from performing abortions based on a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis. Any doctor in violation of the law faces up to 18 months in prison.

There is no punishment for the woman.

Pro-life advocates are crying foul over Judge Black himself, who once served as an unpaid director for Planned Parenthood.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio celebrated Black's decision tweeting:

Three other states have also passed similar laws. North Dakota banned abortions based on genetic defects, such as Down syndrome. The laws in Indiana and Louisiana have been held up due to court challenges.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

KY Clerk Ordered to Jail over Gay Marriage Licenses

Kim Davis - Kentucky County Clerk standing on God's Word

KY Clerk Ordered to Jail over Gay Marriage Licenses

By Gary Lane

CBN News Chief International Correspondent

Thursday, September 03, 2015

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A federal judge has ordered a defiant Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis to jail after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning told Davis she would be jailed until she complied with his order to issue the licenses.

Davis said "thank you" before she was led out of the courtroom by a U.S. marshal. She was not in handcuffs.

Earlier, Davis had filed an emergency motion to stop the governor from ordering her to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Davis says issuing those licenses would violate her beliefs and, she argues, God's authority trumps even the Supreme Court.

Police are now guarding the Rowan County clerk's office, making sure order is maintained. Tempers are flaring from people on both sides of the gay marriage issue.

Davis' supporters say federal courts have violated her First Amendment rights.

"I'm here for religious freedom because it's been stripped away," supporter Serena Smith said.

At the heart of the controversy is disagreement over belief. Davis, a Democrat, refuses to issue marriage licenses to anyone at this time, including homosexual couples.

"We're here to get our marriage license," a gay couple recently told her.

"So, presently we are not issuing marriage license pending an appeal to the system," Davis replied.

Davis is now asking a U.S. district court judge to block an order from the Kentucky governor requiring county clerks to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

She's set to appear before another judge at a contempt-of-court hearing. Davis could face jail time or at least a major fine for refusing to issue the licenses.

Same-sex couples have been challenging Davis all week.

"Under whose authority are you not issuing licenses?" one gay couple asked her.

"Under God's authority," she responded.

Davis says her religious convictions prevent her from signing the licenses. She proposes that other Rowan County officials sign them instead.

Some Republican presidential candidates have weighed in.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul suggests governments get out of the marriage license issuing business. He proposes all couples, heterosexual and homosexual, sign marriage contracts that could be used instead of licenses.

But other candidates, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, say government employees must comply with the rule of law or resign.

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican, has also weighed in. Stivers is asking the federal judge to withhold a ruling on the governor's order until the state passes a new marriage law. The state legislature will not be in session again until January.

Kentucky law, like many other states, must be revised after the Supreme Court's decision in June to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States.

"The Supreme Court ruling has completely obliterated the definition of marriage and the process for obtaining a marriage license in Kentucky," Stivers said in a press release. "The General Assembly will be compelled to amend many sections of Kentucky law, not just for the issuance of marriage licenses, to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision."

Meanwhile, Davis insists she's ready to suffer the consequences rather than compromise her beliefs.

"I'm willing to face my consequences," she told her critics. "And you all will face your consequences when it comes time for judgment."

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Saturday, June 30, 2018