Justice Dep't. appeals ruling striking down National Day of Prayer

By GottaLaff

A federal judge declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional just last week:

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.

"In fact, it is because the nature of prayer is so personal and can have such a powerful effect on a community that the government may not use its authority to try to influence an individual's decision whether and when to pray," Crabb wrote.

Pfft to that, says the Obama administration. They're fighting the ruling, and the Justice Department is filing a "notice to appeal". President Obama has already made it clear that he'll recognize the big day on May 6th.

The injunction against the National Day of Prayer would not take effect until the appeals have been exhausted.

The case is Freedom From Religion v President Barack Obama, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

I'm with Judge Crabb on this one. Why must there be an official day designated specifically for prayer? Why is the government co-mingling with religion? Religion is a personal choice, praying is a personal experience, and I'm not sure why a day has to be set aside for engaging in something so private.

Maybe we should have a special day of not-prayer, too. That would make a few heads explode.

Court Rules Against F.C.C. in 'Net Neutrality' Case

By GottaLaff

There are 10 judges on the court appointed by Republican presidents, 4 by Dems, per Thom Hartmann (if I heard him right just now). He labeled this a "shot across the bow" and a major setback for the FCC.

Via a New York Times e-mail alert:

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks.

Tuesday's ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia is a big victory for the Comcast Corporation, the nation's largest cable company. It had
challenged the F.C.C.'s authority to impose so called "net neutrality" obligations.

Worrisome, to say the least.

Court: Pharmacists must sell "morning after" pill

By GottaLaff

Thank you:

Pharmacists are obliged to dispense the Plan B pill, even if they are personally opposed to the "morning after" contraceptive on religious grounds, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

In a case that could affect policy across the western U.S., a supermarket pharmacy owner in Olympia, Wash., failed in a bid to block 2007 regulations that required all Washington pharmacies to stock and dispense the pills. [...]

The plaintiffs asserted that their Christian beliefs prevented them from dispensing the pills, which can prevent implantation of a recently fertilized egg. They said that the new regulations would force them to choose between keeping their jobs and heeding their religious objections to a medication they regard as a form of abortion. [...]

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction, saying the district court was wrong in issuing it based on an erroneous finding that the rules violated the free exercise of religion clause of the U.S. Constitution. [...]

Although the courts have yet to pronounce judgment on other aspects of the lawsuit, the unanimous ruling on the free-exercise clause could portend further judgments, as the case moves forward, that a patient's right to timely medication supersedes a pharmacist's personal convictions. [...]

The right to freely exercise one's religion "does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a valid and neutral law of general applicability," the 9th Circuit panel wrote.

"Any refusal to dispense -- regardless of whether it is motivated by religion, morals, conscience, ethics, discriminatory prejudices, or personal distaste for a patient -- violates the rules," the panel said.

Amen.