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U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Sodomy Law

Judges accused of undermining democratic process

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a 6-3 ruling today the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Texas law against homosexual sex acts unconstitutional. The ruling calls into question anti-sodomy laws in twelve other states. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, and only Justices Scalia and Thomas and Chief Justice Rhenquist dissented

The case, Lawrence and Garner v. Texas (case no. 02-0102), began when John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested and pled "no contest" to charges of committing "deviate sexual intercourse," defined under the Texas statutes as "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex". They appealed to the Texas Court of Appeals, which upheld the convictions, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), one of the interveners in the case, commented on the ruling saying, "The court overrode the Constitution, the history of American law, and its own precedent by declaring in Lawrence v. Texas that there is a right to privacy to protect private, adult consensual sexual activity. The majority reasoned, unbelievably, that because of the trend in state legislatures to repeal sodomy laws, these laws have become unconstitutional."

The precedent referred to by ADF was the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision, in which the Supreme Court upheld laws against sodomy. Then Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote in his concurring opinion "... in constitutional terms there is no such thing as a fundamental right to commit homosexual sodomy." Burger continued: "Decisions of individuals relating to homosexual conduct have been subject to state intervention throughout the history of Western civilization. Condemnation of those practices is firmly rooted in Judeo-Christian moral and ethical standards.[Sir William] Blackstone described 'the infamous crime against nature' as an offense of 'deeper malignity' than rape, a heinous act 'the very mention of which is a disgrace to human nature' and 'a crime not fit to be named.' To hold that the act of homosexual sodomy is somehow protected as a fundamental right would be to cast aside millennia of moral teaching."

Jan LaRue, chief counsel for Concerned Women for America (CWA) author of CWA's amicus brief in support of Texas said, "If there's no rational basis for prohibiting same-sex sodomy by consenting adults, then state laws prohibiting prostitution, adultery, bigamy, and incest are at risk."

Focus on the Family's Vice President of Public Policy Tom Minnery commented saying, "With today's decision the court continues pillaging its way through the moral norms of our country. If the people have no right to regulate sexuality then ultimately the institution of marriage is in peril, and with it, the welfare of the coming generations of children."

Family Research Council President Ken Connor said, "Once again judicial activists have used their fertile imagination to create rights that simply don't exist in the Constitution. In doing so, they have imposed their own moral judgments in place of state legislatures and have thereby undermined the democratic process. Unelected warriors wearing black robes become the chief architects of public policy.

See the full ruling online at:
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZS.html

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Gay Activist Anti-Catholic Lawyer Awarded With Top Ontario Judge Position

TORONTO, June 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The homosexual activist lawyer who forced a Catholic school in Oshawa to allow a homosexual prom date will soon be sworn in as a member of the Ontario Superior Court. The appointment of Mr. David Corbett, a well-known homosexual activist, has earned the federal Liberal government the dubious distinction of appointing the first "openly gay" judge to a superior court bench.

Judge Corbett has, among other things, been a member of the "Foundation for Equal Families," a homosexual activist group which pursues court challenges. He has been involved in numerous cases concerning homosexual rights including a recent landmark case involving division of property in a homosexual relationship. He is also well known for his role as the free legal counsel for Marc Hall, an Oshawa high school student who filed a discrimination claim and launched a $100 000 lawsuit against the Durham Catholic District School Board. The board refused to allow Hall to bring a homosexual date to prom but was ordered by a court to permit the homosexual date.

Judge Corbett applauded his own appointment exclaiming that it is symbolically important for Canada to recognize that gay judges do exist. He further pointed to the importance of the appointment saying, "It's June, which is Gay Pride Month. There is some nice symbolism here. It has been a good month for our community."

When asked whether being gay would affect his ruling Corbett said that a judge's job is not to impose one's opinions. But, he further added, "Does it inform my perspectives on public policy issues? I think that inevitably it will - just as being a woman affects the perspectives of women judges."

In an interview with LifeSite, Phil Horgan, a lawyer and Vice President of the Catholic Civil Rights League commented on the appointment saying, "We can only hope that the new judge can respond with the appropriate measure of impartiality on issues that come before him which may fall within the areas of his previous advocacy. As a judge one is expected to leave one's former advocacy behind."

See Globe and Mail coverage:
http://globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030626/UJUDGM//?query=g...

See related lifesite links:
STUDENT USES CATHOLIC SCHOOL PROM TO ADVANCE GAY AGENDA
http://www.lifesite.net/interim/2002/may/01studentuses.html
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS CAN'T BAN HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR, LAWYERS ARGUE
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/may/02050702.html
ONTARIO STUDENT SUES CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOR $100,000 - DEMANDS HOMOSEXUAL PROM
DATE
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/apr/02041103.html
MANDATORY LAWYERS SOCIETY SPONSORS HOMOSEXUAL ADVOCACY MEETING
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jun/02062003.html

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Abortion Boat Continues On Its Destructive Mission Against Pro-Life Poland

LONDON, June 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A floating Dutch abortion boat that had been detained in a Polish port has been allowed to continue on its mission after Women on Waves, the group in charge of the ship, was fined $3000 and had its medicines sealed by customs officials.

Women on Waves, which issued a press release last week indicating it intended to offer drug-induced abortions off the coast of predominantly Catholic Poland, was given the fine for failing to follow harbourmaster instructions while docking. The group will be free to access its lethal drugs, including the abortifacient morning after pill and RU-486 pill which are illegal in Poland, after it travels twelve miles to international waters.

The boat was able to bring some women on board who were seeking advice on contraception and abortion. However, Lech Kowalewski, spokesman for the Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements, explained that the boat's visit was mainly an attention grabbing stunt designed as an attack against Poland's tough abortion laws. The goal of Women on Waves "is to stay in the media as long as possible," said Kowalewski.

Women on Waves intends to appeal the fine.

See AFP coverage from Yahoo:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1508&ncid=751&e=7&u=/afp/2003062...

See Related LifeSite coverage.
Abortion Ship Pelted With Eggs and Paint and Searched by Polish Customs
Officers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/jun/03062305.html

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Unborn Florida Child Will Be Allowed to Live

ORLANDO, June 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The unborn child of a mentally handicapped rape victim will be allowed to live, a Florida judge has decided. The child, who is at six months gestation, will not have a separate guardian appointed for him or her, as Governor Jeb Bush had hoped. But the baby will be allowed to come to term under the supervision of the mother's guardian, Patti Jarrell.

Ms. Jarrell actually recommended to the judge that, "completing the pregnancy/delivering the child is in J.D.S.'s best interest." (J.D.S. is the name under which the mother appears in court documents.)

Edward Jordan, the lawyer for one of two women who are seeking to be named the child's guardian, vowed to continue his appeals "to make sure the interests of the child are protected during gestation."

For local coverage:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-06-25-rape-victim-conception_x.htm

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Eves Tories Restore Education Tax Credit

TORONTO, June 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - With an election call looming, the PC government of Ernie Eves has restored the full value of the Equity in Education Tax Credit, enabling more middle income parents to afford the kind of schooling their children deserve.

The credit, crafted by then-finance minister Jim Flaherty two years ago, will rise to 20% of tuition per child in 2003 and to 50% by 2006, for a maximum of $3,500 per pupil. It stands to benefit most the middle income families of 100,000 pupils in Ontario's 733 private schools.

Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty again vowed that if elected, he will repeal the tax credit and add the estimated $500 million to the already $15.3 billion tax funding given to the public school system as called for by teachers' unions. McGuinty has not addressed the issue of why so many parents are willing to endure considerable financial and other sacrifices in order to escape the public system.

For Toronto Star coverage:
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Ty...

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Louisiana Legislators Fail to Pass Cloning Ban

BATON ROUGE, June 25, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Louisiana legislators broke for the summer on Monday with no decision on a human cloning ban.

The absence of any renewal or expansion of the existing law means there is nothing stopping scientists from cloning human embryos for "reproductive" purposes (i.e. creating a cloned baby), once the 1999 ban expires on July 1.

Republicans were pushing for a broader ban that would extend the ban to include "therapeutic cloning" for research purposes.

For local coverage:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-0/10564342053720.xml

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Convicted Vancouver Pedophile Granted Full Parole

VANCOUVER, June 25, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Robert Noyes, the former B.C. school teacher and principal who is a convicted pedophile, has won full parole from the National Parole Board.

The parole requires that he refrain from surfing pornographic websites, allow his computer to be inspected upon request, and undergo psychiatric treatment.

Noyes was declared a dangerous offender in 1986, shortly after pleading guilty to sexual assault upon 19 children. "It is acknowledged that the total number of incidents of this nature ranges in the hundreds, and in reality, there have been over 60 victims," the board admitted when granting the parole.

Based on offenses committed against a total of 60 children from 1986 to 2003, Noyes served a mere 3.4 months per child.

For local coverage:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_T...

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Republicans Move to Override Democratic Blocking of Bush Nominations.

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Republican majority in the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee has passed a measure to move towards overriding prolonged Democratic filibustering of President Bush's judicial nominations.

Under the measure, which now moves to the Senate floor where it faces a slim chance of passing, the majority required to approve a judicial nominee would decline in successive roll calls. Usually, a majority of 60 is required. But if Democratic filibustering persists, the required number would drop first from 60 to 57, then down to 54 and eventually to a simple majority of 51, as long as required for the elected Republican majority to prevail.

For Washington Post coverage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27515-2003Jun24.html

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LifeSite Newsbytes

Clinton Rape Story Confirmed by Victim's Nurse
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33270

Will U.S. Taypayer Funds Support Forced Abortions?
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/4193/BLI/commentary/index.htm

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