| Editor: David E Marlett Th.D. | |
| Dec 13, 2000 | Vol I #3 |
LOGAN COUNTY, KY-A home school mom in Russellville, Kentucky, was spared jail December 11 when a circuit court judge lifted an arrest warrant for contempt of court issued against her by a lower court.
The mother's 14-year-old daughter was also protected from an order to have the child picked up and detained.
The daughter had been ordered by the district court on November 16 to return to public school. The court issued the order after a school official made an unofficial visit to the judge complaining of further absences.
District Court Judge Sue Carol Browning cited the mother for contempt without conducting a hearing to first examine the evidence and give the mother a chance to explain her behavior.
David Gordon, an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, told the circuit court that by state law Judge Browning should have provided notice to the mother, and given her an opportunity to give the district court her side of the story before issuing a warrant.
Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tyler Gill agreed, ruling that Judge Browning did not follow the due process of law required by Kentucky state law. Judge Gill nullified the pickup order and the arrest warrant.
Following the circuit court's decision, Judge Browning must review the contempt proceedings by giving the mother and daughter an opportunity to be heard.
Logan County public school officials had earlier alleged that the student had been truant, even though the mother maintains that she provided the school district with a proper notice of intent to home school.
Local school officials remain intent on pursuing truancy charges against the student. The trial is scheduled for December 21.
[ HSLDA }
A federal judge has declared it is OK for public offices to display signs saying "In God We Trust."
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Crow has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Shawnee County Treasurer Rita Cline. Crow also ruled that Cline can recover her legal expenses from the people who filed the lawsuit.
The ACLU had filed the lawsuit on behalf of Topekans Mary Lou Schmidt and Darlene Stearns, who objected to the signs being displayed in Cline's office. But their allegations also included other activities they say overstepped the separation of church and state, including sending out religious material on county stationery.
"The court finds plaintiffs' contention that posters bearing the phrase 'In God We Trust' violate the establishment clause, patently frivolous without any basis in law," Crow wrote, referring to the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against government establishing a religion.
Schmidt, a Pagan, has said that when she complained to Cline about the appearance of the signs, Cline wrote a letter to her, condemning her religion and questioning her patriotism.
"Plaintiffs appear to believe that they are free to contact a public official to voice their own religious or anti-religious views, but that the public official's response to them cannot include religious content without violating the plaintiff's free speech rights," Crow wrote.
Cline said Monday she was pleased to be vindicated by the court and felt she already had won the public opinion contest.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Cline said, she has received thousands of letters, messages and phone calls from people all over the country.
"Not one person, other than the plaintiffs, disagreed with that sign being in my office," she said.
Cline was represented in the case, at no cost to her, by the American Center for Law and Justice. Frank Manion, regional counsel for ACLJ, said, "The ACLU clearly attempted to use the legal system in this case to remove a legitimate and legal vestige of religious expression from the marketplace -- in this case banning the motto of the United States of America."
[The Capital-Journal ]
Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who just two days ago announced his return to politics after an 18-month break, dealt with his first election controversy Tuesday after the Likud Party agreed that he could run for its leadership position.
Netanyahu, who is Prime Minister Ehud Barak's most formidable challenger, declared that he would only run for the premiership if general elections were called, too.
Netanyahu supporters have been hard at work on a two-pronged approach to legally open the door for him to run for prime minister. Barak's snap resignation last weekend set into motion a special elections law, which allows only current Knesset members to run for prime minister.
The Likud is trying to speed up the passage of a bill to dissolve the Knesset and call for early parliamentary elections. The measure should come up for its second and third readings next Monday.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party took another approach, trying to get the Knesset to approve an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, to allow any party leader to run for prime minister, whether a Knesset member or not. It has been dubbed the "Netanyahu amendment."
Shas wants Netanyahu to replace Barak but doesn't want parliamentary elections to be held simultaneously, fearing it will lose seats in the Knesset. According to sources in the Knesset, if general elections were to be held, some 30 per cent of the sitting members won't be returning next time.
Earlier, Shas said it would make it possible for Netanyahu to run one way or another.
"If Binyamin Netanyahu can run [as a party leader], there is no problem," said party leader Eli Yishai. "If not, then we will move to dissolve the Knesset."
Both initiatives are due to come before the Knesset by next Monday.
The Likud's central committee is meeting Tuesday evening to decide the rules for the party primaries, due to be held some time next week.
Competing with Netanyahu for party leadership and the chance to run for the post of prime minister, will be the current party leader, Ariel Sharon.
Lawmaker Silvan Shalom may also decide to become a candidate Wednesday although another expected contender, Limor Livnat, has already said she will not compete.
Sharon and Netanyahu are both scheduled to speak at Tuesday night's gathering. They have said little in public about each other in recent days, but as one political commentator put it, "daggers are drawn" behind the scenes.
Sharon's only comment so far about Netanyahu's declaration was that, "It did not tell me anything new, nor did it surprise me."
With all the political wrangling, sources in the Knesset said the only certainty at this point is that within 60 days there will be a special election for prime minister and for now, the only candidate on the list is Ehud Barak.
Barak's letter of resignation, presented to President Moshe Katsav on Sunday, went into effect at mid-day Tuesday, 48 hours after he submitted it.
The law stipulates that special elections for prime minister must be held within 60 days. The most likely date is February 6.
Any would-be challenger must declare by December 21.
[ CNS ]
** Doc - I see many parallels between Barak and Clinton. Both seem to want to give away lands that are not theirs to give away. Clinton gives to the UN historical monuments and American lands that belong to the US people, and Barak gives away lands God gave to His people Israel. May God graciously undo the damage that has been done by both of these misguided leaders -- Doc **
Was the great church arson story of 1996 largely a scheme to prevent the financial collapse of the National Council of Churches (NCC)? There is evidence pointing in that direction.
In 1996, the NCC persuaded the media that black churches were burning all across the South, the apparent victims of a nationwide upsurge in racial hatred. The NCC's Burned Churches Fund collected millions of dollars ostensibly for church reconstruction.
We now know there never was any firm evidence of a black church arson epidemic and no evidence of a racist conspiracy aimed at black churches. And now we also know that a significant chunk of millions of dollars raised for church reconstruction never actually went for bricks and mortar.
At the time of the church arson story's debut, the insurance industry estimated that 490 churches typically burn in an average year. Since an estimated 20 percent of all churches are predominantly black, it would be expected that close to 100 black churches would burn annually. Nobody then, or ever since, has documented that anywhere near 100 black churches have burned in any single year.
This discrepancy did not deter the NCC, which raised over $9.1 million in cash, along with nearly $3.4 million more in in-kind assistance. But of the $9.1 million, only $6.4 million can be accounted for in grants for church construction. The NCC has not explained what happened to the remaining $2.7 million in cash.
The following excellent review of "From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man" is by Dr. Thomas Strouse (Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary, 296 New Britain Ave., Newington, CT 06111):
The recent volume entitled From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man (Greenville, SC: Ambassador-Emerald International, 1999. 231 pp.) is the product of James B. Williams and his eleven authors. These writers and their book appear to represent Bob Jones University and the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship. This inference is established by the connection of the authors to BJU and the endorsements by the leadership of the FBF. Williams states that his purpose is "to provide accurate, understandable information that will serve as a guide for laymen when selecting a translation" (p. 10). Although this may be a commendable goal and many may therefore read the book, it should be received with extreme caution for two reasons: first, it falls short of its stated goal; and second, it points toward a dangerous trend.
From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man should be received with extreme caution in the first place because the book falls short of the editor's stated task. It does so due to the following eight factors.
The full review is available on-line at
http://www.wilderness-cry.net/tccn/temp/review.html
So you think you're having a bad day? The following is taken from a Florida newspaper:
A man was working on his motorcycle on his patio and his wife was in the house in the kitchen. The man was racing the engine on the motorcycle and somehow, the motorcycle slipped into gear. The man, still holding the handlebars, was dragged through a glass patio door and the motorcycle dumped onto the floor inside the house. The wife, hearing the crash, ran into the dining room, and found her husband laying on the floor, cut and bleeding, the motorcycle laying next to him and the patio door shattered.
The wife ran to the phone and summoned an ambulance. Because they lived on a fairly large hill, the wife went down the several flights of long steps to the street to direct the paramedics to her husband. After the ambulance arrived and transported the husband to the hospital, the wife righted the motorcycle and pushed it outside.
Seeing that gas had spilled on the floor, the wife obtained some paper towels, blotted up the gasoline, and threw the towels in the toilet.
The husband was treated at the hospital and was released to come home. After arriving home, he looked at the shattered patio door and the damage done to his motorcycle. He became despondent, went into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, he flipped it between his legs into the toilet bowl while still seated.
The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard a loud explosion and her husband screaming. She ran into the bathroom and found her husband laying on the floor. His trousers had been blown away and he was suffering burns on the buttocks, the back of his legs and his groin. The wife again ran to the phone and called for an ambulance.
The same ambulance crew was dispatched and the wife met them at the street. The paramedics loaded the husband on the stretcher and began carrying him to the street. While they were going down the stairs to the street accompanied by the wife, one of the paramedics asked the wife how the husband had burned himself. She told them and the paramedics started laughing so hard, one of them tipped the stretcher and dumped the husband out. He fell down the remaining steps and broke his arm.
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