Free Republic

The Satanic Temple is appealing a lawsuit against the State of Missouri on behalf of a woman who says her rights were violated when she was forced to wait 72 hours for an abortion and was required to read religious material that asserts life begins at conception. It claims the material provided is designed to produce shame over her decision and is contrary to science. According to the organization, the appeal is based on a 1989 decision handed down by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals "which explicitly states that the life of each human being begins at conception...

The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Monday overruled the jury that awarded $1.8 million to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in a 2014 defamation case.Ventura won the award against the estate of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose memoir “American Sniper” described an altercation between him and Ventura that the former governor said did not happen. Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, appealed the jury’s verdict, which came after a three-week federal trial in St. Paul in July 2014.In a 2 to 1 decision, the appeals court threw out the $1.35 million awarded to Ventura for “unjust enrichment.” It ordered the...

A federal appeals court ruled that a Missouri school district had the right to suspend a student who wore a cap depicting a Confederate flag. The ruling Friday by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said schools may restrict First Amendment rights "in certain limited circumstances." It affirms a lower court ruling from 2007. Bryce Archambo was 14 when he was suspended from Farmington High School in September 2006, after wearing a baseball cap depicting the Confederate flag with the words, "C.S.A. Rebel Pride, 1861." The district said the flag was associated with racism and feared...

Women considering an abortion in South Dakota will receive more complete information about how the procedure will affect their bodies and what will actually happen to their unborn child thanks to a ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. South Dakota passed a law in 2005 requiring abortionists to inform women that the procedure ends the life of a living human being, and that they could suffer physical harm from the procedure as well. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says Planned Parenthood immediately sued to block implementation of the law. "They don't want...

A federal appeals court has reversed a ruling that struck down Nebraska's same-sex marriage ban. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned an earlier ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon, who ruled last year that the measure was too broad and deprived gays and lesbians of participation in the political process, among other things. Seventy percent of Nebraska voters approved the amendment in 2000. The court said the amendment "and other laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests and therefore do not violate the Constitution of...

By Jim Brown (AgapePress) -- A civil liberties attorney is objecting to a federal appeals court's decision to side with a former teacher who complained about prayers at a graduation ceremony in an Arkansas school district. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of Steve Warnock in his dispute with the De Valls Bluff School District, but denied his request to stiffen penalties against the district. The ex-teacher had argued that a 2004 baccalaureate ceremony violated lower-court injunctions by including prayers by ministers, and the appeals court agreed with him, rejecting counter arguments that the baccalaureate...

...Desperate for tax revenue, cities and towns across the country now routinely take property from unwilling sellers to make way for big-box retailers. Condemnation cases aren't tracked nationally, but even retailers themselves acknowledge that the explosive growth of the format in the 1990s and torrid competition for land has increasingly pushed them into increasingly problematic areas -- including sites owned by other people... [A] shareholder resolution: "adopt a policy for land procurement and use that incorporates social and environmental factors," particularly, the wishes of local property owners and community groups.... "If the company continues to operate in this manner, with...