Free Republic

A new report argues a yearslong abuse scandal from a prominent former director at Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps was more widespread and systemic than reported before. The report, published Sunday on The Dispatch, includes new documents, interviews and analysis about the years Peter Newman rose from the ranks of counselor to camp director and how he abused young boys along the way. Newman pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually abusing boys in 2010 and received a sentence that would put him in prison for the rest of his life, but that was just "the tip of a terrible iceberg," the...

The House Judiciary Committee hosted a Department of Homeland Security oversight hearing last Wednesday with Secretary Janet Napolitano. As you may recall, the House Homeland Security Committee shares a certain amount of legislative jurisdiction with the House Judiciary Committee regarding the Department of Homeland Security. While the Homeland Security Committee covers border security issues, most immigration legislation is covered by the Judiciary Committee. As a result, during the authorization process, the Secretary of Homeland Security is often called to testify before two committees. It’s not a fun process for the Secretary to get grilled and asked obscure questions. I might...

President Obama will end the 15-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has prevented homosexual and bisexual men and women from serving openly within the U.S. military, a spokesman for the president-elect said. Obama said during the campaign that he opposed the policy, but since his election in November has made statements that have been interpreted as backpedaling. On Friday, however, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, responding on the transition team's Web site to a Michigan resident who asked if the new administration planned to get rid of the policy, said: "You don't hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But...

The world's first male mother is pregnant again, hoping to enlarge the family he started after giving birth in June to a daughter. Thomas Beatie, a former Hawaiian beauty queen, caused a worldwide clamour last spring after announcing his first pregnancy.

LAS VEGAS -- As a Bishop Gorman High School teacher for six years, Jeff Crouse relished imparting knowledge to young minds. With his doctorate in film and television studies from the University of Warwick in England, Crouse handpicked cream-of-the-crop seniors to take his college-level classes in philosophy and film studies. He was active outside the classroom, too _ challenging students through a Philosophy Society Club and heading the school's chapter of Amnesty International. A former seminarian, Crouse, 45, said he appreciated the Catholic culture at Bishop Gorman because of the freedom it allowed him to develop his classes and to...

Marriage and the Constitution: Why We Need an Amendment By Professor Richard G. Wilkins I am one of the few constitutional law professors in the country who actually reads the Constitution. I even read it to my students. I exhort them to study and understand the intent of the Framers of the Constitution. I insist upon a strict construction of the document and praise the brilliant political structure it creates. If anyone would have told me, ten years ago, that I would support amending the Constitution to include a definition of marriage, I would have laughed out loud. I would...