Free Republic

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Hookers are using the Internet to keep tabs on undercover cops. Police departments have used computers for years, but now the oldest profession is going high-tech. St. Louis County vice-squad commander Rick Battelle said he was shocked to find his cell-phone number listed on a hookers-only Web site. Undercover police use mobile phones to set up sting operations. But some of those phone numbers were listed in the database. The hookers' computer files also included the names used by undercover officers and details about their unmarked cars. St. Louis area officers discovered the hookers' Internet database on...

Ohio University is offering "domestic-partner" benefits to employees, but only same-sex couples can apply. Some critics say the school is setting itself up for a lawsuit by employees who want to add a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend to their insurance plans, the Athens, Ohio, News reported. Eric Clift, a technical services specialist in OU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, told the paper if a heterosexual employee were to legally challenge the new policy as discriminatory, the university might have to either revoke the benefits for gay and lesbian employees, or extend them to straight employees, "which I have to think would...

Kline Concerned about Sodomy Case WIBW, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is concerned that if a sodomy case before the courts goes against the state, the Kansas marriage law and laws against sex with children will be nullified. Kline held a news conference on Monday about the case of Matthew Limon, convicted in 2000 of having sex with a 14-year-old boy. That was in a group home for the developmentally disabled. The defendant's attorney, working for the ACLU, argues that Limon's 17-year prison sentence is unfair. The defense says another Kansas sex law provides a lesser penalty if the...

In today's Washington Post, former senator Alan Simpson, a Wyoming Republican with libertarian social views, weighs in on the question of same-sex marriage. Specifically, Simpson argues against a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman only. Simpson disclaims any position on whether same-sex marriage should be legally recognized, but he argues against the amendment on the basis of states' rights: In our system of government, laws affecting family life are under the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government. This is as it should be. . . . That people...

"Sexually Inclusive Christians" Celebrate Victories, Push for More Mark Tooley August 22, 2003 When arguing for church acceptance of homosexuality, most advocates talk about monogamy. But others are bolder. “I am a strong ally of those in healthy, polyamorous relationships,” declared Debra Kolodny. She argued that having multiple sexual partners can be “holy.” Kolodyn was leading a workshop at the WOW (Witness Our Welcome) 2003 convention, an ecumenical gathering for “sexually and gender inclusive Christians.” Hundreds of homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual people gathered under the “queer” banner in Philadelphia August 14-17 to urge religious acceptance of non-traditional sexual behaviors. According...

Left-wing "comedian" Al Franken got tripped up by some big fat lies this week. He's sorry he got caught, but smugly silent about making fun of countless American kids who have taken abstinence vows.Thanks to Court TV's Smoking Gun Web site (www.thesmokinggun.com), we now know that the Saturday Night Live leftover abused his position as an "academic fellow" (now that's funny) at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy in a puerile attempt to trick Attorney General John Ashcroft into publicly sharing his personal experience with abstinence.Franken urged Ashcroft to share...

When an Oak Creek woman found her 14-year-old daughter nude in the woman's bed with a 14-year-old boy, the teens didn't strike her as being overly concerned. "They both freely admitted that their intention was to 'have sex,' " records quote the woman as saying. They "were confrontational and remorseless." The teens even "challenged" the woman to call police. So she did. Now, the couple's would-be sexual encounter in October has both of them facing serious criminal charges. Their case takes a course through the intersection of morals and law, a bustling crossroads at a time when sexuality has become...

The news that five members of the Supreme Court were winging their way over to Italy on the heels of the decision striking down Texas' anti-sodomy law seemed somehow appropriate. Some of the flying judges were no doubt there to discuss their newly proposed constitution -- given as the official reason for the junket. But two or three of them must have at least contemplated communing with European elitists on how they ought to vote on upcoming cases here. After all, in the Texas case they had for the first time in a majority opinion cited European public opinion, decisions...

Back Door to History Thank J.R. Quinn for the gay celebrations Gay rights supporters hailed the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 decision in Lawrence v. Texas as a watershed that will forever change gay and lesbian life in America. Many of the players in the drama have gotten their 15 minutes of fame, from the eagerly sound-biting lawyers to the publicity-shy defendants. But what about Harris County Sheriff's Deputy J.R. Quinn? He's the Frank Wills of this new day for gays ('70s trivia time: Wills was the security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in). In 1998 Quinn arrested John Lawrence...

<p>WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's reference to foreign law in a ruling last month that overturned state anti-sodomy statutes stood out as if it were in bold print and capital letters.</p> <p>Writing for the majority in a landmark decision supporting gay civil rights, Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that the European Court of Human Rights and other foreign courts have affirmed the ''rights of homosexual adults to engage in intimate, consensual conduct.''</p>

The Consequences of Lawrence v. Texas Justice Scalia Is Right that Same Sex Marriage Bans Are At Risk, But Wrong That A Host of Other Laws Are Vulnerable By JOANNA GROSSMAN lawjlg@hofstra.edu ---- Tuesday, Jul. 08, 2003 Recently, and famously, in Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court invalidated Texas' anti-homosexual-sodomy law. It did so by invoking the constitutional right to privacy. But it also indicated that constitutional equal protection doctrines would have provided another reason to invalidate the statute, which targeted only same-sex sodomy. The decision extended long-overdue recognition of the rights of gays and lesbians. In doing so, it...

Citing the precedent set by the US Supreme Court ruling in the Texas sodomy case, a decorated Vietnam Combat Veteran filed suit late yesterday with the US Court of Federal Claims challenging the constitutionality of the 'don't ask, dont tell' policy.The challenge filed by LTC Steve Loomis, who was ousted from the Army for being gay just 8 days prior to his 20 year retirement date in 1997, also challenges the federal anti sodomy statute covering the military.The lawsuit is based on the recent US Supreme Court opinion in Lawrence v. Texas which declared that the Texas Sodomy Statute violated...

Is It A Fundamental Constitutional Right To Have Sex With Children, Too? By Lowell Phillips Tuesday July 8, 2003 Toogood Reports "This is a glorious and beautiful time to be queer." Don't start hammering out the hate mail just yet. Those aren't my words, but those of a bona fide "gay rights" activist. Amid the orgy of celebration (pun intended) following the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, striking down sodomy laws, Molly McKay, spokeswoman for Marriage Equality California proclaimed, "This month has been filled with hope... This is a glorious and beautiful time to be queer." Few...

Spurred on by the Supreme Court's landmark ruling decriminalizing gay sexual conduct, both sides in the debate over gay rights are vowing an intense state-by-state fight over deeply polarizing questions, foremost among them whether gays should be allowed to marry. Even with most legislatures out of session until early next year, lively debates are already taking shape across the country, from Hawaii to Connecticut, Oregon to Alabama to Massachusetts. Potentially fierce battles over marriage and other rights loom in dozens of statehouses and state courts, as social conservatives — including the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee — try...

Independence Day - Say what?Date: Saturday, July 05 @ 12:01:48 Topic What Stinks? Re: Hot Springs Sentinel Record - 4th of July Edition Perhaps I missed the event? But when did we STOP celebrating our Independence Day? When did the 4th of July join Easter, Christmas, Washington & Lincoln Birthdays as being POLITICALLY INCORRECT and unworthy of celebration or commemoration? Or even notice? If we had foreign visitors here on the morning of the 4th of July, they never would have known that this was INDEPENDENCE DAY for the United States of America - not from reading the Sentinel...

A Nation Under GodOur 243 Founding Fathers in 1776 founded this nation under God upon a tripod: 1. “The law’s of nature“ (the natural law). 2. “The laws of nature’s God” (the Bible). 3. And the “God-given”, “self-evident”, “inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” of every American citizen. This was known as “ordered liberty”. The Twin TowersGeorge Washington in his farewell discourse went so far as to say, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indefensible supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism which...

MONTREAL -- Swingers clubs will spring up across Canada because of a judge ruling their activities are not necessarily illegal, the head of a swingers group said yesterday. Municipal court Judge Denis Boisvert found five people guilty of swinging-related offences, but decided "contemporary Canadian society tolerates swinging and swingers clubs if the sexual acts take place in private." Jean Hamel, president of the 8,000-member Quebec Swingers Association, said Boisvert's ruling will have national significance. "I don't think more clubs will open in Quebec but I think it will open doors for other places in Canada, like Toronto." Judge Boisvert found...

Nudity, Crassness, Perversion on Display as San Francisco Celebrates Legal Sodomy 7/2/2003 By Allyson Smith Anti-Catholic 'Sisters' group takes shot at Vice President Cheney SAN FRANCISCO—Homosexuals were jubilant—and some naked—Sunday, June 29, as they celebrated last week’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Texas’ sodomy law during this city’s 33rd annual “gay pride” parade. This writer witnessed no attempt by city police to arrest those who were publicly nude, and no attempts to urge revelers to cover their private parts. The San Francisco "gay" celebration occurred just two days after President George W. Bush visited the city on a campaign stop to...

You may not know how the town of Springfield, home to the Simpsons, was founded. In the late 1790s Jebediah Springfield and his partner Shelbyville Manhattan led a group of pioneers across the country to start a new community. They finally stopped at a beautiful spot atop a hill looking down on a lush valley: Jebediah: People, our search is over! On this site we shall build a new town where we can worship freely, govern justly, and grow vast fields of hemp for making rope and blankets. Shelbyville: Yes, and marry our cousins.Jebediah: I was — what are...

"Polygamy is the next civil-rights battle." That's the new battle cry of proponents of "Christian polygamy" who say their lifestyle is one step closer to being accepted after the Supreme Court's controversial decision last week invalidating state sodomy laws. A website set up for media to get information about the pro-polygamy movement enthusiastically hails the Lawrence v. Texas decision, quoting from the majority opinion that Americans now have "... the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention." As WorldNetDaily reported, critics of the decision believe the court has usurped the role of lawmakers, establishing a far-reaching precedent...