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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A suspect in a police officer's shooting who was shot and killed in southern Illinois after a search of more than a week managed to evade capture by hiding in a sparsely populated national forest where he had once lived, a county sheriff said Monday....
DETROIT (AP) -- Police say a 3-month-old girl has been found safe after her father's car, with her inside, was stolen from outside a Detroit liquor store....
BOSTON (AP) -- A 64-year-old cancer patient has received the nation's first penis transplant, a groundbreaking operation that may also help accident victims and some of the many U.S. veterans maimed by roadside bombs....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. military acted properly on the night of the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, according to leaked testimony from a retired, three-star Army general who served as chief lawyer for Republicans on the House committee investigating the attacks....
By WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Obamaadministration's May 13 directive on transgender access to bathrooms "thattreats 'a student's gender identity as the student's sex' is deeply disturbing,"said the chairmen of two U.S. Catholic bishops' committees."The guidance fails toaddress a number of important concerns and contradicts a basic understanding ofhuman formation so well expressed by Pope Francis: that 'the young need to behelped to accept their own body as it was created,'" the two bishops saidin a statement May 16.The statement was issued by BishopRichard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, who is chairman of the U.S. Conferenceof Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and ArchbishopGeorge J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, who chairman of the USCCB's Committee onCatholic Education.The directive, or guidance, was issuedby the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. Thedepartments said it applies to all public schools and colleges and univ...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Obama administration's May 13 directive on transgender access to bathrooms "that treats 'a student's gender identity as the student's sex' is deeply disturbing," said the chairmen of two U.S. Catholic bishops' committees.
"The guidance fails to address a number of important concerns and contradicts a basic understanding of human formation so well expressed by Pope Francis: that 'the young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created,'" the two bishops said in a statement May 16.
The statement was issued by Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, who chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Catholic Education.
The directive, or guidance, was issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. The departments said it applies to all public schools and colleges and universities that received federal funding. It "summarizes a school's Title IX obligations regarding transgender students," they said, and also explains how the Education and Justice departments will "evaluate a school's compliance with these obligations."
The federal Title IX statute prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities, like sports. AP reported that the Obama administration earlier had warned schools that denying transgender students access to the correct facilities and activities was illegal under its interpretation of federal sex discrimination laws.
MORE TO COME
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic StandardBy Carol ZimmermannWASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Supreme Court May 16 sent the Zubikv. Burwell case, which challenges the Affordable Care Act's contraceptiverequirement for employers, back to the lower courts.The justices'unanimous decision, explained in a nine-page unsigned opinion, was based on the information that bothsides submitted a week after oral arguments were heard in the case about howand if contraceptive insurance coverage could be obtained by employees throughtheir insurance companies without directly involving religious employers whoobject to this coverage.The courtmade clear that it is not expressing an opinion on the merits of the cases thatare challenging aspects of the federal government's health legislation and italso was not ruling on the issue of a potential violation of religious freedom.Because ofthe "gravity of the dispute and the substantial clarification andrefinement in the positions of the parties," the...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard
By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Supreme Court May 16 sent the Zubik v. Burwell case, which challenges the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts.
The justices' unanimous decision, explained in a nine-page unsigned opinion, was based on the information that both sides submitted a week after oral arguments were heard in the case about how and if contraceptive insurance coverage could be obtained by employees through their insurance companies without directly involving religious employers who object to this coverage.
The court made clear that it is not expressing an opinion on the merits of the cases that are challenging aspects of the federal government's health legislation and it also was not ruling on the issue of a potential violation of religious freedom.
Because of the "gravity of the dispute and the substantial clarification and refinement in the positions of the parties," the court stated that religious employers and the government should be "afforded an opportunity to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates petitioners' religious exercise while at the same time ensuring that women covered by petitioners' health plans receive full and equal health coverage, including contraceptive coverage."
The court stressed that this approach is "more suitable" than addressing the refined positions submitted by both sides and added that "although there may still be areas of disagreement between the parties on issues of implementation, the importance of those areas of potential concern is uncertain, as is the necessity of this court's involvement at this point to resolve them."
Five appeals courts had ruled in favor of the contraceptive mandate and one had ruled against it. But now, equipped with the new information both sides submitted to the Supreme Court, the lower courts have been ordered to review these cases once more.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote separately to stress that the court had not decided any of the legal questions in the cases and cautioned the lower courts not to read anything into the new opinion.
"This is a game-changer," said Mark Rienzi, lead attorney for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents the Little Sisters of the Poor, one of the group's challenging the federal contraceptive mandate.
He said the opinion reflects that the court has "accepted the government's concession" that it can provide contraceptives to women "without using the Little Sisters."
He also was pleased the court was forbidding the government "from fining the Little Sisters even though they are refusing to bow to the government's will. It is only a matter of time before the lower courts make this victory permanent," he said in a May 16 statement.
Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl had a more nuanced look at the court's opinion, saying he was pleased that it offered a path forward, but he also acknowledged that "this struggle will continue."
The Washington Archdiocese is one of several plaintiffs in this case.
The cardinal said the archdiocese will continue its work to "serve others in education, health care, social services, and outreach to the poor and those most in need. We will continue to do that because we are resolute that it is precisely by being true to our Catholic identity in what we proclaim and in what we do that we can continue to help realize a truly good and just society."
Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, another of the plaintiffs, said the organization's officials are "studying the implications of this development and are encouraged by it."
He said the group, in response to the court's request for more information, showed that there is "a way for the government to pursue its objectives without burdening our freedom of religion. We are ready to present these new arguments in the court of appeals."
This is not the first time the court has sent a case back to the lower courts in light of new developments.
The opinion stressed that sending the case back to lower courts should not affect the government from making sure women covered by petitioners' health plans obtain FDA-approved contraceptives, but it also means the government "may not impose taxes or penalties on petitioners for failure to provide the relevant notice" stating their objection to the coverage.
The court's opinion "can be seen as both a reset and a pause," said Richard Garnett, a University of Notre Dame law professor, who said the decision doesn't end the argument but it "wipes away" several lower court opinions that had ruled against the religious challengers. He said the court's action also delays a further ruling until a new justice is on the court.
Garnett said if Justice Antonin Scalia were still on the bench, a majority would have likely ruled in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor and the other challengers.
"The government's admissions in oral argument and in the supplemental briefs appear to have made it possible for the justices to avoid a confusing and inefficient 4-4 tie and for all eight to agree on this intermediate step," he added.
Legal analyst Lyle Denniston, who writes for scotusblog.com, a blog on the Supreme Court, similarly pointed out that the court's attempt at compromise shows how it is "having to adjust its actions to deal with the fact that it is one justice short of its normal membership."
He also noted that varied reactions to the court's opinion shows that it "may take some time for observers to sort out just what the court has done and its implications."
Oral arguments for Zubik v. Burwell were heard March 23 and the court asked for additional information March 29. The case involves the Little Sisters of the Poor, Priests for Life, the Pennsylvania dioceses of Pittsburgh and Erie, and the Archdiocese of Washington and other religious groups challenging the Affordable Care Act's mandate that most religious and other employers must cover contraceptives, sterilization and abortifacients through employer-provided health insurance.
These groups, who do not fit the narrow exemption to the contraceptive mandate given to churches, argued that providing contraceptive coverage even indirectly through a third party, as the Obama administration allows through what it calls an accommodation, still violates their religious beliefs.
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Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
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