Monthly Archives: January 2020

OKLAHOMA CITY A recommendation by Gov. Kevin Stitts criminal justice reform task force for a prison Bible college is unconstitutional and unwise, according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

It is inappropriate to utilize the machinery of the state to promote one religion over another religion or over non-religion, according to a Wednesday letter from the organization. The government may accommodate prisoners who wish to worship in a certain way, but the government cannot plan and implement religious schooling, much less a seminary, or a Bible college for prisoners. Courts have regularly found such programs to be unconstitutional.

Using private donations or running it as a voluntary program does not cure the legal violation, the organization said.

The state does not have the authority to build and administer a program for biblical education to serve a literally captive audience, the letter, from Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said.

Criminal justice reform has been a hotly debated topic at the Capitol for years.

In May, Stitt by executive order created the Criminal Justice Reentry, Supervision, Treatment and Opportunity Reform Task Force.

The panel on Jan. 10 issued recommendations, including the creation of an accredited seminary or Bible college program in the prison system.

Funding for this program will be raised by leveraging private donors who are interested in bringing this type of positive change to Oklahomas prisons, the report said. The Task Force understands that efforts are currently underway to raise funding for such a program in Oklahoma, which it endorses, and recommends that state leaders and the Department of Corrections encourage these efforts.

Programs in other states have trained prisoners to be counselors to other inmates, which has decreased violent crime, the report said.

The groups letter says Christians are already overrepresented in prison populations.

The letter said the Bible is a behavioral grab-bag espousing violence and many primitive outmoded teachings.

Modern-day examples of religious violence produce further lesson as to why God and government present a dangerous mix, the letter said. The Bible, in short, contains violent, homophobic, sexist and racist models of behavior that many non-Christians and nonbelievers find personally repugnant, and which potentially could encourage persons who rely on them to act in a manner harmful to them and others.

Stitt in November toured a Louisiana prison that had a successful seminary program that improved outcomes for inmates, said Donelle Harder, a Stitt spokeswoman.

The Governor takes seriously any recommendation to help Oklahomans be equipped to bring change and improvements in their own lives and be productive members of society, Harder said. He appreciates the time and dedication of the Task Force to develop this recommendation. We are closely studying it to determine next steps.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wisconsin, is a national, nonprofit organization with more than 30,000 members.

In September, the group accused Stitt of using his office to promote religion following a speaking event at a church which used his title to promote the event.

The organization also targeted remarks Stitt made last year at an Inaugural Prayer Service at the First Baptist Church of Moore.

In those remarks, Stitt said he tells his team that they have an opportunity to join in what God is doing in Oklahoma.

In a letter to Stitt, the group said, Please understand that you were not elected to be a preacher, but a governor.

Originally posted here:

Freedom From Religion Foundation objects to recommendation for Bible college in Oklahoma prison - Tulsa World

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Richmond, VA - For the last 25 years, the Freedom Classic has been circled on the calendars of many VSU and VUU fans, players and coaches.

"Definitely it's a big rivalry," stated Virginia State Head Coach Lonnie Blow. "Anytime you play in the Freedom Classic, you can throw the numbers and records out the window because it's whose ready to play that day."

"It's a big deal," said Virginia Union Head Coach Jay Butler. "Anytime you got Virginia State and Virginia Union it's a big deal but I try to say to the young guys, it's just the next game."

The next game on the Trojans and Panthers schedule is the 25th annual Freedom Classic at VSU's Multipurpose Center. It's also the 1st CIAA Northern Division game for both as they get ready for the stretch run towards the conference tournament next month in Charlotte.

"Obviously you want to win the Northern Division," Blow explained. "It's the 1st game of the North so we really got to buckle down."

"It's the next game for us," Butler stressed. "It's a big deal for Richmond, for the area, the conference, it's a big rivalry game."

While Virginia Union dominated the rivalry at the start of the Freedom Classic, VSU has taken control since 2014, Coach Blow's 1st season at VSU. The Trojans have won five of six in the Classic, including last year's 88-73 victory over the Panthers at home.

"Having it here {the Multipurpose Center} is special, said Blow. "It's our home court, we're comfortable here and having it here is really good for us."

"A lot of people don't get this opportunity," Butler added. "I know it's going to be sold-out, so right now I'm just trying to get my guys to just relax and let's have some fun."

For the second year in a row, the Freedom Classic will be a VSU-VUU doubleheader. The women will start the festivities at 6pm followed by the men's game at 8pm at the Multipurpose Center at Virginia State University.

Continued here:

VSU & VUU renew rivalry during the 25th Freedom Classic - WTVR CBS 6 News

The 2020 edition of the course International Legal Framework of freedom of expression, access to public information and protection of journalists opens applications to all magistrates, judges and judicial operators in Ibero-America.

The course, offered in Spanish, is part of an initiative led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) with the support of Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin. This is the initiatives sixth edition at the regional level.

The training, which has the support of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit and other entities, aims to strengthen judicial operators in the region on international standards governing the right to freedom of expression, access to public information and the protection of journalists. Since 2014, when a pilot course was held, almost 10,000 magistrates, judges and judicial operators in the region have been trained, especially in Latin America.

The 2020 edition will take place from April 20 to May 31, but applications are already open. They will close on April 5.

Click here to apply for the course.

The MOOC for the discussion with Ibero-American judicial operators about international standards on freedom of expression, access to public information and security of journalists, in its sixth year of existence, has become a regional space for debates on key issues for Ibero-American democracies, said Guilherme Canela, Regional Advisor of UNESCO for Communication and Information for Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the operators that have interacted with the online courses and other training spaces offered by UNESCO and its partners, more than 13,000 judges, prosecutors and other judicial operators have already had the opportunity to learn and share knowledge on issues increasingly central to the consolidation of our democracies, particularly with the advancement of the digital world and the new challenges that arise.

The instructors of the course will be Catalina Botero, former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR and dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Los Andes (Colombia), and Edison Lanza, current Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR.

This course allows us to cover the central aspects of the right to freedom of expression from the point of view of the Universal and Inter-American Systems covering topics such as the protection of journalists, the strengthening of public debate, access to public information, expression through the internet, limits to the exercise of freedom of expression and diversity and inclusion of voices in communication, among others, through the study and debate of the principles emanating from said systems and with the standards and practices of argumentation developed by the Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, instructor Catalina Botero explained.

This course allows us to have the necessary tools to face many of the challenges that the judiciary must face to ensure, in a consistent and respectful manner of the rule of law, the fulfillment of the fundamental rights of every democratic legal system. I hope you will join us again in this edition and that we will continue to build, together, spaces for the consolidation of more robust and democratic societies, Botero added.

For instructor and Special Rapporteur, Edison Lanza, the course is a great opportunity to deepen the knowledge of international and inter-American standards on freedom of expression for judicial operators and those who must make decisions on freedom of expression. We at the Special Rapporteurship are very happy that weve been able to contribute to the permanent training in this field of almost 10,000 judges and prosecutors throughout the continent.

The Rapporteurship is pleased to have been able to provide long-term sustainability together with its partners to this modality of promoting inter-American standards. This course, for the quality of its teachers, its curriculum and the technological platform is an example of excellence in human rights, Lanza said.

Completing six years as part of this important initiative that helps strengthen democracy in Ibero-America is a privilege and source of pride for the Knight Center team, said Professor Rosental Calmon Alves, director and founder of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin.

"Offering our distance learning platform and our experience to train judges and judicial operators in Ibero-Ameirca on issues of freedom of expression allows us to fulfill the essence of our mission," Alves added.

In addition to the Ibero-American Judicial Summit, the course has the support of the Ibero-American Network of Judicial Schools, Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) of Colombia, Latin American Internet Association, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Government School of the OAS, the Government of Sweden and the University of Los Andes de Colombia.

This is the sixth edition of the course at the Ibero-American level, but two other editions have been taught at a local level. UNESCO and the Office of the Special Rapporteur, in collaboration with the Knight Center, offered a pilot version of this course aimed exclusively at judicial operators in Mexico in November 2014. In September 2015, a similar course designed exclusively for judicial operators and journalists from the state of Coahuila in Mexico was offered. That was the first course of its kind directed at the state level in the world. At the end of 2015, an edition was offered at the Latin American level, which was followed by the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions during the first semesters of each year that were also open to judicial operators in Spain and Portugal.

In total, more than 9,600 judges and other judicial operators, such as prosecutors and court officials from all Latin American countries (except Cuba) have participated in the previous six editions of these courses.

See the article here:

Course on freedom of expression for judicial operators in Ibero-America opens applications for the 2020 edition - Knight Center for Journalism in the...

The Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville is commemorating its 150th year of worship with events planned throughout the year including an anniversary banquet, special services and other activities.

More than 500 people are gathering in a year-long celebration to praise the rich past of their Jacksonville church.

An unforgotten history. A strengthened community. A sense of faith. All of these and more were brought to the people of the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church over a century and a half of worship.

Generations of families can be traced back to the very beginning of the churchs establishment, and many descendants stand in its congregation today.

Lloyd Pearson Jr., 98, has been attending Woodlawn since 1940 and recalls the changes the church has faced within its history.

"I thought being born and raised in this area of Jacksonville that it would make sense to join the church," Pearson said. "I was in my 20s and eventually I became a trustee. After so many years, I still stand here today and remember it all."

The Rev. Don Johnson discussed how congregation members are able to embrace the present and future by remembering where it all began.

"The church does not last or thrive 150 years without the faith of the people," Johnson said. "We are solidly planted on Gods foundation because of the faith of those who came before us."

The first event to kick off the commemoration is the Woodlawn T-Shirt Service on Sunday at the church off Cleveland Road. The service begins at 11 a.m. and includes various activities such as a group photo and a themed procession.

An anniversary banquet will follow on Feb. 22 at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel. The banquet begins at 2 p.m. and is free for members and $45 for guests.

On Feb. 23 Woodlawn plans to host its Anniversary Worship Service and Homecoming Day at 11 a.m.

A total of 18 events are scheduled for the year that tie in with the celebrations theme of "Faith, Family and Freedom," many of which are still in the planning stages. Listed on the calendar is a youth worship service, a cruise to the Bahamas, a jazz concert, a community Thanksgiving meal and other gatherings.

It all started with just 13 individuals congregating in a small house to practice their faith. In 1870 these members banded together to establish what became the Third Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville.

Later in 1875 the church moved to a location at Laura and State streets in downtown and was renamed the Laura Street Presbyterian Church.

A dramatic rise in membership pushed the church to relocate once again in 1961, this time to Woodlawn Street, where it was finally renamed to its current title.

Today, Woodlawn opens its doors to about 450 members and continues to grow every year.

To meet the rising number of members, the Woodlawn Presbyterian site went from having one building, known formally as the education building, to adding the sanctuary and the multi-purpose Family Life Center.

Created as the first African-American church in Jacksonville, Woodlawn remains a rare African-American church among about 50 other churches in the Presbytery within the St. Augustine area.

There are about 20 individual organizations that function within the church and several partnerships with outside ministries. The Woodlawn Alzheimer's Association and youth services are some of the institutions most popular programs.

One of Woodlawns main missions for the future is to further its outreach and become a community church where more people can come together and rejoice in hope.

"We have members that are walking by faith and not by sight into the future and trusting God to continuously bless this church," Johnson said. "This way we can continue to be a light in the city of Jacksonville and bring justice, love and hope into our community."

Sara Albertelli: (904) 359-4097

See the original post:

Jacksonville church celebrates 150 years of faith, family and freedom - The Florida Times-Union

Bob Eaton finished his sixth season as Freedom girls soccer coach in the fall.

And things have definitely changed for the Patriots over those years.

There were a couple of major differences. When Mark (Fabey), Brian (Flynn) and I took over coaching at Freedom, the program had been down for a number of years and it seemed to an extent like more girls were just playing for the social aspect of it than were actually dedicated and committed to the success of the team, Eaton said. In fact, in our early years, it was fairly clear that the girls went into certain, if not most, games believing that they would not get a positive result. Over the last few years, this, however, has changed and there is now what I would consider to be a winning culture. This culture change is directly attributable to the girls as while six years ago there may have only been five or six girls who were driven to succeed, that number has grown each year since to where now everybody wants to succeed and will work hard to achieve their aspirations.

With this improved drive also came the belief that the girls could compete with anyone, where in previous years this was not always the case, Eaton added. "The final step was not only believing they could compete, but that they could win these games as well.

Not only did Freedom win games this season, but the Patriots won a championship. They earned their first District 11 title in program history.

For his ability to build Freedom into champions, Eaton is the 2019 lehighvalleylive Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.

Coach Eaton has been my coach since seventh grade and it has been a fun ride through my senior season at Freedom, senior forward/midfielder Katie Flynn said. I have really enjoyed having Coach Eaton involved in my life and my soccer career. He has always been supportive and provided me with a lot of encouragement that allowed me to become a much more confident soccer player. My growth from freshman to senior year was tremendous and I contribute that to Coach Eaton and the assistant coaches.

The seventh-seeded Patriots beat second-seeded Emmaus, third-seeded Northampton and eighth-seeded Nazareth on their way to the district title.

After losses to Emmaus in both the regular season and the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament, the Patriots picked up a 2-1 victory over the Green Hornets in the D-11 quarterfinals.

Clearly the key was that the girls had nothing to lose, they were the underdog, and that they could just go out and have fun. In fact this was true not only against Emmaus, but all the way through districts and into the state quarterfinals, Eaton said.

Junior Haley Gschrey scored with 7:30 left in regulation and senior Lily Judge found the back of the net with 1:58 remaining in the first overtime as the Patriots beat Northampton in the district semifinals.

Gschrey tallied two goals in the district championship game as Freedom posted a 3-1 victory over Nazareth.

Freedoms Cinderella run didnt stop there as the Patriots beat Council Rock South 3-1 in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament behind two more goals from Gschrey.

There were a couple of things that drove our success, Eaton said. First, there were no expectations to get to a certain level or achieve this or that. There are way too many strong teams in District 11 and honestly any of five or six teams can win the championship in any given year. Second, we told the girls to just go out and have fun, play their game, and know that they gave it their best, regardless of the result, when all was said and done. Lastly, the girls were extremely motivated by what they felt was a lack of recognition and respect. An example of this was immediately before one of the district games a girl from the opposing team was overheard asking a teammate who they play next,' meaning after they beat Freedom. All of these things, when combined with their inherent desire to win, motivated the girls to accomplish everything they did.

Coach Eaton was a big part of our success, Gschrey said. He would never make us feel like we couldnt win districts. He would never let us take a step down from how we usually play, which is good and makes us work hard.

Eaton, who is also the head coach at East Hills Middle School, lives in Bethlehem Township with his wife Lisa. They have two kids, Patrick, 25, and Christa, 23. Both of the kids played soccer for Freedom and went on to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Freedom coach said his players made the past seasons group special.

These girls genuinely care about each other no matter what their differences, Eaton said. Day in and day out we would see them encouraging and supporting each other regardless of the situation. They never gave up and looked at adversity and odds that were not in their favor as a challenge and not as a barrier to their success.

This is really about the girls, Eaton added. It was of course very satisfying to win districts but not so much for myself as for the girls given all the time, effort, work, commitment and dedication they have put in not only this year but in previous years as well.

Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

Original post:

Girls soccer coach Eaton has led Freedom all the way to the top - lehighvalleylive.com

Press freedom and access to information are issues that might get more traction this year now that Democrats have taken control of the General Assembly.

One of the points of pride here at the General Assembly is that this is a part-time legislature and all the lawmakers have day jobs and professional associations outside politics. These days, that includes a handful of journalists. One of them is former WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, who now represents Blacksburg. He has a bill that would give new protections to student journalists to protect them from administrators who want to suppress reporting.

It cant be because a student journalist wants to report on something that might be unflattering or something that might be of a public nature but might be unsettling, something that might inform students about a pressing issue but is something that is sensitive," Hurst says. "Those are not legitimate reasons to sensor a story as is happening now across the Commonwealth every single school year.

Delegate Danica Roem is a former newspaper reporter with the Gainesville Times and the Prince William Times. She now represents the areas she used to report on, and she wants to create a shield law to protect confidential sources.

And we have seen cases in Virginia from Bristol to Alexandria where youve had reporters being either threatened with contempt of court or theyve been threatened with punitive action of some sort or theyve been jailed for protecting the identity of a confidential source, Roem explains.

Roem also has a bill to create an ombudsman to resolve disputes over access to public records and another bill that would create a searchable database of police records on cold cases.

This report, provided byVirginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from theVirginia Education Association.

Go here to read the rest:

Former Journalists in the General Assembly Are Working to Protect Freedom of Press - WVTF

My new book Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom will be published by Oxford University Press in April. It is now available for preorder on Amazon (where if you order now, you can get the benefit of any price reductions Amazon does between now and the release date), at the Oxford UP website, and elsewhere. If you contact me, I can send you a code that will entitle you to a 30% discount at Oxford UP site. A Kindle/e-book version should be available for preorder within the next 2-3 months.

Here is the publisher's summary:

Ballot box voting is often considered the essence of political freedom. But it has two major shortcomings: individual voters have little chance of making a difference, and they also face strong incentives to remain ignorant about the issues at stake. "Voting with your feet," however, avoids both of these pitfalls and offers a wider range of choices. In Free to Move, Ilya Somin explains how broadening opportunities for foot voting can greatly enhance political liberty for millions of people around the world.

People can vote with their feet through international migration, by choosing where to live within a federal system, and by making decisions in the private sector. These three types of foot voting are rarely considered together, but Somin explains how they have major common virtues and can be mutually reinforcing. He contends that all forms of foot voting should be expanded and shows how both domestic constitutions and international law can be structured to increase opportunities for foot voting while mitigating possible downsides.

Somin addresses a variety of common objections to expanded migration rights, including claims that the "self-determination" of natives requires giving them the power to exclude migrants, and arguments that migration is likely to have harmful side effects, such as undermining political institutions, overburdening the welfare state, increasing crime and terrorism, and spreading undesirable cultural values. While these objections are usually directed at international migration, Somin shows how a consistent commitment to such theories would also justify severe restrictions on domestic freedom of movement. That implication is an additional reason to be skeptical of these rationales for exclusion. By making a systematic case for a more open world, Free to Move challenges conventional wisdom on both the left and the right.

And here are some early endorsements:

"In this excellent book, Somin makes a compelling case that migration or foot votingprovides far more political power than voting. Any one voter has a trivially small chance of altering an election, but any household can choose a new state and local government by simply moving.This insight implies that devolving power to local governments will generate far more political voice than any conceivable reform to national elections. Freer international migration would empower even more people to choose their own government. Somin's case is strong, his thinking is clear, and his writing is eloquent."Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University, and author of The Triumph of the City

"Ilya Somin shows that mobility-the freedom to move from here to there-might be the most underrated underpinning of a free society. It is especially important in America, where states can compete with one another to have social policies welcoming to enterprise and liberty.Voting is important; so is what Somin calls 'foot voting.'" George F. Will, columnist, Washington Post, and author of The Conservative Sensibility

"This eminently readable, tightly-argued, and compelling book is a model for how empirically-informed democratic theory ought to proceed. Somin shows us that in modern democracies, even when everyone has equal voice, that voice is usually close to worthless. Taking political freedom seriously requires a serious solution: foot voting. We need to ensure everyone has the right and power to move and work where they please. Exit beats voice almost every time, and the competition isn't even close. Somin deftly considers and rebuts every major objection to his view. In the end, the conclusion is inescapable: the arguments for democracy don't so much justify participatory democracy; they instead justify real freedom of movement." Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Term Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University; author of The Ethics of Voting

"Ilya Somin has done it again, producing a compelling new book, rich with insights about democratic theory, law, and economics. Free to Move takes a familiar idea-that people should be allowed and encouraged to choose the entities that govern them by moving between jurisdictions-and shows why it is valuable and how taking it seriously as a form of political choice provides a clear set of answers to some of our most pressing social problems. Those who share Somin's belief in the value of 'voting with your feet,' will see the scope of their commitment pushed by his consistency and range, and those who do not will find themselves challenged and perhaps even convinced." David Schleicher, Professor, Yale Law School

"Many find majority voting with ballots to be the highest guarantor of liberty. They may never have found themselves in the minority on a question vital to their well-being. Ilya Somin brilliantly and accessibly points to the central, additional role ofvoting with your feetmoving to a place with better policyin protecting liberty. His book mines a deep vein of law and philosophy, but you'll find mercifully little jargon here. What you will find is a book that gives to common assumptions a taut and compelling challenge, and might leave you transformed. It offers a new way to think about international migration, but not just that. It is nothing less than a proposal for a higher form of democracy, built on the critical roles of both ballot-voting and foot-voting as guardians of freedom."Michael Clemens, Center for Global Development, author of The Walls of Nations

On Twitter, Robert Guest, foreign editor of The Economist, says "It's first rate" (he read a pre-publication version of the manuscript).

For universities and other organizations that might be interested, I am available for speaking engagements related to the book. If you are an academic or teacher and assign the book to your class, I will speak to your class remotely by Skype, for free, if you are interested.

By now you are probably thinking that this post is shameless self-promotion by a book author. I plead guilty to that charge! But, for what it is worth, I also intend to donate 50% of all royalties generated by Free to Move to charities benefiting refugees.

I will write more about the book closer to the publication date.

UPDATE: I have added the endorsement by economist Michael Clemensone of the world's leading experts on international migrationwhich just came in today.

Read more:

My Forthcoming Book "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom" - Reason