January 4, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Change, Religion Main Themes for Voters
Brian Hartman and Gary Langer/ABC (01/04/2008)
Iowa Republicans braved the frigid cold tonight in search of a straight-talking candidate with religious conviction, while for Democrats the choice boiled down to a desire for change.

Huckabee Wins Iowa's Republican Caucuses
Michael D. Shear and Perry Bacon Jr./Washington Post (01/04/2008)
DES MOINES, Jan. 3 -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee rode a wave of evangelical fervor to victory over Mitt Romney in Iowa's Republican caucus Thursday, an outcome that hardly seemed possible two months ago.

Huckabee Supporters Get Warning Letters
Associated Press (01/03/2008: ap.google.com)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa pastors who support Republican Mike Huckabee for president have received letters warning them that getting involved in politics could endanger the tax-exempt status of their churches. Several pastors who have publicly backed Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who has support from many evangelicals, said they have received the letters, which have no return address. They have arrived in the weeks leading to Thursday's precinct caucuses.

An Iowa also-ran, Romney looks to New Hampshire to reverse his primary fortunes
Thomas Burr/Salt Lake Tribune (01/04/2008)
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. _ Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney attributed a big part of his Iowa loss to rival Mike Huckabee's support among evangelical Christians, a section of voters that Romney had ardently courted himself.

DEATH PENALTY
High court to weigh in on lethal injection
Joan Biskupic/USA Today (01/04/2008)
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday on whether a common lethal injection method is unconstitutional. The case, which has prompted a temporary halt in executions, comes at a crucial time for capital punishment nationwide.

States Hesitate to Lead Change on Executions
Adam Liptak/New York Times (01/03/2008)
When the Supreme Court hears arguments on Monday in Baze v. Rees, the Kentucky case that has led to a de facto national moratorium on executions, it will mostly be concerned with the question of what standard courts must use to assess the constitutionality of execution methods under the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. But beyond that is the more practical question of why all 36 states that use lethal injections to execute condemned inmates are wedded to a cumbersome combination of three chemicals.

Death Penalty Remains Strong in Texas
Michael Graczyk/Associated Press (01/04/2008: ap.google.com)
Although the death penalty is under attack across the nation, support for capital punishment remains strong in Texas, where a history of frontier justice, a law-and-order culture and conservative politics keep the execution chamber busy.

CHURCH AND STATE
`In God We Trust' will move from edge of new coins
Adelle M. Banks/Religion News Service (01/04/2008: pewforum.org)
WASHINGTON - The national motto "In God We Trust" will move from the edge of new dollar coins honoring U.S. presidents to the front or back of the currency.

EDUCATION
Atheist Sues To Prevent Son From Attending Catholic School
WLKY.com (01/04/2008)
LA GRANGE, Ky. -- A father is in a courtroom battle, trying to keep his son from attending a Catholic high school. The parents involved in this case are divorced. David Ryan, the father, is an atheist. The mother is a Roman Catholic. Their son, who is in the eighth grade, attends a Catholic school in Oldham County.