Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Federal Judge Dismisses Ten Commandments Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) to remove a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of a Pennsylvania high school.

U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry wrote the plaintiffs had “failed to establish that they were forced into ‘direct, regular, and unwelcome contact’ with the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of Valley High School.”

The judge also said that the female plaintiffs in the case, Marie Schaub and her unidentified daughter, had developed their sense of “offense” to the monument “only after FFRF became involved in this dispute.”

The FFRF demanded the monument’s removal in March 2012 and sued that September when the school did not bow to their demand.

The court noted that the daughter in the case never actually attended that high school and that she testified in court when she saw the monument she didn’t pay much attention to it.  The court also noted that while the mother claimed she pulled her daughter from the district to avoid the monument, the change happened after the lawsuit was filed.

“We’re pleased with the decision by the court,” New Kensington-Arnold School District Superintendent John Pallone said. “We’re glad to see this issue is hopefully behind us, and we can move on with our mission of educating children.”

Church Able To Mention Jesus Again At Housing Development Where They Were Once Thrown Out

A Pennsylvania church has been able to return to a housing project where they had seen God move in great ways after intervention from a civil rights group helped them regain access.

Living Waters Church in Meadville, PA had been reaching out to families at Gill Village housing project after the children’s ministry director saw kids eating pancake mix out of the box.  Rachael Groll then began visiting several times a week with free food and clothing provided by the church.  Eventually, the church offered transportation to community events and Sunday morning services.

Then last September the church received a call from the government housing agency telling them that they were no longer welcome to set foot on the property because they were a religious entity.

“I’ve never been up against anything like this, and when I got the call, honestly, I just wept,” Groll told Christian News. “I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I’ve built relationships with these kids and their families.”

The church was eventually allowed to return because officials admitted the church had made a difference…but the church was not allowed to mention anything having to do with their faith.

“The gospel is the source of the hope and life-change they saw in the community,” Groll said. “Basically they told us, ‘You can pour into the community as long as you want; just don’t tell them why you’re doing it.’”

The church then contacted the Alliance Defending Freedom who informed the housing authority the church had the right under the First Amendment to tell the residents why they were helping them.

“Religious speech receives full and robust protection under the First Amendment and cannot lawfully be excluded from government property simply because of its religious nature and viewpoint,” the ADF told the housing authority. “Government censorship of religious speech is the most invidious form of speech discrimination known to First Amendment jurisprudence, and is presumptively unconstitutional.”

The housing authority has now removed all restrictions from the church.

Vandals Deface Pro-Life Display At Clarion University

Vandals defaced and destroyed crosses that were part of a pro-life display at a Pennsylvania university.

Students for Life at Clarion University played the crosses.  The 350 crosses were part of a display called “Cemetery of the Innocents” and each represented 10 aborted children that day.

Overnight, a number of the crosses were pulled out of the ground and thrown in trashcans.  Others were defaced with messages indicating their connection to activists against a recent Indiana religious freedom law.

The crosses were also placed in a manner that is a traditional anti-Christian placement.

“[All] 350 crosses were pulled up and re-inserted in inverted fashion, a well-known anti-Christian symbol,” the group Students for Life reported. “Additionally, red paint was splattered on crosses and signs. Even eerier was the mock bloody footprints of an infant painted in front of the display.”

“Pro-Choice” was written on the sidewalk near the mock footprints of an infant.

University police claim they are investigating the act.

“I ask that as a community of educators and students, we come together and reflect upon our commitment to our rights and responsibilities of expression,” university President Karen Whitney said in a statement. “I ask that we use dialogue and discussion to engage very differing viewpoints in ways that leave all of us better for the experience.”

The display has since been restored.

Fireball Lights Up Pennsylvania Sky

A meteor that NASA estimates hit the atmosphere at 45,000 miles per hour lit up the Pennsylvania sky Tuesday morning.

The meteor broke up over Kittanning and Brendan Mullen of the Carnegie Science Center said the rock was close to 500 pounds when it blew apart.

“Usually, the whole thing burns up, and that’s what causes shooting stars and things like that. But it’s possible that pieces of this meteor fragmented off, and shattered and scattered all across Kittanning,” he said.

Mullen speculated the asteroid came from the belt that circles the solar system.

“A lot of chunks of space rocks and debris are gravitationally tugged out of their orbit within that ring up there, and find their way into the atmospheres of planets,” Mullen said.

“There’s a lot of meteoroids out there, a lot of space garbage,” Mullen told CBS Pittsburgh. “And a lot of it gets tugged around gravitationally by the planets. And sometimes they get tugged into orbits that intersect the orbits of the planets, like earth.”

South Carolina Sheriff Fulfills Pennsylvania Boy’s Dream

The Christmas holiday became a little more special for a Pennsylvania boy who thought his dream of learning to be a hunter had ended with a mix-up.

Alex Collins lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania with his mother Leslie.  Leslie is a single mother who has been ill and is not able to take her son to the hunter’s education classes let alone take him in the woods to hunt.

Alex and his mother heard about a program launched by the Sheriff of Chester County, South Carolina where the Sheriff would take young men and teach them how to become hunters.  The report only said Chester County, so Alex mistakenly thought it was Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Alex and his mother dropped off letters at the Chester County, Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Department asking for Alex to be a part of the program.

Alex was crushed when he found out about the mix-up.

That’s when Chester County, PA Sheriff Carolyn Welch contacted Alex Underwood, Sheriff of Chester County, South Carolina.

The Monday after Christmas, Alex was flown to Chester, South Carolina by Underwood who took the boy to learn how to be a hunter.  He bought him all the gear he needs to go into the woods and bag a deer.

The two Sheriffs and deputies of both departments chipped in to send the boy on the trip.

“People read the story and it just took off,” Underwood told the Herald. “Everybody wanted to make sure Little A (Alex) was taken care of, and I want the whole country to know that we are going to show Little A the best hunting and fishing trip anybody ever had.”

Fox News reports that Sheriff Underwood said Alex is going to be taken to a “secret hunting spot” that is held so closely by sheriff’s department employees that Alex has to promise not to tell anyone how to find it.

Allegheny County Pennsylvania Against In God We Trust

Eight members of the Allegheny County Pennsylvania county council do not want God in their county.

Eight Democratic Party members of the council voted against a display that would have included “In God We Trust” as part of the display.  The national motto was to be included on the display with the Pennsylvania state motto of “Virtue, Liberty and Independence” and the one of the currency mottos, “E Pluribus Unum.”

The virulent anti-Christian group Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the council threatening the county because of the potential measure.  Democratic County Executive Rich Fitzgerald also openly has an anti-Christian attitude.

“[It’s] a movement by the right-wing evangelical Christians across the country basically to impose Christianity,” Fitzgerald said.

“You should tell the county executive he should get educated on the national motto,” Pennsylvania Rep. Rick Saccone told the Pittsburgh Tribune. “It’s their ignorance that causes them to fear having God in a government place. They shouldn’t fear the name of God or the word ‘God’ in our government.”

Woman Sentenced For Sneaking Daughter Abortion Pills

A Pennsylvania woman will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being convicted of illegally giving her daughter abortion pills.

Jennifer Whalen of Washingtonville, 39, pleaded guilty last month to purchasing the drugs from an online site based in Europe.  The woman’s 16-year-old daughter became pregnant in 2012 and didn’t want to keep the baby so the two found the drugs online.

The plot was exposed after the daughter experienced abdominal cramping and bleeding.  She was rushed to Geisinger Medical Center where the doctors found an “incomplete abortion and urinary tract infaction.”

The case took over a year to bring charges because of the unique situation.  Whalen was initially charged with unlawfully dispensing medicine, endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault and medical consultation.  She had been free on bond prior to sentencing but will serve the prison term and community service upon release.

Diane Gramley of the American Family Association noted that Pennsylvania has a “safe haven” law where they could have left the baby at the hospital without any reprisal from the state.

“This baby did not have to die,” Gramley said.

Pennsylvania In God We Trust Law Weakened

A bill that would have mandated Pennsylvania schools display the phrase “In God We Trust” within their buildings has been weakened in an attempt to get it passed.

Representative Rick Saccone of Allegheny County has a history of introducing laws to acknowledge God’s role in the history of America.  Saccone was behind the 2012 bill that declared the 2012 “The Year of the Bible” in the state.

Saccone introduced the “National Motto Display Act” to recognize the 150th anniversary of the phrase being placed on American currency by once Pennsylvania governor James Pollock.  Pollack introduced the phrase during his time as the director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia.

“Our youth need to hear the story of our heritage and learn from positive role models in a time of decaying values,” Saccone stated. “The story of our national motto is a positive story and one that is uniquely Pennsylvanian.”

The bill was weakened by changing the mandate to post the phrase to an recommendation that schools may post the mandate at their option.  The change unanimously passed the state House.

The Pennsylvania ACLU said that if the bill becomes law, schools will be placed as risk for lawsuits if they post the phrase.

Woman Who Put Newborn In Toilet Tank Sentenced To Life

A Pennsylvania woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after being sentenced in connection to the killing of her newborn child.

Amanda Hein, 26, had gone to a bar in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania last August to watch a pay-per-view wrestling event with three men.  She went into labor and gave birth during the event in the women’s bathroom.  She then wrapped the newborn in a plastic bag, placed it in the toilet’s tank, went outside for a cigarette and then returned to watch the wrestling event.

The baby was found the next day when the cleaning crew could not flush the toilet.  The county medical examiner says the child was born alive and suffocated in the plastic bag.

She had pleaded guilty to murder as part of a plea deal last month but it was up to a jury to decide if it was pre-meditated first-degree murder or third-degree murder.  The jury went with first-degree which called for a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Hein’s defense attorneys claimed that her actions were spur-of-the-moment out of shock because she did not know she was pregnant.

Woman Who Dumped Newborn In Toilet Pleads Guilty To Murder

A Pennsylvania woman who wrapped her newborn in a piece of plastic and then dumped him in a toilet at a sports bar has pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder.

The plea of 27-year-old Amanda Hein of Allentown entered the plea during a pre-trial hearing.  The general plea means that a jury will decide in a trial next month if the charge should be first degree murder, which would carry a life prison term, or third degree murder which would jail her for 20 to 40 years.

Hein acknowledged that she had been taking medication for severe depression at the time of the killing but that she was aware what she was doing at the time.

The body of the child was found in a toilet at Starters Pub at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in August and the coroner determined the boy was alive when he was placed in the plastic and the toilet.

Prosecutors had initially planned to seek the death penalty but decided her mental health issues made it very unlikely that she would be sentenced to death.