PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Banned: By a federal judge, a prayer room in the Illinois state capitol. U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Aspen ruled that legislation authorizing the conversion of a capitol hearing room into a prayer and meditation room violated the First Amendment provision that government shall “make no law respecting the establishment of religion.”
Changed: The name of HIS Magazine, published by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Effective with this month’s issue, the magazine will be renamed U. The new name, an abbreviation for university, is “upbeat, unique, universal, and unthreatening,” said editor Verne Becker. He said the magazine’s previous name, HIS, proved to be a barrier to gaining new subscribers. “Either people didn’t know what the name meant, or they assumed it was some kind of men’s magazine.”
Supported: Acts of civil disobedience by employees and members of the 1.7 million-member United Church of Christ. The denomination’s Office for Church in Society adopted a resolution saying civil disobedience is appropriate when a government “violates fundamental Christian principles, requires adherence to systemically unjust laws or government policies, or endangers the welfare of the human community.” The denomination’s United Church Board for World Ministries passed a similar resolution in 1985.
Upheld: By a federal appeals court, the right of picketers to protest in front of the home of a doctor who performs abortions. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled unconstitutional a Brookfield, Wisconsin, ordinance that prohibited such picketing. The court said the ordinance violated picketers’ First Amendment right to free speech.
By a federal appeals court, a $200,000 award won by Jerry Falwell in a suit against Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Falwell filed a libel suit after Hustler published a parody that portrayed him as an incestuous drunkard. In 1984, a federal court rejected Falwell’s libel claim but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. In a 6-to-5 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, refused to reconsider the $200,000 judgment, allowing it to stand.
