President Barack Obama is said to be considering to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in support of overturning Proposition 8, the controversial 2008 California law that banned gay marriage.

Austin R. Nimocks, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, who is a co-counsel in the case in favor of upholding Prop. 8, told The Christian Post in a phone interview on Thursday that ADF will hold off on commenting on such a brief until, or if, it is actually filed. However, he shared his hopes that the Supreme Court justices will not change the traditional definition of marriage.

"The wisest course of action is for the Supreme Court to allow the debate over marriage to continue in this country and not judicially impose same-sex marriage on Americans," Nimocks told CP. more >>

In a crime that New Jersey authorities have described as heinous, a local man is believed to have shot to death two Coptic Christians before severing their heads and hands and burying their bodies in the backyard of a relative's abandoned home.

"These were grisly murders in which the defendant allegedly shot both victims in the chest at close range," said Attorney General Chiesa in a press release. "We allege that the defendant was ruthless and calculating in the manner in which he carried out the killings and attempted to prevent identification of the victims by cutting off their heads and hands before burying their bodies. The New Jersey State Police has conducted a thorough investigation, which will enable us to secure justice for the victims."

The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Yusuf Ibrahim of Jersey City, N.J., whom they apprehended Feb. 10. He has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of desecration of human remains. His bail was set at $3.3 million cash, and he is currently being held in a Hudson County, N.J., jail. more >>

Attorneys for a former New York 8th-grade student have asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to weigh in on a three-judge panel's ruling against a New York 8th-grade student who wanted to include a religious blessing at the end of her graduation speech.

The Alliance Defending Freedom legal group announced Monday that it had filed the "petition for rehearing en banc" last week that seeks to overturn the Second Circuit panel's ruling, which approved the censorship of the student. Co-counsel David Gibbs originally filed the case, A.M. v. Taconic Hills Central School District, in 2010.

"Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas. The personal well-wishes of a student are no different just because they mention God," said Senior Counsel David Cortman. "Public school officials have no legitimate basis to shut down personal speech just because it has a religious reference." more >>

A Pennsylvania-area judge ruled Thursday against Megan Thode, a former graduate student of Lehigh University who sued to have her C-plus grade raised. She sought $1.3 million in damages and claimed that she received the low mark because she advocated for same-sex marriage.

Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano ultimately ruled that Thode's C-plus grade, which she received as a result of a 2009 master's therapist field work course at Lehigh University, will stand, saying that he found no breach of contract or discrimination on behalf of the university.

Those representing Lehigh University, a private research college located in Bethlehem, Pa., have expressed satisfaction in Giordano's ruling, saying that the judge allowed universities to set the bar of work for their students. more >>

Former Financial Aid Specialist Terry James is suing San Diego Christian College for wrongful termination after being fired for engaging in pre-marital sex.

James, who is currently six months pregnant, announced her lawsuit during a press conference in California on Thursday stating that she is suing the university due to discrimination on the account of gender, pregnancy, and marital status.

"San Diego Christian College did not show any mercy or grace towards me, and acted completely un-Christ-like," said James to reporters, according to ABC local news station KABC-TV Los Angeles. "They made more of a business decision than showing God's love." more >>

Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist in Georgia is facing a lawsuit by former church members who are claiming that the pastor encouraged them to invest money in a company that had a $3 million capital deficit.

"If Bishop Eddie Long hadn't endorsed this they wouldn't have invested," plaintiffs attorney Jason Doss said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The accusations against Long state that even though the bishop did not invest any of his own money in the alleged Ponzi scheme, the 12 former church members who filed the suit last month in DeKalb County state court lost more than $1 million dollars in the investment.

"He has to put his church members' interests before his own," Doss added. "He was obligated under the law to tell everybody about it, and obviously he didn't." more >>