The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied certiorari in a number of cases involving church-state and religious liberty issues. (Order List.) Among the cases which the court decided not to review were:
Choose Life Illinois, Inc. v. White (Docket No. 08-1283). In the case, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the refusal of the Illinois Secretary of State to issue a special "Choose Life" license plate after proponents obtained the requisite number of signatures requesting it. (See prior posting.)
Frazier v. Smith, (Docket No. 08-1351). In the case, the 11th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a Florida statute requiring schools to excuse a student from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance only upon written request of the student's parent, regardless of the student's desires. (See prior posting.)
Rector of St. James Parish v. Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles (Docket No. 08-1579). In the case, the California Supreme Court held that building and property of the St. James Parish in Newport Beach belongs to the Episcopal Church, not the parish, once the parish broke away and affiliated with the more conservative Anglican Church of Uganda. (See prior posting.)
Arkansas Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc., v. New Direction Praise and Worship Center, Inc. (Docket No. 08-1352). The Arkansas Supreme Court's January 2009 opinion in the case applied neutral principles of law to find that church property belonged to a break-away congregation.
O'Bryan v. Holy See (Docket No. 08-1384). The 6th Circuit decision below dealt with when the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allowed civil suits against the Vatican in U.S. courts. (See prior posting.)
Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (08-9180). In the case, U.S. 9th rejected a claim by parents that they should be able to deduct for income tax purposes a portion of the tuition and fees paid to their children's Orthodox Jewish day schools. (See prior posting.)
Katz v. Mabus (Docket No. 08-1434). The 3rd Circuit's opinion below rejected religious discrimination claims by plaintiff, a civilian employee, against the U.S. Navy.
St. John's United Church of Christ v. FAA (Docket No. 08-1447). In the opinion below, the D.C Circuit denied standing to various religious communities to bring a RFRA challenge to the relocation of a cemetery that was necessary to complete expansion of Chicago's O'Hare airport.
Also, in Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp. v. New York Times (Docket No. 09-246), the full court denied a stay of an order issued in May by the Connecticut Supreme Court requiring release of some 12,600 pages of documents filed in 23 cases alleging sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy. (See prior posting.)
[Thanks to SCOTUS Blog and Josh Gerstein at Politico for some of the leads.]
