Showing posts with label Hare Krishnas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hare Krishnas. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 08, 2023

NY Court Rules That Parent Body Is Entitled to Possession of Hare Krishna Temple

Kelley v. Gupta, (Sup.Ct. Nassau Cty. NY, Oct. 25, 2023), involves a dispute between two factions of the Hare Krishna movement over control of a temple in Freeport, New York. In this decision a New York state trial court concluded that The Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ("GBC") is the highest ecclesiastical authority in the Krishna movement, and upheld GBC's expulsion of defendant for engaging in religious practices that are contrary to the teachings of the religion. The court said in part:

GBC has established that ISKCON Global is a religion that operates under a hierarchical system, whereby local temples are subject to review and control by the GBC and its ascending order of authority.... The GBC has continued to pass laws and make rulings on various ISKCON Global issues including religious practices and the management of properties. Among these rulings were the Resolutions prohibiting ritvik theory as "a dangerous philosophical deviation," and the expulsion of those who practiced ritvikism, including the defendant and Mr. Garuda. Accordingly, complete deference must be afforded to the GBC's decision making authority in ecclesiastical matters, and any final decisions of the GBC in such matters are therefore binding on this Court....

The court concluded that trustees of ISKCON "are entitled to immediate possession of the Freeport Temple premises and property belonging to the Temple, including but not limited to deities...."

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

European Court Says Russia Violated Rights of Krishna Movement, Vaishnavism and Unification Church

As reported by Courthouse News Service, yesterday in Chamber Judgments, Russia lost two separate freedom of religion cases in the European Court of Human Rights.

In Centre of Societies for Krishna Consciousness In Russia and Frolov v. Russia(ECHR, Nov. 23, 2021), the court held that a hostile description of the Krishna movement in government brochure titled “Watch out for cults!” violated petitioner's rights:

The Court considers that, even where the measures taken by the Government did not actually restrict the applicants’ freedom to manifest their beliefs through worship and practice, the hostile terms which the State authorities used to describe their movement may have had negative consequences for them and constitute an interference with their rights under Article 9 § 1 of the Convention.

The court also held that the rights of freedom of religion and assembly were violated when the District government refused permission for a meeting to promote the teaching of Vaishnavism.

In Corley and Others v. Russia, (ECHR, Nov. 23, 2021), the court held that the enforced departures of two religious workers were designed to prevent the spread of the Unification Church's teachings in Russia, in violation of various provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Religious Group's Distribution of Vegan Food May Be Expressive Conduct

In Krishna Lunch of Southern California, Inc. v. Gordon, (9th Cir., Jan. 13, 2020), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Krishna Lunch had plausibly pleaded that its distribution of sanctified vegan and vegetarian food (prasada) is protected expressive conduct under the 1st Amendment. The court explained:
While distributing prasada, the organization plans on chanting the names of God and other devotional hymns and songs, speaking with interested students and others of the University of California, Los Angeles (“UCLA”) community, distributing religious literature, and displaying signs depicting reincarnation, animal protectionism, and other topics related to its followers’ beliefs. Drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Krishna Lunch, we can infer that in these circumstances an onlooker would understand the distribution of food “to be communicative.”
However the court dismissed the organization's free exercise claim, finding that UCLA's four-times-per-year policy is neutral and generally applicable, and saying:
Krishna Lunch has not negated every conceivable basis that might support the policy.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Limits On Krishna Lunch Program Upheld

In Krishna Lunch of Southern California, Inc. v. Gordon, (CD CA, Feb. 9, 2018), a California federal district court dismissed a challenge by a Krishna consciousness organization to a UCLA rule that limits it to holding four event per year on the campus.  The organization, Krishna Lunch, wants to offer a lunch program with sanctified food (prasada) 2 or 3 times per week.  The court rejected free exercise, free speech and expressive association challenges to the limitation.  In rejecting plaintiff's expressive conduct claim, the court said in part:
Plaintiffs’ lunch program ... is afforded First Amendment protection only if there is an intent to convey a particularized message and a great likelihood that message would be understood by those who view it....
The Court previously concluded that Plaintiffs failed to allege a great likelihood their pro-animal/antimeat message would easily be understood by those who view it.  They still have not done so....
... [T]he fact that the Assigned Area (the location where Plaintiffs would conduct prasada) is regularly used by groups for which food distribution is common ... makes it highly unlikely that the ordinary viewer would glean a particularized message from Plaintiffs’ lunch program.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Court Resolves Factional Religious Split Using "Neutral Principles" Approach

In Kelley v. Garuda, (Nassau Cty. NY Sup. Ct., Oct. 2, 2017), a New York trial court, deferring to resolutions passed by the Governing Body Commission of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness ("GBC") and applying neutral principles of law, resolved a factional theological split within the Freeport, New York ISKCON Temple. The court upheld a default judgment against defendants who had taken control of the Temple, saying in part:
Plaintiffs' purchased the property well before the Defendants' arrival and interference with the Plaintiffs' use and enjoyment of the property. Prior to the 2005 "election" where Gupta and his adherents purportedly changed the leadership of the Freeport Temple, the Plaintiffs sufficiently established that all financial and ecclesiastical issues regarding the Freeport Temple were decided and/or approved by the GBC or its chosen delegates....
Further evidence of the Plaintiffs' ownership and control over the Freeport Temple is their constitution, the ISKCON Law Book, which creates an express trust in favor of the Society at large under the control of the GBC....
The Founder also established a Trust in the second Article of his Will which declared that each ISKCON temple would be held for the benefit of the ISKCON Society at large. The language of the Trust provision specifies that the GBC would continue to manage the ISKCON Society in perpetuity.

Friday, March 03, 2017

Krishna Community Reaches Agreement Over Pipeline Route On Sacred Land

As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, last Tuesday a lawsuit was filed in federal district court in West Virginia by the New Vrindaban Krishna community claiming that the proposed shale gas Rover Pipeline will cut through sacred property that holds two of the community's seven sacred temples. But The Intelligencer reports that as a hearing date arrived the parties engaged in negotiations and yesterday it was announced by the pipeline developers that an agreement had been reached. An Energy Transfer Partners spokeswoman said:
We were able to agree on compensation for the right of way and most importantly, agree on minor route changes that avoided all sacred sites and mitigated any impact to the environment.  This is the result of all parties being willing to come together to openly and effectively communicate to solve an issue. This clearly demonstrates that infrastructure and sacred sites can co-exist in this country.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

9th Circuit: Ban On Soliciting At LAX Upheld Over Hare Krishna Challenge

In a case that slipped under my radar last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Los Angeles ordinance banning continuous or repetitive solicitation for the immediate receipt of funds at Los Angeles International Airport, rejecting a challenge to the ban by the Hare Krishna movement.  In International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, (9th Cir., Aug. 20, 2014), a 3-judge panel of the 9th Circuit held that major international airports have a legitimate interest in controlling pedestrian congestion and reducing the risk of fraud and duress attendant to repetitive, in-person solicitation.