Satanist's 1st Amendment Challenge To Missouri Abortion Law Fails

In Doe v. Parson, (8th Cir., June 9, 2020), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by a member of the Satanic Temple that Missouri's abortion informed consent law violates her 1st Amendment rights.  Plaintiff argues that the state's informed consent booklet violates the Establishment Clause by promoting "Catholic dogma" about when life begins. The court rejected that argument, saying in part:

Some religions, including Catholicism, embrace the view that life begins at conception. Others, like Doe’s Satanism, do not. Any theory of when life begins necessarily aligns with some religious beliefs and not others. So under Doe’s theory, Missouri’s only option would be to avoid legislating in this area altogether.

The court also rejected plaintiff's argument that the requirement that she certify that she has had an opportunity to view and ultrasound and the informed consent booklet violates her free exercise rights. The court said in part:

Doe makes no argument ... that the informed-consent law is anything other than “neutral” and “generally applicable.”

Court Upholds Denial of Invocation Slot For Satanic Temple

In Satanic Temple v. City of Scottsdale, (D AZ, Feb. 6, 2020), an Arizona federal district court held that the Satanic Temple failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the denial of their request to deliver a non-theistic invocation at a City Council meeting was because of their religious beliefs. The court rejected defendants' claims that the beliefs of the Satanic Temple do not constitute a religion. However the court credited the testimony of the Acting City Manager that he based his decision on a long-standing unwritten policy that only organizations that had substantial ties to the city could deliver invocations. This decision followed substantial public opposition to the Satanic Temple's appearance, including the orchestration by a church of 15,000 e-mails in opposition. The blog For Infernal Use Only reports on the decision.

UPDATE: In an April 9 opinion (full text), the court, with one exception, refused to amend its findings of fact or to amend its judgment.

8th Circuit Hears Arguments In Religion Clause Challenge To Missouri Abortion Restrictions

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday heard oral arguments (audio of full arguments) in Doe v. Parson (Docket No. 19-1578). In the case, a Missouri federal district court rejected both Establishment Clause and free exercise challenges to Missouri's abortion law.  The suit, filed by a member of the Satanic Temple, challenges the requirement that health care providers furnish women seeking an abortion in Missouri a state-prepared booklet that states, in part, that life begins at conception. (See prior posting.) Courthouse News Service reports on yesterday's arguments.

Satanic Temple Can Proceed In Its Attempt To Offer City Council Invocation

In The Satanic Temple, Inc. v. City of Scottsdale, (D AZ, Nov. 18, 2019), an Arizona federal district court refused to dismiss a suit by The Satanic Temple (TST). Scottsdale City Council refused to allow the head of TST to deliver an invocation at a City Council meeting. The court, in finding that plaintiffs had standing to bring the lawsuit reasoned in part:

The injury alleged is discrimination – that Plaintiffs have been denied the opportunity to give an invocation when other religious groups have been allowed that privilege....

Although Establishment Clause violations can be asserted by the irreligious as well as the religious, such as a non-believing school student who is compelled to recite a prayer, Plaintiffs’ religious-discrimination claim necessarily requires that they be a religion....

In arguing that Plaintiffs are not religious, Defendant does not rely on any specific judicial definition. Defendant instead asserts that courts have distinguished between religious and secular prayers in legislative prayer cases....

The evidence discussed above suggests that Plaintiffs view their beliefs as religious and sincerely held. Whether Plaintiffs are religious for purposes of the merits of this case – for purposes of showing that the City’s action in the sphere of legislative prayer amounted to religious discrimination – is an issue for trial.

Satanic Temple Sues Over Withdrawal Of Permission To Erect Monument

Minneapolis Star Tribune reported yesterday that The Satanic Temple is suing Belle Plaine, Minnesota for its withdrawal of permission to erect a temporary memorial to fallen soldiers in Veterans' Memorial Park. The monument would have been the first Satanic monument on public property in the country. The paper reports on the sequence of events leading to the lawsuit:

... [I]n 2017 [the city approved a different organization's monument:] a steel silhouette known as “Joe” that depicted a soldier kneeling before a cross. Soon, someone complained that “Joe” violated constitutional separation of church and state.

City leaders, fearing a lawsuit, ordered its removal. That triggered weeks of vehement protests in the city.... So the council designated an area in the park as a “limited public forum,” open to temporary memorials to fallen veterans.

The Satanic Temple... applied to install its own monument.... The city granted a permit, and the temple designed a 23-inch black cube inscribed with inverted pentagrams and topped with an upturned helmet, which it planned to install in July 2017.

That plan prompted more protests. So exasperated city officials decided to shut down the limited public forum, ordering the removal of “Joe” and withdrawing permission for the temple’s monument.

[Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.] 

IRS Recognizes Satanic Temple As A "Church"

The Satanic Temple announced yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service has recognized the organization as a "church" for federal income tax purposes. It says that among other things this will assure its standing in court to challenge religious discrimination and will allow it to apply for faith based government grants.  Rolling Stone reports on this, adding:

Although the Satanic Temple had previously rejected pursuing tax-exempt status, church president Lucien Greaves reversed this stance in 2017 after President Trump signed a “religious freedom” executive order. “As ‘the religious’ are increasingly gaining ground as a privileged class, we must ensure that this privilege is available to all, and that superstition doesn’t gain exclusive rights over non-theistic religions or non-belief,” Greaves wrote in the Satanic Temple newsletter....

Federal District Court Rejects Satanic Temple Follower's Challenge to Missouri Abortion Restrictions

In Doe v. Parson, (ED MO, Feb. 21, 2019), a Missouri federal district court rejected both Establishment Clause and free exercise challenges to Missouri's abortion law.  The suit, filed by a member of the Satanic Temple, challenges the requirement that health care providers furnish women seeking an abortion in Missouri a state-prepared booklet that states, in part, that life begins at conception.  The woman must also be given an opportunity to view an active ultrasound, must sign a certification that she has received the booklet and ultrasound opportunity, and must wait 72 hours before the procedure can be performed.  The court held that

Even though [statements in the booklet] are harmonious with some religious beliefs, they are a permissible expression of the State’s secular interest in protecting the unborn.

The court went on to reject plaintiff's free exercise claim, holding that the Missouri requirements are neutral laws of general applicability.  Earlier this month, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a similar challenge to Missouri's requirements. (See prior posting.)

Satanic Temple Adherent Loses Challenge To Missouri Abortion Restrictions

In Doe v. Parson, (MO Sup, Ct., Feb. 13, 2019), the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a challenge by a member of the Satanic Temple to the state's informed consent abortion law. Rejecting both an Establishment Clause and a religious freedom challenge, the court said in part:

Ms. Doe alleges by offering her a booklet containing what she refers to as legislative findings constituting the “Missouri tenet,” Missouri is violating her religious beliefs by forcing her to read the contrary religious belief contained in the booklet. But the informed consent law does not purport to make any sort of legislative findings. It simply requires the noted statements be included in a booklet offered to a woman seeking an abortion. § 188.027....

This Court need not determine whether requiring Ms. Doe to have an ultrasound, to listen to the fetal heartbeat, or to read the booklet offered by Planned Parenthood would have constituted a restriction on her religious freedom, for the statute imposes no such requirements. Nothing in the informed consent law requires a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound, much less to pay for the ultrasound or to listen to the fetal heartbeat. The informed consent law solely requires an abortion provider or another qualified professional to present a woman seeking an abortion with the opportunity to have or to view an ultrasound and, if she chooses to have one, an opportunity to listen to the heartbeat. Ms. Doe and any other woman is free to decline both opportunities.

Two justices also joined in concurring opinion. St. Louis Public Radio reports on the decision.

Sundance Features Documentary on Satanic Temple

The Sundance Film Festival begins this Thursday in three Utah locations.  The Daily Mail reviews one of the  documentary films featured at the Festival-- Hail Satan?  The Festival's website describes the film in part as follows:

Just a few years old, the Satanic Temple has risen from the depths to become one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. Hail Satan? bears witness as the temple evolves from a small-scale media stunt to an internationally recognized religion with hundreds of thousands of adherents. Naked bodies writhe with snakes on altars as protesters storm the gates of state capitols across the country. Through their dogged campaign to place a nine-foot, bronze Satanic monument smack dab next to the statue of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol lawn, the leaders of the temple force us to consider the true meaning of the separation of church and state.

Satanic Temple Sues Netflix Over Wrongful Use Of Bahomet Statue

Yesterday The Satanic Temple filed suit in a New York federal district court against Netflix and Warner Brothers, seeking $50 million in damages.  The complaint (full text) in United Federation of Churches LLC v. Netflix, Inc., (SD NY, filed 11/8/2018), alleges that defendants wrongfully used the image of a statue belonging to the Satanic Temple in its television series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The Satanic Temple alleges that it spent $100,000 to develop the statue, Baphomet with Children, which is a modification of the historical deity Baphomet:

Baphomet historically involved a goat’s head ... on a female body associated with Lilith, a figure from Jewish mysticism sometimes considered a goddess of the night. The classic visual representation of idea of Baphomet is an image created in or about 1856 by an occult historian Eliphas Levi.... 

[T]he TST Baphomet with Children, consists of several modifications from the historic expressions of the deity....

The Sabrina Series’ evil antagonists stand in stark contrast to TST’s tenets and beliefs.... By misappropriating TST Baphomet with Children (which is a registered copyright and famous mark of TST) to publish this false and defamatory depiction of TST, Defendants have engaged in three classes of wrong: copyright infringement (Claim 1), trademark violation (Claim 2), and injury to business reputation (Claim 3).

In addition to damages, plaintiff seeks an injunction requiring defendants to digitally remove the statue from all future distributions of the TV program. Courthouse News and Reuters report on the lawsuit. [Thanks To Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

UPDATE: According to a Nov. 21 post by Lucien Greaves, the suit has been amicably settled, with the unique elements of the Satanic Temple’s Baphomet statue acknowledged in credits of episodes already filmed.

8th Circuit: Satanic Temple Member Lacks Standing To Challenge Abortion Restrictions

In Satanic Temple v. Parson, (8th Cir., Aug. 28, 2018), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal (see prior posting) of a challenge to Missouri's abortion restrictions. The court said in part:

Mary Doe is a member of The Satanic Temple and a resident of the state of Missouri. After becoming pregnant, she sought an abortion in St. Louis, Missouri. She complied with certain state-mandated procedures, which the complaint alleges constituted direct and unwelcome personal contact with religion, in violation of the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. After receiving the abortion, she filed this lawsuit....

Here, Mary Doe was not pregnant at the date the action was initiated and seeks only prospective relief.... Mary Doe therefore lacks constitutional standing. Additionally, although “[p]regnancy provides a classic justification for a conclusion of nonmootness,” the doctrine does not apply here because she did not first establish standing.

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Missouri Abortion Restriction Challenged In New Suit By Satanic Temple Member

A suit filed last week in a Missouri federal district court by a member of The Satanic Temple challenges Missouri's restrictions on abortion as a violation of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The complaint (full text) in Doe v. Greitens, (ED MO,filed 2/28/2018), focuses on the requirements in Missouri law that a woman seeking an abortion be furnished a booklet that states in part that life begins at conception and an abortion will terminate the life of a living human being. It also challenges Missouri's 72-hour waiting period and the requirement that the woman be given the opportunity to view an active ultrasound.  The complaint says that plaintiff does not believe that life begins at conception and holds the religious belief that she alone can decide whether to remove human tissue from her body, according to the best scientific understanding of the world.

As previously reported, the Missouri Supreme Court in January heard oral arguments in a state Religious Freedom Restoration Act challenge by The Satanic Temple to the same abortion restrictions.  As reported by Friendly Atheist blog, one of the purposes of the new lawsuit is to undercut a mootness argument in the Missouri Supreme Court.  The lower court dismissed the lawsuit because the plaintiff was no longer pregnant.  The new suit is presumably intended to show that this challenge is one that is  within the exception for controversies that are capable of repetition but evade review.

Satanic Temple Sues City Over Invocation Policy

The Satanic Temple last week filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Scottsdale, AZ, challenging on federal and state constitutional grounds the invocation practices of the city.  The complaint (full text) in The Satanic Temple v. City of Scottsdale, Arizona, (D AZ, filed 2/23/2018), alleges that City Council meetings are regularly opened by prayers delivered only by members of Judeo-Christian faiths. An invocation originally scheduled to be given by a member of the Satanic Temple was cancelled, using the allegedly pretextual reason of connection to the community. Subsequently the mayor touted stopping the Satanists in an election pamphlet. The Scottsdale Independent reports on the lawsuit.

Missouri Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments In Satanic Temple Believer's Challenge To Abortion Law [UPDATED]

As reported by the Washington Post, the Missouri Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments in Doe v. Nixon,  a case brought by a woman who is a member of the Satanic Temple, challenging Missouri's restrictions on abortion. (See prior related posting.) Missouri's requires that abortion providers give patients a pamphlet that states :"The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being." Plaintiff contends that this violates her rights under the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. As reported by the Post:

[T]he Satanic Temple has a set of tenets that stipulate that a woman’s body “is inviolable and subject to her will alone”; that “she makes decisions regarding her health based on the best scientific understanding of the world, even if the science does not comport with the religious or political beliefs of others”; and that “human tissue,” — how the complaint defines a pregnancy dating to its conception — is part of her body that “she alone” can decide whether to remove.

UPDATE: A recording of the full oral arguments is now available online. According to a press release from the Satanic Temple:

D. John Sauer, Missouri’s Solicitor General announced to the State’s Supreme Court that ultrasounds are not mandatory to obtain an abortion. This information no doubt comes as a surprise to Missouri’s abortion providers who regularly perform ultrasounds they have perceived as mandated by the State. The issue arose during oral arguments in The Satanic Temple’s (TST) lawsuit, which asserts that State interference with the ability for a member of TST ... to terminate her pregnancy violates her rights under Missouri’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) because that interference has no medical or other compelling purpose.... 

... In an audio recording of the arguments published by the court, Justices of the court asked the State’s representative if, “it’s the position of the State that an ultrasound does not have to be conducted unless a person says they want the opportunity to hear the fetal heartbeat.” (13:16) Mr. Sauer affirms that the State’s interpretation of statute (MO Rev Stat § 188.027) is that women only be offered the “opportunity,” to have an ultrasound and listen to the fetal heartbeat, and if a woman declines hearing the audio, the ultrasound need not be performed and the requirement has been satisfied (15:20).

Satanic Temple Will Erect War Memorial In Park's Free Speech Zone

The Minneapolis Star Tribune last week reported on the controversy in Belle Plaine, MN over a war memorial in a city park. The memorial includes a 2-foot tall cross. After a complaint about the religious symbol on public property, the city initially ordered the cross removed. But then protesters who wanted the cross to remain occupied the park each day.  The city relented, but to meet constitutional objections it designated a small area in the park as a "free speech zone" where up to ten temporary memorials to honor veterans will be allowed. The first organization to apply was the Satanic Temple, and it will now erect a memorial to honor non-religious soldiers. The memorial be a black cube inscribed with inverted pentagrams with an upturned helmet on top.

Satanic Temple Will Challenge Texas' New Fetal Remains Rules

As reported yesterday by Jezebel, the Satanic Temple says that it plans to challenge Texas' new rules requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains as a violation of its members' rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  A spokesman for Satanic Temple said:

Texas health officials are baldly imposing the view that the fetal tissue is elevated to personhood—a religious opinion that conflicts with our own. If Texas is going to treat the disposal of fetal tissue differently from the disposal of any other biological material, in contradiction to our own religious beliefs, they need to present a compelling state interest for doing so. Of course, there is no such state interest, and it’s perfectly clear the demand for fetal tissue burial is a punitive measure imposed by sadistic theocrats. It’s clear these officials deem harassment an acceptable form of pushing their misguided religious agendas.

The organization plans to file for an injunction as soon as the state attempts to apply the new rules to one of its members. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Satanic Temple Challenge To Missouri Abortion Restrictions Dismissed On Standing Grounds

Last month in Satanic Temple v. Nixon. (ED MO, July 15, 2016), a Missouri federal district court dismissed for lack of standing a suit by the Satanic Temple and one of its members challenging on free exercise and establishment clause grounds Missouri's disclosure and waiting period requirements for women seeking an abortion.  Missouri requires the abortion provider to deliver to a woman seeking an abortion a pamphlet that states in part: "The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being"  The Missouri law also requires a 72 hour waiting period and the opportunity to view an ultrasound, Plaintiffs alleged that these requirements are inconsistent with beliefs of the Satanic Temple and are medically unnecessary.  The court concluded: "Plaintiff Doe is not now pregnant, there is no guaranty that she will become pregnant in the future, and that if she does, she will seek an abortion,,,," Last week in Verdict, Prof. Marci Hamilton commented on the decision. In January a Missouri state court dismissed a similar challenge brought under RFRA. (See prior posting.)

Satanic Temple To Offer Alternative To Good News Clubs

The Satanic Temple, whose agenda is secularist and not the promotion of devil worship, is again using its provocative name and doctrines of equal access to promote its agenda of separation of church and state.  As reported last week by the Washington Post,  the organization is introducing the After School Satan Club to public elementary schools, modeled after the widespread Christian-based Good News Clubs. In a letter (full text) to selected school districts, organizers say:

The After School Satan Club (ASSC) meets once a month immediately after school for one to one and a half hours.... ASSC meetings typically include a healthy snack, literature lesson, creative learning activities, science lesson, puzzle solving and art project.  Every child receives a membership card and must have a signed parental permission slip to attend.

Report Traces New Role of The Satanic Temple

San Jose, California's Metroactive carried an interesting article yesterday titled How Satan Became the New Face of Secularism.  It chronicles the emergence of the Satanic Temple as a player in the church-state debate:

Originally conceived as a "poison pill in the church-state debate," ... the temple has since evolved beyond reactive political ploys. "Our message and beliefs are deeply sincere," says Jex Blackmore, who leads the group's highest-profile chapter in Mesner's native Detroit. "To us, Satan is a figure that embodies the characteristics that inform our deeply held beliefs, rather than a stab at the superstitious."

Adherents ...  embrace an atheistic philosophy that views Satan not as a deity but a literary symbol. Satan, in this brand of "ism," stands for reason, autonomy and rejection of superstition and arbitrary authority.... 

In the spirit of Satan as eternal outcast, activism remains central to the group's mission. Where religion has already breached the church-state divide, the Satanic Temple elbows in to remind lawmakers that those privileges necessarily extend to other beliefs. 

Satanic Temple Asks To Place Baphomet On Arkansas Capitol Grounds

In a press release today, The Satanic Temple announced that it has formally asked the Arkansas’ Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission for permission to place its "Baphomet" monument on the Capitol grounds next to an already-authorized Ten Commandments monument.  The Satanic Temple contends that when Arkansas earlier this year enacted SB 939 authorizing the Ten Commandments monument, it effectively opened the Capitol grounds to private donations and may not engage in viewpoint discrimination in accepting them.It says it will place an inscription on the Baphomet monument reading:

Be it known to all that this statue commemorates the history of law in the United States of America. From the deplorable Satanic Witch Hunts, the cherished doctrines of due process, presumption of innocence and the protection of minorities from the tyranny of mob rule became part of the established foundation of American jurisprudence.

Baphomet was unveiled in a ceremony in Detroit earlier this summer. (See prior posting.) A Hindu group also wants to place a monument on the Arkansas Capitol grounds. (See prior posting.)