upon reflection, I realized that while I could defend their absence from my address, I had missed an opportunity…an opportunity to clearly assert the following: non-believers have just as great a stake as believers in defending religious liberty.Romney also strongly defended his December statement that "freedom requires religion." Saturday's Salt Lake Tribune reports on the Becket fund speech.
If a society takes it upon itself to prescribe and proscribe certain streams of belief – to prohibit certain less-favored strains of conscience – it may be the non-believer who is among the first to be condemned. A coercive monopoly of belief threatens everyone, whether we are talking about those who search the philosophies of men or follow the words of God.
We are all in this together. Religious liberty and liberality of thought flow from the common conviction that it is freedom, not coercion, that exalts the individual just as it raises up the nation.
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Romney Addresses Importance of Religious Freedom To Non-Believers
Court says RLUIPA Applies To Zoning Limits On 12-Step Program
Friday, May 09, 2008
Next Steps In FLDS Custody Proceedings Described
Faith Group Sues Over California Limits On Its Use of Park To Feed Homeless
Today's Los Angeles Times, reporting on the case, quotes ACLU attorney Hector Villagra who compares the gathering of homeless at the state beach to picnics and barbecues that are allowed there. Park officials say this is different because it is an organized feeding event that requires a special use permit, like all other formal gatherings.
Group Seeking To Set Up Test Case On Tax Code Non-Profit Limits
Oregon Supreme Court Clarifies Standard For Religious Discrimination
10th Circuit Upholds Bald Eagle Protection Against RFRA Challenge
UPDATE: The May 13 San Diego Union-Tribune follows up on the decision with a mixed reaction to it from Sarah Krakoff, an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado. It also reports that Winslow Friday's attorney is considering seeking en banc review of the 3-judge panel's decision.
Two Schools Want Exemption From Quebec's Religious Culture Course
Feds Appoint Prosecutor To Focus On Polygamy Issues
Meanwhile yesterday in St. George, Utah, some 200 people attended the annual conference presented by the Utah-Arizona Safety Net Committee to hear presentations by members of polygamous communities, news media, social service providers and law enforcement. Yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune quotes conference participant Anne Wilde from the "fundamentalist Mormon" advocacy group, Principle Voices, who said that fundamentalist Mormons represent a wide diversity of beliefs, and should not all be lumped together with the FLDS.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Malaysian Sharia Court Agrees To Cancel Woman's Prior Conversion To Islam
Christian Student Group Sues to Challenge University Speech Code
Evangelical Manifesto Released Urging A "Civil Public Square"
The Associated Press, reported on the document, pointing out that a number of Christian religious leaders on the political right do not support it. Americans United for Separation of Church and State gave the Manifesto qualified praise, or, as it said, it gave it "one amen". More information on the Manifesto, including a lengthy Study Guide, is available on the Evangelical Manifesto website.[W]e repudiate two equal and opposite errors into which many Christians have fallen. One error is to privatize faith, applying it to the personal and spiritual realm only.... The other error, made by both the religious left and the religious right, is to politicize faith, using faith to express essentially political points that have lost touch with biblical truth. That way faith loses its independence, Christians become the "useful idiots" for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology. Christian beliefs become the weapons of political factions....
[W]e repudiate the two extremes that define the present culture wars in the United States..... We are committed to a civil public square – a vision of public life in which citizens of all faiths are free to enter and engage the public square on the basis of their faith, but within a framework of what is agreed to be just and free for other faiths as well....
[W]e are concerned that a generation of culture warring ... has created a powerful backlash against all religion in public life among many educated people.... [W]e are concerned that globalization and the emerging global public square have no matching vision of how to live with our deepest differences on the global stage.... [W]e warn of the danger of a two-tier global public square. This is a model of public life which reserves the top tier for cosmopolitan secular liberals, and the lower tier for local religious believers.
Religious Monuments Case Delays Army Memorial To Plane Crash Victims
In reporting to Congress last week, an Army spokesman wrote: "Due to the ramifications that this case may have on the Army's acceptance of the Bakers Creek Memorial or any other monument funded by private funds, the Army will await the Supreme Court's decision to assess its options." Robert Cutler, executive director of the Bakers Creek Memorial Association, suggested a solution-- have the Army buy the memorial for a nominal amount so it is not "donated". Meanwhile the memorial remains temporarily at the Australian Embassy in Washington. (A posting at Texomas carries a photo of the memorial.)
McCain Speaks Out On International Religious Freedom
There is no right more fundamental to a free society than the free practice of religion. Behind walls of prisons and persecuted before our very eyes in places like China, Iran, Burma, Sudan, North Korea and Saudi Arabia are tens-of-thousands of people whose only crime is to worship God in their own way. No society that denies religious freedom can ever rightly claim to be good in some other way. And no person can ever be true to any faith that believes in the dignity of all human life if they do not act out of concern for those whose dignity is assailed because of their faith. As President, I intend to make religious freedom a subject of great importance for the United States in our relations with other nations.In the speech he also focused on the evils of human trafficking and use of the Internet by child predators. CNN reported on the speech.
San Angelo Mayor Writes of Logistical Challenges After FLDS Ranch Raid
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Kansas High Court Upholds Citizen Grand Jury Law Used By Abortion Foes
Maryland High Court Refuses To Grant Comity To Pakistani Talaq Divorce
After Farah Aleem filed for divorce in a Maryland court, her husband, Irfan Aleem, without notice to Farah, went to the Pakistani embassy in Washington and performed talaq by executing a written document that recited "I divorce thee" three times. Under Pakistani law, unless agreed otherwise, the wife has no claim to property owned by her husband on the date of divorce. In her Maryland divorce action, Farah sought to have Irfan's World Bank pension and other assets declared marital property. Pointing to a provision in Maryland's constitution (Declaration of Rights, Art. 46) that assures equal rights to men and women, the court reasoned that:
the enforceability of a foreign talaq divorce provision, such as that presented here, in the courts of Maryland, where only the male, i.e., husband, has an independent right to utilize talaq and the wife may utilize it only with the husband’s permission, is contrary to Maryland’s constitutional provisions....The court concluded that:
talaq divorce of countries applying Islamic law, unless substantially modified, is contrary to the public policy of this state... where, in the absence of valid agreements otherwise, ... marital property is subject to fair and equitable division.... Additionally, a procedure that permits a man (and him only unless he agrees otherwise) to evade a divorce action begun in this State by rushing to the embassy of a country recognizing talaq and ... summarily terminate the marriage and deprive his wife of marital property, confers insufficient due process to his wife. Accordingly, for this additional reason the courts of Maryland shall not recognize the talaq divorce performed here.The court observed in an introductory footnote: "we address Islamic law only to the extent it is also the civil law of a country. The viability of Islamic law as a religious canon is not intended to be affected." Today's Baltimore Sun, reporting on the decision, notes that the assets involved in the case total $2 million.
Montreal Cabbie Files Human Rights Complaint Over Religious Items
Ohio School Is Divided Over Support Of Science Teacher
Israel Bible Quiz Finalist Is A Messianic, Stirring Intense Controversy
Messianics claim they are subject to constant prejudice in Israel. They say that the anti-missionary organization, Yad L'Achim, is particularly attempting to marginalize them. After Bible Quiz authorities refused to disqualify Levy, a dozen influential rabbis issued a statement calling for contestants and spectators to boycott the Bible contest. In a related development, last month 12 Messianics whose fathers were Jewish, but whose mothers were not, were granted Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. (See prior posting.)
Tennessee AG OK's Bible Park Financing Under State, But Not Federal, Law
Canadian Court Says Diocese and Congregations Must Share Properties
China Objects To USCIRF's Report
[T]he Chinese government protects its citizens' freedom of religious belief according to the laws and Chinese citizens ... enjoy full freedom of religious belief protected by law. We advise the USCIRF to seriously examine the United States' own problems and stop interfering in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of religion....
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Liberty Counsel Launching Campaign To Support Graduation Prayer
Indian, Pakistani Muftis Argue Over Muslim Compliance With Indian Law
West Virginia Town Moves From Lord's Prayer To Moment of Silence
US Rights Agency Hears Witnesses On Religious Discrimination In Prisons
The second panel covered Free Exercise of Inmates' Religious Rights vs. Church State Separation. Speakers were Patrick Nolan (Justice Fellowship of Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries); Lane Dilg (ACLU); Imam Abuquadir Al-Amin (Society of American Muslims); Alex Luchenitser (Americans United for Separation of Church and State); Chaplain Gary Friedman (B'nai B'rith International Pastoral Care Agency for Jewish Prisoners and Their Families); and Reverend Patrick McCollum (National Correctional and Chaplaincy Directors Association).
US Civil Rights Commission Chairman Gerald Reynolds said: "The testimony and materials gathered as a part of this briefing will become part of the 2008 Statutory Report enforcing prohibitions of religious discrimination in prisons."
Paper Reports On Clergy Clash In Break-Away Episcopal Church
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Starr v. Cox, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34708 (D NH, April 28, 2008), a New Hampshire federal district court dismissed a prisoner's RLUIPA and 1st Amendment claims. It held that even though plaintiff raised a question of material fact as to whether the practice of Tai Chi, separate from Taoism, is part of a system of religious belief, and as to whether his beliefs are sincerely held, plaintiff failed to show that his religious exercise was substantially burdened. Even if they were, defendants demonstrated that the prison's Tai Chi restrictions serve a compelling state interest using the least restrictive means.
In Rhodes v. Alameida, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35764 (ED CA, May 1, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge rejected free exercise, equal protection and due process challenges by a Native American inmate to the prison's confiscation and disposal of certain contraband property that plaintiff claimed had religious or spiritual significance to him.
Israel Funds Construction of Reform Synagogue For First Time
Monday, May 05, 2008
State Department Suggesting Diplomats Change Language In Describing Islamic Terrorists
Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Property Tax Exemption For Episcopal School Property
Catholic Paper In Malaysia Wins Initial Court Victory
Recent Scholarly Articles of Interest
- Andrew M.M. Koppelman, Phony Originalism and the Establishment Clause, (Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 08-15, April 25 2008).
- Patrick McKinley Brennan, Differentiating Church and State (Without Losing the Church),(Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, Forthcoming).
- Brian J. Bilford, Harper's Bazaar: The Marketplace of Ideas and Hate Speech in Schools, Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Vol. 4, 2008).
The electronic journal, Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Vol. 1, 2007 has recently appeared through Bepress. Among the articles of interest in this issue devoted to Multiculturalism & the Anti-discrimination Principle are:
- Nancy L. Rosenblum, Banning Parties: Religious and Ethnic Partisanship in Multicultural Democracies.
- Rajeev Bhargava, On the Persistent Political Under-Representation of Muslims in India.
- Alon Harel, Regulating Modesty-Related Practices.
- Tzvia Greenfield, Is It Really so Benign? Gender Separation in Ultra Orthodox Bus Lines.
- Moshe Cohen-Eliya, Is Conditional Funding a Less Drastic Means?.
- Stephen Macedo, In Defense of Conditional Funding of Religious Schools.
- Iddo Porat, On the Jehovah's Witnesses Cases, Balancing Tests, and Three Kinds of Multicultural Claims.
- Symposium. Gender Relevant Legislative Changes in Muslim and Non-Muslim Countries. Table of Contents, 64 Washington & Lee Law Review 1291-1568 (2007).
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Jewish Parents In Plano, TX Say Students Harassed To Take New Testament
Kentucky 10 Commandments Case Appealed To 6th Circuit
Turkish Schools In Pakistan Offer Moderate Islamic Alternative
an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct from it. Like Muslim Peace Corps volunteers, they promote this approach in schools, which are now established in more than 80 countries, Muslim and Christian....
They prescribe a strong Western curriculum, with courses, taught in English.... They do not teach religion beyond the one class in Islamic studies that is required by the state.... [H]owever, they encourage Islam in their dormitories, where teachers set examples in lifestyle and prayer....
The model is the brainchild of a Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen... Moderate as that sounds, some Turks say Mr. Gulen uses the schools to advance his own political agenda.
Illinois Man Seeks "In God We Trust" As New Name
West Virginia High Court Rejects Challenge To Prosecutor's Biblical References
The essence of the prosecutor's biblical citations ... involved the prosecutor's perception of the jury's role as the "Throne of Judgment" and the judge's role as the "Throne of Mercy." ...[T]he prosecutor cited various Old Testament characters and the judgments allegedly made by God upon their actions. Because this Court cannot conclude that the prosecutor's biblical references impacted the Appellant's substantial rights and seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings, we decline to utilize the plain error doctrine....The court however did reverse appellant's conviction and remand for a new trial on other grounds. Friday's Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph discusses the case.
Recent Develpments In the FLDS Child Custody Case
Last Thursday, Tom Green County District Court released a document titled the Bishop's Record that contains the names, ages and locations for many of the FLDS men, women and children. An article in Friday's San Angelo Standard-Times discusses the document and also contains a sidebar with links to all the court document that have so far been released in the case.Texas DFPS has posted on its website a breakdown by age and gender of the 464 FLDS children. The website also contains a chronology of the investigation and a Frequently Asked Questions document.
Meanwhile Cardozo Law School professor Marci Hamilton published an article on FindLaw contending that the due process and religious freedom arguments raised by FLDS members lack merit.
Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court Invalidates Conversions Performed By Two Rabbis
UPDATE: Monday's Jerusalem Post reported that Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar assured the thousands of affected converts on Sunday that their conversions would continue to be recognized by the rabbinic establishment. Apparently Amar had expressly ordered the judges not to publish the opinion. Others, however, say that the charges leveled by the Supreme Rabbinical Court against Rabbi Chaim Drukman are so serious that his conversions will inevitably be called into question. The court accused Druckman of intentionally violating Jewish law, lying, and forging official rabbinic documents. The Jerusalem Post also reports that the Public Petitions Committee of the Knesset will hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the issue.
UPDATE: Tuesday's Jerusalem Post publishes an analysis of the ideological split involved in the conversion dispute. It views it as a clash between religious Zionist and haredi rabbis.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Iranian Artist In Europe Gets Death Threats From Home
Britain Approves Shariah Compliant Insurance Company
Anti-Evolution Film Makers Sued for Copyright Violations
Court Says Employer Has Burden Under Title VII To Attempt Accommodation
Friday, May 02, 2008
USCIRF Issues Its 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom
New Appeal Filed By FLDS Mothers In Attempt To Regain Custody of Children
Today's Ft. Worth Star Telegram says the petition argues that the children should not have been removed from their mothers without evidence the mothers pose an immediate physical danger to the children. It alleges that mere fear of a dangerous culture or mindset is insufficient to justify removal. Yesterday's Deseret News reports the petition suggests that the mothers and children could be ordered to live together off the FLDS compound while the state is investigating. Since the FLDS men are the alleged abusers, they could be ordered off the YFZ Ranch or protective orders barring the men from contact with the women and children could be issued. (See prior related posting.)
6th Circuit Rejects Amish Challenge to Septic Tank Requirements
Indian Tribe Faction Asserts Religious Rights To Support Land Takeover
Court Finds Church-State Problems With University Training Manual
In the opinion the court also dismissed claims regarding use of student activity fees because there had not been adequate proof of the responsibility of the specific named defendants. However the court suggested that a suit against proper defendants could well be successful. It said the school's policy against funding religious activities with student fees is administered in a manner that "is whimsical and would appear to exceed even an arbitrary and capricious standard." Alliance Defense Fund yesterday issued a release reporting on the court's decision. Also the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Inside Higher Education both report on it. (See prior related posting.)
Suit Challenging Limits On School Art Projects Settled
9th Circuit Keeps Injunction Against Pharmacy Board Rules In Place
Judge Tashima wrote a lengthy dissent concluding that appellants had a strong likelihood of success on the merits. Therefore so long as there was a possibility of irreparable harm, particularly in light of the public interest involved, the preliminary injunction should have been stayed. Reuters and Life News both report on the 9th Circuit decision.
Queen's Grandson Keeps Place In Succession As His Fiancee Converts
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Times Explores Obama-Wright Relationship
Danish Party Opposes Muslim Magistrates Wearing of Head Scarves
Today's National Day of Prayer Is Surrounded by Controversy
Meanwhile, yesterday the Public Record reported that at least six active duty military officers (chaplains and others) have been working closely with the National Day of Prayer Task Force as coordinators of events at military installations. The application that coordinators must sign states in part: "I agree to ... ensure a strong, consistent Christian message throughout the nation. I commit that NDP activities I serve with will be conducted solely by Christians while those with differing beliefs are welcome to attend." This may raise Establishment Clause issues.
Alliance Defense Fund says that its "attorneys sent an informational letter last week to nearly 1,200 of the nation's largest cities, advising them of their constitutional right to recognize and participate in the 2008 National Day of Prayer...."
In Washington, DC, the 90-hour long U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon, held on the steps of the nation's Capitol, comes to an end today. In the afternoon, there will be a Pastors and Church Leaders Gathering at the Cannon House Office Building and in the evening there will be a Public Prayer and Unity Assembly on the West Lawn of the Capitol. (Details). Usually the White House has its own separate National Day of Prayer ceremony. (See 2007 Day of Prayer posting.)
UPDATE: This morning, the White House hosted its own National Day of Prayer ceremony-- as it has done for the last 8 years. A video of the entire ceremony is available from the White House website. The ceremony was opened by NDP Task Force Chair Shirley Dobson who announced all sorts of prayer events taking place around the country, including private pilots and their passengers flying near state capitols in every state, and a "pray for election day" initiative. President Bush spoke at the event (transcript), which included Jewish as well as a variety of Christian participants.
Truck Owner Says Town Is Discriminating Against His Religious Speech
Attorneys Fees Awarded In RLUIPA Case That Resulted In Nominal Damage Award
New Mexico Removes 3 Minors From Cult's Strong City Compound
Shi'ites In Saudi Arabia Unhappy With Removal of Court Head
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
School District Sued For Permitting Free Use of Buildings By Religious Groups
UPDATE: The full text of correspondence between the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Rio School District has been posted online by the Portage Daily Register.
Canadian Christian Social Service Agency Barred From Enforcing Lifestyle Code
Connie Heintz, a support worker at a Christian Horizons residential facility was told she would be terminated because she was not in compliance with the organization's Lifestyle and Morality Statement which, among other things, prohibits staff from engaging in homosexual relationships. The Tribunal held the Sec. 24(1)(a) exemption inapplicable because "the primary object and mission of Christian Horizons is to provide care and support for individuals who have developmental disabilities, without regard to their creed." Nor is the employment requirement a reasonable qualification because of the nature of Heintz's employment. The Tribunal went on to find that "Independent of whether Christian Horizons has met the conditions for the exemption under section 24(1)(a), [it] ... has infringed Ms. Heintz’s rights under the Code as a result of the work environment and how she was treated once her sexual orientation came to light."
The Tribunal in its lengthy opinion awarded Heintz damages of $23,000 plus lost wages and benefits. It also ordered Christian Horizons to cease imposing its Lifestyle and Morality Statement as a condition of employment and ordered it to adopt an anti-discrimination and an anti-harassment policy as well as a human rights training program for all its employees. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]
Cardinal Says Giuliani Should Not Have Received Communion During Pope's Visit
Belarus Petitioners Fined Under Legislative Initiative Law
President Proclaims May As Jewish American Heritage Month
Recent Scholarly Articles and Movies of Interest
- David N. Wagner, Religion and State: An Ecclesiological Perspective, (April 26, 2008).
- Patrick McKinley Brennan, "What's the Matter with You Catholics?" Soundings in Catholic Social Thought: "Traditions in Turmoil" by Mary Ann Glendon, (Journal of Law, Philosophy and Culture, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2008).
- Anita L. Allen, Undressing Difference: The Hijab in the West, (U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 08-18, April 29, 2008).
- David Lawrence Clingingsmith, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Asim & Michael Kremer, Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering, (HKS Working Paper No. RWP08-022, April 2008).
- David A. Simon, Register Trademarks and Keep the Faith: Trademarks, Religion, and Identity, (April 28, 2008).
- Nina J. Crimm, Muslim-Americans' Charitable Giving Dilemma: What About a Centralized Terror-Free Donor Advised Fund?, (Roger Williams Law Review Symposium Issue, Vol. 13 , 2008).
From ACS:
- Edward Correia, A Constitutional Framework for Addressing Religious Viewpoints in Public Classrooms, (April 21, 2008).
From SmartCILP:
- Kenneth A. Klukowski, In Whose Name We Pray: Fixing the Establishment Clause Train Wreck Involving Legislative Prayer, 6 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 219-282 (2008).
- Samuel J. Levine, Taking Ethical Obligations Seriously: A Look At American Codes of Professional Responsibility Through a Perspective of Jewish Law and Ethics, 57 Catholic University Law Review 165-202 (2007).
- Jana R. McCreary, This Is the Trap the Courts Built: Dealing With the Entanglement of Religion and the Origin of Life in American Public Schools, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 1-67 (2008).
- Peter Irons, Darwin, Dogma, and Definitions: A Reply to Professor McCreary, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 69-82 (2008).
- Jana R. McCreary, Focusing Too Much On the Forest Might Hide the Evolving Trees: A Response to Professor Irons, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 83-96 (2008).
New Movies:
- Constantine's Sword (2007), reviewed in New York Times.
- Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2007), reviewed in New York Times. [Updated]
Obama Denounces His Pastor As Religion Continues Importance In Campaign
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Recently Available Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Shilling v. Crawford, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33567 (D NV, March 12, 2008), a Nevada federal district court held that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity in a suit by an inmate who claimed that his rights under RLUIPA were violated when his request for a kosher diet was accommodated only by offering to transfer him to a higher security facility at which such meals were available.
Rose v. Masiey, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33499 (SDNY, Feb. 19, 2008), is one of over a dozen suits filed by Muslim inmates challenging the handling of food and related items at Rikers Island prison facility, and the failure to identify non-Halal food at the prison commissary. The court denied most of defendants' motions to dismiss, except that claims against certain of the corrections officers named as defendants were dismissed on the ground of qualified immunity.
Malik v. Ozmint, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33904 (D SC, Feb. 13, 2008), involved a RLUIPA challenge to a South Carolina prison policy that prevented plaintiff from wearing his kufi outside of his cell. A federal magistrate judge recommended that the claim be dismissed without prejudice on exhaustion grounds, but that on the merits prison authorities had not justified the restriction. The court rejected plaintiff's claims that his right to fast during Ramadan was infringed by untimely meal deliveries.
Convicted Murderer Waives Appeals Partly for Religious Reasons
British Catholic Adoption Agency Becomes Secular To Avoid Gay Adoption Mandate
7th Circuit Upholds RLUIPA Claim; Concurrence Criticizes RLUIPA
Judge Evans concurred, but included in his opinion an interesting attack on RLUIPA:
Clearly, without RLUIPA, this case would have been dead in the water when it was filed because declining Koger’s request for a nonmeat diet would not have violated the United States Constitution....
Because Mr. Koger is out of prison... his request for injunctive relief is moot. And because he was in prison when the case arose, he must proceed under the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act, which takes compensatory and punitive damages off the table as he suffered no “physical injury” but only, at best, a “mental or emotional injury.” And that limits his recovery to nominal damages.
So when all is said and done, the State of Illinois has spent a lot of money defending this case for six years. Koger may end up with a dollar, and his lawyer, Jeffrey L.Oldham, who by the way has done an outstanding job, will get a limited amount of attorney’s fees. A waste of time? Some may disagree, but I lean towards saying “yes.”