Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Opposition Surfaces To Protection of Sacred Native American Site
Florida Chabad Excluded From Shopping Plaza Wins RLUIPA Claim
Many Georgia Schools Not Offering Courses In Bible As History and Literature
Islamic Charity Officials Convicted of Lying In 501(c)(3) Application
Loud Bible Reading On Bus Violates System's Rules
Saturday, January 12, 2008
School Attorney Nixes Biblical Verse On Graduation Announcements
New Documentary on Faith In Politics Opens Next Week
DC Circuit Holds RFRA Inapplicable To Non-Resident Aliens In Gitmo Case
Friday, January 11, 2008
Court Bars Deportation of Christian Facing Torture In Egypt
Appeal Filed By Muslim Police Officer Seeking To Wear Khimar
Watchdog Group Asks IRS To Investigate Funding of Texas Restoration Project
European Muslims Sign Charter Pledging Respect For Civil Law
Commons Passes Criminal Justice Bill; Debates Hate Speech and Blasphemy
Meanwhile, as previously reported, inserting a provision to repeal of Britain's blasphemy laws was postponed pending the government's consultation with the Church of England. While the Church of England is open to the idea of repeal (Guardian, Jan. 10), Britain's Evangelical Alliance is more skeptical, calling for broader consultations. Friday's Christian Today quotes Dr. Don Horrocks, Head of Public Affairs at the Evangelical Alliance: "When Parliament prioritises the abolition of legislation it is not a neutral act. It sends out a signal to society about what values it considers to be important. In this case the message suggests that there is no longer a place for respect for the sacred in society."
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Amaker v. Goord, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92824 (WD NY, Dec. 18, 2007), a New York federal district judge accepted a magistrate's report and recommendations in two related cases. In Attica prison, a correction officer had removed several Nation of Islam members from religious instruction and told them "to either change their religion or cut their hair" because "only Rastafarian[s] could wear dreadlock[s]." The magistrate recommended that defendants be enjoined from barring plaintiffs from NOI services and classes and from punishing plaintiffs for refusing to cut their hair or change their religious affiliation. The two decisions from the federal magistrate judge are Amaker v. Goord, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95373 (March 9, 2007) and Fluellen v. Goord, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95374 (March 12, 2007).
Ingram v. Craven, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1377 (D ID, Jan. 8, 2008) involves a damage claim by a former inmate objecting to a recommendation that he be denied parole because of his refusal to participate in a religious-based AA/NA substance abuse program. After finding some of the defendants had absolute immunity, an Idaho federal district judge ordered the claim against one remaining defendant to be taken to mediation.
Colorado County Settles RLUIPA Suit, Permits Church To Build
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Court Strikes Down Gideon Bible Distribution In Elementary School
Bush To Visit Christian Holy Sites During Mideast Trip
1st Circuit Sides With Army Doctor In Her Conscientious Objector Claim
Voter ID Oral Argument Includes Exchange On Religious Objectors
JUSTICE SCALIA: ... In this case you're claiming there's a problem for people who, for religious reasons, don't want to have their photograph taken. Do we know that if that's the reason that they assert, I can't get the photograph, the State will say you can't vote?The added burden on Amish, Mennonites and others in the state who have religious objections to being photographed for an ID card was discussed more fully in Petitioner's brief as well as in an amicus brief filed by the League of Women Voters. (See prior posting.)
MR. SMITH: I must be misunderstanding. We have every reason to think that they will let them vote. The only problem with that exemption, like the indigency exception, is that it's kind of gratuitively burdensome in that you have to go down to the county seat to vote every time; you can't vote in your polling place because you have to fill out this affidavit every time you vote.
Indiana Senate Moves To Non-Sectarian Opening Prayer
NJ Civil Rights Division Refuses To End Probe of Pavilion Barring Civil Unions
8th Circuit Denies En Banc Review of Decision on Faith-Based Prison Program
Compromise Reached On Repeal of British Blasphemy Laws
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Russia Reasserts Control Over Orthodox Cathedral In France
British Airways Employee Loses Suit Over Rules On Jewelry
Does School's Santa Hat Ban Amount To Religious Discrimination?
British Magistrate Reprimanded Over Conduct Regarding Niqab
Officer Sues Coast Guard To Avoid Immunization With Vaccine From Fetus' Cells
Kentucky County Tries New 10 Commandments Display
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
9th Circuit Rejects Convoluted RFRA and Free Exercise Challenges To Deportation
The court held first that no religious belief precluded petitioners from adopting a child, so their religious views did not create their ineligibility to have their removal order cancelled. Second, the court said, petitioners did not show that they were pressured to violate their beliefs. It said: "No sensible person would abandon his religious precepts to have a child in the hope that the child would be so very ill or learning disabled as to come within the small number of children as to whom 'exceptional and extremely unusual hardship' can be shown." Yesterday's San Francisco Examiner reported on the decision.
Church's Gay Rights Stance Leads To Denial of Insurance Coverage
NPR Program Focuses On Diplomacy and Religion in the 21st Century
Article Surveys Islam In U.S. Courts Last Year
New Poll Expores Pakistanis Views on Islam
There is strong public support for giving Islam a wider role in Pakistan. A large majority feels it is very important to live in a country that is governed according to Islamic principles. A majority says it would like to see Shari’a or Islamic law play a larger role in their country than it does today.A World Public Opinion release summarizes the report and links to the detailed data, questionnaire and description of methodology.
At the same time, there is little support for a shift towards extreme religious conservatism. Instead there is significant support for some reforms in the opposite direction. Only a small minority—even among those who want a greater role for Shari’a—wants to see the "Talibanization" of daily life increase. About two-thirds support a recent government plan to reform the madrassahs, including strong support among those favoring Shari’a. A plurality supports the Women’s Protection Act, which modifies existing law in the direction of greater women’s rights.
Appeal Filed In "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-Shirt Case
Monday, January 07, 2008
Cert. Denied In Massachusetts Church Closing Case
Huckabee Preaches At New Hampshire Church Ahead of Primary
Israel Will Re-Establish Religious Affairs Ministry
Ohio Governor Interviewed On His Faith And Its Impact
[PD:] Has your faith changed over the years?
[Strickland:] My understanding of religious faith and of personal responsibility I think has matured. I used to feel like I had all of the answers.... I read the Bible and I pray and I listen to advice that I get from people of faith. But, no, I'm not as presumptuous as I used to be when it comes to thinking that I understand fully and completely the precise will of God....
I think there is a danger of having God conform to our image, rather than trying to conform to his. And I think that can lead to arrogance and self- righteousness and a sense of superiority that, from my point of view, is the antithesis of what true faith leads to.
Afghan Islamic Council Decries Christian Proselytizing
Some Books and Book Reviews of Interest
Tom Perrotta's new novel The Abstinence Teacher, (St. Martin's Press, 2007), focusing in a new way on conservative Christian viewpoints, was reviewed last week by the London Telegraph.
Trial Held In Prisoner Suit Seeking Kosher Meals
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Property Owner Fights Zoners Over Planned Cross On Lake Michigan
Father Says State Constitution Voids Order That Son Attend Catholic School
VT Court Holds Statute of Limitations Had Not Run In Priest Abuse Case
Litigation Strains Virginia Episcopal Docese
New Russian Textbook Reflects Anti-Catholic Views
Times Explores Mormon Church and Religious Concerns About Romney
In theory, the evangelical political movement says that it is prepared to embrace Jews and even Muslims so long as they share the same common values of the religious right. In the case of a Mormon candidate, though, many evangelicals are not prepared to say that common values are enough. The reason seems to be the view among evangelicals that the substantive theological beliefs of Mormons are so radically different from their own as to constitute not a sect of Christianity but a Christian heresy....
If Mormonism were to keep Romney from the nomination, the Mormon Church hierarchy may through continuing revelation and guidance respond by shifting its theology and practices even further in the direction of mainstream Christianity and thereby minimizing its outlier status in the culture. Voices within the LDS fold have for some time sought to minimize the authority of some of Joseph Smith’s more creative and surprising theological messages, like the teaching that God and Jesus were once men....
Court Dismisses Challenge To Pastor's Use of Church Funds
Primary Ads Urge Voters To Probe Candidates On Church-State Issues
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Pennsylvania Insists On Licenses for Tranist Vehicles Serving Amish
Three Cases Involve Employee Requests For Religious Time Off
In Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, (MA Sup. Jud. Ct., Jan. 4, 2008), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the MBTA had violated the state's prohibition on religious discrimination in employment when it refused to to hire a Seventh Day Adventist as a part-time bus driver because he needed Saturdays off to observe his Sabbath. The court held that the MBTA should have facilitated a voluntary swap of hours by employees. Because the MBTA did nothing to accommodate the applicant, the court said it did not need to decide whether requiring an employer to incur more than de minimis cost to accommodate an employee violates the establishment clause. Today's Boston Globe reported on the decision.
Finally, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports on a religious discrimination lawsuit by a Clarksville, Indiana man against a Value City retail store. The employee left his job after the store refused to assure him that he could always have Wednesday nights and Sundays off to attend church services.
Court Upholds Texas Mandatory Moment of Silence Law
Friday, January 04, 2008
Teaching of Evolution, Rejection of Creationism Pressed By US Advisory Groups
At the same time, according to Science Daily, a coalition of 17 scientific organizations is urging scientists to become more involved in promoting science education, including evolution. An article in the January 2008 FASEB Journal says that introducing creationism and intelligent design in the science classroom undermines the fundamentals of science education.Recent advances in science and medicine, along with an abundance of observations and experiments over the past 150 years, have reinforced evolution's role as the central organizing principle of modern biology....
Despite the overwhelming evidence supporting evolution, opponents have repeatedly tried to introduce nonscientific views into public school science classes through the teaching of various forms of creationism or intelligent design.... NAS and IOM strongly maintain that only scientifically based explanations and evidence for the diversity of life should be included in public school science courses. "Teaching creationist ideas in science class confuses students about what constitutes science and what does not," the committee stated."
As SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM makes clear, the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future," the book says.
Evangelicals Crucial To Huckabee's Win In Iowa
Women Appointed For First Time To Singapore's Sharia Appeal Board
Suit Challenges Ban On Fortune Telling As Anti-Pagan
Malaysian Court Delays Funeral After Dispute On Conversion
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Free Exercise Claim As To DNA Testing Rejected On Procedural Grounds
Utah Governor Held 1996 Meetings On LDS Doctrine and Modern Government
Court Holds That "Choose Life" Is Not Religious Speech
It may very well be true that those who participate in the abortion debate on the pro-life side are members of religious organizations whose religious beliefs form the basis for their views. However, that does not transform the pro-life stance into one that is religious in nature, nor does it transform the phrase, "Choose Life" into religious speech. Nothing in constitutional jurisprudence supports the conclusion that political speech which is derived from one's ethical or religious beliefs or background transforms it into religious speech. Many religious persons and organizations may be opposed to capital punishment, or perhaps in favor of gun control. Those political issues are not therefore automatically transformed into religious issues simply by virtue of the religious beliefs of their supporters. The same is true for the abortion debate.
New York Court Says Chabad Headquarters May Eject Messianists
Polish Catholic Church Opposes Government Funding of IVF Procedures
Palestinian Hajj Pilgrims Return Home After Dispute On Crossing Into Gaza
Tunisia Will Not Implement Decision On Hijab-- Sees Scarf As Politcial Symbol
Reversed 1970 Adoption Decision Is Circulating In Blogosphere As Current
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Pew Forum Gives Background Information As Presidential Selection Process Begins
Churches Increasingly Hit With Property Tax For Unrelated Property
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year To Religion Clause Readers
Happy New Year! As 2008 begins, I want to thank all my long-time readers for your continued interest and welcome the many new readers who have joined us this year. Your comments, e-mails, links and leads on news stories are all appreciated. In 2007, Religion Clause was recognized by the ABA as one of the top 100 legal blogs and Justia ranks it 11th in all-time popularity among Blawgs. Sometime in the next 24 hours, the Religion Clause site meter (which measures visitors since the blog was initiated) will turn to 225,000. I hope you will continue to rely on Religion Clause for unbiased reporting on news of church-state and religious liberty developments and for links to primary source documents.
Best wishes for 2008.
Howard M. Friedman
Malaysia Reverses Decision and Issues Permit To Christian Paper Using "Allah"
UPDATE: Adding to the confusion, the AP reports that Malaysia's minister for Islamic affairs said on Thursday that the government still takes the position that the word "Allah" can only be used to refer to the Muslim God. The paper has filed a lawsuit to obtain approval for its use of the term in quoting from the Malay language Bible.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Bibliography of Law and Religion Articles, Books and Blogs
New Articles and Books of Interest
- The January/February 2008 issue of Liberty Online: A Magazine of Religious Freedom has been issued online.
From SmartCILP:
- The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, Vol. 46, No. 2 has been issued. It includes: symposium articles by Susan Stabile and Piero Tozzi on "When Conscience Clashes with State Law & Policy: Catholic Institutions" as well as: Sr. Melanie DiPietro & Alison Sulentic, SSM Health Care: The Integration of Catholic Social Thought Values in a Modern Health Care System; Gregory A. Kalscheur, Catholics in Public Life: Judges, Legislators, and Voters; Robert E. Rodes, Jr., On Lawyers and Moral Discernment; Rebecca Van Uitert, Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: A Discussion of Catholic Social Thought and "Mormon Social Thought" Principles.
New Books:
- Susan Pace Hamill, As Certain as Death, (Carolina Academic Press, 2007), reviewed by the New York Times.
- Noah Feldman, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, (Princeton University Press, March 23, 2008). Discussed in a Harvard Law Today interview.
- Michael Lienesch, In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial,and the Making of the Antievolution Movement, (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), reviewed at H-Net. [Thanks to First Amendment Law Prof Blog.]
Impact of Bibles On Jurors In Imposing Death Sentence At Issue In 5th Circuit
Winston Cochran, Oliver's lawyer, says that at issue is whether jurors, in imposing the death sentence on Oliver, were prejudiced by Numbers 35:16 that reads: "But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death" Cochran explained: "This poor old farmer, he got shot and when he was lying outside on the ground, he was struck with the barrel of a gun. So he was literally struck with an iron rod. You could say God and Moses anticipated this exact thing if you take a literal view of it. And that's got a lot of potential for mischief." Attorney Sue Korioth, who handled an earlier appeal in the case, said there was no implication that jurors voted based on Scripture. She said: "Several [jurors]... carried Bibles in and out like my daughter carries her 'Seventeen' magazine. It was just their reading material."
Huckabee Talks About His Religious Beliefs on Meet the Press
Meanwhile last Friday, CNS News published a lengthy interview with Huckabee on his views about education and school choice.MR. RUSSERT: You went to the late Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and were asked about your political success, and you said, "There's only one explanation for it. It's not a human one," suggesting divine intervention.... And then, and then this comment. "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."
GOV. HUCKABEE: Which was, by the way, ... [a] 1998 speech ... [t]o the Southern Baptist Convention. So it was a speech made to a Christian gathering, and, and certainly that would be appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists.
MR. RUSSERT: But where does this leave non-Christians?
GOV. HUCKABEE: Oh, it leaves them right in the middle of America. I think the Judeo-Christian background of this country is one that respects people not only of faith, but it respects people who don't have faith. The, the key issue of real faith is that it never can be forced on someone. And never would I want to use the government institutions to impose mine or anybody else's faith or to restrict. I think the First Amendment, Tim, is explicitly clear. Government should be restricted, not faith, government. And government's restriction is on two fronts: one, it's not to prefer one faith over another; and the second, it's not to prohibit the practice of somebody's religion, period.
MR. RUSSERT: So you'd have no problem appointing atheists to your Cabinet?
GOV. HUCKABEE: No, I wouldn't have any problem at all appointing atheists. I probably had some working for me as governor.... And if people want to know how I would blend these issues, the best way to look at it is how I served as a governor. I didn't ever propose a bill that we would remove the capitol dome of Arkansas and replace it with a steeple. You know, we didn't do tent revivals on the grounds of the capitol. But my faith is important to me.... It drives my views on everything from the environment to poverty to disease to hunger. Issues, frankly, I think the Republicans need to take a greater leadership role in. And as a Republican, but as a Christian, I would want to make sure that we're speaking out on some of these issues....
MR. RUSSERT: ... [T]his is what you wrote in your book, "Kids Who Kill," in 1998: "It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations--from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia." Why would you link homosexuality with sadomasochism, pedophilia and necrophilia?
GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, what I was pointing out is all of these are deviations from what has been the traditional concept of sexual behavior and men and women having children, raising those children in the context of a, of a traditional marriage and family. And, again, taken out of the larger context of that book, speaking about how so many of our social institutions have been broken down.
MR. RUSSERT: But do you think homosexuality is equivalent to pedophilia...
GOV. HUCKABEE: Oh, of course not.... Tim, understand, when a Christian speaks of sin, a Christian says all of us are sinners.... The perfection of God is seen in a marriage in which one man, one woman live together as a couple committed to each other as life partners.... Tim, I've been asked more about my faith than any person running for president. I'm OK with that. I hope I've answered these questions very candidly and very honestly. I think it's important for us to talk about it. But the most important thing is to find out, does our faith influence our public policy and how? I've never tried to rewrite science textbooks. I've never tried to come out with some way of imposing a doctrinaire Christian perspective in a way that is really against the Constitution. I've never done that.
MR. RUSSERT: But you said you would ban all abortions.
GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, that's not just because I'm a Christian, that's because I'm an American. Our founding fathers said that we're all created equal. I think every person has intrinsic worth and value...
MR. RUSSERT: But many Americans believe that that would be ... you imposing your faith belief...
GOV. HUCKABEE: But, no. It's not a faith belief. It's deeper than that. It's a human belief. It goes to the heart of who we are as a civilization....MR. RUSSERT: Some Americans believe that life does not begin at conception...
GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, scientifically I think that's almost ... a point that you couldn't argue. How, how could you say that life doesn't begin at conception... biologically?
MR. RUSSERT: Do you respect that view?
GOV. HUCKABEE: I respect it as a view, but I don't think it has biological credibility....
MR. RUSSERT: October you told me you're going to win Iowa caucuses. Are you?...
GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, Thursday night I'll let you know. But let me tell you this, we're being outspent 20-to-1 here. If we do, you're going to have a political story like you've never had coming out of Iowa on Friday morning.MR. RUSSERT: Would it be a miracle?...
GOV. HUCKABEE: I'm on record. Yes, it would.
Liberal New Hampshire Voters Also Concerned About Religion
Saudi Monitoring of Mosques Leads To Imam's Removal and More
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Iowa LDS Churches Will Not Comment On Caucuses From Pulpit Today
Child Custody Shift OK'd For Failure To Follow Religious Upbinging Agreement
Recent Prisoner Free Excercise Cases
In Mann v. Wilkinson, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94002 (SD OH, Dec. 21, 2007), an Ohio federal district court rejected a prisoner's claim that he should be permitted to attend separate Christian Identity worship services, but permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his challenge under RLUIPA to a total ban on his possession of a Christian Identity pamphlet.
In Azizi Oba Sefu v. Smith, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93959 (ED MO, Dec. 20, 2007), a Missouri federal district court permitted an inmate to proceed with his claim that his religious practices should be accommodated. Plaintiff alleged that he is a "charter member" of the Monotheistic Sanctuary of Abraham.
Christian High Schooler Opposing "Day of Silence" Wins Partial Victory
Falun Gong Encounters Resistance To City Resolutions Condemning China
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Top Ten 2007 Developments In Church-State and Free Exercise of Religion
1. Religious views of candidates becomes major issue in race for Republican presidential nomination.
2. Supreme Court narrows standing in Establishment Clause cases: Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation.
3. Eighth Circuit strikes down state financing of faith-based prison rehabilitation program-- Americans United for Separation of Church and State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries.
4. Suits over property ownership of break-away churches mushroom, particularly as increasing number of Episcopal congregations opt for more conservative affiliations.
5. Christian beliefs on homosexuality lead to opposition to extension of federal Hate Crimes law.
6. Anti-funeral picketing laws directed at Westboro Baptist Church become subject of litigation in several states.
7. Sectarian prayer in Indiana legislature sparks litigation; 7th Circuit panel finds no taxpayer standing in case.
8. State pharmacy boards challenged over rules requiring dispensing of "morning after" pill.
9. Muslim foot basins in university and airport rest rooms provoke controversy.
10. Florida Hebrew language/Jewish culture publicly-financed charter school approved over protests.
For comparison, here are links to my top 10 picks for 2006 and 2005. You may also find it interesting to compare my choices with the 2007 top story picks by the Religion Newswriters as well as Time Magazine's picks for the Top 10 Religion Stories of 2007.
PA Supreme Court Rejects Establishment Clause Challenge To Eminent Domain [Corrected]
While ... an effect of this taking is to advance a religious organization’s mission to provide faith-based educational services, this is clearly not the principal or primary effect. The principal or primary effect ... is to eliminate blight in this long-suffering neighborhood. One secondary effect is the provision of quality nondenominational educational opportunities to low-income urban families in their own neighborhood... Another secondary effect could potentially be the advancement of religion; however, as far as we can tell from the record, all potential developers were treated in the same manner...[Corrected:] Justice Baer dissented arguing that the action amounted to direct aid to a religious institution in violation of the Establishment Clause. Today's Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the decision.
Judgment Against Holy Land Foundation and Others Reversed By 7th Circuit
Permitting liability to be imposed on a defendant based solely on proof that the death of David Boim was a foreseeable result of the defendant’s conduct, without proof that the conduct actually was a cause of the death, would give section 2333 a far broader sweep than traditional tort principles would allow. The actual use to which the funds ... was put would be irrelevant. This would transform the doctrine of proximate causation from a principle that limits tort liability into one that expands liability, essentially rendering a defendant who intended to aid Hamas’s terrorist activities strictly liable for all foreseeable injuries even if that defendant’s aid actually did nothing to enable the terrorism and the injuries it inflicted....Today's Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register reported on the decision.