Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Clergy Abuse Claims Against Vatican May Proceed In U.S. Court
Yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal reporting on the decision quoted plaintiffs' attorney William McMurry who said that the lawsuit could lead to attorneys taking depositions of Vatican officials, obtaining copies of church documents and ultimately determining "what prompted all of the bishops to keep quiet, hide these pedophiles and refuse to report child abusers.".
Commentary: The First Amendment Dilemma In The Battle Against Islamic Terrorism
President Bush, speaking yesterday to military personnel and families at Ft. Benning, Georgia (full text) arguably attempted to define what is and is not a valid religious belief. He said: "It's important for the American people to understand al Qaeda still is in Iraq.... They don't believe in freedoms, like freedom to worship. I, frankly -- well, speaking about religion, these are murderers. They use murder as a tool to achieve their objective. Religious people don't murder. They may claim they're religious, but when you kill an innocent woman, or a child to create a political end, that's not my view of religion. And yet, there are a lot of peaceful, religious people in the Middle East."
On Tuesday the House of Representatives passed HR 1, a bill implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Title XIV is titled "Quality Educational Opportunities in Arab and Predominantly Muslim Countries". The bill establishes a fund to encourage educational reform in Arab and predominantly Muslim countries. One of the bill's goal is to "dramatically increase... the availability of modern basic education through public schools in Arab and predominantly Muslim countries, which will reduce the influence of radical madrassas and other institutions that promote religious extremism." (Sec. 1411(b)(1)). Is Congress here attempting to supplant the teaching of Islamic fundamentalism with a version of Islam that it finds more acceptable? If that is a fair characterization of the bill, are there any First Amendment objections to it?
Court Orders Release of Diocese Records To Insurance Companies
Rabbis Tell Congress To Raise Minimum Wage
New Jersey AG Says Clergy Need Not Perform Civil Unions
FDA's Approval Of Cloned Animals Poses No Issue For Kashrut Certification
Church's Proposed Deal With High School Debated
Thursday, January 11, 2007
6th Circuit Holds Hospital Did Not Waive Reliance On Ministerial Exception To ADA
Israeli Activist Claims House Arrest Monitoring Violates His Religious Freedom
Rehearing and En Banc Review Sought In Boy Scouts Case
House of Lords Refuses To Reject Sexual Orientation Anti-Discrimination Rules
Bus Company Sued By Employees For Religious Discrimination
Egyptian Official Opposes Wearing of Niqab
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
No Tax Exemption For Combined Synagogue- Living Quarters
Litigation Looms Over Property of Breakaway Anglican Churches In Virginia
Italian Bishop Criticizes Proposed Law On Religious Equality
VA's Spirituality Assessment of Patients Does Not Violate Establishment Clause
The case was brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The Madison (WI) Capital Times quotes FFRF spokesperson Annie Laurie Gaylor who criticized the judge's decision: "He just didn't get it. Part of his decision stated that VA chaplains are there to bring healing through God's grace and he said it without putting it in quotes. Does his courtroom operate that way, too?"
UPDATE: The full opinion in Freedom From Religion Foundation , Inc. v. Nicholson,(WD WI, Jan. 8, 2007) is now available online. Also BBS reported on Thursday that FFRF will appeal the district court's ruling.
Controversial Navy Chaplain's Discharge Upheld
UPDATE: On January 24, the Air Force Times reported that Klingenschmitt asked the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reconsider the district court's denial of an injunction to prevent his discharge.
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Original Jurisdiction In School Voucher Challenge
North Carolina Pastor Seeking Support For Christian Prayer At City Council
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Maryland Non-Public Schools Seek Additional State Aid
Michigan School Board Rejects Bible As Literature Class
Cert. Denied In Case On Invalidating Donations To Churches By Debtor In Bankruptcy
Now It's Harder To Deduct Charitable Contributions
Monday, January 08, 2007
Religious Coalitions Weigh In On Immigration; Education
Meanwhile, a separate coalition of 100 religious, civil rights, educational and disability organizations known as the Forum on Educational Accountability has taken the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act to urge some 14 changes to the law. (ABCUSA Press Release.) Among these are calls for less reliance on standardized testing and increased federal funding of costs that will be imposed on states by the recommendations.
Romney's Mormonism Remains A Factor In His Presidential Bid
Satirical Attack On Intelligent Design Becomes Popular
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Faith-Based Welfare Poses Discrimination Issues In Britain
French Appeals Court Says Pork Soup To Homeless Is Discriminatory
Indiana House Speaker Has Not Decided About Opening Prayer
UPDATE: On Monday, House Speaker Pat Bauer opened the 2007 session of the Indiana General Assembly with a non-sectarian prayer whose text had been approved by state Attorney General Steve Carter. The same prayer will be read every day as the opening invocation. (Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal).
Italian Interior Minister Wants To Monitor Foreign Funds For Mosques
Hindu Violence Against Christians In India Reported
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Books Treat Role of Religion In U.S. History
The same publisher-- Eerdmans-- has also recently published Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz, America's Battle for God: A European Christian Looks at Civil Religion (2006).
UPDATE: Sunday's New York Times reviews Chris Hedges, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, (Free Press). Reviewer Rick Perlstein says that Hedges "writes on this subject as a neophyte, and pads out his dispatches with ungrounded theorizing, unconvincing speculation and examples that fall far short of bearing out his thesis."
Nurse Who Refused To Administer "Plan B" Still In Court
Recent Articles On Law and Religion
Qerkin Berisha, The Right to Nondiscrimination in the Context of Kosovo, (2005).
Ali L. Khan, Combating Defamation of Religions, (The American Muslim, January 1, 2007).
From SmartCILP:
Dominique Custos, Secularism in French Public Schools: Back to War? The French Statute of March 15, 2004, 54 American Journal of Comparative Law 337-399 (2006).
Richard Hardack, Bad Faith: Race, Religion and the Reformation of Welfare Law, 4 Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal 539-649 (2006)
Gidon Sapir, How Should a Court Deal With a Primary Question That the Legislature Seeks to Avoid? The Israeli Controversy Over Who Is a Jew As an Illustration, 39 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 1233-1302 (2006).
Michele Alexandre, Big Love: Is Feminist Polygamy an Oxymoron Or a True Possibility?, 18 Hastings Women's Law Journal 3-30 (2007).
Jay Michaelson, In Praise of the Pound of Flesh: Legalism, Multiculturalism, and the Problem of the Soul, 6 Journal of Law in Society 98-153 (2005).
Eighth Grader Sues School To Be Part of "Silent Solidarity"
California Senator Rescinds Award To Islamic Activist
Tennessee County Commission Hesitates On 10 Commandments Settlement
This past Thursday, the county’s Steering Committee refused to either accept or reject the proposed settlement, in part because county attorney Jim Cope was not at the meeting to answer questions. So the proposal will now go to the full County Commission for discussion. Mike Sparks, one of the Commissioners opposed to the settlement said, "This is nothing but a shakedown by the ACLU to use the taxpayers’ money to foot their agenda." But Steve Cates, a retired high school government teacher who was one of the plaintiffs said: "It's not the ACLU that has an agenda. It's various religious groups that has an agenda…. My people have been here since the early 1800s, and I don't get it. I understand the historical connection to Christian faith, but I also understand our country is composed of lots of other faiths. There's no need for the government to be using religion to be cruel to other people whether it be Christians or Muslims or whoever it is."
Georgia Governor Will Propose Elimination of "Blaine Amendment"
Friday, January 05, 2007
New Congress Is Religiously Diverse
The new Congress will, for the first time, include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history.
Roman Catholics remain the largest single faith group in Congress, accounting for 29 percent of all members of the House and Senate, followed by Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Jews and Episcopalians.
While Catholics in Congress are nearly 2-to-1 Democrats, the most lopsidedly Democratic groups are Jews and those not affiliated with any religion. Of the 43 Jewish members of Congress, there is only one Jewish Republican in the House and two in the Senate. The six religiously unaffiliated members of the House all are Democrats.
The most-Republican groups are the small band of Christian Scientists in the House (all five are Republican), and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (12 Republicans and three Democrats)—though the top-ranking Mormon in the history of Congress will be Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the incoming Democratic majority leader.
Spokane Diocese Files Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan
State Department Praises Ellison's Swearing-In
The introduction of the Quran into congressional oath-taking is evidence of the growing religious diversity of the United States. The Quran used by Ellison during his January 4 ceremonial swearing-in is unique. It once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence and third U.S. president. The Library of Congress, which obtained the book from Jefferson in 1815, loaned it to Ellison for the occasion. It is an English translation from the Arabic first published in London in 1734.Workday Minnesota yesterday said that at a community send-off in St. Anthony, MN, Ellison received blessings from a Baptist pastor, a Jewish rabbi, and a Muslim imam. Meanwhile on the floor of the House of Representatives, Ellison and Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode-- who had strongly criticized Ellison's use of the Koran-- shook hands and agreed to talk more at a later date. (Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch).
Jefferson, who gave much thought to religion, in 1802 wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.”
Muslims first arrived in the United States in slave ships from Africa. One of these, Abdur Rahman Ibrahima ibn Sori, was brought from Guinea to Mississippi in the early 19th century. He won his freedom through the intercession of Mississippi Senator Thomas Reed and the sultan of Morocco, who successfully petitioned Secretary of State Henry Clay and President John Quincy Adams to free Sori.
Today, Muslim Americans number several million. Ellison’s election and his inclusion of the Quran in his swearing-in ceremony highlight the legacy of religious freedom enshrined in the Constitution and the contributions to American society made by people of diverse faiths.
Iranian Musician Sentenced For Insulting Islam
Suit Challenges Church's Eviction of Charter School
Park Service Still Sells Creationist Account Of Grand Canyon
India Court To Hear Challenge To Statue of Anti-Hindu Reformer
A report yesterday from News Today says that the Supreme court arguments today focus on a request to have the statue covered pending a hearing on the underlying dispute scheduled in the Madras High Court. The controversial statue carries an inscription (quoting Periyar) that reads: "One who worships god is a barbarian. One who preaches about god is an idiot and one who professes any religion is a fraud." The suit alleges that allowing the statue to remain near the temple would infringe Constitutionally protected freedom of religion. The suit argues that it is the duty of the State to protect residents from injury or insult to their religious sentiments.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Ellison Will Use Thomas Jefferson's Quran For Swearing-In
Minneapolis Airport Proposes To Suspend Muslim Cabbies Who Refuse Passengers
Refusals of service on religious grounds has become a significant problem as a large percentage of airport cab drivers are Somali Muslims. However the Somali Justice Advocacy Center supports the proposed new penalties.
Muslims also have another disagreement with the Airports Commission. They want a separate prayer room at the airport. However MAC spokesman Patrick Hogan says that there is a quiet area currently open to everyone for contemplation and prayer, and separate space for a particular religion will not be provided.
Military Times Poll On Religion In Military Released
The methodology used for the poll makes it unclear how accurate it is in reflecting the opinions of the entire military. Military Times mailed questionnaires to 6,000 people drawn at random from its list of active-duty subscribers-- those who pay the annul $55 subscription fee. It is unclear whether the subscriber base is representative of the entire military. The Military Times did not specifically indicate how many of the 6,000 questionnaires were returned; however an examination of the raw data available online suggests that 955 readers responded. The Military Times did report that 35% of respondents said they were Protestant, 29% were Catholic, 7% were Evangelical Christian, 2% were Mormon, 1% were Jewish, 0% were Muslim, 13% were Other, and 12% had No Preference.
Arrest Warrant Need Not Reflect Current Religious Name
Discrimination Against Christians In Syria
Michigan Church Wins RLUIPA Challenge; Law's Constitutionality Upheld
UPDATE: The decision is now available on LEXIS at 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28.
Romania's President Signs Controversial Religion Law
UPDATE: The Romanian civil rights group, Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience, plans to go to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge Romania’s new Religion Law. On Friday Playfuls.com reported that critics claim this provision is broad enough to cover rock songs or works of Western literature and philosophy such as Nietzsche’s, The Antichrist. Meanwhile the Catholic Church in Romania says that the new law “is still perfectable”. (Mediafax).
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
No Plaintiffs Volunteer To Challenge Florida County's Ten Commandments
Iraqi Christians Formally Petition For Separate Province
Malaysia's High Court Permits Challenge To Selangor Sharia Enforcement
North Carolina County Council Debates Sectarian Invocations
French Tribunal Says Pig Soup Is Not Discriminatory
Religious Objections Raised To FDA's Green Light On Cloned Animal Products
Israeli Court Upholds Deceased's Right To Cremation
UPDATE: On Monday, Knesset member Ya'acov Cohen (United Torah Judaism) introduced an amendment to the burial law to effectively ban cremation. (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 8).
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Was Saddam's Execution On Sunni Eid Illegal?
The death penalty cannot be carried out on official holidays and special festivals connected with the religion of the condemned person.Sunnis and Shiites disagree on the date for the celebration of Eid al-Adha. Saddam's execution-- at dawn on Saturday-- was hurried to avoid the Shiite celebration of Eid al-Adha that began Saturday evening (see prior posting). However the Sunni celebration had already begun on Friday at sundown. Saddam was Sunni, so it would appear that Section 290 would preclude his execution on the Sunni dates of the Eid. That is what Rizgar Mohammed Amin, the Kurdish judge who originally presided over Saddam's trial thinks. (International Herald Tribune, Jan. 1).He was removed during the trial when Shiites claimed he was too lenient.
All of this makes very important the remark of Munir Haddad, a judge on the Iraqi High Tribunal who represented the Tribunal at the execution. He was quoted by the International Herald Tribune on Friday as saying: "The official Id in Iraq is Sunday... Saddam is not Sunni. And he is not Shiite. He is not Muslim." It is not clear whether Haddad claims to have any legal basis for this assertion, though during Saddam's rule Shiites objected strongly to the secular policies of Saddam's Sunni-backed Ba'athist government.
At any rate, the timing of Saddam's execution, coupled with executioners' remarks as Saddam was being hanged, reinforces the image of Saddam's execution as revenge by Shiites on Sunnis. (Baltimore Sun; Los Angeles Times).
Christian Lawyers Petition Queen To Protest Rules On Equal Rights For Gays
Monday, January 01, 2007
Injuries In Turkey From Animal Sacrifices Outside Municipal Facilities
Happy New Year and Thanks To Religion Clause Readers
Happy New Year! As 2007 begins, let me thank all of you for your readership, your comments, the material you send to me, and the links to Religion Clause that you place on your own websites and blogs. Thanks in particular to my regular readers, some of whom tell me that they check the blog every day. Please continue to keep in touch. The e-mail address for communicating with me about Religion Clause has recently changed. You should now send your e-mails to this NEW address: religionclause@bex.net
Readership of Religion Clause during 2006 has grown steadily. Shortly after midnight ushered in 2007, the Religion Clause site meter (measuring readers since the blog began) turned to 104,271. In 2006, Religion Clause attracted over 82,000 readers. I hope this means that there continues to be a need for serious, non-ideological, coverage of legal and political developments relating to religious liberty and to church-state relationships.
Over the last year, international developments have become a more significant portion of my coverage. Increasingly nations around the world-- even though they may have different legal systems-- are facing issues similar to those that regularly arise in the United States, as well as fascinating issues that are unique to their legal systems and traditions. I hope that you find these as fascinating as I do.
Best wishes for 2007,
Howard M. Friedman
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Nellis v. Jahnke, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92965 (ED WI, Dec. 21, 2006), a Wisconsin federal district court permitted a Native American prisoner to move ahead with his free exercise claim against prison officials. The inmate's complaint alleged that he had been denied "chapel studies", the only means of practicing his religion, after he quit his voluntary employment with the prison's food service department out of fear that co-workers would harm him.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
White House Issues Greetings To Muslims Celebrating Eid al-Adha
Reports Of Chinese Arrests Of Priests Loyal To Vatican Denied
Church-State Relations Being Redefined In Europe
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Invasive Fish Regulations Said To Violate Fish Owner's Free Exercise Rights
Soccer League Permits Sikhs To Play Wearing Patkas
Another Indian State Passes Anti-Conversion Law
California Supreme Court Rejects Murderer's Complaint On Use Of Bible In Jury Deliberations
Saddam's Execution Hurried To Miss Muslim Holiday
Iraqi law, written during Saddam’s regime, prohibits executions during a religious holiday. The International Herald Tribune reports that some confusion existed on timing because the Eid does not begin until Sunday for Shiites—who now control the Iraqi government. So the official holiday in Iraq did not begin until then. However for Sunnis—Saddam's sect—the holiday began on Saturday. An Iraqi official expressed some frustration at the confusion: "According to the law, no execution can be carried out during the holidays. After all the hard work we have done, why would we break the law and ruin what we have built?" CBS News reports that the Iraqi government consulted Muslim clerics on the timing issue. In the end, according the International Herald Tribune: "the hanging was carried out with such haste that an ad hoc air at times overshadowed the historical import."
According to Pakistan's The International News, two other defendants sentenced to death along with Saddam will not be executed until after the holiday ends-- Tuesday for Sunnis and Wednesday for Shiites.
To those looking for historical analogues, the hurried execution in the face of an upcoming religious celebration brings to mind the circumstances surrounding the execution 53 years ago of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the United States. The convicted atom spies' execution was hurriedly advanced from 11:00 p.m. on Friday night to 8:00 p.m. after the Rosenberg's lawyers—seeking a 24 hour delay—argued that it would be a sacrilege to kill the Rosenberg's—who were Jewish—on their Sabbath. (from Natl. Comm. to Reopen Rosenberg Case).
UPDATE: Governments in a number of Sunni Muslim countries have criticized the decision to execute Saddam Hussein on Eid al-Adha. Sunday's Chicago Tribune reports that leaders in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan criticized the timing of the execution. Among Arab countries, only Kuwait welcomed the developments. Saad bin Tafla al-Ajmi, former information minister of Kuwait, said "This is the best Eid gift for humanity." Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a number of European leaders, as well as the Vatican, have criticized use of the death penalty even for Saddam.
4th Circuit Decides Two RLUIPA Cases
In Madison v. Commonwealth of Virginia, (4th Cir., Dec. 29, 2006), the 4th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of RLUIPA as a valid exercise of Congress’ spending power. It rejected Virginia’s broad sovereign immunity defense, finding that Congress conditioned Virginia’s acceptance of federal correctional funds on the state’s consent to be sued under RLUIPA. However, the court held that because RLUIPA does not unequivocally indicate that the waiver of sovereign immunity extends to money damages, the Eleventh Amendment bars claims for monetary relief against Virginia.
The case was brought by a Virginia inmate seeking the prison’s “Common Fare” meals. He claimed that his “Hebrew Israelite” religion directs him to eat a kosher diet. The United States had intervened in the case on the side of the inmate, and amicus briefs in support of the prisoner’s position had been filed by the ACLU, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Coalition of Prison Chaplain Associations. The Associated Press reported on the decision.
In Lovelace v. Lee, (4th Cir., Dec. 29,2006), the 4th Circuit in a 2-1 decision held that Virginia prison officials had not adequately justified their policy on Ramadan observance that resulted in a disciplinary denial of a Nation of Islam prisoner's participation in the Ramadan fast and weekly prayer services. It held that under RLUIPA, prison officials had the burden of showing that their actions were the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. The court held that mere negligent deprivations did not violate RLUIPA, but that here plaintiff’s claim against the correctional officer alleged intentional conduct. The majority also permitted plaintiff's free exercise and due process claims to proceed and refused, on the present state of the evidence, to find that a correctional officer defendant had qualified immunity.
Judge Wilkinson, dissenting, said "not content to recognize this case for what it is — a possibly legitimate complaint by a Muslim prison inmate that his Ramadan fasting rights were deliberately and maliciously violated by a prison guard — the majority expands it to what it is not, an excuse for top-to-bottom fine tuning of an accommodating policy designed to foster the very values of religious expression set forth in RLUIPA."
Friday, December 29, 2006
Top Ten 2006 Free Exercise- Church/State Developments
1. Muslim nations react strongly to publication of Muhammad caricatures by Danish newspaper.
2. Fundamentalist Christian clergy work to energize conservative voters for November elections, walking fine line on IRS limits.
3. Military chaplains split on support for guidelines emphasizing inclusive prayer at military events.
4. A federal district court strikes down Iowa’s faith-based prison rehabilitation program.
5. Muslim women around the world find increasing resistance by government agencies, courts and politicians to their wearing of niqab (veil), or even hijab (headscarf).
6. Polygamy begins to regain respectability despite prosecution of FLDS leader.
7. Supreme Court holds religious use of hallucinogens is protected by RFRA.
8. Attempts in courts and Congress to save the Mt. Soledad Cross continue.
9. The Rahman case in Afghanistan and the punishment of proselytization and conversion in Asia and the Middle East capture world attention.
10. Politicians and commentators object to swearing-in on Koran for first Muslim member of Congress.
You can compare the top ten picks for 2006 by the Religious Newswriters Association. Their poll looks to all the year's "religion stories", not just the ones that involve legal or church-state issues. Interestingly, we agree on the top story, but not on many of the others. And if you want to review my 2005 picks, they are still online from a year ago.
UPDATE: Here is another top ten list posted just this morning by Don Byrd at Blog from the Capitol.
Utah Cities Change New Years Celebrations Because Of Mormon Traditions
U.S. Military Seeking To Recruit More Muslims
Thailand Bars "Coyote Ugly" Dancers As Religiously Offensive
TSA Trains Agents In Cultural Sensitivity For Hajj Pilgrims
Court Requires Church To Comply With Amended Zoning Law
Thursday, December 28, 2006
6th Circuit Awards Attorneys' Fees In RLUIPA Case
Gerald Ford Remembered For Helping Soviet Jews Gain Freedom
Keith Ellison Speaks Out On His Muslim Faith and Politics
I'm not a religious leader, I've never led religious services of any kind. I'm not here to be a preacher, but in terms of political agenda items, my faith informs me....
I'm a little incredulous about why anyone would care about what I'm going to swear on. In fact, if I swore on a book that wasn't of my tradition ... would you trust me?
Many people see their religion as an identity thing, much in the same way Crips or Bloods might say, "I'm this, this is the set I'm rolling with". They've never actually tried to explore how religion should connect us, they're into how religion divides us. .... They haven't really explored ... how my faith connects me to you.