Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Texas State Fair Is Not State Actor In Barring Religious Literature Distribution
Israeli Court Says Chinese Pressured University On Falun Gong Exhibit
Court Rejects Tony Alamo's Free Exercise Defense In Suit By Former Followers
Alamo states that the beatings alleged in the Complaint were merely spankings, which are required by the Bible. Thus, he argues that his alleged conduct in ordering these beatings is protected by the First Amendment’s free exercise clause.... The principle of religious liberty does not give one the liberty to physically attack others.... While an individual’s beliefs that he can beat and falsely imprison Plaintiffs and intentionally inflict emotional distress upon them is protected by the First Amendment, acting on these beliefs is reasonably prohibited by Arkansas law.The Pine Bluff (AR) Commercial reported on the decision yesterday.
Christian Group Sues Challenging Maine's Interpretation of Its Charitable Licensing Law
10 MRS Sec. 8003(5) allows the agency to impose a civil penalty of up to $1500 for each violation of law. Apparently the state, as a condition to granting a renewal of CAN's license as a charitable organization, also required it to admit both that the Governor did not give his consent and that CAN's "correspondence contained an inflammatory anti-Muslim message." Yesterday, Liberty Counsel announced that CAN had filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Maine challenging an interpretation of the state statute that prohibits any mention of the Governor in a charitable solicitation without consent. The suit also claims that CAN's free speech was infringed by "censoring" of its anti-Muslim message.
UPDATE: Here is the full text of the complaint in Christian Action Network v. State of Maine, (D ME, filed 9/28/2009). The Bangor Daily News has more coverage and a link to the text of CAN's mailing.
2nd Circuit: Ministerial Exception Bars Rabbi's Suit Against Her Former Temple
review of Freidlander’s claims ... would require scrutiny of whether she should have ... read more extensively from the Torah at certain services, prepared students for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah more adequately, performed certain pastoral services ... or followed the Temple’s funeral service policies. A reviewing court would also be required to assess whether any failures rose to the level of "gross misconduct or willful neglect of duty".... [S]uch review would involve impermissible judicial inquiry into religious matters.[Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Prosecutors Seek To Offer Unusual Religious Analysis In Competency Trial
Amicus Brief Raises Opposition To UN Convention
High School Cheerleaders Cannot Carry Religious Banners On Field
An attorney for the Christian Law Association has been advising those upset with the school's ruling on at least two alternative routes, according to Chattanoogan.com. Barbara J. Weller says that while the students may not continue to put Bible verses on the banners they have been making officially for the games, they can make other banners with Bible verses on them, as long as they make the banners at home and bring them to the games on their own, without the school's approval, permission or participation. She also says that the school should not be able to prohibit banners that merely used the words, "Power, Love, Self Discipline" without reference to the Bible verse that includes them.
UPDATE: At an Oct. 13 meeting, the Catoosa County School Board upheld the superintendent's ruling. (ABP).
Supporters of Sectarian Prayer Threaten Billboards Exposing Council Votes
Court Rejects Copyright Suit Claiming Infringement In Use of Judas Iscariot Trial
The trials depicted in the two works are dramatically different in substance, setting, plot, theme, language, and the overall thrust and feel of the works. Stripped of unprotectible elements—such as the biblical characters and biblical story—the works are not substantially similar.Courthouse News Service reported on the decision yesterday.
German Court Says School Must Provide Prayer Space For Muslim Student
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
New York Appellate Court Voids Church Election of New Pastor and Trustees
Plaintiffs, who objected to Williams as pastor, sued challenging the validity of the 2006 meeting. The appellate court agreed with their challenge, finding that defendants failed to prove who were church members entitled to vote at the meeting. The court declared that the two remaining original trustees were the only valid trustees. It went on to enjoin Williams and his supporters from exercising any authority or control over church property. [Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]
Court Rejects Interlocutory Appeal In Minnesota Charter School Case
British Jewish Schools Implement New Admissions Criteria Ordered By Court
Monday, September 28, 2009
Christian Group Creates "Adopt a Liberal" Initiative
Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy....
Please pray daily for the liberal(s) of your choice, so each can become a good influence on our Nation's culture. Prayer is powerful! It allows God to change the minds of those for whom we are praying. In fact, we fully expect that many of our adoptees will "graduate" from this prayer program with vivid testimonies of God having changed their lives and worldviews!
Woman's Caning Sentence Upheld On Appeal In Malaysia
Victoria Government Agrees To Broad Religious Exemptions In Discrimination Law
2010 National Religious Moot Court Announced
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Recent Articles and Books of Interest
- Jeffrey M. Lipshaw, Can There Be a Religion of Reason? A Response to Leiter's Circular Conception of Religious Belief, (Suffolk University Law School Research Paper Series, Sept. 27, 2009).
- Mostapha Benhenda, Liberal Democracy and Political Islam: The Search for Common Ground, Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Forthcoming).
- Umar Aimhanosi Oseni, Towards the Effective Legal Regulation of Waqf in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects, (September 25, 2009).
From SmartCILP:
- Stephen M. Johnson, Is Religion the Environment's Last Best Hope? Targeting Change in Individual Behavior Through Personal Norm Activation, 24 Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation 119-164 (2009).
- Chad G. Marzen, The Role of Custom in Canon, Jewish, and Islamic Law: Supplemented, Superseded, or Supplanted by Written Law?, 35 Ohio Northern University Law Review 813-827 (2009).
- Anne Orford, Jurisdiction Without Territory: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Responsibility to Protect, 30 Michigan Journal of International Law 981-1015 (2009).
- Nicholas C. Rigano, Fraudulent Conveyance Law: Destroying Free Exercise Rights at a Church Near You, 17 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 165-187 (2009).
Recent Books:
- Anne Marie Lofaso, Religion in the Public Schools: A Road Map for Avoiding Lawsuits and Respecting Parents' Legal Rights (Americans United for Separation of Church & State, 2009), reviewed on AU's website. [Link is to full text of book.]
- David Nash (ed.), Blasphemy in Britain and America 1800-1930, (4 vols.) (Pickering & Chatto Publishers, forthcoming April 2010).
China Issues New Report on Its Ethnic Policy-- Claims Religious Freedom
Freedom of religious belief in China means that every citizen has the freedom to believe or not to believe in any religion," said the white paper issued by the Information office of the State Council.... [A]ll normal religious activities, including those of ethnic minorities, are protected by law.... Venues for religious activities are found all over China, basically satisfying the needs of religious believers.... [T]he Chinese government also helps religious groups build seminaries to train clergymen of ethnic minorities, subsidizes the repairs of some religious venues in minority areas, and gives allowances to poor religious believers of ethnic minorities, according to the white paper.The White Paper comes in the wake of a letter earlier this month (full text) from two members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Jon Huntsman, the new U.S. ambassador to China, raising concerns about reported plans by China to take new steps against "house churches" leading up to the Oct. 1 marking of the 60th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China. (Christian Post, Sept. 10.)
Illinois Supreme Court Says Limitiations Extension Cannot Be Applied Retroactively
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Davis v. Hightower, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85505 (ND FL, July 13, 2009), a federal magistrate judge recommended rejection of a Wiccan inmate's claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when authorities confiscated 9 "religious healing stones" from his property which he used to help heal his peptic ulcer.
Mauwee v. Donat, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86148 (D NV, Sept. 18, 2009), involved claims that prison officials desecrated the prison's sweat lodge area by allowing non-Indians to use it. A Nevada federal district court concluded that damage claims are not permitted under RLUIPA and that plaintiffs' claim for equitable relief was precluded by qualified immunity. It also concluded that objections to changes in sweat lodge procedures were now moot since those changes had been rescinded. The magistrate's recommended findings in the case are at 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86141 (May 28, 2009).
In Kinney v. Curtin, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86225 (WD MI, July 29, 2009), and in Thomas v. Bergh, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86893 (WD MI, Aug. 21, 2009), a Michigan federal magistrate judge recommended that the court uphold decisions to deny plaintiffs participation in their prison's kosher food program because plaintiff had not shown that his beliefs were sincerely held.
In Parks v. Smith, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87147 (ND NY, Sept. 23, 2009), a New York federal district court accepted most of the magistrate's recommendations (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87210, Aug. 17, 2009) allowing a Jehovah's Witness inmate to move ahead with his claim that authorities violated his free exercise rights and his rights under RLUIPA when they disciplined him for attempting to mail a photograph of himself in a meditation pose to a company for use in a personal ad. Prison authorities claim that the pose is in fact a gang signal. The court rejected the magistrate's holding that plaintiff's free exercise and retaliation claims were duplicative. He might be able to show retaliation based on religion even if he did not succeed in his claim that his rights were infringed when authorities classified his meditation pose as a gang signal.
In Strope v. McKune, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86886 (D KS, Sept. 22, 2009) and Strope v. Cummings, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86885 (D KS, Sept. 22, 2009), a Kansas federal district court rejected claims that Assembly of Yahweh inmates were not given adequate time for worship. It also rejected claims that certain foods served to those on the kosher diet were routinely spoiled, and that other foods were not included. UPDATE: The 10th Circuit affirmed (June 11, 2010).
In Shepard v. Peryam, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87189 (SD FL, Aug. 20, 2009), a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that the court reject claims by a Muslim pre-trial detainee that he was denied religious services, prayer beads, a prayer rug, a Kufi (prayer cap), and a Kosher diet.
In Floyd v. Leslie, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87758 (ND IN, Sept. 23, 2009), and Indiana federal district court allowed an inmate to move ahead with his complaint that a prison officer denied him access to Satanist religious material that belonged to him, but the court dismissed plaintiff's claim against the prison's chaplain.
In Jenkins v. Vail, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87730 (ED WA, Aug. 31, 2009), a federal district court (rejecting a magistrate's recommendations, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87769, July 22, 2009) refused to grant a preliminary injunction to a Muslim inmate who would not participate in work or educational programming on the ground that his sincerely held religious beliefs prevent him from supporting a non-Islamic government.
Moorish American Corrections Officers Can Move Ahead With Discrimination Allegations
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Guardian Ad Litem Has Immunity As To Comments On Mother's Religious Views
Christian Group Complains About Ganesh Statue At Calgary Zoo
Christian Reformed Church Gets Title To Property Over Breakaway Congregation
Friday, September 25, 2009
Hasidic Congregation Gets Reversal of Damage Award, But Loses On Other Issues
It appears that originally the 3,000-member Congregation Yetev Lev ("CYL") owned a synagogue building, surrounding parking lots and a nearby residence that was used as living quarters by its rabbi. In some fashion, Bais Yoel Ohel Feige ("BYOF") took ownership of the residence and began to use it as a synagogue. It also filed a suit under Art. 15 of New York's Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law to confirm its ownership of the premises. CYL brought several counterclaims. One asserted that BYOF's use of the property violated the town's zoning code. The appellate court agreed and upheld a trial court's injunction because the zoning code, as amended in 2007, requires a site plan review by the Village Zoning Board for operating a place of worship in a residence.
The appellate court however reversed the trial court's award of nearly $745,000 in damages on another counterclaim by CYL which complained that individuals attending services at BYOF had continuously used CYL's parking area. The appellate court concluded that there was no evidence that BYOF had instructed its members where to park and that, in any event, CYL had not put up signs attempting to restrict who could use its lots. Also testimony as to how many BYOF members parked there was speculative. Finally the appellate court held that CYL retained an implied easement to access the basement and roof of the residence area to install and repair water, sewer and utility lines and HVAC equipment that apparently served CYL's building. [Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]
Religious Groups Active On Several Issues At G-20
4th Circuit Says Westboro's "Utterly Distasteful" Picketing Is Protected By 1st Amendment
The court held that additionally no reasonable reader could interpret any of the signs, or the Internet posting, as asserting actual and objectively verifiable facts about Snyder or his son. They are merely "imaginative and hyperbolic rhetoric intended to spark debate about issues with which the Defendants are concerned." Judge Shedd, concurring in the judgment, would have avoided the constitutional issue by holding that Snyder failed to introduce sufficient evidence at trial to support the jury verdict in his favor.
Today's Baltimore Sun reports on the decision and reactions to it. Meanwhile this week Westboro members began a campaign to picket synagogues in Brooklyn, New York just before Yom Kippur. Westboro spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper told the The Brooklyn Paper that their efforts could be seen as an "obey your God rally." Also, last week, just before Rosh Hashanah, Westboro picketers turned up outside the University of Oklahoma's Hillel Foundation. According to the AP, Phelps-Roper said the church stopped there as part of a "love campaign" to critize Jews for "killing Christ."
Capitol Visitor Center Hosts Premiere of Film On Religion In America
This Sunday Is Second "Pulpit Freedom Sunday"
UPDATE: ADF reports that 83 churches from 30 states and D.C. participated in the 2009 Pulpit Sunday.
Court Dismisses Prof's Dismissal Complaint Under Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine
Illinois High Court Upholds Bequest To Grandson Who Married Within the Faith
The Supreme Court, however, focused on the fact that Feinberg's wife exercised a power of appointment she had been given under the terms of her husband's testamentary trust. She had directed that upon her death her two children and the grandson who had then married within the faith receive the assets that were currently in trusts. This eliminated many of the hypothetical concerns that had influenced the Court of Appeals' decision and eliminated any influence on future marital decisions of potential beneficiaries. No "dead hand" controlled the future conduct of beneficiaries because the wife locked in the identity of the beneficiaries by making a bequest "to reward, at the time of her death, those grandchildren whose lives most closely embraced the values she and Max cherished."
The Supreme Court also rejected constitutional claims, saying:
Because a testator or the settlor of a trust is not a state actor, there are no constitutional dimensions to his choice of beneficiaries. Equal protection does not require that all children be treated equally; due process does not require notice of conditions precedent to potential beneficiaries; and the free exercise clause does not require a grandparent to treat grandchildren who reject his religious beliefs and customs in the same manner as he treats those who conform to his traditions.AP reports on the decision and gives additional background.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Funeral Director Loses On Most of Her Religious Discrimination Claims
House Committee Holds Hearings On Employment Non-Discrimination Act
The testimony by Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, endorsed the the bill's anti-discrimination provisions as stemming "from a core teaching shared by an array of faith traditions." he said that the religious institutions exemption has broad based support. However Craig L. Parshall, Senior Vice-President of the National Religious Broadcasters, criticized the religious institutions exemption as inadequate. More broadly, he argued:
Neither the Congress nor the courts have jurisdiction over the religious beliefs of people of faith. Holding the faithful in contempt because they advance unpopular religious doctrines itself evidences a form of cultural discrimination. Christian ministries that object to those sexual preferences which are in clear violation of the standards of the Bible are standing on a long and well-worn road.... The rights to preach and practice those beliefs spring from a Bill of Rights that is two hundred and twenty years old....
Polish Court Fines Catholic Magazine For Its Attack On Woman Seeking An Abortion
Polygamy Charges Dismissed By British Columbia Supreme Court
Spanish Judge Works Out Compromise With Witness Wearing Burka
Here Are Religious Liberty and Church-State Issues From Senate's Health Care Reform Bill
Extensive attention has been given to issues relating to abortion services. A lengthy summary of the abortion provisions in the bill are in the Chairman's Mark at pp. 28-30 of that document. The provisions would:
- ensure that state laws prohibiting or requiring coverage or funding for abortions, and state laws involving abortion-related procedural requirements, are not preempted. The provision similarly provides that Federal conscience protections and abortion-related antidiscrimination laws would not be affected by the bill.
- abortions (beyond those for which federal funds can already be used) cannot be a mandated benefit as part of a minimum benefits package but a qualified health plan would not be prohibited from providing additional coverage. Federal funds continue to be prohibited from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnancy is due to rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger.
- no tax credit or cost-sharing credits may be used to pay for abortions beyond those for which federal funds may already be used. Insurers participating in any state-based exchange that offer additional abortion coverage must segregate from any premium and cost-sharing credits an amount of each enrollee's private premium dollars that is determined to be sufficient to cover the provision of those services.
- in each state exchange, at least one plan must provide additional abortion coverage and at least one plan must not provide such coverage.
- health benefits plans participating in state exchanges would be prohibited from discriminating against any individual health care provider or health care facility because of its willingness or unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.
- Pg. 31: Exemptions from the requirement to have health coverage would be allowed for religious objections that are consistent with those allowed under Medicare.
- Pg. 32: Exemptions from the excise tax on those who do not purchase health insurance policies will be made for any health arrangement provided by established religious organizations comprised of individuals with sincerely held beliefs (such as those participating in Health Sharing Ministries),.
- Pg. 76: states can apply for funds to provide incentives to Medicaid enrollees who successfully complete healthy lifestyle programs. In designing plans, States may collaborate with community-based programs, non-profit organizations, providers, and faith-based groups, among others.
Many of the proposed amendments are also of interest to those concerned with religious liberty and church-state issues. Here is a summary with an indication of the pages at which they appear:
- Pg. 36: Rockefeller Amendment #C22: $80 million annually would go to non-profit, community-based, and faith-based organizations as well as to states to cover the administrative costs of system and policy improvements that expedite enrollment and retention in the Children's Health Insurance Program.
- Pg. 79: Kerry-Hatch Amendment #C-14 (pg. 79): No qualified health plan offered through a State Exchange may deny benefits for religious or spiritual health care.
- Pg. 201: Hatch Amendment #C-10: Restores funding for abstinence education.
- Pg. 203: Hatch Amendment #C-12: Prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for assisted suicide and offers conscience protections to providers or plans refusing to offer assisted suicide services.
- Pg. 204: Hatch Amendment #C13: Non-discrimination on abortion and respect for right of conscience.
- Pg. 205: Hatch Amendment #C14: Prohibits federal funds under the Act from being used for elective abortions and plans that cover such abortions.
- Pg. 310: Enzi Amendment #C12: Prohibits requirement that a health plan cover abortions except in the case where the mother‘s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
- Pg. 311: Enzi Amendment #C13: Prohibits federal funds to be used to pay for any abortion or cover any part of the cost of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in the case where the mother‘s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. But individuals may purchase supplemental abortion coverage with non-federal funds.
- Pg. 312: Enzi Amendment #C14: Prohibits any provision in the bill from overturning or preempting constitutionally permissible laws or regulations of a State, that place limitations or procedural requirements on abortions, including any state law requiring parental notification or consent for the performance of an abortion on a minor.
- Pg. 313: Enzi Amendment #C15: Prohibits the federal, state or local governments, health care providers or plans that receives federal funds from discriminating against an individual or institution on the basis that they do not perform or participate in specific surgical or medical procedures or prescribe certain pharmaceuticals in violation of the moral, ethical, or religious beliefs of the individual or entity.
Yesterday the Interfaith Alliance released letters it sent to Sen. Orrin Hatch objecting to his Amendment #C-10 and to Sen. Michael Enzi objecting to his Amendment #C-15.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Litigation Over Church Property Was Costly For Both Sides In Colorado Springs
Canadian Appeals Court Permits Religious Groups' Intervention In Prostitution Law Challenge
Today Is 20th Annual "See You At The Pole"
Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker, writing Monday at the Washington Post's On Faith, suggests guidelines for conducting programs. They include a warning that: "students should avoid being lulled into a civil religion trap. Joining hands in a circle facing the quintessential symbol of our country, the American Flag, makes this a real risk. Yes, we are told in Scriptures to pray for our leaders. Students should understand they are not praying to Caesar, but to God." Jamison Foser at Media Matters criticizes Walker's suggestions, saying that SYATP undermines the spirit, if not the letter, of church-state separation.
Paper Says Minnesota's Funding of Drug Program Raises Church-State Issues
New Saudi University, Sponsored By King, Moves Away From Strict Islamic Norms
Uganda's Government Will Propose Creation of Khadi Courts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Rockland County Health Officials Again Monitoring Kapparot Ritual Site
Jediism Founder Accuses British Supermarket Chain of Religious Discrimination
Jewish Groups Protest Plans For Saturday Iowa Caucuses In 2010
Teenager Will Stay In Florida For Now As Clarifications Are Sought
According to Central Florida News 13, a report by the Florida Department of law Enforcement found a number of misrepresentations in Rifqa Bary's story. She did not hitch hike to the Greyhound bus station to flee, but instead she was driven to the bus station by the man who baptized her in Ohio. Her bus ticket was actually purchased in Orlando under a false name. Currently four different attorneys claim to be representing Rifqa. The Florida Department of Children and Families has filed a motion asking the court to determine who should be recognized as her attorney.
UPDATE: WBNS TV10 reported on Tuesday that Pastor Blake Lorenz and his family are under criminal investigation for possibly helping Bary flee from Ohio.
Georgetown's Feldblum Nominated To EEOC
Monday, September 21, 2009
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Norton v. Kootenai County, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82863 (D ID, Sept. 11, 2009), an Idaho federal district court dismissed plaintiff's claim that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of his probation. The court concluded that while there was a religious component to the program, plaintiff never notified his probation officer of his objections to it.
In Parnell v. Tucker, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83103 (ND CA, Aug. 27, 2009), a California federal district court permitted plaintiff to move ahead with claims against certain of the defendants that restrictions on his exercise of his Islamic religion, such as denying him access to the chapel or yard for congregational prayers and study, violate his First Amendment rights and his rights under RLUIPA.
In Hodgson v. Fabian, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83134 (D MN, Aug. 19, 2009), a Minnesota federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing claims by a Wiccan prisoner that his rights are violated by prison policies that resulted in confiscation of issues of a Wiccan magazine, refusing to allow him and the Wiccan group to smudge or burn incense in the prison chapel, limiting the herbs that inmates could order for religious use, and prohibiting keeping or using prayer oil in inmate cells.
In Jordan v. Caruso, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83575 (ED MI, Sept. 14, 2009), a Michigan federal district court rejected a claim by a prisoner who was a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America that his rights were violated when prison officials refused to use the term "El" as part of his name on his cell door card, as required by his religious beliefs. The magistrate's recommendations in the case are at 2009 U.S. Dist LEXIS 83584 (June 11, 2009).
In Hundal v. Lackner, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83814 (CD CA, Sept. 15, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge held that a Sikh prisoner who was denied an exemption from beard length restrictions had not stated a claim under the First Amendment, but had stated a claim under RLUIPA. However the complaint was dismissed with leave to refile to eliminate the RLUIPA claims for damages against defendants in their individual capacities which the court held were not authorized under the statute.
In Cromer v. Unknown Chaney, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84726 (WD MI, Aug. 26, 2009), a Michigan federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of a claim that plaintiff's rights were violated when prison authorities confiscated Five Percent Nation religious materials from his cell.
In Robinson v. Meyers, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84202 (D SC, Aug. 10, 2009), a South Carolina federal magistrate judge recommended granting summary judgement to defendants in a case in which a pre-trial detainee who was a member of the House of Yahweh complained about a 5-month delay in obtaining a diet meeting his religious requirements. The delay resulted from confusion about Plaintiff's religious affiliation and the type of diet required under the beliefs of that religion.
South Carolina High Court Rules For Break-Away Anglican Parish
The court's decision on property ownership held that the Statute of Uses converted beneficial ownership of Parish property under a 1745 Trust Deed into legal title for the Congregation of All Saints Parish. The Court went on to hold that while the Diocese of South Carolina amended its Constitution in 1987 to add the Dennis Canon-- which declares a trust in favor of the ECUSA and the Diocese on all real and personal property held by any congregation-- the action did not affect property of All Saints Parish. The Court said that the Dennis Canon could only impose a trust on property owned by the Diocese. A comment on the decision on Episcopal Cafe makes the interesting point that "the decision simply assumes (without considering the matter) that South Carolina can switch from being a 'deference' state to a 'neutral principles' state without thereby interfering with anybody's established property rights." [Thanks to John B. Chilton for the lead.]
Recent Articles Of Interest
From SSRN:
- Brian Leiter, Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?, (September 16, 2009).
- Brian D. Galle, Foundation or Empire? The Role of Charity in a Federal System, (FSU College of Law, Law, Business & Economics Paper No. 1473107, Sept. 14, 2009).
- A Symposium on God and the Land: Conflicts Over Land Use and Religious Freedom. (Table of Contents.) 2 Albany Government Law Review 354-652 (2009).
Value Voters Summit Held Last Week End
Sunday, September 20, 2009
FLDS Member Sues For Religious Discrimination
Settlement Reached In Lawsuit Challenging FaithGuard Homeowners' Insurance
Mississippi Supreme Court Rules In Challenge By Members of Church Damaged By Katrina
White House and State Department Messages Mark Eid-ul-Fitr
Friday, September 18, 2009
Bankruptcy Judge Accommodates Hindu Temple In Chapter 11
President Reaches Out Internationally With Rosh Hashanah Greetings
Let us work to extend the rights and freedoms so many of us enjoy to all the world's citizens – to speak and worship freely; to live free from violence and oppression; to make of our lives what we will. And let us work to achieve lasting peace and security for the state of Israel, so that the Jewish state is fully accepted by its neighbors, and its children can live their dreams free from fear.
Jewish Newspaper Interviews Scalia On Religion and State
My court has a series of opinions that say that the Constitution requires neutrality on the part of government, not just between denominations ... but neutrality between religion and non-religion. I do not believe that. That is not the American tradition.He also remarked:
I am not sure how Orthodox Jews feel about the Establishment Clause, but I assume they do not like driving G-d out of public life.
State Department Hosts Iftar
I think that American embassies have been holding Iftars for decades. Our diplomatic posts have held hundreds of events to celebrate Ramadan this year alone. And I am proud that we have so many Muslims serving in our Foreign Service and our Civil Service who are playing an important role in advancing our nation’s foreign policy interests and strengthening the bonds of cooperation and understanding with Muslims at home and abroad.Pakistan's The News reported on the dinner.
Creationist Views of Florida Mayoral Candidate Debated
EEOC Sues Clothing Chain Over "Look Policy" Barring Head Coverings
School Principal, Athletic Director Acquitted of Contempt In Prayer Case
National Groups Want Bush Administration's RFRA Memo Withdrawn
The OLC Memo wrongly asserts that RFRA is “reasonably construed” to require that a federal agency categorically exempt a religious organization from an explicit federal nondiscrimination provision tied to a grant program. Although the OLC Memo’s conclusion is focused on one Justice Department program, its overly-broad and questionable interpretation of RFRA has been cited by other Federal agencies and extended to other programs and grants. The guidance in the OLC Memo is not justified under applicable legal standards and threatens to tilt policy toward an unwarranted end that would damage civil rights and religious liberty....
We accordingly request that the Obama Administration publicly announce its intention to review the OLC Memo, and that at the end of that review, withdraw the OLC Memo and expressly disavow its erroneous interpretation of RFRA....
The Anti Defamation League (one of the signatories) issued a press release calling attention to the letter. [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]