While the U.S. Constitution enshrines the right to religious freedom and the prohibition against a state religion, when it comes to the rights of religious enclaves to impose communal rules, the dividing line is more nebulous. Can U.S. enclaves, homeowner associations, and other groups enforce Islamic law?...
On their face, the fundamental principles of the internal Muslim enclave are no more invidious than any other religious enclave. But ideology matters. Many proponents of an Islamic polity promote an ideology at odds with U.S. constitutional jurisprudence and the prohibition against the establishment of a state-sponsored religion. The refusal to recognize federal law makes Islamist enclaves more akin to Ruby Ridge than to the Hasidic and Amish [communities]....
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Are Islamist Enclaves Constitutional?
Prince Charles Gets Honorary Degree, Speaks At Al-Azhar University
USDA Finds Violations At Kosher Slaughtering Plant
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Texas School Sued Over Bible Group's Access To Website
Church-State Tidbits From Bush Q&A In Cleveland
Then, as part of a long answer to a question asking about domestic policy aimed at helping unsafe and poverty-stricken neighborhoods, the President promoted his faith-based initiative:Q [A]uthor and former Nixon administration official Kevin Phillips, in his latest book, American Theocracy, discusses what has been called radical Christianity and its growing involvement into government and politics. He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this, that the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocalypse? And if not, why not?
THE PRESIDENT: The answer is -- I haven't really thought of it that way. (Laughter.) Here's how I think of it. The first I've heard of that, by the way. I guess I'm more of a practical fellow. I vowed after September that I would do everything I could to protect the American people....*** I take a practical view of doing the job you want me to do -- which is how do we defeat an enemy that still wants to hurt us; and how do we deal with threats before they fully materialize; what do we do to protect us from harm? That's my job. And that job came home on September the 11th, for me -- loud and clear.....
I believe that the idea of empowering our faith-based institutions -- government can help, but government sometimes can't find -- well, it just doesn't pass -- it's not a loving organization. And so I believe strongly -- I believe strongly in empowering faith-based and community-based programs all throughout America to help achieve certain objectives.
Mentoring, for example, mentoring of children in prisoners -- whose mother or dad may be in prison is an initiative I started. Drug rehabilitation, giving those who are eligible for drug money a voucher, money themselves, a scrip so they can redeem it at a program that they choose, not that the government assigns them to. In other words, there's a variety of social service programs aimed at lifting people up.
Nuns and Priests May Be Lawyers In India
Pennsylvania Pastors Network Nears Line On Tax Code Limits
Mother Theresa Statue Controversial In Northern Albania
Lawyer Criticizes Ontario's Ban On Religious Arbitration Panels
An earlier article by Kutty discussed the recommendations made by the 2004 Boyd Report that called for retaining religious-based arbitration, but imposing new regulation on arbitration tribunals and the family law arbitration process.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Indonesia Increasingly Convicts For Deviating From Islam
Sumardi Tappaya, a high school religious teacher, is awaiting trial for blasphemy after a relative claimed he was whistling while he prayed. Ardhi Husain and his editors were sentenced to five years in prison for writing a book that the ulemas said contained 70 errors, such as claiming Muhammad was not the last prophet and that non-Muslims could go to heaven. And Lia Aminuddin, who claims to be the Virgin Mary and leads the quasi-Islamic God's Kingdom of Eden cult, was arrested in December for blasphemy after thousands of protesters surrounded her headquarters in Jakarta.
Fallout From Muhammad Cartoons Continues
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur examining the situation has strongly criticized Denmark, according to a report yesterday in the Turkish paper, Zaman.
Meanwhile, in France, a draft law criminalizing blasphemy, has been proposed by an MP for the ruling Union for Popular Movement party (UMP). According to Friday's Islam Online, MP Marc Bouraud said he was driven by the Danish cartoons crisis, which "exposed the fragile link between freedom of expression and freedom of belief and thought."
New Prisoner Cases On Attendance At Religious Services
In Joseph v. Lewis, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10653 (ED Cal., March 15, 2006), a California federal district court found that a prisoner had a valid free exercise complaint growing out of prison authorities' refusal to permit him to leave a vocational instruction class to attend Friday Jumu'ah prayer services. However his claim that his inmate grievance form was improperly processed was dismissed.
Austria Moves Toward Greater Recognition of Muslims
In another development, the Catholic Church in the Upper Austria region has decided to allow the teaching of Islam in one of its 55 schools, as the number of Muslim students enrolled increases. Other Catholic schools were expected to do the same, since the education law calls for such classes once the number of Muslim students reaches 3.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Hindu Group Sues Over California Textbook Changes
Afghan Judge Threatens Death Sentence For Conversion To Christianity
UPDATE: The United States on Monday said that it was closely monitoring Rahman's trial, and urged Afghan authorities to deal with the case transparently and according to the rule of law.
Church Member's Suit Dismissed As Ecclesiastical Matter
Phillips' New Book-- "American Theocracy"
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Immigration Proposal Threatens Religious Social Services
UPDATE: Sunday's New York Times adds another dimension to this story in an article titled Rift on Immigration Widens for Conservatives and Cardinals. It focuses on the Catholic Church's opposition to tightening of restrictions on undocumented aliens.
Lutheran School Seeks Dismissal of Sexual Orientation Bias Claim
Suit Claims University's GLBT Program Violates Establishment Clause
6th Circuit Upholds Pro-Life License Plates
More On Governor's Bill To Exempt Boston's Catholic Charities
Here is one of its arguments. The bill provides that "it shall be lawful for any [religiously sponsored social service agency] to take any action with respect to the provision of adoption or foster placement services which is calculated by such organization to promote its religious principles..." The analysis argues that while placing a child with a gay couple might violate Catholic principles, not placing a child with a gay couple would not "promote its religious principles".
U.N. Committee Censures U.S. Policy Toward Shoshone Indians
Friday, March 17, 2006
Four New Prisoner Cases
In Asad v. Bush, (11th Cir., March 14, 2006), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a state prisoner's free exercise and RLUIPA claims growing out of disciplinary action taken against the prisoner after a dispute over whether Muslim services were being held at the proper time. It found that prison authorities offered an acceptable alternative when inmates were permitted to conduct prayers individually at the requested time.
In Wolf v. Sheriff, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10009 (D. Ark., Jan. 30, 2006), an Arkansas federal district judge accepted the earlier recommendation of a Magistrate Judge (2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40978 (Sept. 8, 2005)), that the religious rights of a Native American prisoners were infringed when the state prison authorities denied them access to a prayer feather. However, disagreeing with the Magistrate, the court found that defendants were entitled to the defense of qualified immunity as to damage claims against them.
In Iron Thunderhorse v. Pierce, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9997 (ED Tex., Feb. 13, 2006), a Texas federal district court dismissed several constitutional claims by a Native American prisoner held in a Texas prison who claimed that existing Native American religious programs give preferential treatment to "Christian-oriented" Native American beliefs while disfavoring traditional ceremonial leaders known as shamans. His claims included ones for confiscation and denial of religious items; the lack of a program for shamans; denial of a racial category for "Native Americans"; failure to provide exemptions or accommodations for the dress code and grooming code; failure to allow equal access to services for inmates in segregation; and failure to honor prior agreements which he entered into with prison officials.
In Ragland v. Angelone, (WD Va., March 14, 2006), and a follow-up memorandum opinion issued on the next day, a Virginia federal district court rejected a claim under RLUIPA brought by a Rastafarian prisoner challenging a Virginia prison's grooming rules. The prisoner had refused to cut his hair and beard for religious reasons.
House Hearings on International Human Rights
In a related matter, the House on Wednesday passed H.Con. Res. 190 expressing the sense of the Congress that the Russian Federation should fully protect the freedoms of all religious communities without distinction, whether registered and unregistered, as stipulated by the Russian Constitution and international standards. Text of the debate and passage are available online.
Is Polygamy The Next Constitutional Battle?
Catholic On Alberta School Board Seeks To Retain Position
Mass. Governor Proposes Exemption For Catholic Charities Adoption Services
In response, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA) and the Massachusetts chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State yesterday issued a release arguing that the proposed exemption for Catholic Charities would be unconstitutional. They said, "The First Amendment's free exercise clause grants us all the right to hold whatever beliefs we choose, and to act in accordance with them in our private affairs. It does not, however, permit any individual or institution to engage in bigotry in the discharge of a public or governmentally regulated function."
Oregon Court Demands More Religious Accommodation In School Basketball Schedule
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Suit Against UC Berkeley Evolution Website Dismissed
UPDATE: The full opinion in the case is now available on LEXIS: Caldwell v. Caldwell, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13688 (ND Cal., March 13, 2006).
U.N. Creates New Human Rights Council
School Board To Permit Distribution of Gideon Bibles
SC Trial Judge Decides Church's Dispute With Diocese
Danish Prosecutor Will Not File Charges Against Jyllands-Posten
Litigants Agree Elementary Students May Read Bible At Recess
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Pakistan Supreme Court Orders Websites With Muhammad Cartoons Blocked
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange reported last week that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority ordered Internet service providers to block 12 websites carrying the offending cartoons. ISPs, apparently as required by the PTA order, to implement the blackout have blocked all blogs hosted by blogspot.com.
Long Beach Seeking To Take Church Property For Condos
Dutch Ministers Fail To Agree on Burka Ban
California Bill Would Require Consideration of Religion In Adoptions
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Law Prof Says Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Would Violate Religion Clauses
[W]hen I hear testimony from my fellow Marylanders about how ending statewide marriage discrimination would collide with their church beliefs, my response is simple and, I hope, reassuring: Your church will never have to perform a marriage ceremony of any gay couple or indeed any couple of any kind that it disapproves of....Later, in response to a Senator's question about whether "God's law" prohibits gay marriage, Raskin replied:
But the irony here is that the State today is stopping many churches and temples from marrying gay couples that the churches want to marry. That is, the State today is violating the rights of many churches--including Unitarian, Episcopal, Presybeterian and Jewish congregations, among many others--who seek to perform lawful weddings for their parishioners but may not simply because other groups of citizens think it would be wrong for them to do it.
Because America is for all its citizens regardless of religion and because so many churches have so many different belief systems, we are governed here not by religious law but by secular law. The rules of civil marriage--the license that the State grants you to marry--must be determined with respect to the federal and state Constitutions, not particular religious claims, no matter how fervently held.
"Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn't place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."Raskin himself is a candidate for Maryland's State Senate this year. [Thanks to Roy Mersky via Religionlaw for the information.]
Ohio Clergy Group Plans Rally Today For Social Justice Issues
Article Chronicles New Partisan Appeals To Religion
Texas Moment of Silence Law Challenged
The law, (Educ. Code 25.082) passed in 2003, allows children to "reflect, pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activities" for one minute after the American and Texas pledges at the beginning of each school day. In 1985, in Wallace v. Jaffree, the U.S. Supreme Court found that an Alabama moment of silence law was an unconstitutional promotion of prayer. State Rep. Dan Branch who co-sponsored the 2003 Texas law, said legislators, aware of constitutional issues, carefully worded the statute to create a neutral time. He said teachers have told him the law helps calm children down. Letting children pray in school makes them feel the school is not hostile toward their religion, he said.
Prisoner Claims Punishment For Prayer
Monday, March 13, 2006
Tennessee Paper Opposes Special Christian License Plates
Battle In Wisconsin Over Angel Statue In Public Park
A new variation of the battle over placing religious symbols on public property is brewing in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Associated Press reports that the nonprofit grief-support group, Compassionate Friends, would like to place a "Christmas Box Angel" statue in the city's Menominee Park. The Freedom From Religion Foundation threatens to sue if the city accepts the offer. The angels, which cost about $20,000 each, are based on "The Christmas Box," a book by Richard Paul Evans about a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Christmas Box House International says that the angel statutes, currently located in Salt Lake City and a number of other areas, are places for grieving parents to come to heal.
Purim Humor Aims At U.S. Politics
Religious Freedom Issues In Tajikistan
Sunday, March 12, 2006
New Law & Religion Scholarship Online
From Bepress:
- Shelley Ross Saxer & Daryl Fisher-Ogden, World Religions and Clean Water Laws.
- Marc L. Roark, All in the Family: The Apocalyptic Legal Tradition as Crit Theory.
- Marc L. Roark, Understanding Jurisprudential Approaches to Islam.
- Mark Osler, Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment.
- Robin Charlow, The Elusive Meaning of Religious Equality, to appear in Winter 2006 Washington Univ. Law Review.
- Scott C. Idleman, Religious Premises, Legislative Judgments, and the Establishment Clause (recently posted online, though it appeared in the 2002 issue of the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy).
New Jersey Church Has Preliminary RLUIPA Win
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Workplace Chaplaincies Create New Legal Issues
Arizona House Moves On 4 Bills To Aid Parochial Schools
Another Israeli Election Ad Banned-- This Time For Religious Promises
Utah Schools Fear Cost of Distributing Notice On Religious Rights
Boston Catholic Agency Ends Adoption Services In Protest of Gay Adoption
The Globe also reports that Governor Mitt Romney said yesterday that he plans to file a bill that would exempt religious organizations from the state's antidiscrimination laws so that Catholic Charities and other religious groups could refuse to provide adoption services when doing so violates their faith.
According to the Associated Press, Massachusetts' four Catholic bishops earlier this month said that the law on gay adoptions threatens the church's religious freedom by forcing it to do something it considers immoral. Eight members of Catholic Charities board later resigned in protest of the bishops' stance. The 42-member board had voted unanimously in December to continue considering gay households for adoptions.
The Archdiocese of Boston has posted an interview with Dr. John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, explaining the Church's position.
Kentucky Approves Ten Commandments On Public Property, As Roy Moore Presses the Issue Elsewhere
The bill, HB 277, permits the display in public buildings, on public property and in schools of historic monuments, symbols and texts if they are displayed in a balanced, objective and not solely religious manner. The display must neither favor nor disfavor religion generally or a particular religious belief. Also any display must promote Kentucky's historic, cultural, political, and general heritage and achievements. The bill also provides for the return to the Capitol grounds of a Ten Commandments monument that had been removed under court order in 2000 to a Fraternal Order of Eagles site. And the bill calls for posting "In God We Trust" in the House of Representatives chambers.
Meanwhile, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who is running for Governor of Alabama, is apparently speaking around the country pressing for the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. An interview with him was published today by the Toledo (Ohio) Blade, prior to Moore's appearance on Tuesday at a Toledo-area Christian school. The former judge, who was removed from office after refusing to obey a court order to remove a large Ten Commandments monument from Alabama's supreme court building, told the Blade: "I did not disobey the rule of law. I disobeyed the rule of man. No judge or person can put himself above the law he is sworn to uphold. And we are not sworn to obey such men, but the Constitution."
Friday, March 10, 2006
Montana Church Found To Have Violated State Campaign Restrictions
Alliance Defense Fund attorney Gary McCaleb claims the law unconstitutionally infringes on religious expression and free speech. He said: "It has a chilling effect on a church's speech. It means [the church] has to register with the state and jump through a bunch of election-law-reporting hoops merely for putting a few pieces of paper out in the foyer. It's a pretty outrageous extension of election law into the free speech realm."
California Supreme Court Upholds Antidiscrimination Pledge For Receipt of Subsidy
President's Remarks On Faith-Based Initiatives
As you know, this has been quite a controversial subject here in the United States Congress. We believe in separation of church and state -- the church shouldn't be the state and the state shouldn't be the church. No question that's a vital part of the country, and that's a vital part of our heritage and we intend to keep it that way. But when it comes to social service funding, the use of taxpayers' money, I think we're able to meet the admonition of separation of church and state and, at the same time, recognize that faith programs provide an important model of success. They help us achieve certain objectives in our country.The White House also issued a Fact Sheet, titled Compassion in Action: Producing Real Results for Americans Most in Need as well as a detailed report on grants to faith-based organizations in fiscal 2005.
Petition In European Court of Human Rights On Muhammad Cartoons
Complaint Against Air Force Proselytization Expanded
Impact of O Centro On RLUIPA Land Use Claims
Thursday, March 09, 2006
State Department Issues 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights
White House Conference Today Will Tout Faith-Based Programs
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, head of release yesterday criticized the President's Faith-Based program, saying: "The White House is using incense and mirrors to cover up its domestic policy failures. Presidential speeches and bogus reports about the faith-based initiative are no substitute for adequate funding of effective government programs."
Spiritual Leaders Urge Prison Sweat Lodge Be Limited To Native Americans
Israel Elections Committee Censors Anti-Religious Ad
Full California Board of Education Adopts Textbook Changes On Hinduism
Claims By Prisoners Permitted To Proceed
In Lewis v. Mitchell, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40814 (SD Cal., Oct. 5, 2005), a decision from last year that has just become available, a California federal district court dealt with a Muslim prisoner's claim that his religious liberty was infringed when he was deceptively served pork disguised as turkey. The court held that the prisoner must assert more than negligence to support his claim that his constitutional rights have been infringed. It found that he had asserted conscious or intentional acts against two of the defendants, but not against a third. The earlier Magistrate Judge's recommendation in the suit, also just released, is at 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40812 (July 11, 2005).
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
V.A. Slow To Recognize Wiccan Grave Markers
White House Developments On Faith-Based Initiatives
In a related matter, today at 11:00 a.m., Jim Towey, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will conduct an interactive online discussion of the upcoming White House conference on the role corporations and foundations play in funding social services. The public may submit questions for Mr. Towey through the White House website.
Connecticut Bill Would Require Catholic Hospitals To Dispense Emergency Contraceptive
Sikhs Battle Montreal Port Authority Over Hard Hats
Colorado Bill Would Protect Employees From Employer Religious Indoctrination
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
New U.S. Restrictions On Religious Groups' Travel To Cuba Protested
Japanese Court Says Buddhist Pet Funerals Are Not Religious
Drivers' License Photos Pose Religious Issues
In Canada, in the southern part of Alberta, the Hutterite settlement, the Wilson Colony, has filed suit to challenge the province's photo requirement that came into effect in 2003. Hutterites believe that the Second Commandment prohibits them from willingly having their picture taken. Yesterday BBC News reported that as licenses in the small religious colony come up for renewal, individuals are not renewing them. Now there are only 15 licensed drivers left. The colony's lawyer, Greg Senda, says the colony is worried what could happen to their large scale farming operation if no one can drive. After the suit was filed claiming a violation of religious freedom, residents were issued temporary licenses while the case is being litigated.
Meanwhile, in France, the Council of State, France's highest administrative body, ruled on Monday that Sikhs must remove their turbans for drivers license photos, calling it a question of public security and not a restriction on freedom of religion. In December, the Council of State had ruled in favor of Shingara Mann Singh, who refused on religious grounds to comply with the administrative order to take off his turban for his license photo. That decision said that the wrong ministry had issued the order. A day later the Transport Ministry, the correct ministry, took steps to adopt the required order. That sent the case back to the Council of State. The Hindu reports that yesterday the Council of State ruled against Singh's religious freedom claim.
Cert. Denied In Washburn Art Show Case
Monday, March 06, 2006
Jail Canteen Funds To Churches Is Challenged
Does Today's FAIR Decision Implicate Christian Student Group Cases?
In today's decision, the Court rejected this argument in the context of the Solomon Amendment. It said:
According to FAIR, law schools' ability to express their message that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is wrong is significantly affected by the presence of military recruiters on campus and the schools' obligation to assist them....This language might be read to suggest that placing a school's imprimatur on a student group by formally recognizing it does make it one of the "members of the school's expressive association", and forcing the school to recognize it would therefore unconstitutionally impair the school's associational rights.
The Solomon Amendment, however, does not similarly affect a law school's associational rights. To comply with the statute, law schools must allow military recruiters on campus and assist them in whatever way the school chooses to assist other employers. Law schools therefore "associate" with military recruiters in the sense that they interact with them. But recruiters are not part of the law school. Recruiters are, by definition, outsiders who come onto campus for the limited purpose of trying to hire students-- not to become members of the school's expressive association. This distinction is critical. Unlike the public accommodations law in Dale, the Solomon Amendment does not force a law school "'to accept members it does not desire'".
Religious Freedom Issues In Bush's Pakistan Visit
At the leaders' joint news conference on Saturday, President Musharraf answered a question about his efforts to promote democracy in Pakistan. He spoke of promoting freedom of speech and press, and empowerment of women, but not of freedom of religion. Bush's news conference statement said that he had discussed the Muhammad cartoon controversy with Musharraf. Finally, in their Joint Statement issued on Saturday, the Presidents mentioned religious toleration, but not in a manner that directly addressed the concerns of USCIRF. The Statement said: "The two leaders recognize the need to promote tolerance, respect and mutual understanding, and inter-faith harmony to strengthen appreciation of the values and norms common to the world's religions and cultures. The two leaders acknowledge with appreciation the various international initiatives in this regard including President Musharraf's concept of Enlightened Moderation. The two leaders agreed that acts that disturb inter-faith harmony should be avoided."
Israeli Justice Jockeying To Write Opinion On "Who Is A Jew?"
Sunday, March 05, 2006
RLUIPA Land Use Developments
In City and County of Honolulu v. Sherman (Feb. 28, 2006), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that a Hawaii statute (R.O.H. Ch. 38) that permits the city and county to file eminent domain proceedings to convert properties from leaseholds to fee simple ownership is not subject to RLUIPA because the law is neither a zoning nor a landmarking law. Therefore it does not constitute a "land use regulation" as RLUIPA defines the term.
The Associated Press reports that on Friday, a federal district judge released an opinion holding that RLUIPA prevents the Village of Mamaroneck in New York from using its zoning laws to block construction of a new 44,000 square-foot building by the Westchester Jewish Day School. The zoning board had raised issues of traffic, parking, esthetics and property values in denying the application to build the school in Mamaroneck's upscale Orienta Point neighborhood. Judge William Conner said that the board's denial, in 2001, "was so contrary to the evidence and to the equities as to be arbitrary and capricious." However, the judge stayed his order pending an appeal to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The long history of the case is traced by this coverage of Friday's decision by the Westchester Journal News. UPDATE: The lengthy opinion is now available on LEXIS, Westchester Day School v. Village of Mamaroneck, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9058 (SDNY, March 2, 2006).
A recently published article reviews RLUIPA land use developments: Edwin P. Voss, Jr. & Meredith A. Ladd, Recent Developments Under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 37 Urban Lawyer 449-466 (2005). [Thanks to SmartCILP]
American Legion Begins Campaign For Public Expression of Religion Act
Last week, the Legion released a booklet titled In The Footsteps Of The Founders  A Guide To Defending American Values, which gives background on PERA. The Legion is particularly focusing on suits against the BoyScoutss, and and attorneys' fees that have been awarded to ACLU lawyers. The booklet says: "There simply is no reasonable basis to support the profiteering in attorney fee awards ordered by judges in these cases. The very threat of such fees has made elected bodies, large and small, surrender to the ACLU's demands to secularly cleanse the public square."