Apparent New Mexican President May Bring Changes In Church-State Policy

An article from McClatchy Newspapers today reports that unless Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal overturns the disputed July 2 presidential election, Filepe Calderon will be the first Mexican president out of a tradition of conservative Catholicism that gave rise to the Cristero guerrilla movement. That movement, to which Calderon's father belonged, opposed Mexico's anti-clerical policies 80 years ago. The article traces the apparent president's deeply religious background and the uncertainties that this poses for a country that has had a strong tradition of church-state separation.

Some Kosher Food Laws Problematic For Conservative Rabbis

Ten states, including California (Cal Pen Code § 383b) and Massachusetts (ALM GL ch. 94, § 156), have statutes that make it fraudulent to sell meat as "kosher" unless the product complies with Orthodox Jewish religious requirements. Today's Forward reports that this language is creating problems as Conservative Jewish rabbis are pressing for stores to sell kosher meat that does not meet the higher "glatt Kosher" standard, in order to reduce costs to consumers.

Preliminary Injunction Denied In City Incentives For Baptist Convention

As previously reported on Religion Clause, in June Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the city of Baltimore in federal court over economic development incentives it granted to the National Baptist Convention to attract its annual convention to Baltimore. The full opinion denying a preliminary injunction has now become available. The case is Cheryl Person v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48899 (D. Md., June 20, 2006).

The city agreed to discount the price of its arena by $ 195,000, provide up to $100,000 for transportation costs, and provide $5,000 to feed hungry people in Baltimore at a pre-convention event involving representatives of the national convention. The court previously ordered that participants in the Feed the Hungry Event could not engage in religious solicitation or distribute religious materials as part of that city-funded event. With that safeguard in place, the court held that the incentives granted by Baltimore did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Interview With China's Religious Affairs Head

Ye Xiaowen, director of China's State Administration of Religious Affairs, has given his first press interview since he took office ten years ago. Xinhua today reports on the interview. Ye emphasized that the country will channel religious groups to play an active role in the country's social and economic construction. The government will guide religions to explain their tenets in ways that are in line with the requirements of the development of the society. He said: ""There are a great deal of useful concepts, like peace, non-violence, harmony and balanced development, in Chinese religions, especially traditional ones, which can help advocate environmental protection and promote peace."

Afghanistan To Re-Establish "Vice and Virtue" Department

The Middle East Times reports today that Afghanistan's government has defended its proposal to re-establish a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, despite the abuses of a similar group which acted as religious police when Afghanistan was under Taliban rule. Unlike its predecessor, the new department will have no authority to patrol the streets looking for violators of Islamic law. Instead, it will use mosques and the media to encourage virtues such as prayer, charity, and respect of elders and parents, and to discourage "sins" such as adultery, murder, theft, and using alcohol. The proposal has been approved by the cabinet and will go to Parliament later this month. The government says the move is necessary to counter extremist opposition to the government that argues the country has been invaded by "infidels"-- pointing to the lack of a vice and virtue department as evidence.

Property Dispute Between New York Episcopal Parish and Diocese

In another of the growing number of disputes over ownership of church property, today's Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard reports that the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York filed a lawsuit Wednesday against St. Andrew's Church in Syracuse, asking a state trial court to grant the diocese a restraining order to prevent the parish from selling church real estate. In February, the parish which objects to positions of the diocese such as Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams' support of the ordination of a gay bishop, filed an amendment to its certificate of incorporation requesting that ecclesiastic oversight move from Adams to Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, head of Anglican Church in Rwanda and of Anglican Mission in America. The diocese claims that it, and not the parish, owns the church's real estate.

Cert. Filed In California Sea Scouts Case

The Pacific Legal Foundation has announced that on July 11 it filed a petition for certiorari (full text) to the U.S. Supreme Court in Evans v. City of Berkeley. The appeal is from a March 2006 decision of the California Supreme Court in which it upheld the right of Berkeley to suspend the Sea Scouts' (an affiliate of the Boy Scouts) free use of a berth in the city's marina after the scout group refused to confirm that it would not discriminate against gays or atheists. (See prior posting.)

Article On Court-Stripping Legislation

Beginning with a reference to yesterday's passage by the House of Representatives of a bill to remove federal court jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance (see prior posting), today's Indianapolis Star carries an interesting article on the history of "court-stripping" legislation.

Atheists Demand Apology For Army General's Remarks

American Atheists yesterday issued a press release demanding an apology from officials for remarks made by Lt. Army Gen. H. Steven Blum during a speech at the NAACPs Annual Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Awards Dinner on July 18. Blum, who is Chief of the National Guard Bureau, lumped atheists and agnostics together with bigots in one line of his speech in which he otherwise praised diversity in the armed forces. Blum said: "Agnostics, atheists and bigots suddenly lose all that when their life is on the line. Something that they lived with their whole life believing gets thrown out the door, and they grasp the comrade next them, and they don't care what color their skin is, and they don't care where they pray...." American Atheists President Ellen Johnson said: "Why is he singling out the millions of Americans who simply have doubts about religion or do not believe in religious teachings, and then comparing this group to 'bigots'?" The American Forces Press Service yesterday quoted extensive excerpts from Blum's speech.

Attorney Protests IRS Church Audit Procedures

BNA's Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] this week reported on a July 17 letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson from attorney Marcus Owens who says that the IRS is acting illegally in promulgating a new policy on who should determine when a tax audit of a church should be instituted. A May 9 IRS issued Chief Counsel Advice Memoranda 200623061[LEXIS link] without an opportunity for public comment. It formalized delegation for determining when a church should be audited to the Director of Exempt Organization Examinations. Owens said that in a recently released memorandum dated March 31, 2005, the Director of EO Examinations made an explicit delegation of the "reasonable belief" decision even lower within the IRS as part of the procedures for the IRS's Political Intervention Project. Owens said this is a "clear violation" of Internal Revenue Code Section 7611, which provides that an appropriate "high-level Treasury Department official must reasonably believe (on the basis of facts and circumstances) that a church may not be tax-exempt." BNA makes the full text of the letter available to subscribers.

Saudis Granted Waiver On Sanctions-- Progress On Religious Freedom Cited

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the United States has found that Saudi Arabia has made enough progress in improving religious tolerance that the U.S. is extending a waiver of sanctions that would otherwise have been called for under the International Religious Freedom Act. The waiver was originally granted in 2004 after the State Department first classified Saudi Arabia as a "country of particular concern", a designation that was continued in 2006. (See prior posting.) The State Department's release on the briefing to Congress by Ambassador John Hanford said that the Saudis are pursuing a number of policies to promote greater religious freedom and tolerance:

These include policies designed to halt the dissemination of intolerant literature and extremist ideology, both within Saudi Arabia and around the world, to protect the right to private worship, and to curb harassment of religious practice. For example, the Saudi Government is conducting a comprehensive revision of textbooks and educational curricula to weed out disparaging remarks toward religious groups, a process that will be completed in one to two years. The Saudi Government is also retraining teachers and the religious police to ensure that the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims are protected and to promote tolerance and combat extremism. The Saudi Government has also created a Human Rights Commission to address the full range of human rights complaints.

First Amendment Does Not Require Accommodation Of Job Applicant's Beliefs

In Filinovich v. Claar, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48341 (ND Ill., July 14, 2006), an Illinois federal district court applied the June 2006 holding by the 10th Circuit in Shrum v. Coweta (see prior posting) to dismiss a Free Exercise claim by Alice Filinovich who was applying for the position of Finance Director with the Village of Bolinbrook, IL. Plaintiff, a Seventh Day Adventist, claimed that, even though she was the top candidate, she was not hired by the village because her religious beliefs would not permit her to attend required quarterly budget workshops held on Saturdays. The court held that so long as the village had a legitimate reason for the neutral, generally applicable requirement of attendance at Saturday meetings, for purposes of the First Amendment-- as opposed to Title VII-- there was no requirement that the village attempt to accommodate Filinovich's religious practices. The court said that the 7th Circuit, whose decisions control it, had reached the same conclusion as Shrum in its 1991 decision in Ryan v. U.S. Department of Justice, 950 F.2d 458 [LEXIS link].

New Jersey Chief Justice Nixes Fugitive Safe Surrender Program

Federal officials have been blocked from instituting a program known as Fugitive Safe Surrender in Camden, New Jersey by church-state objections from New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz . The Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday that the program, which originated in Cleveland, grants funds to cities to get low-level fugitives into the criminal justice system without police having to confront them on the streets. Instead, the wanted criminals surrender at a church, where fugitives feel safe. Also the church community helps to spread the word about the program. The plans were to use Camden's Antioch Baptist Church.

In Cleveland, fugitives were greeted by volunteers who handed out water and pretzels, while sheriff's deputies ran their names through computerized databases. Then they met with a judge and a public defender in the church's library, and generally released on bond. The New Jersey Supreme Court, however, is concerned about court procedures taking place in a religious facility. It is also concerned that it would appear that the court was working on behalf of the prosecutor and was not neutral. The court offered to have a judge available at the courthouse to process the fugitives, but U.S. Marshall James Plousis said that is inconsistent with the underlying concept of the program.

GAO Report Reviews Faith-Based Initiative

The New York Times today carries an article about a Government Accountability Office Report issued last month on the Bush administration's faith-based initiative. The GAO did not find evidence of a widespread diversion of government money to religious activities, but in looking at 10 government programs, the GAO found that only four federal program offices gave an explicit statement to religious organizations about protecting the religious liberties of the people they serve.

Titled Faith-Based and Community Initiative: Improvements in Monitoring Grantees and Measuring Performance Could Enhance Accountability, the full report has just been posted on the GAO's website. Here is part of the Report Abstract:

Since 2001, federal agencies have awarded over $500 million through new grant programs to provide training and technical assistance to faith-based and community organizations and to increase the participation of these organizations in providing federally funded social services.... Most of the agencies provided grantees with an explicit statement on the safeguard prohibiting the use of direct federal funds for inherently religious activities. If these activities are offered, they must be offered separately in time or location from services provided with direct federal funds and must be voluntary for the beneficiary. However, we found that Justice's regulation and guidance related to these activities is unclear for its correctional programs. We also found that only four programs provided a statement on the rights of program beneficiaries and only three provided information on permissible hiring by FBOs.

While officials in all 26 FBOs [Faith Based Organizations] that we visited said that they understood that federal funds cannot be used for inherently religious activities, a few FBOs described activities that appeared to violate this safeguard. Four of the 13 FBOs that provided voluntary religious activities did not separate in time or location some religious activities from federally funded program services....

[I]t is unclear whether the data reported on grants awarded to FBOs provide policymakers with a sound basis to assess the progress of agencies in meeting the initiative's long-term goal of greater participation of faith-based and community organizations. Moreover, little information is available to assess progress toward another long-term goal of improving participant outcomes because outcome-based evaluations for many pilot programs have not begun.

Americans United Criticizes Upcoming House Vote On 2 Bills

Today a vote is scheduled in the House of Representatives on the Pledge Protection Act of 2005 (H.R. 2389) that would prevent federal courts from hearing challenges to the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. A vote is also scheduled on H.R. 5683 that would transfer ownership of the Mt. Soledad Cross in California to the federal government. Yesterday, Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued a statement criticizing these bills. AU executive directory Barry W. Lynn said: "The leaders of the House are shamelessly pandering to their Religious Right base. The forthcoming votes on these measures hit a new low for election-year posturing."

UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed the Pledge Protection Act by a vote of 260-167. Here is the roll call vote. It now goes to the Senate where the Associated Press reports that its fate is uncertain. On Wednesday afternoon, the House also passed the bill authorizing the federal government to take title to the Soledad Veterans Memorial. The roll call vote was 349 yes; 74 no; 3 present. (10news.com report.)

Church Homeless Shelter Housing Code Trial Will Begin In Florida

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel this morning reports that a jury trial is scheduled to begin July 31 in Palm Beach County, Florida's efforts to collect $30,000 in code enforcement fines from Westgate Tabernacle Church. However the Church has filed its own counter-suit claiming infringement of its free exercise rights. Westgate runs a homeless shelter that, unlike other county agencies, takes almost anyone as a resident, subject to only a few rules-- no drugs, look for work and attend services. Because of this, police bring people to the shelter every day, at the same time that the county is attempting to get it to relocate outside a residential neighborhood.

Recent Prisoner Decisions On Claims By Muslim and Atheist

In Hamdan v. Copes, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46765 (WD La., May 19, 2006), the court rejected a prisoner's claim that Muslim prisoniers at South Louisiana Correctional Center were denied the right to attend Friday Ju'mah services on a regular basis.

In Kaufman v. Frank, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47840 (WD Wis., July 13, 2006), a state prison inmate who was an atheist claimed that his rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were violated by: (1) references to God in the Wisconsin Constitution; (2) a state statute granting inmates access to Bibles; (3) prohibitions on sex offenders changing their names; (4) the prison's refusal to allow him to possess a silver circle emblem representing Atheist beliefs; (5) its refusal to authorize study groups for atheist and agnostic inmates; and (6) its refusal to make donated atheist literature available in the prison library. The court permitted plaintiff to proceed only as to claims that the Establishment Clause was violated by the prison's making Christian literature, but not literature about atheism available, and its excluding free non-religious items and publications while permitting other inmates to receive free religious items and publications.

Retired Professor Wants Anti-Evolution Issue On Oshkosh Wisconsin Ballot

The Oshkosh,Wisconsin Northwestern reports today on a retired University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh physics professor's petition drive to get an advisory referendum on the November ballot on the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Sandra Gade says that "the way evolution is being taught is antagonistic to students' religious beliefs. Students are told that it is a scientifically established fact that evolution, a purely natural process made all living things." She wants to require teaching of facts that discredit as well as those that support evolution. Despite Glade's efforts, state law has no provision for school boards to place an advisory referendum on the ballot.

Evangelist Argues Lack of Jurisdiction After Indictment For Tax Fraud

In Pensacola, Florida on Monday, evangelist Kent Hovind pled not guilty to a 58-count federal indictment charging him with tax fraud, avoiding financial reporting requirements and impeding an IRS investigation. Today's Pensacola News Journal reports on the rather outlandish claims of immunity made by Hovind who owns Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationist theme park. Hovind claims that the federal government has no jurisdiction over him, and when pressed in court to enter a plea Hovind said he wished to enter a plea of "subornation of false muster."

Hovind is accused of paying employees of his Creation Science Ministry in cash and calling them missionaries to avoid withholding payroll and FICA taxes. His wife is also charged. For years Hovind has claimed that he is employed by God and has no income or property because everything he owns belongs to God. Hovind believes that man and dinosaurs inhabited the earth at the same time and has offered a $250,000 reward to anyone who can furnish satisfactory proof of evolution.

Muslim Group Claims Zoning Discrimination

In Wayne, New Jersey, according to today's Star-Ledger the Albanian Associated Fund, a Muslim organization, has sued the township claiming it has been discriminated against in its application to build a mosque on an 11-acre site it owns. The federal court suit filed yesterday attempts to stop the township from condemning the land for open space use, claiming violations of constitutional rights and of RLUIPA. The suit claims that Wayne's planning board has given in to anti-Muslim sentiment and for 3 1/2 years has forced the group to take application steps not required of others.