State Special Prosecutor Will Probe Kosher Slaughterhouse

The animal rights group, PETA, has filed complaints with local and federal officials against a Nebraska kosher slaughterhouse. After receiving PETA's complaint, the Sheridan County (NE) Attorney, citing a conflict of interest within her office, petitioned the state district court to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate. Yesterday's Beatrice Daily Sun reports that in response the court appointed Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug. The focus of the investigation is Local Pride LLC, which is owned by the Sholom Rubashkin family. PETA claims that Local Pride permits cows to remain conscious up to two minutes after their throats are cut. Last year, again at the behest of PETA, Rubashkin's Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (See prior posting.)

The Federal Humane Slaughter Act (7 USC Sec. 1902) defines as one acceptable method of slaughter: "slaughtering in accordance with the ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument and handling in connection with such slaughtering."

UPDATE: The Beatrice Daily Sun on Wednesday reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it inspected the Local Pride plant earlier this month and found no problems. The Orthodox Union-- the primary certifier of kosher slaughterhouses-- also says that it found no problems during recent inspections, and that minor problems in earlier inspections have been remedied.

Mennonites Settle Septic Tank Dispute Without Religiously Banned Litigation

In Maxatawny Township, Pennsylvania, five Mennonite families have entered a preliminary settlement with township officials who claimed the families owed some $300,000 in fines for failing to pump their septic tanks by a June 30, 2006 deadline set by the township. The Mennonites claim they never received notice of the deadline, and felt they were being treated unfairly since their religion precludes them from entering litigation-- which would have been necessary to contest the fines. According to yesterday's Morning Call, under the settlement worked out in private talks, the Mennonites will be fined only $350, but will agree to comply with septic tank deadlines in the future. Township supervisors must still vote on approval of the settlement.

Claims By Religious Opponent of School's Patriotic Exercises Rejected

In Myers v. Loudin County School Board, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53049 (ED VA, July 23, 2007), a Virginia federal district court dismissed a series of claims brought pro se by Edward Myers, a member of the Anabaptist Mennonite faith, who claimed that the school's daily recital of the pledge of allegiance amounted to promotion of a civil religion in violation of the doctrine of separation of church and state. The court rejected Myers' request that the school's "patriotic curriculum" be redrafted. It also rejected Myers' claim that his First Amendment free speech rights were violated when he was denied access to school folders and homerooms to distribute flyers and when his proposed ads for a school yearbook, athletic program and newspaper were rejected. The flyers and ads attacked "civil religion" in the public schools. The court held that an incident in which Myers was prevented from leafleting in front of the school was a First Amendment violation, but that the single incident did not justify the issuance of an injunction.

Egyptian Grand Mufti Says Many Conversions Are Punishable Only By God

AFP yesterday reported that Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa says that converting out of Islam "is a sin punishable by God on the Day of Judgement. If the case in question is one of merely rejecting faith, then there is no worldly punishment." He said that only conversions that undermine the "foundations of society" should be dealt with by the judicial system. Hossam Bahgat, a lawyer for 12 Copts who converted to Islam and now want to convert back to Christianity, says he will cite Gomaa's statement in his presentation of his clients' case to the Supreme Court of Egypt in September. Up to now, the government has generally refused to recognize conversions out of Islam in official documents. Gomaa is the state's chief legal adviser and is technically the deputy minister of justice.

UPDATE: A July 26 post on Volokh Conspiracy reports on a subsequent statement from Gomaa that appears to somewhat back off of his earlier comments.

Russian Presidential Candidates Asked About Religion In Russia

While we are used to American presidential candidates being asked about their religious views (see prior posting), now Russian candidates seem to be expected to respond to similar inquiries. A posting today by the Real Russia Project reports that members of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement, recently asked two candidates in Russia's 2008 presidential elections their views on the recent revival of religious life in Russia. Both Dmitri Medvedev and Sergey Ivanov said that the rebirth of the Russian Orthodox Church had very positive effects on Russian society. Responding to another question, neither of them thought that building the largest Orthodox Cathedral in the world was a particularly important goal. Ivanov said, "One should not think of cathedrals in the same way as the competition to build the tallest skyscraper. The main thing is that there should be a lot of churches and that they should not be empty."

Democratic Hopefuls Respond To YouTube Queries On Role of Religious Faith

Democratic presidential candidates debating last night on CNN spoke about their religious beliefs in answer to at least two of the questions posed by questioners through YouTube video clips. In the first part of the debate (transcript), Sen. John Edwards was asked about the impact of his religious beliefs on his views about gay marriage:

QUESTION: I'm Reverend Reggie Longcrier. I'm the pastor of Exodus Mission and Outreach Church in Hickory, North Carolina. Senator Edwards said his opposition to gay marriage is influenced by his Southern Baptist background. Most Americans agree it was wrong and unconstitutional to use religion to justify slavery, segregation, and denying women the right to vote. So why is it still acceptable to use religion to deny gay American their full and equal rights?...

EDWARDS: I think Reverend Longcrier asks a very important question, which is whether fundamentally -- whether it's right for any of our faith beliefs to be imposed on the American people when we're president of the United States. I do not believe that's right.

I feel enormous personal conflict about this issue. I want to end discrimination. I want to do some of the things that I just heard Bill Richardson talking about -- standing up for equal rights, substantive rights, civil unions, the thing that Chris Dodd just talked about. But I think that's something everybody on this stage will commit themselves to as president of the United States. But I personally have been on a journey on this issue. I feel enormous conflict about it. As I think a lot of people know... my wife Elizabeth spoke out a few weeks ago, and she actually supports gay marriage. I do not. But this is a very, very difficult issue for me. And I recognize and have enormous respect for people who have a different view of it.

.... I've been asked a personal question which is, I think, what Reverend Longcrier is raising, and that personal question is, do I believe and do I personally support gay marriage? The honest answer to that is I don't. But I think it is absolutely wrong, as president of the United States, for me to have used that faith basis as a basis for denying anybody their rights, and I will not do that when I'm president of the United States.

Near the end of the debate, YouTube questioners elicited additional responses on candidates' religious beliefs from Sen. Joseph Biden, John Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama (transcript):

QUESTION: Hi, I'm Zenne Abraham in Oakland, California. The cathedral behind me is the perfect backdrop for this question. This quarter reads "United States of America." And when I turn it over, you find that it reads "liberty, in God we trust." What do those words mean to you?....

BIDEN: Religion informs my values. My reason dictates outcomes. My religion taught me about abuse of power. That's why I moved to write the Violence Against Women Act. That's why I take the position I take on Darfur. It came about as a consequence of the reasoning that we're able to do it. You know, look, I don't think they're inconsistent. I don't find anything inconsistent about my deep, religious beliefs and my ability to use reason. I think the coin's got it just right. I think I have it in perspective....

QUESTION: ... My name is Stephen Marsh of Thousand Oaks, California, proud citizen of the United States of America that does not believe in God. However, the former President Bush said this statement was an oxymoron. Now, I am worried about the amount of time given to evangelical concerns while secular voters are more or less getting a snubbed.... So my question is this: Am I wrong in fearing a Democratic administration that may be lip service to the extremely religious as much as the current one?....

EDWARDS: As president of the United States, we will embrace and lift up all Americans, whatever their faith beliefs or whether they have no faith beliefs, as Stephen just spoke about. That's what America is.

Now, my faith is enormously important to me personally. It's gotten me through some hard times, as I'm sure that's true of a lot of the candidates who are on this stage. But it is crucial that the American people know that as president it will not be my job -- and I believe it would be wrong -- for me to impose my personal faith beliefs on the American people or to decide any kind of decision, policy decision, that will affect America on the basis of my personal faith beliefs....

OBAMA: I am proud of my Christian faith. And it informs what I do. And I don't think that people of any faith background should be prohibited from debating in the public square. But I am a strong believer in the separation of church and state....

By the way, I support it not just for the state but also for the church, because that maintains our religious independence and that's why we have such a thriving religious life. But what I also think is that we are under obligation in public life to translate our religious values into moral terms that all people can share, including those who are not believers. And that is how our democracy's functioning, will continue to function. That's what the founding fathers intended.

India's Supreme Court Says Marriage Registration Applies To All Religions

Today's Hindustan Times reports that the Supreme Court of India on Monday ordered Indian states to require the registration of all marriages, regardless of the religion of the parties. In February 2006, the Supreme Court held that every marriage must be registered in the state in which it takes place. However some states have implemented this mandate by issuing orders under the Hindu Marriage Act. This means that the registration requirement is not binding on non-Hindus. The Court also ordered five states that had not taken any steps to implement its 2006 order to now enact laws requiring registration.

British Appellate Court Upholds Order To Slaughter Sacred Bull

Reversing a lower court, in Britain the Court of Appeals in London upheld an order by local Welsh authorities that a sacred bull infected with bovine tuberculosis be slaughtered. The Independent reports today on the court's opinion that held no exception is required for Shambo the bull, who is sacred to the Hindu monks of the Skanda Vale Community. Lord Justice Pill wrote that the risk posed by the diseased animal outweighed the "very grave and serious interference with ... religious rights" that was involved. An appeal to the House of Lords is expected.

Two Reappointed to US Commission on International Religious Freedom

Two members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom have been reappointed for two year terms. (USCIRF July 16 press release.) Felice D. Gaer, director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee has been reappointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Nina Shea, senior scholar at the Hudson Institute and director of the Institute's Center for Religious Freedom has been reappointed by House Minority Leader John Boehner. [Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.]

Hamas Sets Up New Court System In Gaza

In the Middle East, Hamas authorities in Gaza are setting up a new system to replace the courts that have stopped functioning, but news reports give somewhat differing details. Media Line said yesterday Hamas authorities have decided to set up Islamic courts to replace the former court system. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had ordered the previously appointed judges and prosecutors to stop cooperating with Hamas after it took over Gaza. Abu Obydai, leader of Hamas' Executive Force ( Tanfezya), said that the new courts will apply Sharia law, especially in marriage and divorce matters. The new courts will be supervised by a three-person panel consisting of an Islamic law expert, a military court judge and the chief of the central prison. Ali Khashan, Justice Minister in the Fatah-led Palestinian government on the West Bank, said the decision to set up the new courts was illegal.

Arab News meanwhile has a slightly different version of developments. It says that the three-person panel is being set up on a temporary basis until courts start functioning again. It will hear the hundreds of criminal complaints that would have gone to existing courts, according to Islam Shahwan, spokesman of Hamas’ Executive Force. Another Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the new legal panel would not impose Sharia law, but would apply it with the consent of both parties, particularly in dealing with inheritance, marriage and divorce.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Robinson v. Department of Corrections, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50817 (ND FL, July 13, 2007), a Florida federal Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal of an inmate's free exercise claim because he failed to allege that the withholding of his religious books and materials denied him a reasonable opportunity to pursue his religion, despite his previously being advised that such allegations were necessary.

In Quillar v. California Department of Corrections, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50894 (ED CA, July 13, 2007), a California federal Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal of Free Exercise and RLUIPA claims by an inmate who was disciplined for wearing a beard for religious reasons, in violation of the prison's grooming regulations. While the allegations were found sufficient to state a claim, the magistrate found that defendants enjoyed qualified immunity from plaintiff's damage claims and that plaintiff's claim for an injunction is moot due to his transfer to a different facility. The magistrate also recommended rejection of plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim.

In Ghashryah v. Frank, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51104 (WD WI), a Wisconsin federal district court permitted an inmate to move forward with his claim that his rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were violated when prison officials prohibited him from using his religious name in filing grievances.

In DeRosa v. Jones, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51561 (ED OK, July 16, 2007), an Oklahoma federal district court upheld the denial of a kosher diet to a prisoner who was a member of a Messianic Jewish group, finding that the prison's vegetarian diet, as well as non-pork meals, are available to him.

In Johnson v. Smith, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52186 (MD PA, July 19, 2007), a Pennsylvania federal district court rejected a prisoner's claim that his placement in administrative custody was in retaliation for his exercise of his religious rights since plaintiff made no showing of a causal connection between the two. Authorities discovered that the prisoner had documents indicating an attempt to undercut the prison's contract Imam. He also had documents indicating he may be trying to poison someone by mixing antifreeze with their salad dressing.

In El-Tabech v. Clarke, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52018 (D NE, July 17, 2007), a Nebraska federal district court upheld claims by a Muslim prisoner that he be given access to a kosher diet, and that the prayer schedule be posted so that guards are aware of it. The court rejected the inmate's claim that he be allowed to shower every day, instead of three days per week, while he is in administrative confinement.

New Book In Arabic On Religion and Freedom of Expression

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies has published a new book in Arabic titled Religion and Freedom of Expression: Freedom-Related Problems in Different Societies. The book, which grew out of a six-month program on Freedom of Expression Across Cultures was edited by Ragab Saad Taha. A July 11 release describing the book says that it includes chapters on the Danish caricature crisis; freedom of expression in Egypt; and freedom of expression in the Egyptian and European judicial systems. The book also includes the first Arabic translation of a guideline on the implementation of Article 10 (freedom of expression provision) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

HLS Prof Examines How Religious Tradition Meshes With Modern World

Today's New York Times Magazine carries an interesting article by Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman titled Orthodox Paradox. In it, Feldman describes the lasting impact on him of the modern Orthodox yeshiva that he attended as a boy and the problematic relationship with that institution that he now maintains. More broadly, however, the article is an examination of how members of a traditional faith community attempt to simultaneously live in the modern political and legal world.

UPDATE: On Monday, the blog Jewcy posted an interesting interview with Noah Feldman about his NYT article.

Receipt of Material From Religious Group Is No Excuse For Prisoner

Hardin v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47699 (WD MI, July 2, 2007), accepting the recommendations of a federal Magistrate Judge published at 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50971, is a rather unusual prisoner case. According to the Magistrate's opinion, Michigan prisoners were harassing state and federal officials who had been involved with their arrests and convictions by filing baseless liens and Uniform Commercial Code financing statements that impaired the officials' credit ratings. Inmates also copyrighted the names of those officials and then sought royalties from them. In order to prevent this, the Michigan Department of Corrections classified as contraband "any books, pamphlets, forms or other material regarding actions that can be taken under the UCC". In this case, a prisoner claimed that this order infringed his free exercise rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA because he was denied access to UCC material that had been sent to him by an "Ambassador of the Washitaw Nation of Moors". The Michigan federal Magistrate Judge found the state's interest in preventing fraud adequate to support its actions.

Today's Turkish Election Tests Country's Secular Roots

The Associated Press reports that underlying today’s general elections for Parliament in Turkey is a simmering dispute over Muslim women wearing head scarves. The Islamic head scarf has come to symbolize the broader struggle involved in the election. (See prior posting.) The elections were called after the ruling Justice and Development Party was forced to withdraw its nominee for the presidency that Parliament was to approve-- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Gul's wife wears a headscarf, and opponents rallied the public by claiming that it would be a disgrace to have a prime minister’s wife wear that attire in a country that was founded as a secular republic.

CanWest News Service describes the underlying controversy in this way: "the most emotive issue by far is whether this country of 70 million, which forms a bridge between the Middle East and Europe, should remain secular and western-oriented, as it has been since Kemal Ataturk founded the republic on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire more than 80 years ago, or draw closer to its Islamist roots. And if Turkey decides to turn towards Islam, will the staunchly secular Turkish military launch another coup?"

UPDATE: Preliminary results available on Sunday night (US time) indicate that the Justice and Development Party (AKP), with some 47% of the popular vote, has won around 340 of the 550 seats in Turkey's Parliament. (Financial Times). The party denies that it poses any threat to secularism in the country.

MI Court Remands Property Dispute For Finding On Heirarchical Nature of Church

In Leach v. Johnson, (MI Ct. App., July 19, 2007), a Michigan state court of appeals remanded to the trial court a dispute over who owns the property of the Gospel Lighthouse congregation in Warren, Michigan. The congregation had broken away from the Assemblies of God denomination. The appellate court held that the trial court must determine whether or not the church's organization is hierarchical as a prerequisite to deciding whether the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine deprives civil courts of jurisdiction in the case.

Washington Court Upholds Injunction Against Church's "Tent City"

In City of Woodinville v. Northshore United Church of Christ, (Wash. Ct. App., July 16, 2007), a Washington state appellate court upheld a lower court’s grant of a permanent injunction to prevent Northshore United Church of Christ and a housing organization, Share/Wheel, from hosting Tent City 4 on the Church’s property in Woodinville. Tent City is an encampment for the homeless that moves every 90 days. The city refused to process the sponsors’ application for a land use permit for the encampment because of a moratorium on accepting permits during a study of sustainable development plans for the area. It also denied a permit for the encampment to be located on city property.

The court rejected the Church’s claim that its free exercise rights, as protected by the first Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, had been violated. It held that strict scrutiny was not required for the First Amendment claim, and that, under RLUIPA, the city’s actions had not placed a "substantial burden" on the Church’s free exercise rights. The Church had alternative ways of ministering to the homeless, such as sheltering them inside existing Church buildings or finding other private land to host Tent City.

Suit Challenges Permit Provisions For Distributing Literature In Parks

Liberty Counsel announced on Friday that it had filed a federal lawsuit against Orange County, Florida on behalf of Shirley Snyder who was prevented from handing out religious literature in a county park. The suit challenges the constitutionality of the Parks and Recreation Department’s Rules that require individuals wishing to distribute literature in a park to first submit a copy of the literature and obtain a permit from county authorities. The suit alleges that the First Amendment’s free expression provisions invalidate the county’s permit requirements.

Suits Between Factions In NJ Sikh Temple Settled

A bitter dispute among two factions in a Sikh temple in Springfield, New Jersey has been settled, according to a report in yesterday’s Burlington County Times. In 2005, after the two factions, arguing over control of the temple’s finances and governance, filed suits against each other, a brawl broke out and a judge ordered the Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar temple closed. Under the new agreement, which still needs to be signed by the parties, each faction will occupy the temple on alternate weekends. A committee of five Sikhs who belong to neither faction will take control of temple finances and will mediate future disagreements.

German Official Urges Teaching of Theological Issues In Science Classes

Karin Wolff, Culture Minister of the German state of Hesse, has set off controversy by suggesting that schools’ biology curriculum should include theological issues about the creation of the world. Reuters reported on Friday that Wolff had told the newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, that “there is an amazing overlap between the Bible’s explanation of the seven days of creation and scientific theory.” Wolff rejected the suggestion that she is promoting the teaching of creationism. Protestant, Catholic and Muslim spokesmen have all criticized Wolff’s remarks.