Dutch Parliamentarian, Critic Of Islam, May Lose Citizenship

According to today's New York Times, the government of Netherlands is threatening to revoke the citizenship of a prominent member of Parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk claims that Ali, a refugee from Somalia who arrived in the Netherlands 14 years ago, gave false information when she applied for political asylum, and later for Dutch citizenship. Ali said she has explained many times that she changed her name and birth date when she arrived in Netherlands, escaping from an arranged marriage. Ali has been an outspoken critic of conservative Islam and its treatment of women. She was the writer of a television documentary on violence against Muslim women that led to the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. The killer pinned a note to van Gogh's body saying that Ms. Ali would be next. Ali, who plans to move to the United States anyway, says that the Dutch government is trying to silence her.

Muslim Students Want Released Time For Friday Prayers

Last week, the Howard County (Maryland) Times reported that the county's Muslim community is asking public school officials to excuse Muslim students early from school every Friday afternoon so they can attend prayer services and religious instruction. School officials, however, object saying that this would cause students to miss twenty percent of a course over the school year. Instead a committee set up by the school board to study the issue has proposed an alternative policy: "students with an approved, documented religious obligation that cannot be fulfilled at any other time may be lawfully excused from class once per week for a thirty minute period or less ... to fulfill that obligation within the school building." Muslim students would rather be able to leave the building to attend traditional services held weekly at an Interfaith Center. Congregational prayer on Fridays is required of Muslim men and encouraged for Muslim women.

The Howard County Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the issue on May 23. Meanwhile there has been a vigorous discussion of the question on Religionlaw listserv.

California Defendants Challenge Eagle Protection Act Distinctions

Copley News Service yesterday reported on criminal charges pending in California against Manuel Rodriguez-Martinez and Mario Manuel Vasquez-Ramos, two Native American religious ceremonial leaders charged with illegally possessing eagle feathers. Members of federally recognized Indian tribes can obtain eagle parts for ceremonial use from the National Eagle Repository. Federal law otherwise prohibits possession of bald and golden eagle feathers and parts. The two defendants here do not qualify to access the National Eagle Repository because they are connected with Indian tribes based in Mexico.

California U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero earlier this month rejected the defendants' claim that distinguishing between recognized tribes and others with sincere religious beliefs is unconstitutional. So the defendants will now plead guilty and appeal Judge Otero's ruling to the 9th Circuit, claiming that their free exercise rights are being infringed. Federal authorities also suspect that the defendants were involved in the theft of two golden eagles from the Santa Barbara zoo six years ago. However they have been unable to find sufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution for that crime. (See prior related posting.)

City Kept Preachers Too Far From Pride Fest Event They Were Protesting

In World Wide Street Preachers' Fellowship v. Reed, (MD Pa., May 8, 2006), a Pennsylvania federal district court issued a declaratory judgment (but not a permanent injunction) after finding that Harrisburg, Pennsylvania authorities violated the free speech rights of two ministers who wished to talk or preach in opposition to homosexual conduct near PrideFest, a gay pride festival being held in the city's Riverfront Park. The city's permit ordinance was treated as allowing the permit holder to exclude individuals for any reason-- including speech-- from the permit area. Here plaintiffs were barred from preaching in an unused space within the area covered by PrideFest's permit. The court found that this restriction was not narrowly enough tailored to serve the city's interest in merely protecting use of space by a permit holder. The court also found First Amendment problems with enforcement of a 50-foot no-speech zone by a city police officer at one end of the PrideFest event area. Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the preachers, issued a release on the decision.

India Supreme Court Hears Unusual Muslim Divorce Case

Outlook India reports that India's Supreme Court today heard arguments in a case involving a Muslim couple seeking police protection for their marriage. In 2003, Nazma Biwi's husband Sher Mohammed, while drunk, divorced her by pronouncing triple talaq. He later changed his mind and decided to live with his wife and three children. Even though the couple originally received a religious ruling that the divorce was ineffective because it was carried out under intoxication, local clerics at Bhadrak in Orissa issued a Fatwa holding that the couple was divorced and could not live together unless Nazma performed 'Nikah Halala' (marrying another man, consummating the marriage, then getting a divorce and remarrying her first husband). The couple obtained a protective order from a lower court in India in April, but claim the local government has not enforced the order. Nazma and Sher are currently living apart because of threats from the community. Orissa government counsel Shibo Shanker Mishra claims that the government has complied with the lower court order.

Initial Win For Church In Lawsuit Challenging Differential Fee Schedule

In Canyon Ridge Baptist Church v. City of San Diego, (SD Cal., May 12, 2006), a California federal district court refused to dismiss a claim brought by a church group challenging the charging of higher fees for it to use the Kearney Mesa Recreation Center than for comparable secular groups. (See prior posting.) The court permitted plaintiffs to move ahead with claims under the U.S. and California constitutions alleging free speech, equal protection, due process, free exercise and establishment clause violations. Lawyers for the Alliance Defense Fund that represented Canyon Ridge Church (news release) will argue in court today for the issuance of a preliminary injunction.

Religious Issues Face New Israeli Government

Earlier this month, as is traditional in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presented to the Knesset the Basic Guidelines that will govern the policies of his new government. On religious matters, those Guidelines were brief. First they provide that "the status quo, as it pertains to religion, will be maintained." However, the new government did promise to "act immediately to pass legislation solving the problem of 'those prevented from marrying'." Presumably this means that the government will move ahead to authorize civil marriages in Israel, despite earlier reports that the Shas party had gotten a commitment to the contrary as part of its arrangements for joining the government.

The marriage issue has become more pressing recently. The New York Jewish Week on Friday carried a long article detailing ways in which Israel's Chief Rabbinate is making approval procedures more difficult for individuals seeking to be married by a rabbi. The Rabbinate is requiring extensive proof that both parties desiring to marry are in fact Jewish. The large number of Russians granted citizenship even though they were not Jewish according to religious law has been a significant factor in the crackdown. Also, changes in the office of the Chief Rabbinate has been a factor. A new official, Rabbi Yigal Krispel, is in charge of determining which rabbis' certifications will be accepted as proof that an individual was validly converted to Judaism. Krispel is less familiar with many U.S. and other diaspora rabbis than was his predecessor.

Other religious pressures are simmering in Israel as well. While Israel's High Court of Justice has just upheld the "Tal law" granting exemptions from military service to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, the Court suggested that the Knesset should act to make changes in the law. And yesterday, YNet News ran an article questioning why haredi (ultra-Orthodox) girls are excused from military or other national service requirements, while other Israeli girls are required to serve. The exemption for haredi men is justified by the country's need for Torah scholars. But the haredi community does not permit girls to study Torah.

Vermont Catholic Diocese Tries To Shield Assets

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington is placing the assets of each of Vermont's 130 parishes in a separate charitable trust. Today's Rutland Herald reports that the move is an attempt to shield parish assets from claims against the Diocese in priest sexual abuse cases. The Diocese has settled several of those cases, and the lawyer representing 19 men accusing priests of prior sexual abuse says the charitable trust arrangement is a violation of Vermont's fraudulent conveyance law.

Florida High Schools Move Graduations Out Of Church

Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel reports that four high schools in Brevard County, Florida, this year will hold their graduations in secular venues. Last October, the Brevard County School Board settled a suit brought by Americans United For Separation of Church and State, agreeing that they would no longer hold graduation in houses of worship unless religious symbols were concealed or removed. The schools had been using Calvary Chapel, a church at the foot of a 25-foot-tall Christian cross. Last year's graduations were still there because the court held there was not enough time to reschedule the ceremonies then. But this year, the schools are complying with the settlement agreement. Interestingly, three of the four schools are holding their graduations this year on Saturday morning, and no one seems to have raised any question about whether this creates a problem for students who observe Saturday as their Sabbath.

Toledo Priest And Diocese Face Further Legal Problems

The murder conviction on Thursday of Toledo, Ohio Catholic priest Gerald Robinson for the murder of a nun in 1980 is not the end of legal problems for the priest or Toledo's Catholic diocese. Today's Toledo Blade reports that Robinson and the diocese are defendants in a civil suit filed by a 40-year old woman and her husband alleging that the woman was raped and tortured in ritual abuse by Robinson when she was a young girl. Also, Lucas County (Ohio) Prosecutor Julia Bates is still considering obstruction of justice charges against the Toledo Diocese for failure to turn over documents the state requested during its lengthy murder investigation of Robinson.

Iranian Letter In Islamic Context

Last week's letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President George W. Bush, full of appeals to Bush's religious values and heavy on quotes from the Koran, seemed somewhat bizarre by Western diplomatic standards. However, according to columnist Amir Taheri in today's Jerusalem Post the letter fits squarely into Islamic traditions that date back to the Prophet Muhammad himself. In 625 AD, Muhammad wrote letters to the rulers of Persia, Byzantium and Ethiopia calling on them to convert to Islam. In 1987, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini wrote a letter to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev inviting him to convert to Islam before Iran would assist the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Taheri argues that instead of ignoring Ahmadinjad's letter, Bush should respond by inviting him to convert to liberal democracy.

Azerbaijan Backs Down On Promise To Have Alternative Service for CO's

Forum 18 reported last week that Azerbaijan is backing down on its commitments to permit alternative service for conscientious objectors. A 23-year-old Jehovah's Witness is facing trial for refusing military service on grounds of religious conscience, even though the Azerbaijan Constitution (Art. 76) guarantees the right to perform alternative service. When Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe in 2001, it promised to have alternative service in place by 2004. However, Krzysztof Zyman, an official of the Council of Europe's Directorate General of Human Rights, says that no progress has been made in adopting an alternative service law.

Article On Religious Use Of Common Areas Focuses On Religion Clause Blog Coverage

Today's Spartanburg (South Carolina) Herald-Journal carries a follow-up on its coverage earlier this week of a local apartment building whose residents were banned by management from conducting a Bible study group in the building's common area. The article carries lengthy quotes from a telephone interview that the reporter had with me and cites to coverage of other similar cases on Religion Clause blog. In what will not go down as one of my most eloquent interviews, I conclude that there is no clear reason why there has been a cluster of similar cases in the last month or so.

Last Week's Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Jefferson v. Gonzalez, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27720 (D DC, May 10, 2006), a DC federal district court rejected free exercise, RFRA and equal protection challenges to Bureau of Prisons Program Statement 5360.09, regulations on the wearing of religious headwear and religious garments . Muslim inmates are permitted to wear a Kufi, but not a turban, while Sikhs are permitted to wear a turban. As to ceremonial clothing, the Program Statement provides that "Islamic inmates may not hem or wear their pants above the ankle." The court found that the government's security interests and its interest in prisoner rehabilitation justified the restrictions.

In Muhammad v. San Joaquin County Jail, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27821 (ED Cal., May 10, 2006), a Magistrate Judge recommended that a jail inmate be permitted to proceed with a claim that he was improperly denied bag meals to eat after sundown during Ramadan. However the Magistrate Judge rejected the claim that the inmate's free exercise rights were violated when the jail failed to provide Muslim services on Fridays.

Challenge To Firing Of Youth Director Dismissed; Defamation Claim Goes On

In Patton v. Jones (Tex. 3d Dist. Ct. App., May 11, 2006), a Texas appellate court upheld dismissal of some of the claims brought by Ken Patton, a Methodist church's Director of Youth Ministries, who was terminated from his position after rumors circulated about his dating certain women and hugging girls at church. There were also unsubstantiated rumors about his viewing pornography. The court held that the Free Exercise clause prohibits state interference in church governance matters. Therefore actions taken and communications made by the Church as part of its employment decision about Patton's ministerial position are ecclesiastical matters protected from secular review. However, the court permitted Patton to proceed with defamation claims that arose out of statements made about him after the Church's decision on his dismissal was final.

Challenge To UNC's Student Organization Rules Dismissed As Moot

In Alpha Iota Omega Christian Fraternity v. Moeser, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28065 (MD NC, May 4, 2006), a North Carolina federal district court dismissed as moot a suit that had originally been filed in 2004 by AIO, a Christian student group, challenging the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's requirement that the organization be open to all interested students regardless of religion or sexual orientation. While the litigation was pending, the University changed its policy to permit student groups to select their members on the basis of commitment to a set of beliefs, and gave official recognition to AIO.

Right To Trial Delay For Religious Observance Rejected

In Hoyt v. Lewin, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28294 (SDNY, May 12, 2006), a Magistrate Judge in a New York federal district court recommended rejection of a free exercise claim brought by Leroy Hoyt, who had been convicted in state court on drug charges. In Hoyt's criminal trial the state court had refused to adjourn jury deliberations on a Friday, thereby forcing Hoyt, a Muslim, to choose between attending religious services and being present at his trial. The Magistrate Judge said that the trial court had a compelling interest in declining to interrupt jury deliberations, particularly given the approach of a weekend.

A Wealth of New Books and Articles

Books:

• Michelle Goldberg, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism (WW Norton, 2006). Here is the book's website. And here is the link to NPR's Fresh Air interview with the author.

Articles (full text online):

• William Martin, Secular State, Religious People-- The American Model (April 2006) [Thanks to Mainstream Baptist for the information.]

Articles from Bepress:

• Eric Alan Isaacson, Traditional Values, or a New Tradition of Prejudice? The Boy Scouts of America vs. the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (May 2006).

Articles from SSRN:

• Stephen M. Bainbridge & Aaron H. Cole, The Bishop’s Alter Ego: Enterprise Liability and the Catholic Priest Sex Abuse Scandal.
• Thomas Berg, What’s Right and Wrong with the "No Endorsement of Religion" Test (forthcoming Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 21, 2006).
• Marc O. Degirolami, The New Religious Prisons and Their Retributivist Commitments (forthcoming Arkansas Law Review 2006).
• Robert K. Vischer, The Sanctity of Conscience in an Age of School Choice: Grounds for Skepticism.

SmartCILP's recently published articles:

• Bradley P. Jacob, Free Exercise In the "Lobbying Nineties", 84 Nebraska Law Review 795-845 (2006).
• Victor E. Schwartz & Leah Lorber, Defining the Duty of Religious Institutions To Protect Others: Surgical Instruments, Not Machetes, Are Required, 74 Univ. Cincinnati Law Review 11-54 (2005).
• Jeffrey Shulman, Spiritual Custody: Relational Rights and Constitutional Commitments, 7 Journal of Law & Family Studies 317-349 (2005).
• L. Scott Smith, From Typology To Synthesis: Recasting the Jurisprudence of Religion, 34 Capital Univ. Law Review 51-123 (2005).
• Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, John E. James Distinguished Lecture, What is Islamic Law? 57 Mercer Law Review 595-619 (2006).
• Symposium: Can the Seamless Garment Be Sewn? The Future of Pro-Life Progressivism, 2 University of St. Thomas Law Journal 235-424 (2005).
• Lectures on Law and Culture, Presented at the John Paul II Cultural Center, Washington, D.C. Fall 2004. 2 University of St. Thomas Law Journal 425-474 (2005) (lectures by Thomas C. Berg, John Witte, Jr., and Richard W. Garnett).
  
  

  
  

7th Circuit Asked To OK Sectarian Prayer In Indiana Legislature

This week, according to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana state House of Representatives Speaker Brian C. Bosma filed the anticipated appeal to the 7th Circuit a lower court ruling that prohibited the House from opening its sessions with prayers that mention Jesus or endorse a particular religion. Both the Indiana House and Senate had passed resolutions directing Bosma to appeal the decision. (See prior posting.)

Creationist Invited To Speak In Missouri Schools

The St. Louis Post Dispatch today reported that in Missouri's Potosi R-III school district, the superintendent and board invited Mike Riddle, a Biblical Creationist from Answers in Genesis, to discuss science with high school and middle school students. The paper reports that during Riddle's presentations to student groups, he never referred to "Jesus" or "God" or even "religion." Instead, he urged students to question established scientific principles and theories and encouraged them to think about a career in science. Riddle talked about amino acids, proteins, DNA, telemers and thermodynamics, and used examples to challenge the idea that life began on land. He interspersed his talk with quotations from scientists, some with ties to creationist or intelligent design organizations.