Idaho Legislator Told To Redraft Proposed Workers Comp Exemption For Clergy

In the Idaho legislature, the State Affairs Committee this week asked Rep. Dick Harwood to redraft a bill he had introduced. Harwood's intent was apparently to exempt churches from paying for Workers Compensation insurance for their clergy. His bill, however, broadly exempted churches from paying workers' compensation for any employee. This would have included thrift store workers, janitors, secretaries and other staff. Yesterday's New West Politics reports that committee chair Tom Loertscher appointed Rep. Lynn Luker, an attorney, to help Harwood with revising the bill's language.

Churches Complain About Sign Limits

Churches in Noblesville, Indiana complain that the city's sign ordinance infringes their religious freedom, according to a story in today's Noblesville Ledger. The ordinance limits all businesses, non-profit organizations and churches to displaying one banner per year, for a period of up to 4 weeks. Churches say this limits them in advertising church events, and even requires them to decide whether Christmas or Easter is the most important to advertise. Mayor John Ditslear said the city's planning staff is looking at whether the limits should be liberalized for churches.

Divorce Bills In Maryland Legislature Would Help Jewish Women

Late last month and earlier this month, bills were introduced into the Maryland state House (HB 324) and Senate (SB 533) that are designed to assist Jewish women in obtaining a religious divorce (get) from a recalcitrant husband. Without a religious divorce, under Jewish law the wife is unable to remarry. The bills would require anyone filing a complaint for divorce or annulment with a civil court in Maryland to also file an affidavit stating that the person has taken all steps within his control to remove all religious barriers to remarriage by the other party. Courts will not be able to order a husband to grant his wife a get. However, the civil court will not be able to enter a divorce decree until the affidavit is filed.

The Feb. 2 edition of the Forward carried an article on the proposed legislation that is designed to deal with the problem of agunot-- women trapped by their husbands' intransigence. However, many question the constitutionality of the proposed law-- and of a similar one already on the books in New York (DRL Sec. 253). Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, said: "This is designed exclusively to deal with a religious problem, and it conditions a civil benefit-- a divorce-- on solving a religious problem. We don't think you can do that."

The Maryland Senate has scheduled its first hearing on the proposed legislation for Feb. 22.

Christian University Claims BFOQ Exemption In Firing Transgendered Faculty Member

Yesterday's Workplace Prof Blog discusses the legal issues involved in a Title VII employment discrimination claim brought by Professor Julie Marie Nemecek who was fired as assistant dean and Associate Professor at Michigan's Spring Arbor University. The school, that describes itself as having a "total commitment to Jesus Christ as its perspective for learning", dismissed Nemecek because she is transgendered and is transitioning from male to female. In response to Nemecek's EEOC complaint, the University said it was relying on the "bona fide occupational qualification" exception to Title VII. 42 USC 2000e-2(e) provides an exemption from the Act's prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of religion or gender where religion or sex is "a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of" the institution.

In a press release, it said: "We expect our faculty to model Christian character as an example for our students. Faculty who 'persist with activities that are inconsistent with the Christian faith'" are subject to being dismissed.

Arkansas Legislators Don't Like Thomas Paine's Views On Religion

The Arkansas House of Representatives last Thursday dealt a surprising defeat to a bill designating January 29 as "Thomas Paine Day" (HB 1317). Today's Associated Press reports that Democratic Rep. Lindsley Smith had wanted Arkansas to join nine other states that honor the Revolutionary War figure. However, Republican Rep. Sid Rosenbaum raised questions. Quoting from Paine's book, The Age of Reason, Rosenbaum said: "He did some good things for the nation, but the book that he wrote was anti-Christian and anti-Jewish. I don’t think we should be passing things out like this without at least debating it and letting people in the House know what we're voting on." Thursday's vote was 46-20, but the bill needed 51 votes to pass.

Today Is Darwin Day

MSNBC's Cosmic Log reports that today is "Darwin Day." Around the world over 850 events will mark the 198th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Meanwhile, yesterday hundreds of churches marked "Evolution Sunday", an effort to show that religion and science can be compatible and that anti-evolution fundamentalists do not speak for thousands of Christian clergy.

Prisoner Religious Diet Litigation Hits Australia

While lawsuits by prisoners requesting special diets that comply with religious restrictions are common in the United States, apparently they are a new phenomenon in Australia. The Feb. 12 edition of Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported on a decision by Queensland's Supreme Court awarding $2000 in damages to a former Muslim prisoner who complained that prison officials would not supply him with fresh Halal meat. Instead they fed him vegetables, nuts and canned meat. The Government fears the decision could lead to an avalanche of suits from other prisoners whose special dietary requests may have been refused. Today, Judy Spence, Queensland's Minister for Police and Corrective Services, said she plans to ask Parliament to change the state's anti-discrimination law to prevent other prisoners succeeding in future cases. (ABC News Online).

UPDATE: Feb. 14 Australian reports that one of the victims of the Muslim prisoner who won this suit has urged the Queensland Government to freeze the funds awarded to him and file an appeal. The victim says she has had severe trauma from sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of Sharif Mahommed.

Pressure In Thailand For Buddhism To Be Declared State Religion

In Thailand, pressure is growing for the country's Constitution Drafting Committee to declare Buddhism the nation's official religion in the new constitution it is drafting. The Nation today reports that Thailand's Defence Minister, General Boonrawd Somtas, is concerned over the controversy being generated by this issue. More than 90% of the country's population practices Buddhism

Obama Speaks About Religious Faith

In an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, recently-announced Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that voters do not have a litmus test on religion for candidates, but they do want a candidate to have "a value system and that is appreciative of the role that religious faith can play in helping shape people's lives". He said: "I think the majority of voters know that I'm a member of the United Church of Christ, and that I take my faith seriously."

5th Circuit Will Hear School Board Prayer Case En Banc

2theadvocate.com reports that the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted an en banc rehearing in Doe v. Tangipahoa Parish School District. (See prior posting.) A three judge panel was unable to agree on whether the Lemon case or the Marsh (legislative prayer) case governed invocations at school board meetings. Oral arguments are scheduled for the week of May 21. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Conference On Anti-Semitism Begins In Jerusalem

The International Conference of the Israeli-based Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism began in Jerusalem on Sunday amidst a dispute between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the British Jewish community. The British Jewish Community Security Trust issued a report last week saying that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain reached a new high in 2006. However, an Israeli Foreign Ministry report said that anti-Semitic incidents in the UK had fallen by 3%. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 10). For the first time, a representative of the Muslim community will speak at this year's Conference. Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, will be part of a panel on anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world. (Haaretz, Feb. 11).

Announcing the Conference, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "The Global Forum will formulate strategies for dealing with the many aspects of anti-Semitism which plague public and political life. The Forum will focus on practical steps for combating anti-Semitism by legal means, through education and media, and will pay particular attention to the dilemmas posed by anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world. The current wave of anti-Semitism in Europe and in the Arab and Muslim world, which culminated in the Holocaust denial conference held recently in Teheran, demonstrates the need for coordinated action."

In her speech opening the Conference (full text), Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The modern anti-Semitism is spreading from the fringes to the mainstream, in parallel with the growth of radical Islamic ideology in Europe."

Prisoners Have Little Success In Recent Free Exercise Cases

In Salahuddin v. Perez, (2d Cir., Feb. 2, 2007), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a New York federal district court's dismissal of a prisoner's claim that his transfer to a different prison facility violated his religious exercise rights.

In High v. Baca, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9181 (D NV, Feb. 6, 2007), a Nevada federal district court denied a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to a Muslim prisoner who claimed that he had been denied proper meal accommodations during Ramadan and that his access to chapel and religious oils had been reduced. The court found that the penological justifications suggested little likelihood of success on the merits.

In Burnett v. Wilson, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9193 (ND OH, Feb. 7, 2007), an Ohio federal district court rejected a claim by a blind prisoner that the failure to provide him with a braille Bible and training to read braille infringed his right to free exercise of religion.

In Maddox v. Berge, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9304 (WD WI, Feb. 8, 2007), a Wisconsin federal district court gave a prisoner an opportunity to amend his complaint to allege additional facts that would support his claim that his inability to attend congregate religious services violated his rights under RLUIPA and the First Amendment.

Utah Legislature Enacts Broad School Voucher Bill

Following the lead of the state House of Representatives, the Utah state Senate on Friday passed HB 148, the Parent Choice In Education Act. The broad school voucher program will appropriate $9.3 million in 2008 and $12.4 million in 2009 from the state's General Fund for tuition scholarships based on parents' income level. The vouchers may be used in either secular or religious private schools. Central Utah's Daily Herald on Saturday reported that the governor has indicated that he will sign the bill into law. It is expected that the law will be challenged as being in violation of the Utah Constitution, Art. X, Sec. 9 that prohibits public aid to church schools and Art. I, Sec. 4 that prohibits appropriations for religious instruction or support of "any ecclesiastical establishment". Legislative findings in Section 2 of the bill attempt to lay the groundwork for defending such challenges.

Israeli Court Says Jehovahs Witnesses Can Rent Haifa Auditorium

In Israel, Amutat Hamitzpeh L'Israel, an organization that represents Jehovah's Witnesses, has won a significant victory in Haifa's District Court. Following a recommendation by Israel's Attorney General's Office, the court held that a public accommodations law passed by the Knesset in 2000 requires Haifa's Convention Center to rent space to Jehovah's Witnesses for activities, which including public lectures on the New Testament that encourage people to learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses. Today's Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's former justice minister Yaakov Neeman has strongly criticized the decision, saying it has opened the door to Christian missionary groups operating in Israel. Haifa's Chief Rabbi, She'ar Yishuv Hacohen, sees Jehovah's Witnesses as more militant missionaries than other Christian groups.

The Convention Center had argued that permitting Jehovah's Witnesses to rent space would lead to boycotts and protests from Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) groups that could force the Convention Center to close entirely. The decision may lead to a call for strengthening Israel's anti-proselytization legislation that presently only prohibits proselytizing through economic or emotional coercion.

Recent Scholarly Articles Of Interest

From SSRN:
Benjamin L. Berger, Law's Religion: Rendering Culture, (Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2).

Haider Ala Hamoudi, You Say You Want a Revolution: Interpretive Communities and the Origins of Islamic Finance, (February 1, 2007).

Roberto L. Corrada, The Interrelationship of Discrimination and Accommodation in Title VII Religion Cases, (October 2006, University Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-12).

Lawrence B. Slolum, Pluralism and Public Legal Reason, (William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, Vol. 15, pp. 7-23, 2006).

From SmartCILP:
Daniel Gordon, A Constitutional Res Gestae: Ending the Dueling Histories of Everson and McCollum and the Nazi State, 16 Widener Law Journal 1-42 (2006).

Diane Heckman, One Nation, Under God: Freedom of Religion In Schools and Extracurricular Athletic Events In the Opening Years of the New Millennium, (Abstract), 28 Whittier Law Review 537-624 (2006).

Elazar Nachalon, Structural Models of Religion and State in Jewish and Democratic Political Thought: Inevitable Contradiction? The Challenge for Israel, 22 Touro Law Review 613-744 (2006).
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The Autumn 2006 issue of Journal of Church and State (Vol. 48, No. 4) has recently been published.

Cert. Petition Filed In Church's Anti-Gay Billboard Case

A petition for certiorari has been filed in Okwedy v. City of New York. (365Gay.com, Feb. 9). The case involves a challenge to action taken by the president of the Borough of Staten Island who wrote a billboard company urging it to taken down an anti-gay billboard advertisement posted by Keyword Ministries church. (See prior posting.) In an August 16, 2006 summary order , the 2nd Circuit affirmed a New York district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claim that officials have construed New York City's Human Rights law in an unconstitutional manner. The Court of Appeals said that no city official was enforcing the Human Rights law when the request was made, and even if they were, the city is not bound by viewpoint neutrality in its own speech.

British Parents Protest Halal Menus In School

In Britain, a number of parents are protesting a primary school's attempt to accommodate religious needs of its growing Muslim student body. Kingsgate Primary in West Hampstead has begun serving only Halal meat in its lunch menus. The school's headmistress says that a majority of families support the move, but protesters say the school is forcing their children to to conform to "someone else's culture". Muslim parents say the protesters are guilty of racism. This Is London on Friday reported that Kingsgate is one of four schools in West Hampstead to institute halal-only menus.

Lawyer Sanctioned For Frivolous RICO Claims Against Catholic Church

AM New York yesterday reported that federal district judge Paul A. Crotty imposed an $8000 fine on attorney John A. Aretakis for bringing a series of baseless lawsuits claiming that a cover-up of priest sexual abuse by leaders of the Roman Catholic Church amounted to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (RICO). Aretkis claims there was nothing frivolous in his allegations of "an organized, institutional, long-ranging criminal conspiracy" by church officials who were trying to protect priests accused of abusing children. The Rule 11 sanctions came as part of a ruling Friday in which the court dismissed a racketeering lawsuit in which Newark, NJ priest, Robert Hoatson, claimed he was forced out of a parochial school job for criticizing the church's handling of abuse cases. If available, a RICO claim might be brought even though state statutes of limitations had expired.

O'Connor On 8th Circuit Panel Hearing Challenge To Faith-Based Prison Program

According to the Associated Press, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be one of the three judges on a panel of the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals next week that will hear the appeal in Americans United for Separation of Church and State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, a case in which an Iowa district court held that InnerChange, a state-financed faith-based prison rehabilitation program, violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The district court opinion being appealed mentioned Justice O'Connor four times in its 140 pages as it referred to church-state decisions that she authored.

Mandaeanism Threatened As Communities Are Forced From Iraq and Iran

An Associated Press story yesterday reported that one of the lesser-known casualties of the Iraq war is the disappearance of Mandaeanism, a 2000 year old religion that looks to John the Baptist as its great teacher. Only 5000 to 7000 or the original 60,000 Mandaeans remain in Iraq-- and they are in increasing danger of being killed. Many Mandaeans have fled to various parts of the world, including Jordan, Syria and the United States. Mandaean communities have been set up around New York and Detroit. Driven from both Iraq and Iran, many Mandaeans have become successful in their diaspora. However the religion's few dozen priests that are left have failed to agree on how to bring children of mixed marriages into the faith. This creates concern that the religion may not survive