PBS Feature On Religion and Politics In Ohio

On Friday, the PBS public affairs program NOW devoted much of its show to issues of religion and politics in a show titled “God’s Country? Religion and Politics In Ohio”. Transcripts from the show and other resources on the topic are available at the show’s website.

Foundation Labeled As Terrorist Claims Free Exercise Infringement

In federal district court in Oregon today, according to The Oregonian, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation filed suit against the federal government demanding return of 155 boxes of religious materials-- including Qur'ans, written commentary on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and other materials designed to explain Islam. The materials were seized two years ago by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, as it investigated alleged terrorist activity by the Foundation. In September 2004, the Foundation was designated a global terrorist organization. Treasury officials said it sent money to Islamic fighters in Chechnya, while the Foundation says it merely operated a mosque and distributed Islamic literature to prisoners. The Foundation argues that the government's refusal to release the seized documents violates its First Amendment rights.

Defendant Charges Police Insensitivity To Religious Garb

In Rolling Meadows, Illinois, this week's guilty plea to a misdemeanor battery charge by a Muslim woman brought to an end a disputed encounter between a demonstrator and police, according to Wednesday's Muslim News. Last October 15, Rehana Kahn was arrested while taking part in an immigration rights demonstration. Kahn's version of events is that police rudely ordered her to remove her hijab (headscarf), ignoring her religious concerns. The police version is that while a female officer was searching Kahn, her hijab slipped down 2 or 3 inches, and that Kahn then physically hit 3 different officers. While the battery charge could have led to a year in jail, the judge sentenced Kahn, and 3 co-defendants, to 240 hours of community service and a year of court supervision.

Byrd Introduces School Prayer Amendment

West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd yesterday introduced in Congress a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow voluntary prayer in public schools. The proposed amendment reads:

Nothing in this Constitution, including any amendment to this Constitution, shall be construed to prohibit voluntary prayer or require prayer in public school, or to prohibit voluntary prayer or require prayer at a public school extracurricular activity.

The Charleston Daily Mail reports that this is the eighth time in 43 years that Byrd has introduced the proposal. The Daily Mail also says that it has learned from Byrd's office that Byrd has talked about his amendment and the original intent of the drafters of the First Amendment with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. The full text of Byrd's expansive speech introducing the amendment is available from his website.

In Minsk, Passover Seder Deemed Unfit For Children To See

In Belarus earlier this month, Minsk city officials refused permission for the local Hassidic Jewish community to hold a Passover seder at the state-owned Palace for Children and Youth. Forum18 reported yesterday that a city official said that the refusal was probably because "it wouldn't be very good to have a religious event at a children's institution – I'm sure you understand." Under the country's religion law, all religious events held outside designated places of worship require official permission. Eventually the Hasidic group held a smaller seder at a synagogue cafeteria, where government permission was not required.

Michigan House Passes Conscience Bill For HMOs and Insurers

Wednesday's Detroit Free Press (via Blog From the Capital) reports that the Michigan House of Representatives has passed two bills permitting insurance companies and HMO's to exclude from coverage any health care benefit on ethical, moral or religious grounds reflected in its articles, bylaws or mission statement. (HB 4745 and HB 4746). The New Standard last month carried an excellent background piece on this legislation, and similar proposals pending in other states. State Representative Scott Hummel, sponsor of the Michigan bills, said that they are preemptive measures to protect against future state mandates, such as a requirement to cover in vitro fertilization.

British Court Rejects Claim Of Burial Benefits Discrimination

In England last month, the Court of Appeal handed down an interesting decision rejecting a discrimination claim by Muslim families who had recently migrated to the United Kingdom. The families sought government benefits to pay for a funeral in their home countries rather than in Britain. In Esfandiari v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, [2006] EWCA Civ 282 (March 23, 2006), the court held that it did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights to allow burial benefits only for funerals in the United Kingdom, even though funerals abroad might be no more expensive. The Court said that recent migrants are not a group protected from discrimination by the Convention on Human Rights, as applied by the Human Rights Act 1998. Yesterday's Asian News discussed the case.

2nd Circuit Upholds Church's Right To Shelter Homeless Outside

On Wednesday, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church v. City of New York, (2nd Cir., April 26, 2006), upheld a permanent injunction granted by a federal district judge in 2004 barring New York City police from dispersing or arresting homeless people sleeping out-of-doors on stairways of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The court below in granting the injunction had found that the Church's practice of allowing homeless persons to sleep on its property is an exercise of sincerely held religious beliefs. [LEXIS link to trial court opinion.] The Becket Fund, which filed an amicus brief in the case, has background information on its website.

Pakistan Charges Foreign Papers, Internet Firms With Blasphemy, Capital Offense

Pakistan's Daily Times reports that the Muhammad cartoon controversy is still alive. Iqbal Haider, head of the People’s Support Movement in Pakistan, convinced Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday to order police to register charges under Pakistan's blasphemy law against the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, its editor, publisher, a cartoonist, and newspapers in France, Italy, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands that published derogatory drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. Violations of the blasphemy law can be punished by a sentence of death. Also charged were the Internet companies, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google, who allowed access to the offending drawings. Haider says that now the government should contact the Interpol to bring the offenders to court in Pakistan. Prosecutors, however, say that Pakistan's courts have no jurisdiction since the offenses were committed outside the country. [Thanks to Jawa Report for the lead.]

Reform Rabbinical Leader Speaks At Liberty University

Earlier this week, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, spoke at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The liberal rabbi stressed those things that his Reform Jewish Movement believes in common with fundamentalist Christians. These include support for Israel, love for America's religious vitality, and concern about America' moral crisis. Yoffie's talk (full text) also emphasized the importance of church-state separation in the United States:

It is understandable, perhaps, that we may feel victimized and under attack and look for quick fixes. And so we hear calls, sometimes from evangelicals and sometimes from others, for prayer in the schools and lowering the wall of church-state separation. But let us beware of simple answers. As a Jew, I don't like it when other Jews find an anti-Semite under every bed; I don't believe that Judaism is seriously imperiled, and I don't think that Christianity is under siege either. Neither do I want to ask the government to solve our problems by imposing its will. Government coercion generates resentment, not godliness, and it is never a good idea to put the government in charge of our thinking.

Today's Forward has an excellent article on the talk that was given at as part of a Wednesday morning prayer service that is mandatory for students and faculty at the University.

Maine Supreme Court Upholds Vouchers Limited To Non-Sectarian Schools

Maine's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the state's ban on the use of school tuition vouchers at religious schools. In Anderson v. Town of Durham, (April 26, 2006), the court, in a 6-1 decision, reaffirmed the conclusion it had reached in a 1999 case. It found that subsequent U.S. Supreme Court precedents hold that the State may be permitted to pass a statute authorizing some form of tuition payments to religious schools, but it is not compelled to do so. Today's Morning Sentinel reports that 17,000 students from 145 small towns with no high schools are covered by the voucher program. Towns may pay for those students to attend a non-sectarian public or a private school, but they may not pay for attendance at religious parochial schools.

Coast Guard Relents On Merchant Marine Photo Rule

In March, the New York Civil Liberties Union sued the Coast Guard over rules that required every Merchant Marine license applicant to submit a photograph that showed the applicant without a head covering, such as a Muslim kufi. (See prior posting.) Newsday (as well as an NYCLU Release) reported yesterday that just before a Monday conference in Hakim v. Chertoff with Judge Jed S. Rakoff, the Coast Guard issued NMC Guidance Document No. 2-06 directing its field offices to enforce the regulation to accommodate religious beliefs and medical needs. This will permit applicants to wear religiously-required head coverings, so long as the applicant can be identified in the photo. The NYCLU said it will not dismiss the case until it is certain that the rule change is permanent.

California Sentencing Judge's Reference To Religion OK'd

In People v. Scharf, 2006 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 3372 (Cal. 3rd Dist. Ct. App., April 24, 2006), a California court of appeals rejected a defendant's claim that a trial judge's comments made during sentencing violated the Establishment Clause. Glyn Scharf was convicted of murdering his estranged wife, even though her body had not been found. After sentencing Scharf to prison, the judge appealed to Scharf's religious convictions in urging him to disclose the location of his wife's body. The court of appeals held that this did not constitute judicial misconduct: "The trial court's appeal to defendant's religious beliefs (present or former) did not express the court's favor of one religion over another, or religion over no religion. At most, the trial court suggested that the revelation of the location of Jan's body would inure to defendant's benefit within the belief system of the religion to which defendant himself had once adhered and might still adhere. Thus, even if the court's exhortation to defendant can be construed as a 'comment on religious questions,' defendant has failed to show that it is the sort of comment that contravened the principal of neutrality."

House Committee Defeats Duplicative Anti-Discrimination Amendment To Telecom Bill

Broadcasting & Cable reported that yesterday the House Commerce Committee found itself in the uncomfortable position of voting 29-23 against an amendment to a bill on video franchising that would prevent discrimination in service based religion (as well as race, sex, or national origin). Committee Chairman Joe Barton said that everyone on the committee opposed discrimination; however it is already prohibited by current law. If the amendment to the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 had been adopted, the bill could have been referred to the Judiciary Committee, where its passage could be delayed.

Churches Moving To Retail and Commercial Space

In RLUIPA, Congress made it clear that public policy favors permitting churches to relocate to new sites. Yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette carries an interesting article on the problems that some communities and commercial firms anticipate from a growing trend by churches to relocate to strip shopping malls, big box store locations, and corporate campuses. Some churches see these locations as attractive because they are cheaper than building from scratch, and shoppers at nearby stores might be drawn to the church. However many communities are unhappy because churches, as nonprofits, will not pay property tax. Parishoners coming from elsewhere may create traffic problems and increase demand for city services. For nearby retailers, there are concerns about teens from the church roaming the stores, with church members taking up parking spaces, and with the fact that a church may draw less traffic to the retail location than would another store.

Florida House Votes Property Tax Exemption For Holy Land Experience

Yesterday, the Florida House of Representatives passed HB 7183 by a vote of 93-25. The bill will grant a property tax exemption to non-profit organizations for property they use for Biblical displays. It is aimed at resolving a battle between The Holy Land Experience theme park and the Orange County Property Appraiser, according to an Orlando Sentinel blog. The theme park has already succeeded in obtaining a trial court ruling that it is entitled to a property tax exemption under current law, but Orange County has appealed. A Senate version of the tax exemption bill (SB 2676) has not yet been scheduled for a floor vote.

Government and Human Rights Groups Urge Tadic To Reject Serbia's New Religion Law

Last week Religion Clause reported on the controversial new Church and Religious Communities bill passed hurriedly by Serbia's National Assembly. Now a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations are criticizing the bill and urging Serbian President Boris Tadic not to sign it into law. The OSCE and the Council of Europe issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying that the law needed "more precise criteria to define the discretionary powers [of] ... state and religious authorities." It pointed out that the effect of non-registration of religious groups was unclear, as was the legal status of canon laws and ecclesiastical decisions. The statement also criticized the speedy manner in which the bill was adopted, leaving insufficient time for review and public debate.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Helsinki Commission issued a statement criticizing the law's "ambiguous registration requirements, limitations on naming rights, ill-defined state deregistration powers, speech limitations, improper public disclosure requirements, and undue deference to registration decisions of other EU countries." The statement also criticized provisions that would require many minority religious communities now registered to re-register with authorities.

Finally, according to B92 News, a letter signed by nine human rights organizations in Serbia said that the bill brings Serbia's secular character into question. The letter says the new law is contradictory to human rights guarantees in the country's constitution. It charges that the law moves Serbia back toward medieval times and away from modern Europe.

UPDATE: Despite these pleas, Makfax reported Thursday afternoon that Serbia's President Boris Tadic signed the Church and Religious Communities Act into law.

ACLU Questions Louisiana Mayor's Bible Study Class

The Louisiana Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is raising questions about a weekly Bible study class being held in City Council Chambers by Mandeville, Louisiana Mayor Eddie Price, according to an Associated Press report yesterday. Price says the classes are non-denominational and are open to anyone, and that they merely serve as a way to educate people about God. He said the class does not violate church-state separation-- its just about reading the Bible. Chuck Staub, a local minister, defending the class said, "All we're dealing with is Jesus of Nazareth", noting that the participants study what Jesus did and why that is important. "Everybody is welcome to come."

Joe Cook, Louisiana ACLU executive director, argued that the sessions advance Christianity over other religions, and said that some city employees may feel pressured to attend. City Attorney David Cressy, however, argued that the classes are permissible because they are a private function, primarily for individuals who work at City Hall.

Challenges To Kentucky Funding For Religious Colleges Filed

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday that two separate lawsuits have just been filed in Kentucky to test the constitutionality of state funding for religiously-affiliated colleges. Funds have been appropriated for a new Pharmacy School and Pharmacy scholarships at the University of Cumberlands. Also funds are earmarked for a technology center upgrade at Baptist-affiliated Campbellsville University. After the the Executive Director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance filed suit to challenge funding for Cumberlands' pharmacy school, the Governor's Office for Local Development filed a separate suit asking the court to validate the appropriations for both the University of the Cumberlands and Campbellsville University. The Cumberlands funding became particularly controversial after the school expelled student Jason Johnson because he said on a website that he was gay.

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher says that two of his top advisers differ on the constitutionality of the funding. His chief of staff believes it is unconstitutional. However, his general counsel takes the position that the state's Constitutional ban (Sec. 189) on using tax money to support sectarian schools applies only to elementary and secondary schools and not to colleges.

LDS Church Wants To Buy Part of ASU Polytechnic Campus

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants to purchase part of Arizona State University Polytechnic's campus in Mesa, according to a report in today's ASU Web Devil. It proposes to build an LDS Institute of Religion on the site to offer religious courses to students. Both LDS and non-LDS students would be welcome to enroll, but the courses would involve the teachings of the LDS church. Some on the University's Space and Capital Planning Committee worry that the plan would convey a message that the University favors one religious group. At any rate, under current law ASU is not allowed to sell off parts of the campus. In the meantime, LDS has leased a house next to campus to use for an Institute of Religion until it can build permanent facilities.