New Executive Order Bars Denigration of Religion In Interrogation of Terror Suspects

The Associated Press reports that President George W. Bush today signed an Executive Order (full text) setting out standards for interrogation of terror suspects by the CIA. Among the new limitations imposed on interrogators is a ban on practices that are "intended to denigrate the religion, religious practices, or religious objects of the individual" being questioned. The Executive Order also deals with other kinds of abusive treatment.

The Executive Order declares that new Congressional legislation permits the President to "interpret the meaning and application" of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. Sec. 6(a)(3) of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 gives the President this authority, along with the authority "to promulgate higher standards and administrative regulations for violations of treaty obligations which are not grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions." In its press release on the signing, the White House said that "the President has insisted on clear legal standards so that CIA officers involved in this essential work are not placed in jeopardy for doing their job..."

Ohio's Faith-Based Initiative Budget For Biennium Released

In Ohio, Eric McFadden, director of the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives reported to the GOFBC Advisory Committee this week that his Office has a budget of $28.5 million for the next two years. $26 million of that is from TANF funds. The rest comes from a federal Healthy Marriage Initiative grant, from the Ohio Benefit Bank, and from general revenue funds. The Office will use its TANF funds as follows: $3.9 million on Children of Incarcerated Parents programs; $3 million on youth mentoring programs; $2 million on fatherhood initiatives; $2 million on Feed Ohio programs; $1 million on the Ohio Benefit Bank; $1 million on Ohio Compassion Capital; and $92,000 on the Ohio National Guard Marriage Enrichment and youth camps programs. (Background.) The budget information was included in today's Friday Leadership Report issued by Ohio Jewish Communities.

Malaysia Censors Reporting On Debate Over Role of Islam In Country

IFEX reports today that the Malaysian government's Internal Security Ministry Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit has banned media from reporting on the controversy that has arisen over a statement made earlier this week by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. (See July 18 Daily Express.) The deputy prime minister said that Malaysia is an Islamic state, that the country has never been a secular one and that it has always been guided by Islamic fundamentals. Strong responses followed from opposition political parties and others. Ministry official Che Din Yusof said that media will not be permitted to report "especially negative reactions"to the statement for fear of creating "tension" over a "sensitive issue". The Malaysian press is effectively required to comply with the censorship order because of the control exercised by the government under the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

Controversy In South Africa Over Proposed Anti-Witchcraft Bill

The South African province of Mpumalanga is considering a new Witchcraft Suppression Bill. IOL reports today that the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) is attempting to rally opposition to the bill, arguing that witches have religious rights that need to be protected. The proposed law (full text) would outlaw the practice of witchcraft. It would also regulate and require registration of traditional healers. Earlier this month, SAPRA wrote the Justice Ministry and the South African Human Rights Commission urging the enactment of legislation to prohibit discrimination against witches and arguing that witches need protection against violence directed at them.

ACLU Sues WV Scholarship Board On Behalf of Mormon Student

Today's Charleston (WV) Daily Mail reports that the ACLU of West Virginia has filed suit on behalf of David Haws, a Mormon student at the University of West Virginia. The federal court suit charges the state's PROMISE scholarship board with religious discrimination because it refused to allow Haws to take a leave to serve a two-year church mission without losing his scholarship upon his return to school.

California City's Insurers Settle RLUIPA Claim; Will Pay Church $1.2M

The company that provides insurance coverage to the City of Lake Elsinore, California agreed on Wednesday to pay $1.2 million in damages (plus attorneys' fees) to settle a case that had been brought against the city by the Elsinore Christian Center. The suit stemmed from the city's denial of a conditional use permit requested by the Center so it could use a parcel of commercial property and a building on it for religious worship. The city hoped that a non-tax exempt commercial enterprise would occupy the building instead. The church brought suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The city asserted that RLUIPA was unconstitutional, but it lost that argument in the 9th Circuit last August. (See prior posting.) Now, according to the North County (CA) Times, rather than waiting to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually grant its petition for certiorari on the constitutional challenge, the city will drop its attempted appeal. City Councilman Thomas Buckley said that the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority was "absolutely wrong" in deciding to settle.

Controversial Civil Marriage Compromise Reached In Israel

Israel's Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and the country's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar have agreed on legislation to allow limited civil marriage in Israel. Currently Israelis seeking civil marriage must travel abroad. The controversial compromise was described yesterday in Middle East Online and in Haaretz. Civil marriage would become available only to couples where both parties are classified as Jewish by the state, but neither is Jewish under halacha (Jewish religious law). In practical terms, this would affect marriages among the some 270,000 of the many immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Beilin criticized the proposal as one that would further isolate new immigrants rather than integrating them into Israeli society. Also controversial is another concession made to the Chief Rabbinate as part of the deal. The power of the Orthodox Rabbinate over conversions to Judaism will be strengthened through legislative provisions allowing the Chief Rabbinate to set up special conversion courts. (See prior related posting.)

Court Upholds School Board's Use of Eminent Domain To Take Church Land

In Nash County, North Carolina, a Superior Court judge has ruled that the Nash-Rocky Mountain Board of Education may use eminent domain to take the property of Life United Pentecostal Church. Yesterday's Rocky Mountain Telegram reports that the court rejected the church's challenge to the authority of the Board and its claim that the taking violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The school board, which has already purchased 59 acres of land surrounding the church's property, says that this is the only site in its attendance zone that is suitable for the new Rocky Mountain High School.

In Bhutan, Some Monks Oppose Their Total Exclusion From Politics

The Asian nation of Bhutan is going through a political transformation that is turning it into a constitutional monarchy. A new constitution has recently been adopted, and the first elections for members of the National Council will take place later this year. The new constitution (Art. 3) makes Buddhism the state religion, but provides that "Religious institutions and personalities shall remain above politics." Implementing this provision, the country's election law makes Buddhist monks ineligible to vote or run for office. Asia News reported yesterday that now some monks oppose this total exclusion, saying that it is contrary to the country's reformist spirit.

Scalia Will Have Orthodox Jewish Law Clerk In 2008

This week's Forward reports that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has selected Yaakov Roth, an Orthodox Jewish Harvard Law School graduate, to be one of his clerks beginning in July 2008. Roth, born in Toronto, says "I can’t think of many approaches to Judaism that are incompatible with the Constitution. I'm generally sympathetic to [Scalia’s] approach...." Roth says that he does not work on the Jewish Sabbath, and that Scalia would likely be sympathetic to that. Reporting last month on Roth's selection, the blog Above the Law said "Rumor has it that Roth has one of the highest GPAs in the history of Harvard Law School. So presumably he's graduating summa cum laude -- which happens once in a blue moon at HLS."

Palo Alto Eruv Proposal Again Generates Controversy

The Jewish community in Palo Alto, California has been trying for eight years to construct an eruv-- a symbolic enclosure of space that permits observant Jews to carry items and push baby carriages between their homes and to synagogues within the enclosed space on the Sabbath. In most cities, the eruv is made up largely of natural boundaries, with gaps filled by fishing line that runs between utility poles. The Forward yesterday reported that many residents of Palo Alto are upset over administrative approval of the eruv recently given by authorities.

In 2000, eruv proponents lost their attempt to obtain a land use permit, after negative reaction at public hearings held by city council. This time around, the proponents' plan avoided using any utility poles. Instead they obtained easements from Stanford University, the California Department of Transportation and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. That route allowed proponents to merely apply for an encroachment permit in a process that does not require a public hearing. Despite 3rd Circuit precedent upholding an eruv against an Establishment Clause attack, many in Palo Alto claim that the eruv violates required separation of church and state.

One outspoken opponent of the eruv, citing "the sneaky way that these folks do things" told the Forward: "We live in a modern, secular, democratic world, and these wackos are trying to catapult us back into a 2,000-years-ago kind of deal.... The big thing at the time was declaring this area Jewish space — absurd! It’s not Christian space, it’s not communist space, it’s not Republican space, it’s not Nazi space. If they want to have religious space, go to synagogue."

No Free Exercise Problem In NY Commission's Action On Catholic Hospital

St. Joseph Hospital of Cheektowaga v. Novello, (NY App. Div., July 18, 2007) involved a challenge to the constitutionality of New York legislation creating a Commission on Healthcare Facilities that made recommendations to the Governor on the streamlining the state's healthcare system. In a 2-1 decision, a New York state appellate court upheld the law. While most of the opinion dealt with due process and separation of powers issues, in part of the opinion the majority held that the Commission's recommendation to close a Catholic hospital did not amount to a violation of the Free Exercise clause of the New York Constitution.

Christian Student Group At Exeter Will Appeal Sanctions To High Court

As previously reported, in Britain, evangelical Christian student groups, known as Christian Unions, find themselves in disputes on a number of college campuses with Students' Unions, the bodies that determine whether a student group will have access to campus facilities and financial support. Yesterday Cross Rhythms reported on developments in the dispute at Exeter University. Last January, the school's Christian Union filed a petition in the High Court challenging the Student Guild's freezing of their funds, excluding them from using university facilities and forcing them to change their name to the "Evangelical" Christian Union. However the University insisted that first the parties go through an internal appeal process, appointing Mark Shaw QC as an independent adjudicator. Now, however, the Christian Union has rejected the adjudicator's decision that upheld the Student Guild's actions and found that the Christian Union was wrong limiting leadership roles to Christians. The Christian Union plans to pursue an appeal in the High Court.

More Details On Federal Censoring of Prison Chapel Libraries Disclosed

As reported last month, the federal Bureau of Prisons has removed many books from prison chapel libraries in order to guard against radicalization of Muslim inmates. Now New York's Jewish Week reports more details, stemming from disclosures at a hearing on May 31 in a suit filed by a Jewish, Christian and Muslim inmate in Otisville, New York. Apparently religious experts of various faiths reviewed the holdings in prison chapel libraries and certified 150 books and 150 audio-video items for each religion. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Michael Truman said that as of June 1, "any books not listed on the standardized list were placed in storage until they can be reviewed for content, currency and condition by SMEs [subject matter experts].... As books are reviewed and certified as free of discrimination, violence and radicalization, the lists for each religion will be updated to incorporate additional books into the standard libraries.... Media that are determined to contain discriminatory, violent or radical material will be discarded."

Jewish prisoner, Moshe Milstein, testified that some 600 Jewish books were removed from the Otisville prison library under the new policy, including many standard classical texts. Both the American Jewish Committee (press release) and four Orthodox Jewish groups have sent letters to the Bureau of Prisons saying that the purging of libraries was an over reaction. The new policy follows a 2006 Senate Hearing at which witnesses warned that Muslim prisoners were being radicalized inside U.S. prisons. (2006 AP Report).

Proposals On Religious Workers Visas Are Criticized

In April, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed to amend regulations governing the granting of special visas for religious workers (72 Fed. Reg. 20442 (April 25, 2007)). It said that studies have shown a high incidence of fraud in applications for religious workers visas under the current regulations. (See prior posting.) Last Friday's Washington Post described some of the proposed amendments and reported on the concerns expressed by a number of religious groups about the proposals. Employers would be required to file petitions in the U.S., and the government would conduct more site inspections. Of greatest concern to many religious groups are the changes in definitions of terms used in the regulations. Hindu and Jain organizations say that examples of religious occupations given in the regulations focus on Christian and Jewish religious traditions. They list cantors, choir directors and ritual slaughter supervisors, but do not list shilpis (Hindu temple stonemasons). Other groups are concerned about the new definition of a "religious denomination" and the regulations' exclusion of administrative positions from coverage. A posting on Political Mavens.com yesterday discussed the proposals further.

British Groups Calls For Change In Handling of Religious Asylum Claims

In Britain, a leading Christian group, the Evangelical Alliance, has called for changes in the way in which the Home Office and courts handle claims for asylum by converts to Christianity who claim they will be persecuted if returned to their home countries. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees may entitle them to stay in Britain. The London Times yesterday reported that the truthfulness of a claim that a person has converted is often tested by the Home Office through asking questions about the applicant's knowledge of the Bible. However, in many countries the Bible is banned so that converts have not had the opportunity to study it in depth. Also inadequate translators sometimes fail to accurately convey the applicant's statements about the persecution he or she will face if deported. In some Muslim countries, conversion from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death.

Officer In Iraq Sues For Conscientious Objector Status

The Associated Press reported yesterday that West Point graduate, Capt. Peter Brown, currently serving in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division, has filed suit in federal district court in Washington, DC seeking conscientious objector status. Brown said that he became a pacifist after, in the Army, he began attending a civilian religious center in the Netherlands. He is currently working in a non-combat capacity in Baghdad.

NJ Trial Is Scheduled In Russian Orthodox Church Property Dispute

Today's Wall Street Journal reports on a case scheduled to go to trial next month in Atlantic City, New Jersey in which a Russian Orthodox diocese in the United States is suing to take control of the property of the Sviato-Pokrovskiy Russian Orthodox Church and evict 83-year old Adelaida Nekludoff. She took control of the Buena, NJ church in 2004 when her husband, the church's priest, died. In 1917, Russian Orthodox churches outside of the Soviet Union split from the Moscow leadership. However, this year the Church Abroad reconciled with Russian church authorities. Nevertheless, a number of critics think that the Russian church still has too many ties to the Soviet era and to current repressive policies in Russia, and have refused to go along with the 2007 Canonical Communion. Mrs. Nekludoff is one of them. In February 2006, the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Manhattan sued, asking the court to declare that Sviato-Pokrovskiy church property is being held by the parish in trust for the parent body, the Church Abroad. [Dates corrected, thanks to Suzanne Sataline ]. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the original lead.]

Nativity Scene Display Issue To Be On Berkley, Michigan Ballot

The Berkley, Michigan city clerk's office has certified that Christmas Holiday Display advocates have obtained enough signatures to place a referendum on November's ballot. Today's Berkley (MI) Daily Tribune reports that, if approved, the proposal will require the city to display a nativity scene along with secular holiday symbols on city hall property. Last year, after the ACLU challenged the city's traditional display of a nativity scene alone, city council voted to give the creche to the Berkley Clergy Association for display at local churches instead of adding, on a permanent basis, secular items along with the creche at city hall. (See prior posting.)

Charges Dismissed As FBI Refuses Records Relevant To Selective Prosecution Claim

Today's Chico (CA) Enterprise Record reports that a Butte County, California trail judge yesterday dismissed charges of attempted receipt of stolen property that had been brought against Bilal Yasin, a Muslim store owner caught in a sting operation supposedly directed at illegal cigarette sales. The judge held that the refusal of the FBI-- who furnished initial information to local police-- to turn over requested information about the investigation prevented defense counsel from trying to proving his charges of selective prosecution. During the investigation, a federal agent questioned Yasin at length about his religious beliefs and whether he had any connections to terrorist groups.