Weida Transferred Out Of Air Force Academy

An officer at the center of the U.S. Air Force Academy's problems with religious prosetylization, Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida, is leaving the Academy and being transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. A report today on Military.com points out that the Commandant of Cadets is leaving the school one month after he was cleared of an allegation that he used his position to proselytize non-Christian cadets. (See prior posting).

Final Opinion Strikes Down Transfer of Mt. Soledad Cross

Today's San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a Superior Court judge in San Diego, California issued a final ruling mirroring her tentative opinion last month finding the transfer of the Mt. Soledad Cross and the La Jolla land surrounding it to be unconstitutional. (See prior posting.) The full opinion in Paulson v. Abdelnour finds the transfer to be an unconstitutional preference of religion that violates Art. I, Sec. 4 of the California Constitution, and an unconstitutional aid to religion in violation of Art. XVI, Sec. 5 of the California Constitution.

In Mississippi, Religious Arguments Intrude Into Casino Legislation

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi legislators are considering allowing the state's devastated offshore gambling casinos to rebuild on land. The North County Times today reports that the House passed a bill, and the Senate is now considering it. The new law would allow casinos to build up to 800 feet onshore, rather than restricting them to coastal waters as before. Some legislators though are raising religious objections to the gambling bill. The Mississippi Baptist Convention is one of the strongest anti-casino forces in the state. About 50 Baptist pastors from across Mississippi came to the Capitol in Jackson last week to urge legislators not to allow casinos on land.

Court Refuses To Dismiss Establishment Clause Claim In Salvation Army Case

In Lown v. Salvation Army, Inc., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22260 (Sept. 30, 2005), a New York federal district court dismissed constitutional claims brought by employees of the Salvation Army challenging the organization's requirement that employees not act inconsistently with the teachings of the religious group. It found that any religious discrimination against the employees could not be attributed to governmental action.

However the court permitted a taxpayers' Establishment Clause claim against governmental defendants in the case to proceed. The City of New York and a number of other governmental entities contract with the Salvation Army for the provision of social services. Plaintiffs alleged that government funds were used to finance the Salvation Army's religious discrimination, and that government funds supported indoctrination of clients whom the government compelled to participate in the Salvation Army's Social Services for Children programs.

AF Academy Sued Over Religious Proselytization

The controversy over Christian proselytization at the U.S. Air Force Academy (see prior posting) has finally found its way into the courts. The Associated Press reports that yesterday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a Jewish father of a recent graduate and a currently enrolled Air Force Academy cadet sued the Air Force. The father, Mikey Weinstein, is himself an Academy graduate. An outspoken critic of the situation at the Academy, Weinstein claims that senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school. [Thanks to Brad M. Pardee via Religionlaw for the information.]

Wiccan Students May Wear Pentacles; Club Still In Doubt

The Decatur Alabama Daily reported earlier this week on progress Wiccan students, led by 16-year old Ricky Shepard, are making in Morgan County, Alabama's Priceville High School. They have been seeking the right to wear pentacles (Wiccan symbols) and to form a Wicca club for the estimated six students who practice Wicca. School authorities have come around on the wearing of pentacles. The school board's attorney said, "In the beginning, we really didn't know anything about (Wicca). . . . It's a learning process, something we had to look into." He said that after the boy's mother assured them Wicca was not gang-related or Satanic, administrators lifted the ban on pentacles. The principal said he had mistaken the necklace's symbol for a pentagram, an upside-down version that symbolizes Satanism.

Quebec Court Refuses To Enforce Husband's Agreement To Give Divorcing Wife a "Get"

According to today's Canadian Jewish News, the Quebec court of Appeals has overturned a lower court decision that had enforced an agreement that a husband had signed obligating him to appear before a Jewish religious court after receiving a civil divorce. The appellate court ruled unanimously that Superior Court justice Israel Mass was wrong when he decided that husband Jessel (Jason) Marcovitz, entered into a contract that is civilly enforceable, despite its religious nature. The Court of Appeals held that the federal Divorce Act does not give courts jurisdiction to require the issuance of a "get", the Jewish religious divorce, no matter what the divorcing parties have consented to, because courts do not have the right to enforce a matter of religious obligation. The lower court had awarded Marcovitz's wife $47,500 in damages because her husband had delayed for 15 years in giving her a "get", making it impossible during that period for her to remarry according to traditional Judaism.

Alaska Senator Wants To Fund Religious Materials For Homeschoolers

In Alaska, home-schooled students receive state funds to pay for supplies. Now an Alaska state senator is urging a change in the rules so that students can use that money to buy religious textbooks and religious software to use along with secular material. Tuesday's Anchorage Daily News reported that Senator Fred Dyson raised the issue at a recent state Board of Education meeting. "If the material meets academic standards, then it ought not to be disqualified just on the basis that it has some religious connotations," Dyson said.

Roy Moore Will Run For AL Governor

Church-state issues are certain to be at the center of the Alabama Republican gubernatorial primary on June 6 next year. The Birmingham News reports that former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore announced on Monday before a cheering home town crowd that he is running for Governor in 2006. (See prior posting.) Moore was removed from office as Chief Justice after he refused to take down a 5,300 pound monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court building's rotunda.

State's Placing Children In Overtly Religious Facility Is Establishment Violation

Last week, in Teen Ranch v. Udow, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22164 (WD Mich., Sept. 29, 2005), Judge Robert Bell issued an important opinion finding Establishment Clause problems with Michigan's Family Independence Agency (FIA) contracting for a faith-based organization to provide youth residential services. Teen Ranch is an overtly Christian facility that promotes a Christian worldview and encourages conversion to faith in Christ as part of its services to youth. FIA refused to continue to place children who are wards of the state with Teen Ranch unless the Ranch changed its practice of imposing its religious beliefs into its daily treatment and service plan activities. Teen Ranch sued, asserting violation of free speech, free exercise of religion, due process and equal protection. The court rejected all of these contentions.

The court recognized that the U.S. Supreme Court has permitted government funds to flow to religious organizations when a subsidy is given by reason of an individual who has used true private choice in selecting that organization. Here, the state places children in Teen Ranch and merely gives them the opportunity to opt out if they object to the religious nature of the program. The court held that this was not sufficient to satisfy the test of true choice required to avoid an Establishment Clause problem.

Family News In Focus today reported that Teen Ranch is considering an appeal to the Sixth Circuit. Teen Ranch claims that the FIS's action amounts to religious discrimination, according to Agape Press.

10th Circuit Upholds Land Sale By City To Mormon Church

On October 3, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decided Utah Gospel Mission v. Salt Lake City Corp. The case involved the 1999 sale by Salt Lake city of a block-long section of Main Street to the Mormon Church so it could build a Plaza on it. The Plaza was to serve as an ecclesiastical park. The city hoped the Plaza would stimulate downtown pedestrian traffic and promote business. The Church prohibited demonstrations, leafleting and picketing on the Plaza. The sale was challenged on free expression and establishment clause grounds, and the court rejected both challenges. It found that the arrangements had a secular purpose , did not have a primary effect that advanced religion, and did not create excessive entanglement between church and state.

New Articles Of Interest Online

From the University of Chicago:
Daniel L. Chen and Jo T. Lind, The Political Economy of Beliefs: Why Do Fiscal and Social Conservatives/Liberals Come Hand-In-Hand?


From Bepress:
Gonzaga Law Professor Sharon Keller, The Rules of the Game: "Play in the Joints" Between the Religion Clauses

Max E. Dehn, How It Works: Sobriety Sentencing, the Constitution and Alcoholics Anonymous. A Perspective from AA's Founding Community

How Much of An Issue Will Miers' Religion Be?

The appropriateness of considering a Supreme Court nominee's religious beliefs in Senate nomination hearings and deliberations is now a high agenda item. Among the little know about nominee Harriet Miers, her religious beliefs are now a matter of public record. Yesterday, papers like the Washington Post and New York Times ran long stories on Miers' spiritual journey from Catholicism to becoming a born-again Christian active in a Dallas evangelical church.

Her former law firm colleague, Nathan L. Hecht, now a justice on the Texas Supreme Court recounted the event: "She decided that she wanted faith to be a bigger part of her life. One evening she called me to her office and said she was ready to make a commitment" to accept Jesus Christ as her savior and be born again, he said. He walked down the hallway to her office. There amid the legal briefs and court papers, the two "prayed and talked".

Cert. Denied In Bible-In-Jury Room Case

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Colorado v. Harlan. Thus it refused to review the 3-2 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that had held that using a Bible in the jury room during deliberations undermines a capital defendant's right to a fair trial. The denial of cert. and reactions to it are reported today by the Christian Science Monitor.

New Supreme Court Nominee-- Any Clues On Her 1st Amendment Religion Clause Views?

Today President Bush announced his intent to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Little is known about her views on many legal issues, including church-state questions. The President's announcement included the fact that among the community organizations in Texas with which she was involved was Exodus Ministries. That group, part of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, is described as follows on its website:

Exodus is both a challenging and gratifying ministry that seeks to encourage ex-offenders, to reunite them with their families, and to empower them to become self-sustaining, productive, Christ-centered members of society. Individuals are needed to help in the Exodus offices to serve as Bible Study leaders, computer instructors, and tutors/mentors. Professional experts, such as doctors, dentists and lawyers, are welcome at Exodus to help with both guidance and more immediate needs.

Interestingly, also in listing the community groups in which Miers was involved, the President referred to the full name of one, the Young Women's Christian Association, even though nationally the organization formally calls itself the "YWCA".

President Wishes Happy New Year As Rosh Hashanah Approaches

On Friday, President Bush issued a Presidential Message sending greetings to all who will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah beginning tonight.

Moment of Silence Seems To Be Working Constitutionally in Indiana

In Indiana public schools, a new law that took effect this fall requires a moment of silence for students at the beginning of the day. A Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reporter visited 5 different schools to see how the mandate is being carried out "in the trenches". Her detailed report published Sunday is interesting, and does not suggest that the moment of silence is being used to encourage prayer, as some feared.

NYC Urged To Ban Ritual Male Circumcision For Infants

New York City's uneasy arrangement with its Orthodox Jewish community which led the city to transfer to a Jewish religious court the issue of the safety of a particular method of circumcision (see prior posting) has led anti-circumcision advocates to urge the City to take much more drastic action. Medical News Today on Sunday reported that activist Matthew Hess of San Diego is urging New York to ban medically unnecessary circumcision of children under 18 since they are unable to give their consent. J. Steven Svoboda, Executive Director of Attorneys for the Rights of the Child said, "Removing healthy, functional tissue from a nonconsenting minor in the name of religion or preventive medicine is assault' and urged that male circumcision be banned just as female circumcision already is.

Post 9-11 Actions Generate Free Exercise Claims

Two free exercise cases growing out of the federal government’s war on terror have recently been decided.

Elmaghraby v. Ashcroft, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21434 (E NY, Sept. 27, 2005), involved two Muslim men from Egypt and Pakistan, respectively, who were arrested on criminal charges in the months following 9-11, and detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center ("MDC") Special Housing Unit in Brooklyn. Among their many claims of mistreatment during their confinement were claims of harsher treatment because of their religious beliefs and deliberate interference with their religious practices. Officers banged on their cells while they were praying, routinely confiscated their copies of the Koran, and refused to permit them to participate in Friday prayer services with fellow Muslims, making comments such as "No prayer for terrorists". The court refused to dismiss most of these claims insofar as they were based on alleged violations of the Constitution, but if found that defendants are entitled to qualified immunity insofar as claims allege RFRA violations.

The second case is Islamic American Relief Agency v. Unidentified, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21570 (Sept. 15, 2005). The case involves a challenge to action taken by the United States under anti-terrorism legislation to block the assets of the Islamic American Relief Agency. One of the claims was that by blocking its assets, the government interfered with the free exercise of religion of its donors who used the organization to fulfill their religious obligations as Muslims to engage in Zakat (humanitarian charitable giving). The court dismissed the free exercise claim both on the merits and because the organization did not have standing to assert it.

Another 10 Commandments Monument Can Remain

The Ten Commandments cases don't stop. The Bismarck, North Dakota Tribune reported Friday that a federal district court judge in Fargo held last week that a Ten Commandments display outside Fargo City Hall could remain. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson issued a 20-page opinion saying the monument conveys both secular and religious ideals.

UPDATE: The opinion in the case is now available. Twombly v. City of Fargo, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21967 (D ND, Sept. 29, 2005).