Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Buckley v. Alameida, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87579 (ED CA, Dec. 4, 2006), plaintiff was a black Orthodox Jew incarcerated in California Correctional Instutition. He claimed that his free exercise rights were violated when prison officials confiscated his kosher food package in retaliation for his filing a citizen's complaint against a correctional officer. A federal magistrate judge recommended that his free exercise and equal protection claims be dismissed, but that his retaliation claim based on this incident move ahead. He claimed that in a separate incident his menorahs, candles and radio were confiscated, depriving him of his ability to celebrate Hanukkah. The court found that his claim of intentional religious discrimination growing out of this incident could also move forward.

In Bell v. Dretke, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89376 (SD TX, Oct. 23, 2006), a Texas federal Magistrate Judge recommended rejection of a prisoner's claim that his free exercise rights were violated. The prisoner, who was under a cell restriction disciplinary sanction, was not permitted to attend eve of Ramadan services nor served a "fasting meal".

In Bilal v. Lehman, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89430 (WD WA, Dec. 8, 2006), a federal district court dismissed on the grounds of mootness and immunity a former Muslim prisoner's claim that his rights were violated when prison authorities refused to provide him with a Halal diet. The court said, however, that "Defendants should not construe the court's ruling ... as a license to ignore future dietary requests from inmates with sincerely held religious beliefs."

In Muhammad v. McDonough, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89439 (MD FL, Dec. 8, 2006), a Florida federal district court dismissed a prisoner's complaint that his First Amendment rights were violated when prison officials refused to change his name in his official records to his new religious name. Prison policy called for the adding of his new name to his identification tag, but not for its use for other purposes.

In Moore v. Camp, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89986 (MD FL, Dec. 13, 2006), a Florida federal district court permitted a Muslim prisoner to proceed against several defendants on his claims that his free exercise rights were violated by the removal of a prayer towel as contraband, a delay in furnishing him a Quran, and his not receiving a diet in conformance with his Muslim beliefs.

In McDonald v. Schuffman, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90004 (ED MO, Dec. 13, 2006), a Missouri federal district court dismissed a suit by civilly committed residents of the Missouri Sexual Offender Treatment Center. One of plaintiffs' claims was that their right to free exercise of religion was violated by MSOTC's policy on what items are allowable and because there is a lack of religious service offerings.

Courthouse Christmas Tree Furor In Toronto

In Canada, CTV and UPI both report that a Toronto judge has created a good deal of consternation by ordering her staff to move a small Christmas tree out of the courthouse lobby and into a back hallway where it is hidden by frosted glass doors. Justice Marion Cohen, in a letter to her staff, said that when the tree is in the lobby, visitors are confronted with it and it makes non-Christians "feel they are not part of this institution". A Canadian Muslim leader, Ontario's Premier and several religious groups have all criticized the judge's move. Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said that "they should ban political correctness, not Christmas trees." Court employees say that the tree has been displayed in the lobby for decades.

Pakistan Court Acquits Bookseller Of Making Additions To Quran

In Pakistan, according to today's Daily Times, the Peshawar High Court bench has acquitted Abdul Ahad Noorani of charges of Tehreef (making additions to the text of the holy Quran). A lower court had imposed life imprisonment on the shop owner who, it was alleged, was selling the booklets of "Yasin Maghribi" and "Ayatul Kursi", in which he had done Tehreef. The lower court had statements from 12 eyewitnesses and had received a fatwa from a local mufti who said Noorani had added to the real text of books. In addition to acquitting Noorani due to lack of evidence, the High Court urged the government to create a religious scholars' body to issue fatwas on important issues, and to end the practice of unofficial fatwas.

Turkey's Muslims Celebrate A Secular Christmas

The McClatchey Newspapers today carry an interesting story on how Christmas has caught on in Turkey, a country that is officially secular but whose population is 99% Muslim. Around the country trees are trimmed, children await presents from Father Christmas (Santa Claus), and shopping malls are filled with blinking lights. However, despite angels and stars as part of the decorations, Christmas has no religious significance in the country. Another difference-- belly dancers are also a Christmas tradition. In Turkey, Christmas is celebrated on December 31-- half way between the December 25 date used by Western Christianity and the January 7 date used by Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Jewish Community Divided On Menorahs In Public Square As Hanukkah Begins

Tonight begins the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Papers around the nation report on the campaign by the Chabad movement to have Hanukkah Menorahs displayed in public places, and the ambivalence of other portions of the Jewish community about this push. The Berkshire Eagle reports on Sunday's planned Menorah lighting at the Berkshire Mall. Rabbi Leo Volovik, director of Chabad of the Berkshires says: "We assemble in the Berkshire Mall to light a public menorah to tell people that the lesson of Hanukkah is universal." But Rabbi Deborah Zecher of the Hevreh of Southern Berkshire synagogue says: "I disagree. Religious symbols belong in religious places."

A similar debate is taking place in Nashville where, according to The Tennessean, this year for the first time there will be a Menorah in Nashville's Riverfront Park. It will be lit by Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell. Chabad Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel has led an effort for several years to get Menorahs in public places. For the past four years, one is placed on the state capitol grounds. Tiechtel has gotten Menorahs into malls and grocery stores. Next Thursday, shoppers at the Mall of Green Hills will construct a 10-foot-tall menorah made out of of Legos. Tiechtel justifies all of this by saying: "It's a holiday of religious freedom. And I personally feel that a lot of Jewish people feel like they would like to have a display of something of their own on the holiday, that their holiday gets lost." However, again, others in the Jewish community do not all agree. Rabbi Laurie Rice says: "On the one hand, Jews in general feel good when they see menorahs displayed publicly because they feel like there's some equity, even though we live in a such a Christian culture. On the other hand, Hanukkah is not a major holiday in Judaism, and are we inflating it only because of competition with Christmas?" Rice said she personally believes "we're just commercializing Judaism and, in the same way that Christians take the season to heart, it's probably equally as frustrating."

An interesting article run last year by The Forward suggests that Christian activists have used Chabad's campaign for Menorahs in public places as leverage to demand nativity displays on public property. [Thanks to Joe Knippenberg for the lead to this article.]

"Christmas Wars" Discussed At Pew Forum

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has posted a transcript of an interesting discussion it hosted on Tuesday titled The Christmas Wars: Religion in the American Public Square . Speakers were Jon Meacham, managing editor of Newsweek and Michael Novak, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. [Thanks to Joseph Knippenberg for the lead.]

Amish In New York May Be Violating Labor Laws

Agape Press today reports that Amish families in the western New York town of Lyndonville have been told that they are violating state labor laws in employing their 14 to 17 year old children as apprentices in sawmilling, metalwork and construction businesses. Old Order Amish tradition is to send children to formal schools only through the eighth grade and then to start them working with their parents. New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom is talking with legislative leaders about resolving the problem. Apparently labor unions oppose any change in the law.

Removal of Cross From College Chapel Challenged

In October, the president of the College of William and Mary (part of the Virginia state system) asked the director of the campus to change College practice and display the historic 2-foot high bronze table cross in the College's Wren Chapel only during Christian religious services or, as requested, for individual worship. He wanted to make the chapel more welcoming to all faiths. (President's November statement to Board of Visitors.) Students and alumni have been campaigning to bring the cross back, and even have their own website. Now, according to the Associated Press, Mathew Staver, a lawyer with Liberty Counsel, is suggesting that a lawsuit might be filed. He says that the president's decision violates constitutional guarantees of free expression and free exercise of religion.

RLUIPA Held To Authorize Some Damage Claims Against Prison Officers

Last week, an Illinois federal district court decided the question of what kinds of damages are available to prisoners suing prison officials under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In Agrawal v. Briley, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88697 (ND IL, Dec. 6, 2006), the court held that RLUIPA authorizes claims for monetary damages against state officials in their individual capacities. Nominal and punitive damages are available, but claims for compensatory damages are barred by the Prison Litigation Reform Act when the prisoner alleges only mental or emotional injury, unaccompanied by physical injury.

Australian Appeals Court Reverses Hate Speech Findings Against Christian Pastors

In Australia, the Victoria Court of Appeals yesterday decided Catch the Fire Ministries, Inc. v. Islamic Council of Victoria, (Vic. Ct. App., Dec. 14, 2006), remanding the case for it to be determined by a differently constituted panel of the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal. The court held that the Tribunal had improperly interpreted a key provision of Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act when it found that two Christian pastors had illegally vilified Muslims. The charges stemmed from comments made by Pastor Daniel Scott at a seminar on Islam sponsored by Pastor Danny Nalliah's Catch the Fire Ministries, and comments in an online newsletter. (See prior posting.) The pastors had been ordered to correct their statments and issue an apology.

Sec. 8(1) of the Act provides that "A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons." The appeals court held that this section is not focusing on "a causal connection between the religious belief or activity and the conduct engaged in; but rather pertains to the question of whether an audience was incited to hatred of a particular person or class of persons because of the religious belief or activity of such person or class." Perth Now covers the decision.

School Board Settles Suit With Christian Rock Bank

Today's Toledo Blade reports that the Rossford, Ohio school board yesterday voted 3-1 to settle a lawsuit that had been brought against it by four of the members of a Christian rock band whose performance at a high school anti-drug assembly was cancelled by the school superintendent. (See prior posting.) The superintendent was concerned that the performance might be seen as promoting of religion. The trial court upheld the superintendent, but when the band appealed to the 6th Circuit, the board decided to give up the fight. (See prior posting.) The settlement provides that the trial court's decision-- and thus the precedent it sets-- will be vacated and the school board will amend its policy on school-sponsored productions to provide that "neither the board nor any teacher or administrator may disfavor or discourage a district-sponsored or school-sponsored publication or production on an otherwise suitable topic merely because of the speaker’s status or reputation for holding or advocating a particular religious belief or perspective." However, the settlement does not provide for the band to perform at Rossford High School. The suit is complicated by the fact that School Board President David Kleeberger's son is a member of the rock band, though he was not one of the plaintiffs. (See prior posting.)

Lansing, MI Council Debates Religious Exemptions From Human Rights Law

Members of Lansing, Michigan's city council are talking with religious leaders as they attempt to draft a broad human rights ordinance prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment, public facilities and public accommodations. Lansing's City Pulse reports that while religious leaders agree that the ordinance is needed, leaders of local Roman Catholic churches and a number of African-American clergy have concerns over the scope of exemptions for religious institutions from provisions prohibiting employment discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons. Bishop David Maxwell, vice president of the Clergy Forum of Greater Lansing and director of the Mayor's Office of Faith Based Initiatives says that the original draft of the law exempted religious organizations' hiring of officers, religious instructors and clergy from the law. However, Black pastors also want an exemption for hiring of staff or others that act contrary to a church's moral belief. Council's General Services Committee is now proposing an amendment that would provide: "It is permissible for a religious organization or institution to restrict employment opportunities, housing facilities or public accommodations that are operated as a direct part of religious activities to persons who conform with the moral tenets of that religious institution or organization"

Last week, representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Lansing asked for even broader exemptive language in the ordinance. They proposed a provision that would read: "This ordinance does not limit the right of an individual or an organization of any kind to speak, write, assemble, act or refrain from acting in accordance with religious belief." Councilwoman Kathie Dunbar, who introduced the ordinance, rejected this proposal as discriminatory.

Teaching Evolution Challenged In Russian Court

Maria Shreiber, a 15-year old student in St. Petersburg, Russia, has sued the city's education committee claiming that the treatment of evolution in the 10th-grade biology textbook used at the Cervantes Gymnasium is offensive to believers. The suit says that the book refers negatively to religion and the existence of God. At a court hearing on Monday, the girl's father argued that the biology textbook should be revised to reflect alternatives to evolution. An Associated Press report on the case says this is the first lawsuit of its kind in Russia.

European Parliament To Consider "Charter of Muslim Understanding"

This week the European Parliament will be presented with a "Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding" authored by Sam Solomon, a Sharia law expert. According to this week's Human Events, the document, which backers hope will be signed by European groups representing Muslims, calls on Muslims to respect other religions, promote the precedence of national laws over Sharia, and respect the Western traditions of freedom of belief and expression. Reporting on the proposal, today's Jerusalem Post quotes London Member of the European Parliament, Gerard Batten, who will introduce the proposal: "The views of so-called fundamentalists who believe in Islamic theocracy are simply incompatible with Western liberal democracy..."

Diocese, Insurers Argue Over Release Of Church Records

In Pittsfield, Massachusetts yesterday, a Berkshire Superior Court judge heard arguments by insurance companies that they should have access to 7,500 pages of records held by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. The insurers claim they need the documents to determine how the diocese has historically handled claims of sexual abuse by its priests in order to determine if claims against the diocese are "accidents" as defined in its insurance policies. Today's Springfield Republican reports on the case. John J. Egan, a lawyer for the diocese, said that the documents come under the state's statutory "spiritual counseling" privilege, as well as under the constitutional protection for the free exercise of religion. He said that some of the priests who faced possible expulsion from the priesthood were being counseled about the sacrament of Holy Orders. The insurers say the documents do not have anything to do with spiritual counseling.

High School's Use Of Church For Graduation Questioned

In Enfield, Connecticut, the ACLU has questioned plans by school officials to hold the 2007 graduation ceremony for Enrico Fermi High School at the First Cathedral of Bloomfield. Today's Hartford Courant says that in a letter to school officials, the ACLU asks authorities to find a neutral venue for graduation, claiming that using the church violates the Establishment Clause. The Board of Education Committee that chose First Cathedral says that it offered the most room and services for least cost, and that the church would remove religious artifacts for the graduation.

Romanian Council Says Religious Symbols Should Be Removed From Schools

Ekklesia yesterday reported that in Romania churches have criticized a Nov. 21 ruling by Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination. The ruling called for a ban on most religious symbols in schools. A complaint was filed before the Council by a parent, Emil Moise. He said that Orthodox icons in his daughter's classroom at Margareta Sterian Art High School in Buzau violated the constitutionally protected right of freedom of conscience and religion and the principle of separation of church and state. In response, the Council ruled that the education ministry should "prevent discrimination towards agnostic pupils" by requiring schools to limit faith symbols to religious education classes and to "spaces specially assigned for religious instruction". The Prime Minister has referred the Council's ruling to Parliament. This Wikipedia article discusses the ruling at length.

Utah Pardons Board Cleared Of Religious Favoritism Charge

In Granguillhome v. Utah Board of Pardons, [scroll to pg. 76] (D UT, Dec. 7, 2006), a Utah federal district court rejected claims by inmates at a Utah state correctional facility that the state's Board of Pardons and Parole has given preferential treatment to sex offenders who are members of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. The court held that plaintiffs had failed to produce sufficient evidence to support their Free Exercise claim. The court also rejected plaintiffs' Establishment Clause claims. It found one instance of the Board's questioning of an inmate about his religious beliefs to be troubling, but said that there is no evidence that this kind of questioning is routine.

Student's Right To Sing "Awesome God" In Talent Show Upheld

On Monday, a federal district court in New Jersey held that a second-grade student's free expression rights were violated when her elementary school refused to permit her to sing "Awesome God" in an after-hours school wide talent show. (Alliance Defense Fund release.) The school had said that the overtly religious message and proselytizing nature of the song made it inappropriate for the show. In O.T. v. Frenchtown Elementary School District Board of Education, (D NJ, Dec. 11, 2006), the court held that the limited oversight of the talent show by the school meant that the performance could not be considered school-sponsored speech. The court held that the school board was prohibited from engaging in viewpoint discrimination in the talent show, regardless of whether it is categorized as a limited public forum or a non-public forum. Finally it distinguished this case from cases involving prayers at school graduations and concluded that the talent show did not create Establishment Clause problems. Today's Newark Star-Ledger reports on the case, pointing out that the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the case in support of the student's right to perform the song.

California Pastor Cleared Of Anti-Muslim Hate Charges

In Palmdale, California, Pastor Audie Yancey, a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was cleared of hate incident charges that had been filed against him before the Antelope Valley Human Relations Task Force. A Muslim cleric filed the charges after Yancey, at a Palmdale City Council meeting, while holding a copy of the Quran handed out 200 copies of a gospel tract that read: "Remember 9/11: In the name of Allah they brought destruction and death to thousands. In the name of Jesus Christ you can have eternal life." USA Religious News, reporting on the case yesterday, quoted Pacific Justice Institute president Brad Dacus who hailed the ruling, saying: "If we allow Islamic clerics to silence pastors and Christians in this country, then we have lost, without question, not only the war against terrorism but, even more importantly, the war against Christianity and religious freedom."