Scientologists In Berlin Subject To Sunday Closing Laws

In Germany, residents of an upscale area in Berlin are upset about a new center recently opened by the Church of Scientology. Friday's Spiegel reports that city officials have found a creative way to limit the center's activities. In 1995, the German Federal Labor Court ruled that Scientology is "neither a religion nor an ideology", but merely a business. (Opinion full text in German.) This means that Germany's Sunday closing laws can be applied to the group, preventing it from offering courses or selling postcards, books, educational or fundraising goods on Sundays. Scientology has been under observation by Germany's domestic intelligence officials for a long time because of its aggressive recruitment practices.

Pennsylvania Court Permits Removed Episcopal Priest To Sue His Bishop

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday that a trial court in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania will permit an Episcopal priest to sue his bishop in state court for removing him from the priesthood. The long-running dispute (background documents) pits Rev. David Moyer, rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Rosemont, Pennsylvania against Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. who removed Moyer from the priesthood without granting him an ecclesiastical hearing.

Moyer is a conservative who opposes Bishop Bennison's feminist and gay rights views. After Moyer refused to permit the bishop to preach in his church, the bishop prohibited Moyer from dispensing the sacraments. Moyer then affiliated with the breakaway Anglican Church in America. Focusing on that move, Bennison invoked a little-know provision of church law that permits a bishop to summarily remove a priest who joins another faith. This avoided the public forum that Moyer wanted to use to accuse Bennison and others in the Episcopal hierarchy of disregard for the scriptures. Also reporting on the case, The Living Church Foundation quotes Moyer as taking the position that he did not abandon the Communion of the Church, so that the "abandonment canon" allowing removal without a trial was wrongly applied to him.

The trial court's decision is a surprising one in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1976 holding in Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, that cast doubt on whether there is an exception for "fraud, collusion or arbitrariness" to the First Amendment doctrine that precludes civil courts from examining decision by hierarchical churches regarding religious disputes. However the trial judge apparently agreed with arguments made by Moyer's attorneys that the priest had no other remedy because Bishop Bennison denied him due process by removing him without a church trial. They also claim Bennison fraudulently concealed relevant documents from the diocesan standing committee that approved the priest's removal.

The trial judge's exact rationale seems unclear because apparently he did not (at least yet) issue an opinion to accompany his ruling. The case has provoked extensive discussion on the Religionlaw listserv ("Landmark First Amendment Religion Litigation?" thread in archive). [Thanks to Aaron J. Stemplewicz and to James Maule via Religionlaw for the lead.]

Yemen Jews Forced Out Of Their Village By Shi'ite Radicals

Earlier this week, the Jewish Press and the Jerusalem Post reported that in Yemen, 45 Jews have left their village in Sa'ada county after a leader of the Jewish community was warned-- in a letter delivered to him by 4 masked Shi'ite militants-- that if the Jews stayed they would be exposed to killings, abductions and looting. The letter said: "After accurate surveillance over the Jews residing in Al Haid, it has become clear to us that they were doing things which serve mainly global Zionism, which seeks to corrupt the people and distance them from their principles, their values, their morals, and their religion. Islam calls upon us to fight against the disseminators of decay."

The Yemen Times, reporting that the threats against Yemen's Jews are being discussed by the Israeli government, said that the trouble began when a Jewish teenager recently arrived from Israel took photos of some tribal girls on farms with his personal camera, as well as in a village jointly inhabited by both Jews and Muslims. The threatening letter that was delivered to the Jewish community has been posted on the website of Yemen's Islah Party. Yemeni Prime Minister Abdulqader Bajammal, at a press conference attended by Jordan’s Prime Minister, said: "We don’t allow anyone to harm any of the Jewish citizens in Yemen. We strongly reject what happened to Jews in Sa’ada." He promised all citizens, including Jews, state protection.

The Jews have moved to a hotel in Yemen's capital of Sa'ada. The Yemen Observer reported today that the governor of Sada'a, Yahya al-Shami, has promised that arrangements were underway to return the Jews to their homes with a security escort. However no date for their return has been set.

The Jews involved are part of a few hundred Jews left in Yemen. Most of Yemen's 45,000 Jews have been brought to Israel, beginning in 1949 after 1948 Muslim riots in Aden that killed 82 people.

Las Cruces Schools Seek Attorneys' Fees After Establishment Clause Win

Now that the Las Cruces, New Mexico Public Schools has won a suit brought against it challenging its logo and a school mural featuring three crosses (see prior posting), the school system is asking a federal judge to require unsuccessful plaintiff Paul Weinbaum to reimburse the schools for $16,000 of the nearly $53,000 that was spent to defend the lawsuit. Today's Las Cruces Sun-News says that the $16,000 represents that amount spent by the school system on the Establishment Clause litigation after a similar suit against the city was dismissed by the court. (See prior posting.) School system attorney William "Rusty" Babington says that once the city's suit was dismissed, the suit against the schools was clearly frivolous. City attorney Fermin Rubio said the city will not seek to recover the $20,000 it spent in legal fees defending the suit brought against it by Weinbaum.

UPDATE: Thanks to shlep, here is the full text of the school board's Motion For Award of Attorney's Fees.

Canadian School Board Ends Gideon Bible Distribution

In the Canadian province of British Columbia, the Burnaby School Board has voted to end the offering of free Bibles by the Gideons to public school students. CBC News reported yesterday that the long-standing practice of Gideons International giving out pamphlets to fifth grade students asking them and their parents if they would like to receive a free Bible was ended after a parent complained. The majority of school board concluded that it is not the role of the public school system to spread religious beliefs. Dissenting board member Richard Lee argued that the practice should be permitted, with other religions also having an opportunity to hand out literature.

Establishment Clause Challenge To Criminalizing Murder of Fetus Rejected

In Flores v. State of Texas, (TX 9th Ct. App., Jan. 24, 2007), a Texas state court of appeals rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a provision of Texas criminal law that defines capital murder as including the murder of "an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth". The claim was raised in an appeal of a conviction by Gerardo Flores who had been sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend's twin sons in utero by hitting the pregnant woman and stepping on her abdomen. Flores had argued that the statute was unconstitutional because it adopted a religious view of the commencement of life. The court, however, said that a statute does not violate the Establishment Clause merely because it is consistent with religious views. It said that the challenged statute does not foster excessive government entanglement with religion, but rather protects the future viability of the unborn child.

The court also rejected Flores equal protection claim that focused on the fact that the statute excepts from punishment a pregnant mother who aborts a fetus, while it punishes a biological father who takes action to do so.

House Resolution Honors Contributions of Catholic Schools

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representative passed H. Res. 51: Honoring the Contributions of Catholic Schools, by a vote of 428 to 0 (with 7 voting "present"). The Resolution supports the goals of Catholic Schools Week. It points out that 14% of students enrolled in Catholic schools are non-Catholic, and says that "Catholic schools produce students strongly dedicated to their faith, values, families, and communities by providing an intellectually stimulating environment rich in spiritual, character, and moral development."

Christian Group Excluded From Pagan Pride Festival Sues

In Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this week, the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit in federal district court on behalf of David Ickes and seven other members of the Worldwide Street Preachers' Fellowship who were prevented by police from preaching to a crowd gathered in a public park for a Pagan Pride Festival. (Press release.) The complaint (full text) in Worldwide Street Preachers' Fellowship v. City of Grand Rapids, claims that city ordinances requiring a permit for public speeches and religious meetings in any public park, as well as the city's disorderly conduct ordinance, violate plaintiffs' First Amendment rights. Plaintiffs' memorandum in support of its motion for a preliminary injunction is also available online.

Ministerial Exception Bars Race Claim By Church Music Director

In Ross v. Metropolitan Church of God, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4784 (ND GA, Jan. 23, 2007), a Georgia federal district court applied the "ministerial exception" to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to dismiss a racial discrimination claim brought by the former Pastor of Worship Arts of the Metropolitan Church of God against the Church and its Senior Pastor. The Senior Pastor was charged with making racially insensitive remarks to plaintiff, who is African-American, and telling him that his music "won't work here" because "this is a white church". Ultimately plaintiff was fired. The court held that the First Amendment precludes it from making the kind of inquiry that would be involved in this case-- determining what is suitable music for worship services at the Metropolitan Church. The case had originally been filed in state court and removed to federal court. The court remanded the remaining state law claims to state court.

High School Graduation In Church Building Considered

In Montgomery County, Maryland, the Board of Education is struggling with a difficult decision on whether to hold this year's Blair High School graduation in the Jericho City of Praise Church. Wednesday's Washington Jewish Week reports that the Church's 10,000-seat auditorium is the only local venue large enough for the ceremony. However, some potential attendees say they are uncomfortable being in the auditorium that contains a pediment with the words "Jesus is the Lord" at the back of the stage. The Church says it will not cover the inscription for the graduation. Also a stained glass window with a cross is there, and "Jesus is the Lord!!!" is written in large letters on the outside of the building.

The Board's other choices for graduation, however, are not attractive. DAR Constitution Hall only seats 4,000, has parking and accessibility problems. Also the DAR has a segregationist history. Show Place Arena also is not well designed for graduations and is not near a Metro stop. An arena can be rented from the University of Maryland, but that will cost $37,000, while Jericho City of Praise Church does not charge for use of its facilities.

UPDATE: On Jan. 31, Washington Jewish Week reported that Blair High School graduation will be held at the Comcast Center in College Park, and that Montgomery County Public Schools will cover the cost for all other high schools in the county to also hold their graduations at Comcast Center.

Ohio Teacher Challenges Required Dues To Union That Supports Abortion

CNS News reported yesterday on a federal lawsuit that was filed this week in Columbus, Ohio challenging the constitutionality of a provision of the state's public employee labor relations law. Ohio Revised Code section 4117.09(C) exempts from the requirement to pay union dues "any public employee who is a member of and adheres to established and traditional tenets or teachings of a bona fide religion or religious body which has historically held conscientious objections to joining or financially supporting an employee organization..." St. Mary's school teacher Carol Katter is a Catholic, and refuses to pay dues to her public employee union because it supports abortion on demand. She says that Ohio's law amounts to an unconstitutional establishment of religion because it exempts only adherents of specific faiths such as Seventh-Day Adventists and Mennonites. She says that her union (Ohio Education Association) told her she would need to change religions in order to get an exemption.

Last September, in another similar suit, the Justice Department and the EEOC entered a consent decree with a different public employee union requiring it to allow any employee with sincere religious objections to paying union dues to instead make a donation to charity. (See prior posting.)

Shariah Divorce Refusal May Be Sentencing Consideration In Canada

In Canada, prosecutors have argued to a Montreal court that a Muslim man's refusal to grant a Shariah divorce to his wife should be considered an aggravating factor when he is sentenced for stabbing her and their baby daughter. Meanwhile, Quebec's ban on the use of religious tribunals to settle family law disputes has placed the wife in a difficult position. She wants to go back to her family in Lebanon, but fears that without an Islamic divorce, if she does she will be forced to return to her husband or be charged with abducting her own daughter. Reporting on the case yesterday, the Montreal Gazette says that Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association suggested the woman obtain a civil divorce in Canada and then ask an imam or a panel of Muslim scholars to acknowledge the court divorce.

Detroit Muslim Says His Daughter Kept From Islam By State Caseworker

Yesterday's Detroit News reports that on Monday a suit was filed in a Michigan federal district court by a Muslim father who is in a custody fight over his daughter. The suit claims that the state's Department of Human Services and a local church are conspiring to prohibit his daughter from practicing Islam. Abraham Ben-Abbad of Dearborn alleges that a caseworker told his former wife that she could ignore a court order and keep their 13-year old daughter from visiting her father during Ramadan and on other religious holidays. He also claims that the caseworker permitted the pastor of Dearborn Assembly of God Church to help plan his daughter's future. The lawsuit claims that the church's pastor, Trey Hancock, operates an outreach program for American women married to Muslim men, and that his ministry is directed at converting Muslims to Christianity.

London Rabbi Cleared Of Excessive Noise Charges

In Britain, a High Court has ruled in favor of a North London rabbi charged with violating a noise abatement order. Yesterday's Metro reported that Rabbi Moshe Rottenberg had been charged by a Muslim neighbor of his synagogue with excessive noise-- chanting, stamping and shouting. However the crown court, overturning the rabbi's conviction by a magistrate, found that the noise was infrequent and did not amount to a nuisance. Rabbi Rottenberg's lawyers argued that the noise occurred only on holy days. The High Court, upholding the crown court, said that the judge did not have to follow the views of environmental health officers who thought the noise was excessive.

Rehearing Scheduled For Niqab-Wearing Woman's Small Claims Case

Yesterday's Detroit Free Press reports that a new hearing has been granted to Ginnnah Muhammad, the Muslim woman whose small-claims case in Hamtramck (MI) was dismissed last October when she refused a judge's order to remove her veil while testifying. (See prior posting.) Muhammad says she plans again to wear her niqab (full face veil). It is unclear what Judge Paul Paruk's reaction to this will be at the Feb. 21 hearing. The case involves claims between Muhammad and a rental car company.

Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws May Eventually Be Changed

Reform of Pakistan's blasphemy laws has become a subject of increasing interest. This recent background article from Pakistan's The News argues: "Blasphemy laws are objectionable for three fundamental reasons: (i) they violate Article 25 of the constitution that makes all citizens equal before law and entitled to its equal protection; (ii) they are manipulated to penalize and harass citizens belonging to minority communities; and (iii) they undermine free speech and encourage religious bigotry and obscurantism by threatening to persecute intellectuals and scholars who debate or question stereotypical views on religious doctrine."

The issue has become more pressing in light of last week's decision by the Lahore High Court overturning the 25-year sentence of a Christian, Shahbaz Masih Kaka. The court found that the original accusations against the mentally disabled youth, who had already spent 18 months in jail, were not credible. (AsiaNews.it, Jan. 22.) A senior Pakistani government official says that the blasphemy laws will be amended after the national elections that will be held later this year or early next year. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistan Senate's foreign affairs committee, said that action any earlier than that would give an election issue to opposition Islamic parties. (Catholic News, Jan. 25).

District Court Dismisses Poway School T-Shirt Claim As Related Cert. Petition Is Pending

Last April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a preliminary injunction in a suit brought by two California high school students claiming that their high school improperly banned one of them-- Tyler Harper-- from wearing a T-shirt proclaiming: "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned", and "Homosexuality Is Shameful". A school rule banned the T-shirts as "hate behavior". A petition for cert. is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. Now in Harper v. Poway Unified School District, (SD CA, Jan. 24, 2007), the district court has dismissed claims brought by Tyler Harper as moot because he has graduated. It also rejected the First Amendment and state law challenges to the school's hate behavior policies brought by Tyler's sister, Kelsie Harper. Yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the decision. It says that Kevin Theriot, lawyer for the Harpers, says they will appeal the district court decision.

UPDATE: On Feb. 7, Alliance Defense Fund filed a notice of appeal on behalf of Tyler and Kelsie Harper.

Indian State Seeks Return Of Lands Held By Catholic Missionaries

The Indian state of Chattisgarh has filed 262 cases against the Catholic Church seeking to obtain the return of land on which Catholic missionaries have built hospitals, schools and other institutions. The state's government is controlled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Relying on local legislation that bans the sale of Tribal lands to non-Tribals, in one of the cases a local court has required the Sisters of the Holy Cross return to 12 acres on which they built a monastery and a school. Asia News reported yesterday that more than 80,000 Tribals demonstrated in support of the Catholic Church last Monday. One demonstrator said that the land "was not stolen from us, but was regularly sold to the Church by our ancestors, which now uses it to help. We are happy for the schools and hospitals [because they] educate us and provide us with medical care."

Recently Available Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Cummings v. Darsey, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4257 (D NJ, Jan. 16, 2007), a New Jersey federal district court permitted a Muslim prisoner to proceed with a challenge to a drug treatment program that he is required to attend. He claimed that it includes a religious component that is offensive to him as a Muslim and that attendance at the program prevents from attending most of the Muslim religious services that are available.

In Furnace v. Arceo, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3725 (ND CA, Jan. 5, 2007), a California federal district court permitted a state prisoner to proceed with a free exercise and equal protection challenge claiming he was denied religious meals and refused a transfer to another prison that could provide him such meals.

Whitfield v. v. Illinois Dep't of Corrections, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94779 (ND IL, March 20, 2006) is an older case that has just become available on Lexis. In it the court rejected a prisoner's claim that his right to practice his African Hebrew Israelite religion (including its dietary restrictions) was infringed, and that retaliation was practiced against him for filing a grievance. Plaintiff failed to prove that he was in fact affiliated with the African Hebrew Israelite religion.

Lawson v. McDonough, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94681 (ND FL, Dec. 27, 2006) involved claims under RLUIPA and the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act by an Orthodox Jewish inmate who was serving a life sentence in Florida. He asserted that he was denied the right to observe over a dozen religious requirements. In a lengthy opinion, a federal magistrate judge in Florida federal district court recommended permiting him to move ahead with some of his claims, but dismissed others because plaintiff had not exhausted his administrative remedies or because of mootness or lack of standing to raise the claims.

Liberal Clergy Question Goal Of Proposed New Hampshire Bill On Marriages

In New Hampshire, House Bill 69 recently introduced into the legislature may interfere with the right of liberal clergy to perform religious wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. Yesterday's Concord Monitor says, however, that the the bill's sponsor, Republican Representative Daniel Itse, denies that this is the bill's goal. He says it is aimed at strengthening separation of church and state and is neutral on the issue of same-sex ceremonies.

The bill would amend RSA 457.37 that currently exempts some religious officials from obtaining licenses to perform marriages. The amended statute would read: "Nothing contained in this chapter shall affect the right of ... religious officiants authorized by their church, religion, sect, or denomination to solemnize marriages in the way usually practiced among them, and all marriages so solemnized shall be valid unless proscribed by RSA 457:1 or RSA 457:2". Sections 457:1 and 2 prohibit, among other things, same-sex marriages.

Reform Rabbi Richard Klein of Temple Beth Jacob in Concord says the bill is a response to the growing practice among liberal clerics to stop asking for licenses from couples, gay or straight, who seek religious marriages. He fears that the statute implies some kind penalty-- such as loss of the right to perform any marriages-- for clergy who perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. He says that interferes with freedom of religion. Rev. Jed Rardin, pastor of South Congregational Church in Concord, says he officiates at marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples even though they are not legally recognized.