Religious Polygamists Prevalent In Upscale Utah Subdivisions

A syndicated article from the Chicago Tribune today focuses on the prevalence of polygamy in upscale subdivisions around Salt Lake City, Utah. After US. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, who is a Mormon, wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Sept. 12 to request a federal task force to investigate polygamous sects in the Western U.S. (full text of letter), many polygamists have come forward to defend their religious beliefs in plural marriage. They say it fulfills the mission of all Mormons to be fruitful and multiply and to ascend to the highest reaches of heaven. They decry the fact that the mainstream Mormon church in 1890 abandoned polygamy for what they see as political expediency. Experts estimate that 40,000 people live in polygamous families in the Western U.S., with most of those in Utah.

Vatican Message To U.N. On Religious Freedom

Zenit has published the full text of a Sept. 21 address on Religious Freedom In the Global Village delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N.'s office in Geneva.

Pennsylvania Upholds Father's Right To Teach Religious Belief In Polygamy

Yesterday in Shepp v. Shepp, (PA Sup. Ct., Sept. 27, 2006) (majority opinion, concurrence, dissent) the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to order a divorced father to refrain from discussing his religious views that favor polygamy with his daughter whose custody he is sharing. The order was sought by the child's mother who divorced her former husband because of his beliefs in polygamy. The court said:

Based on the record before us, it is clear that the Commonwealth’s interest in promoting compliance with the statute criminalizing bigamy is not an interest of the "highest order" that would supersede the interest of a parent in speaking to a child about a deeply held aspect of his faith.... The state’s compelling interest to protect a child in any given case ... is not triggered unless a court finds that a parent’s speech is causing or will cause harm to a child’s welfare.

However Justice Baer dissenting argued:

It is imperative ... to distinguish matters of free expression from matters of immoral and criminal conduct. Where the former amounts to indoctrination into the latter, constitutional rights begin to yield to society’s interests in regulating such conduct.

The Associated Press reports on the decision.

Wisconsin City Settles RLUIPA Suit

Today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the city of New Berlin, Wisconsin has reached a settlement with SS Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in a long-running zoning dispute. In 2005, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the city's refusal to grant the church's rezoning request violated RLUIPA. This week's settlement requires the city to pay the church $370,000 in damages and will rezone the land to permit the church to build once it applies for a building permit and submits plans. The agreement still needs to be approved by the court.

EEOC Charges Private College With Religious Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued a private college, the University of Phoenix, alleging that the school favors enrollment counselors who are members of the Mormon Church over other counselors. Yesterday's Arizona Republic reports that the EEOC charged that non-Mormon counselors employed by the University were not given the same leads on new students and were discriminated against in other ways as well.

Religious Clubs Thrive In South Florida Schools

Today's Miami Herald says that religious clubs are thriving in public schools in South Florida. The Christian group, First Priority, has 80 chapters in Broward and Palm Beach counties, supported by local churches. Jewish and Muslim, as well as Christian groups are on Miami-Dade middle and high school campuses. The federal Equal Access Act requires that such groups be treated in the same way as non-religious extracurricular organizations in public secondary schools.

FLDS Jeffs Charges Religious Persecution

Walter Bugden, attorney for Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the FLDS Church, says that his client views his prosecution for rape as an accomplice and for sexual conduct with a minor to be religious persecution. The St. George (UT) Spectrum reported on the remarks that were made yesterday after a brief scheduling conference was held in court for Jeffs who is charged in connection with arranging polygamous marriages involving minors.

German Officials, Muslim Leaders, Confer On Divisive Issues

Today's New York Times reports that in Berlin yesterday 15 government officials held a conference with 15 German Muslim leaders to discuss issues that divide Muslims from non-Muslims. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, organized and chaired the conference. The issue on which all participants agreed was that the Detusche Oper of Berlin should reverse its decision to cancel the Mozart opera Idomeneo in which a scene includes the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad. Opera officials feared a violent reaction from Muslims. (See prior posting.) Other issues discussed at the conference included teaching of the Islamic religion in public schools, training of imams in Germany, construction of mosques, and discrimination against Muslims in Germany.

State Employee's Religious Discrimination Claim Survives

In Garcia v. Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 2006 U.S Dist. LEXIS 68463 (ND IL, Sept. 11, 2006), an Illinois federal district court permitted a state employee to proceed with her Title VII religious discrimination claim that religious items were removed from her cubicle, that she was told to stop performing the sign of the cross and to stop saying "bendito," and that the regional administrator said her performance of the sign of the cross was one of the reasons she was required to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination.

Florida Church For Homeless Sues For Discrimination In Zoning

In Gainesville, Florida on Tuesday, Fire of God Ministries sued the city in federal court alleging religious discrimination in requiring the church to obtain a special use permit to operate when the city previously allowed a Moose Lodge to hold meetings on the same property without a permit. The Gainesville Sun reports that the church's congregation is largely homeless, and the church feeds them meals as well as holding services.

Illinois Church Election Under Court Supervision Upheld

In Marsaw v. Richards, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 870 (IL App., Sept. 22, 2006), and Illinois state court of appeals upheld a trial court's judgment that resolved a dispute between two factions of the Bethlehem Healing Temple Church through ordering an election that it supervised. The Court of Appeals found that the trial court had resolved the dispute using neutral principles of civil law. Even though the church's formal election procedures had often not been used in the past, they were still operative. The court also held that the results of a judicial proceeding are not burdens on religious practice that violate the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Los Angeles Churches Have Made Political Contributions

Today's Los Angeles Daily News reports that 39 Los Angeles area churches, synagogues and Buddhist temples were identified by local political candidates as contributing more than $15,000 to their election campaigns since 1998. The information was obtained from Ethics Commission filings. The disclosures add to the growing national debate over the role of churches in politics.

German Opera Company Cancels Mozart Performance Fearing Religious Violence

In Germany, Deutsche Oper has cancelled a production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" with a scene featuring the severed heads of Jesus, Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad, out of fear of violent reactions by Muslims. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the decision to cancel the performance, saying that self-censorship out of fear would not be tolerated. Stories in the International Herald Tribune and the Washington Post discuss the reactions across Germany.

Accommodation For Religious Group Is Problem For British Pension System

In Britain on April 6 of this year, new rules came into effect to offer simple and more flexible retirement pensions. However it now appears that what was intended to be an accommodation for a small religious group could threaten the viability of the whole pension plan. Yesterday's Belfast Telegraph reports that the new pension rules contain an alternative to traditional pensions designed for the Plymouth Brethren, a group that has religious objections to anyone except God calculating one's likely date of death. The rules provide for "alternatively secured pensions" (ASP's) that permit savers to keep their funds invested in the stock market until their death, and then pass on those assets to their heirs. With traditional pensions, nothing goes to one's heirs. The problem that has now surfaced is that nothing in the legal rules limit ASP's to those who have religious objection to traditional pensions. So now many financial advisers are considering suggesting ASP's be used by a broader group of investors. While the Treasury is looking at possible changes to limit ASP's to religious objectors to risk pooling, the Equality Act 2006 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion in the provision of goods and services.

Justice Department Sues NY Village Under RLUIPA

The Associated Press yesterday reported on a suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the village of Sufferin, New York, that tests the scope of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The suit involves the operation of "Shabbos House" at Good Samaritan Hospital in Sufferin. Since the nearest hotel is over three miles away, Bikur Cholim, Inc., an Orthodox Jewish service agency, operates a facility within walking distance in which Orthodox Jews can stay on the Sabbath and on Jewish holidays in order to visit patients without violating religious rules against driving on those days. For six years the facility was on hospital grounds. However in 2004, in connection with expansion of the hospital, Shabbos House was moved across the street into a newly built house in an area zoned for single family dwellings. The village, however, refused an application for a building permit and zoning variance to permit the house to be used by up to 14 people. Village attorney, Terry Rice, said that Bikur Cholim did not claim a religious use when it asked for the zoning variance. The facility is operating pending a court decision.

Michigan Township's Zoning Violates RLUIPA

Earlier this month, in New Life Ministries v. Charter Township of Mt. Morris,(ED MI, Sept. 7, 2006), a federal district court in Michigan granted summary judgment to New Life Ministries in its suit charging a Michigan township with violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The township's zoning ordinance does not permit buildings used for religious services in areas zoned C-2, even though it permits theaters, schools and various kinds of organizations in those areas. The court found that this violates 42 U.S.C. §2000cc(b)(1) that prohibits land use regulations that treat religious organizations unequally with secular institutions. The court held that the jurisdictional requirements imposed by RLUIPA for claims that land use regulations impose a substantial burden on free exercise do not apply to unequal treatment claims under the statute.

House Passes Ban on Attorneys' Fees In Establishment Clause Cases

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2679. The bill, originally known as, the Public Expression of Religion Act, (see prior posting) was amended prior to passage to be called the "Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006". The bill passed by a vote of 244-173. The House vote and background is reported by ABP News. Here is a listing of the vote cast by each House member. The controversial bill would prevent federal courts from awarding attorneys' fees to plaintiffs in suits alleging Establishment Clause violations by state or local governments, and would limit relief to injunctions and declaratory judgments. A number of religious and civil liberties groups opposed the bill, arguing that it will chill the ability of minority groups to defend their religious liberties. However, proponents say that the threat of attorneys' fee awards gives plaintiffs undue leverage in negotiating settlements of Establishment Clause claims. The measure is not likely to become law because, according to ABP, it is unlikely that the Senate will vote on the companion bill pending in that chamber before the current session of Congress ends.

Michigan School's Policy On Choir Music Stirs Debate

In Howell, Michigan, the visit of a German choir to Howell High School through an exchange program has created controversy among parents over the school's policy on religious music. The Livingston (MI) Press & Argus reported today that the school has developed a policy that choir concerts should contain no more than 30% sacred music. The German "Voices of Heaven" choir was apparently asked to cut out some of their usual music to meet this policy. This has angered some parents of Howell students who hosted the visiting choir members for a September 13 concert.

Spain Will Change Method Of Financing Catholic Church

Last Friday, according to the International Herald Tribune, the Spanish government announced a new arrangement for funding of the Catholic Church in Spain. The government will no longer give direct grants to the Church, and the Church will begin to pay the country's value added tax, as required by the European Union. In exchange, the amount that Spanish taxpayers can voluntarily elect to donate to the Church from their tax declarations will rise from 0.52% to 0.7%. As of last Friday, the Bishop's Conference of Spain had no comment on the arrangement until it saw the language of the new law.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Brown v. Riley, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66883 (WD MI, Sept. 19, 2006), a Michigan federal district judge adopted the report and recommendation of a magistrate judge that found a prison officer acted improperly in denying an inmate a kosher diet.

In Roddy v. West Virginia, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68106 (ND WV, Sept. 21, 2006), a federal district judge dismissed without prejudice claims by an inmate that his free exercise rights were infringed when certain Native American religious items were confiscated from him. The court found that the inmate had not exhausted his internal grievance procedures before filing suit.

In Lee v. Wenderlich, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67731 (WD NY, Sept. 21, 2006), a New York federal district judge permitted an inmate to move ahead with his First Amendment challenge to a prison rule that resulted in his name being removed from the list of those attending Ramadan services because he had 3 unexcused absences in attending.

In Mize v. Lewis, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68008 (ED TN, Sept. 21, 006), a Tennessee federal district court upheld prison rules that denied a prisoner Christian Identity literature that promotes racism, anti-Semitism, and white separatist views connected with security threat group activity.

In Ghani v. Caldwell, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66475 (ED MI, Sept. 18, 2006), a Michigan federal district court dismissed a Buddhist prisoner's claims regarding his access to vegan meals. The court found that he was now receiving such meals and that at the time meals were first refused, the 6th Circuit had held that RLUIPA was unconstitutional and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to the contrary had not yet been rendered.

Army Temporarily Enjoined From Placing Conscientious Objector On Active Duty

A federal judge in Boston has temporarily enjoined the Army from forcing into active duty a doctor who says that her religious conscientious objection was kindled only well after she had enlisted when in 2003 her father died. Today the Associated Press reports that Dr. Mary Hanna, a Coptic Orthodox Christian, had agreed to serve on active duty and then in the reserve in exchange for the Army's paying for her medical education at Tufts University. Her attorney says she will repay the $184,000 the government has paid for her education. The court set a hearing in the case for October 10.

Polygamy Ban Being Challenged In 10th Circuit Case

The Associated Press yesterday, in a widely disseminated article, discusses the briefs that have been filed in a U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals case that is challenging the constitutionality of Utah's ban on polygamy. Challengers argue that they have a deeply held religious belief that plural marriage is ordained of God and is to be encouraged and practiced. They say that the polygamy ban unconstitutionally targets one religion. The brief focuses on the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that struck down Texas' homosexual sodomy statute as precedent for invalidating on privacy grounds Utah's polygamy laws as well.

"See You At The Pole" Is Tomorrow

Tomorrow is scheduled as the annual See You At The Pole gathering at schools around the country. Organizers describe the event on their website as: "a student-initiated, student organized, and student-led event. That means this is all about students meeting at their school flagpole to pray—for their school, friends teachers, government, and their nation. [It] is not a demonstration, political rally, nor a stand for or against anything." The website also offers advice on the rights of students to conduct these events before school hours begin, and the rights of adults to attend. Today's Ft. Myers (FL) News-Press carries an article on the background of SYATP and of the church-state issues surrounding it.

Clerics Maneuvering In Advance of Iranian Election of Assembly of Experts

The New York Times today reported on the machinations taking place in Iran as candidates are attempting to position themselves for the upcoming December 15 election of the Assembly of Experts-- a body of religious experts who oversee the Supreme Leader of the country.

Free Exercise Challenge To Migratory Bird Treaty Act Eagle Protection Rejected

In United States v. Tawahongva, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67947 (D. AZ, Sept. 11, 2006), an Arizona federal district court rejected the motion of a member of the Hopi Indian tribe seeking dismissal of the indictment that charged him with illegally possessing a golden eagle in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Defendant Berra Tawahongva claimed that his rights to free exercise of his religion would be infringed by forcing him to obtain a permit in order to gather eagles. The court held that Tawahongva lacked standing to challenge the permit system as applied to him, since he never attempted to obtain a permit. Insofar as he is asserting a facial challenge to the permit system, Tawahongva failed to show that his free exercise of religion was substantially burdened. Moreover, the United States has established a compelling interest in the protection of golden eagles and has demonstrated that the permit system is the least restrictive means of serving that interest.

Pope Meets With Muslim Envoys Over His Remarks

Reuters and Deutsche Welle are among those reporting that Pope Benedict XVI held a meeting today with the envoys of 22 Muslim countries plus the leaders of Italy's Muslim community in order to defuse Muslim anger over a speech he made in Regensburg, Germany on Sept. 12. During today's meeting at the Pope's summer residence in Castle Gondolfo, Benedict XVI urged a continuing dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He told the ambassadors: "I should like to reiterate all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers." Several of the envoys in attendance said they were satisfied with the meeting.

Parent's Suit Against School's "Opposite Sex Day" Survives Dismissal Motion

In Stanley v. Carrier-Mills Stonefort School District No. 2, 2006 U.S. Dist LEXIS 68061 (SD IL, Sept. 21, 2006), an Illinois federal district court refused to dismiss a claim by the parent of school children that the school's "Opposite Sex Day" violated her right to raise her children according to her Christian beliefs. The school encouraged, but did not require, students to dress for that day in clothing of the opposite sex. Plaintiff claims that even though not required, the stigma of not participating would effectively compel her children to cross dress, in violation of Deuteronomy 22:5 that reads: "A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this."

Recent Articles On the Constitution, Law and Religion

From SmartCILP:
David B. Kopel, The Catholic Second Amendment, 29 Hamline Law Review 519-565 (2006).

Pat Nolan & Marguerite Telford, Indifferent No More: People of Faith Mobilize to End Prison Rape, 32 Journal of Legislation 129-141 (2006).

From SSRN:
Richard W. Garnett IV & Joshua D. Dunlap, Taking Accommodation Seriously: Religious Freedom and the O Centro Case (2006 Cato Supreme Court Review 257 ).

From Bepress:
Robert J. Delahunty, Varied Carols: Legislative Prayer in a Pluralist Polity (August 24, 2006).

University Of Wisconsin Refuses To Recognize Catholic Foundation As Student Group

On Friday, the University of Wisconsin- Madison informed the UW Roman Catholic Foundation that it would not be recognized as a student organization because it is not controlled and directed by students as required by University rules. Only 3 of the group's 12 board members are students. The Associated Press on Saturday reported that the group is the oldest and largest religious organization on campus. The University's e-mail was received just as the Foundation was filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that the University has violated court decisions requiring funding of student groups without regard to their viewpoints.

Last May, the University's chancellor reluctantly recommended approval $145,000 for the Foundation even though he believed that use of the funds for an evangelical ministry, prayer groups and Lenten booklets would violate the Establishment Clause. Recently the University applied the rule requiring students to control recognized organizations to deny recognition to the Knights of Columbus as a student group. (See prior posting.)

Religion In Russian Schools

Monday's Moscow Times carries an interesting article on the teaching of Orthodox culture in Russian schools. Schools in the Moscow region have been experimenting with the classes for six years. However no clear guidelines are in place for what can be taught. The article discusses one teacher's course that covers specific holidays in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vermont Supreme Court Rejects Free Exercise Argument In License Suspension

In Office of Child Support ex rel. Stanzione, (Vt. Sup. Ct., Sept. 13, 2006), the Vermont Supreme Court took only one week after oral arguments to decide that the mother, whose drivers license was suspended for nonpayment of child support, had not made a threshold showing that suspending her drivers' license would substantially burden her free exercise of religion.

Church Land Use Denial Arises In Claim Against Army

A recent decision by the United States Court of Federal Claims raises a church land use issue in an unusual setting. Grace Church of Los Alamitos, California was refused a conditional use permit for property it wished to purchase located next to a military air base. The current owners of the property, whose contract to sell the property to Grace Church was conditioned on the Church obtaining a conditional use permit, claimed that a United States Army study of property near the airfield, issued in violation of applicable regulations, caused unfounded public safety concerns by warning that the property was near the airfield's crash zone. The House of Representatives, pursuant to 28 USC 1492, referred the claim to the Court. In Davis v. United States (Ct. Fed. Cl., Sept. 15, 2006), the court found that the Army's study was not a substantial factor in the city's denial of a permit. The city was already aware of the problems flagged by the report. So that there were no damages caused by the Army report and the owners therefore had no valid claim against the United States.

Recalled Trustee's Challenge To Pledge of Allegiance Fails

Habecker v. Town of Estes Park, Colorado (D. CO, Sept. 21, 2006), is a challenge to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance that arose in a rather unusual context. David Habecker, a town trustee was recalled in an election in which the dominant issue was whether citizens wished to be represented by an official who refused to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at trustees' meetings. A Colorado federal district court dismissed the case on standing grounds because it was not the Pledge that caused Habecker's recall, he was not forced to recite the Pledge, and a declaratory judgment regarding the Pledge would not remedy his recall. It found that the case was moot because Habecker was no longer in office. The court went on to find that even if the case were justiciable, since trustees' meetings could be opened with an explicit prayer, there was no constitutional problem with opening the meetings with the Pledge. Finally the court held that the action of citizens in circulating a petition and voting for Habecker's recall was private action, not state action.

A report on the case in Saturday's Rocky Mountain News points out that the U.S. Justice Department had entered the case on the side of the town, arguing that the Pledge is merely a patriotic exercise.

Bush Addresses Muslims On Ramadan and In Radio Address

This week end, President Bush sent two complementary messages to Muslims and the Muslim world. On Friday, President Bush extended greetings to Muslims in America and around the world who are observing Ramadan. He said: "Ramadan and the upcoming holiday seasons are a good time to remember the common values that bind us together. Our society is enriched by our Muslim citizens whose commitment to faith reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country."

The next day in his weekly radio address, the President said that Muslim nations are bound together with other civilized nations in the struggle between moderation and extremism throughout the Middle East.

NAACP Says Clinic Closing For Jewish Sabbath Is Discriminatory

Last week, the Lower Hudson Journal News reported that the Spring Valley, New York chapter of the NAACP has filed a complaint with the Rockland County Commission on Human Rights alleging that a local medical and dental clinic is guilty of religious discrimination because it closes on Saturday to observe the Jewish Sabbath. The complaint alleges that this results in the clinic operators imposing their religious beliefs on others. Apparently the clinic has receive millions of dollars in federal funding. The complaint filed with the Human Rights Commission says that 80% of the clinic's patients are Black or Hispanic and would find it convenient to be able to visit the clinic on Saturdays rather than having to take off work for an appointment. [Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the complaint filed with the State Division of Human Rights by the NAACP, courtesy of Eugene Volokh.

President's Greetings As Rosh Hashanah Begins

The holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown this evening. Yesterday President Bush issued a Presidential Message sending greetings to those celebrating the holiday. He said in part: "As you begin the Days of Awe, your faith in the Almighty reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country and helps make the world a more hopeful place."

Detroit Muslims Say Charity Harassed Again This Ramadan

In Detroit on Monday, federal agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force executed search warrants on the offices of the Muslim charity Life for Relief and Development, as well as on homes and an office of three others connected with the charity. This morning's Detroit Free Press reports that Muslim leaders charge that there is a pattern of government harassment of Islamic charities each year near the start of the month of Ramadan. An FBI spokesman denied the charges, saying that the FBI "does not target people because of their religion." The raid may be connected to work the charity did in Iraq before the 2003 Iraq war.

No Establishment Clause Problem With Minnesota Criminal Sexual Conduct Law

In State v. Bussmann, (MN Ct. App., Sept. 19, 2006), a Minnesota court of appeals rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a statute that provides higher penalties for criminal sexual conduct that takes place "during a period of time in which the complainant was meeting on an ongoing basis with the actor to seek or receive religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort in private." The court relied on a 2003 decision in rejecting the argument that the statute excessively entangles religious doctrine with state law.

Riots After Indonesia Executes Three Catholics

In Palu, Indonesia, according to the Associated Press, three Roman Catholics convicted of instigating attacks on Muslims were executed by a firing squad on Thursday. Human rights workers have charged that the executed men were not the leaders of the attacks, and that their 2001 trial was a sham. Following the execution, mobs of Christians torched cars, blockaded roads and looted Muslim-owned shops. Some 200 inmates escaped from a jail assaulted by the mobs in the town of Atambua.

Church Votes To Fight IRS Summons

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California announced at a news conference yesterday that its 26-member vestry has voted unanimously to fight the IRS' summonses issued last week that call for various documents and an interview with the rector regarding an anti-war sermon by a guest preacher just before the 2004 Presidential election. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press yesterday reported that the church's rector, Rev. Ed Bacon, was joined at his news conference by 40 representatives of mosques, synagogues and other churches. Santa Monica Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels urged supporters of all faiths contribute to funds to help All Saints with its legal costs. Comess-Daniels made the first pledge at the news conference.

House Resolution Condemns Repression of Bahais By Iran

On Tuesday the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported H. Con. Res. 415, condemning the repression of the Iranian Baha'i community and calling for the emancipation of Iranian Baha'is. The vote was 392 in favor, 2 against, and 37 members not voting.

Funeral Picketers Become Kansas Election Issue

Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. and his Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas have become an issue in the hard-fought race for Kansas Attorney General, according to yesterday's Associated Press. Republican incumbent Phill Kline is pressing for legislation to toughen Kansas' law that prohibits demonstrations at funerals. Westboro Baptist Church members picket soldiers' funerals, claiming that deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's punishment for the United States tolerating homosexuality. However now it turns out that Rev. Phelps son donated $500 to Kline's campaign and was subsequently invited to a Kline fundraiser. Kline says he did not know of Phelps' connections with Westboro Baptist. Kline later gave the $500 to the Patriot Guard, a group that protests against the Phelpses. Kline said that the subsequent invitation to Phelps , if it happened, was a clerical error.

9th Circuit OK's Exclusion Of Worship Services From Library Rooms

Yesterday in Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries v. Glover, (9th Cir., Sept. 20, 2006), a 3-judge panel in the 9th Circuit wrote 3 opinions, and by a vote of 2-1 decided that a Contra Costa County public library could make its meeting rooms available for "meetings, programs, or activities of educational, cultural or community interest", while excluding their use for "religious services". The majority opinion by Judge Paez focused on cases that permit the government to draw reasonable, viewpoint neutral distinctions on who can use a "limited public forum". He concluded that: "Religious worship ... is not a viewpoint, but a category of discussion...." Excluding religious discussion of topics on which secular perspectives exist is not permissible. Excluding pure worship is.

A dissent by Judge Tallman argued that any attempt by the County to distinguish worship from other kinds of religious speech would create excessive government entanglement with religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause.

However, the most interesting reading was Judge Karlton's concurring opinion. He wrote:

I concur in Judge Paez's well-reasoned opinion, which reflects the sorry state of the law. I write separately to express my dismay at that sorry state.

This should be a simple case it asks whether the county can be forced to subsidize a religious organization's prayer meetings by requiring it to provide the religious organization with a free place to worship. A quick reading of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States should answer the question....

[Prior cases] turn on the High Court's purported inability to distinguish between a sermon and a speech. That distinction, however, is compelled by the First Amendment.... [R]eligious speech is categorically different than secular speech and is subject to analysis under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause without regard to the jurisprudence of free speech.

Those, like myself, who advocate adherence to the strictures of the Establishment Clause, do so not out of hostility towards religion.... Rather, we are motivated by recognition of the passions that deeply-held religious views engender, and the serious threat of marrying those passions to government power.... That threat is not merely historic. One need only look about the world to see that danger in play.

The San Jose Mercury News covers the decision. (Also see prior related posting.)

Study of Black Churches and Faith-Based Initiative

Last Tuesday, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies published a report on Black churches and President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative. A release by the Center summarizes the study's major findings. Only 2.4% of the Black churches surveyed received any faith-based funding. Interestingly, of the Black churches that did receive such funding 47% were from the Northeast, and only 26% were from southern states. African-American churches in states that voted Democratic in the last two presidential elections were more likely to get faith-based grants than were churches in states that voted Republican. The study found that liberal and progressive churches were more interested in participating in the Faith Based initiative than were conservative ones, even though conservative churches viewed the Faith Based Initiative more favorably. And the report concluded that there had been insufficient outreach to Black churches about the Faith Based Initiative. Newhouse Newspapers yesterday reported on the study.

Pope Again Tries To Explain His Remarks About Islam

Speaking this week at his Wednesday audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI again attempted to clarify his controversial use of a quotation about Islam from a 14th century Byzantine emperor in remarks he made last week at the University of Regensburg in Germany. Zenit reports the text of his Wednesday statement:

For the careful reader of my text, it is clear that I did not wish at any time to make my own the negative words uttered by the medieval emperor in this dialogue and that its controversial content does not express my personal conviction.... I wished to invite the Christian faith to dialogue with the modern world and to dialogue with all cultures and religions.

He said that he has tried to make clear his

deep respect for the great religions, in particular for Muslims -- who 'adore the one God' and with whom we are engaged in "preserving and promoting together for all mankind social justice, moral values, peace and freedom."

Two Decisions On Jurisdiction Over Religious Employment Disputes

Two cases involving the constitutional limits on federal court jurisdiction over employment decisions made by religious authorities were handed down this week:

In Vann v. Guildfield Missionary Baptist Church, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66947 (WD VA, Sept. 19, 2006), a Virginia federal district court permitted the minister of a church to proceed with his claim that his dismissal by the deacon of his church violated the church's bylaws. The bylaws provided for the minister's dismissal only by a vote of a majority of the church's members. The court said that since no member vote was ever taken, "the Church itself has never acted. Thus, I have subject matter jurisdiction to consider this case because the decision to fire Vann .... was not the decision of a religious entity or church. As a result, that decision is not constitutionally protected from judicial review."

Maruani v. AER Services, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66789 (D MN, Sept. 18, 2006), involved the dismissal of Leo Maruani , a shochet (kosher butcher), from the employ of AER Services, a commercial business that provides slaughtering services for companies that sell kosher meat products. He was dismissed after the rabbi supervising the plant in which he worked objected to the fact that Maruani was not leading a visibly pious life because he did not live within walking distance of an Orthodox synagogue.

The court dismissed Maruani's claim that he was discriminated against because of his religion in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. He alleged that the supervising rabbis placed religious requirements upon him that they did not impose on other shochtim. The court held: "An examination of the gradations in the rules of Kashruth or severity with which the rabbis enforced those rules is precisely the type of religious-based claim the Court is forbidden from entertaining." However the court permitted Maruani to proceed with claims that the rabbis' religious objections were not the real reason for his dismissal, and that the real reasons violated Minnesota's Whistleblower Act and its Workers Compensation Act.

Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Favors Teaching Intelligent Design

During an interview on educational issues with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos said he favors permitting, but not requiring, the teaching of Intelligent Design in Michigan public schools. He said: "I would like to see the ideas of intelligent design that many scientists are now suggesting is a very viable alternative theory. That theory and others that would be considered credible would expose our students to more ideas, not less."

Secretary General Warns of Possible Global Religious Warfare

Opening the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Secretary General Kofi Annan, in one paragraph of his speech (full text), warned of the potential of international religious warfare:

[A]t the very time when international migration has brought millions of people of different creed or culture to live as fellow-citizens, the misconceptions and stereotypes underlying the idea of a "clash of civilizations" have come to be more and more widely shared; and insensitivity towards other people's beliefs or sacred symbols -- intentional or otherwise -- is seized upon by those who seem eager to foment a new war of religion, this time on a global scale.

DPA reported Tuesday on this aspect of Annan's remarks.

Indonesia Court Dismisses Blasphemy Case From Muhammad Cartoons

A court in South Jakarta, Indonesia Wednesday dismissed a blasphemy case that had been brought against the editor of Rakyat Merdeka newspaper online for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last year. Yesterday's Washington Post reported that the charges were thrown out because the law used by the prosecutor required a showing of disrespect for Islam. The judge found that the paper used the cartoons merely as background for a news story. (See prior posting.)

School Appeals Gideon Bible Distribution Ban

Agape Press reported yesterday that an appeal was filed in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last week by Missouri's South Iron R-1 School District. It seeks reversal of a trial court decision earlier this month that enjoined the school from permitting the distribution of Gideon Bibles on school property to elementary school students. The school district is being represented by Liberty Lobby, whose Chief Counsel, Erik W. Stanley, said that the lower court was treating the Bible as "a radioactive device that harms children when they are exposed to it".

College Can Require Instructors To Avoid Irrelevant Religious Discussion In Class

Yesterday, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims brought by a part-time instructor of cosmetology at a public community college that the school's failure to re-hire her violated her constitutional rights, including her right to discuss her religious beliefs. In Piggee v. Carl Sandburg College, (7th Cir., Sept. 19, 2006), instructor Martha Piggee, upon discovering that one of her cosmetology students was gay, placed two pamphlets in the student's smock during clinical instruction time. She pressed the student to discuss the pamphlets with her. The materials that Piggee had given to student Jason Ruel were virulent religious denunciations of homosexuality in comic book format. When Ruel complained to college officials, they investigated and concluded that Piggee's conduct constituted sexual harassment. They found that "Piggee has been proselytizing in the hopes of changing Mr. Ruel's sexual orientation and religious beliefs." It appears that Piggee had given religious pamphlets to other of her students as well.

The court concluded that: " the college had an interest in ensuring that its instructors stay on message while they were supervising the beauty clinic, just as it had an interest in ensuring that the instructors do the same while in the classroom.... [W]e see no reason why a college or university cannot direct its instructors to keep personal discussions about sexual orientation or religion out of a cosmetology class or clinic." [Thanks to How Appealing for the lead.]

Chicago's Jewish Aldermen Urged On Religious Grounds To Keep Foie Gras Ban

In April, Chicago's City Council, concerned about animal cruelty issues, voted 48-1 to ban the sale of foie gras in Chicago. The Illinois Restaurant Association and a coalition of chefs have filed suit to overturn the ban, and some politicians, including the Mayor, are now pushing for repeal. The Chicago Sun-Times yesterday reported that two Jewish Aldermen have been urged on religious grounds to oppose the ban's repeal. Rabbi Asher Lopatin wrote Aldermen Burton F. Natarus and Bernard Stone, saying: "Beyond the Kosher dietary laws, God has told us to do what is 'good and proper in the eyes of God'. The cruelty inflicted on animals in the production of foie gras is unspeakable. It is undeniably disgusting in the eyes of God and in the eyes of any civilized person." And Jana Kohl, former director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, wrote the same two Aldermen: "As the only two Jewish members of the Council, it's particularly shameful and disgraceful of you to turn your back on our cherished concept of 'tikun olam,' namely our obligation to make our world a better, more compassionate place."

Lawyers Say Shared-Use By YMCA, School, Not A Church-State Problem

The Northland Pines School District in Wisconsin is proposing to lease land to the YMCA that would permit it to build a facility onto a new high school that is being constructed. Students would have free use of the YMCA athletic facilities during the school day. The Vilas County (WI) News-Review reported yesterday that a law firm engaged by the school board concluded that the agreement does not create church-state problems. The law firm of Davis & Kuelthau S.C., said that the YMCA is unlikely to be found to be a religious organization, despite the fact that it was originally founded on Christian principles. Moreover, it concluded, the purpose of the shared-use agreement between the school and the YMCA is purely secular, and it will not have the primary effect of promoting or advancing religion. Nevertheless, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has written to the school board, expressing concern that the shared-use agreement does not explicitly prohibit religious slogans or imagery in the YMCA building.

Congress Will Award Medal To Dalai Lama

Last week Congress passed,and sent to the President S. 2784, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal Act. It calls for the award of a special gold medal by Congress to the Dalai Lama in recognition of his contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights, and religious understanding.

Texas State School Board Limited In Reviewing Textbook Content

On September 18, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued Opinion No. GA-0456, holding that the State Board of Education may screen textbooks for factual errors, but may not go beyond the powers granted to it by statute in judging textbook content on controversial issues such as evolution, birth control and global warming. In holding this, Abbott reaffirmed a 1996 Attorney General's opinion. However, Abbott overruled one part of the earlier opinion and held that the State Board of Education has similar authority over ancillary materials like teacher manuals, charts and workbooks. Yesterday's Dallas Morning News reported on the AG Opinion. (See prior related posting.)

Conditions Of Parole At Faith-Based Shelter Challenged

Yesterday's Charleston Gazette reports that the ACLU of West Virginia has filed suit on behalf of William Stanley, challenging the conditions of his parole from prison. (ACLU Press Release.)Upon being granted parole, Stanley was not allowed to move, as planned, to his fiancee's home because of West Virginia's statutory prohibition on cohabitation. The state also rejected Stanley's proposal to live with his brother, because victims of his forgery crime lived nearby. After four months, Stanley arranged to be paroled to the Union Mission, a faith-based nonprofit homeless shelter. However, a condition of living at Union Mission was his participation in a program requiring daily prayer, religious classes and attendance at an approved church. The lawsuit claims that the government unconstitutionally participated in forcing religious practices on Stanley. The suit also challenges West Virginia's anti-cohabitation law.

Election Day Sukkot Holiday Poses Problem In Belgium

In Belgium, thousands of Orthodox Jews face a problem as the country's October 8 elections approach. Election day coincides with one of the days of the Jewish festival of Sukkot. The halachic ban on writing or using electrical equipment on the holiday will make it impossible for observant Jews to vote. Authorities have rejected a request from the country's Forum of Jewish Organizations to permit early voting on Friday, October 6. Voting is mandatory in Belgium. Individuals who do not go to the polls can face a fine, unless they have an authorized exemption. However there are no provisions for religious exemptions. Reporting on the issue, Vrtnieuws says that the only option is for Belgian Jews to vote by proxy. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the information.]

New EEOC Commissioner Named

Last week, the White House announced that the President intends to nominate David Palmer to be a Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for the remainder of a five year term expiring in 2011. Palmer is currently Chief of the Employment Litigation Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The EEOC enforces federal laws that ban employment discrimination on various grounds, including religion.

Church Involvement In Political Campaigns Decried

The issue of involvement by churches in political campaigns continues to attract attention. American Atheists yesterday issued a Press Release criticizing Tennessee Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, Harold Ford, Jr., for filming an ad in a Baptist Church. It said that using the church as a backdrop "sends a 'divisive' message and is 'religionizing' important public policy issues."

Meanwhile, Americans United For Separation of Church and State announced a national campaign to alert churches to the requirements of the federal tax law that prohibit them from taking sides in partisan political campaigns. The letter was sent to 117,000 churches in eleven states, in reaction to efforts by those on the religious right to mobilize churches on behalf of conservative Republican candidates. In a news conference yesterday, AU executive director, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, particularly criticized the political efforts of Dr. James Dobson's organization, Focus on the Family.

Virginia Senator Reacts Angrily To Suggestion Of Jewish Roots

The Washington Post reports on an unusual exchange between a reporter and Republican U.S. Senator George Allen in a debate yesterday between Allen and his challenger in the November election, Democrat Jim Webb. Last week, the Forward (a Jewish newspaper) reported that Senator Allen, a practicing Presbyterian, has Jewish roots. It said his Tunisian-born mother comes from a Sephardic Jewish family. In yesterday's debate, according to the Post, when a reporter asked Allen about this:

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. His supporters in the audience booed and hissed. "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant," Allen said, furiously. "Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?"

Allen also lectured the reporter about the importance of "not making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs." In the past, Allen has denied that his mother was Jewish, but has said that his grandfather was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II.

UPDATE: The New York Times reports that on Tuesday, Sen. Allen issued a statement confirming his Jewish ancestry, saying "I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage..."

Judge Reprimanded For Ordering Probationer To Church

The Florida Supreme Court yesterday reprimanded state Circuit Judge Richard Albritton Jr. for 14 ethics violations, including ordering a probationer to go to church, even though Albritton knew that the order was unconstitutional. The Associated Press reports that the reprimand was agreed to by Albritton after it became clear that he would be running unopposed for re-election in November.

Suit To Challenge Arizona Tax Credit For Tuition Grant Contributions

The Arizona School Boards Association and the ACLU of Arizona plan to file a lawsuit today challenging S.B. 1499, Arizona's new tax credit for corporate contributions to groups that award private school scholarships to low-income students. (See prior posting.) According to the Associated Press, critics are concerned that the tax credits will divert funds from public schools. The court challenge will apparently focus on whether the tax credits violate state constitutional provisions prohibiting public funding for religious schools and requiring that the state provide a general and uniform public school system. In 1999, in Kotterman v. Killian, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a similar tax credit for contributions by individuals. A federal constitutional challenge to the individual tax credit is currently before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

India's Supreme Court Stays Ban On Haj Subsidy

On Monday, according to The Hindu, the Supreme Court of India stayed a temporary restraining order that had been issued in August by the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh prohibiting the state's government from granting subsidies to Haj pilgrims. The Supreme Court emphasized that because the Haj was underway, it would be too disruptive to stop subsidies for this year. Reducing the number of Indian Muslims attending would adversely affect the number of places Indians could obtain for the Haj in the future. However the Supreme Court expressed concern that a subsidy was being given only to pilgrims of one faith and ordered the Allahabad High Court to decide the challenge to Haj subsidies on the merits before next year's Haj. (See prior posting.)

Supreme Court To Screen Cert Petitions Next Week

Next Monday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will meet to screen over one thousand petitions for certiorari that have been filed. Constitutionally Correct last week posted a listing of pending cert. petitions in areas of interest to the Alliance Defense Fund, including free exercise and establishment clause cases.

DA Under Investigation For Legal and Spiritual Advice To Prisoner

A Tennessee District Attorney, Bill Gibson, is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility because of a deeply religious two-year exchange of letters with a murderer he helped prosecute. Today's Tennessean reports that in the letters Gibson offered convicted murderer Christopher Adams both legal and spiritual advice. Gibson argued to the state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility that prosecutors are "referred to in the case law as 'ministers of justice,' with a higher responsibility than merely seeking criminal convictions."

California Church May Resist IRS Summons

Last year it was announced that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, over whether an antiwar sermon, delivered two days before the 2004 presidential election, by guest speaker Rev. George F. Regas went beyond permissible bounds for a tax-exempt organization. Last Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times, the IRS issued a summons to the church demanding that it produce extensive information regarding Rev. Regas' appearance at the church, church policies regarding guest preachers, as well as all written and oral communications from or distributed at the church in 2004 that identify candidates for public office (other than mention of individuals in traditional prayers). The formal summons was a reformulation of broader requests that had been in an earlier letter from the IRS, to which the Church had objected.

The Church has issued a Release regarding the summons and another one that ordered the church's rector, Rev. Ed Bacon, to appear before the IRS in October. In a sermon yesterday to an overflow congregation, Bacon said: "Our faith mandates that always stopping short of endorsing or opposing political candidates, the church can neither be silent nor indifferent when there are public policies causing detriment to the least of these." Bacon said that he would consult with attorneys, but that he felt most congregants wanted to resist the summons. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Orthodox Jews Gain Majority On Long Island School Board

Saturday's New York Times carried an interesting piece on the new majority of Orthodox Jews on the Lawrence, New York school board. Lawrence is in Nassau County on Long Island. Orthodox Jews there largely send their children to Jewish day schools instead of public schools, and many in Lawrence resent control of the school board by those who do not use its institutions. Public school enrollment in Lawrence is down, while private school enrollment has increased. In each of the last four years, mobilization by Orthodox Jewish voters has defeated the school budget. Orthodox leaders say they want to improve the schools while cutting waste, and many would also like to find a way to channel more aid to Jewish private schools in the district.

New Study on American Piety

The Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion has just released American Piety in the 21st Century: Selected Findings From the Baylor Religion Survey (Sept. 2006). The Institute describes the study, in part, as follows: "It plumbs all facets of American religion and spirituality in depth − nearly 400 items cover such matters as religious beliefs and practices, including religious consumerism, as well as nonstandard beliefs (astrology, "Bigfoot," alien visitors, etc.) and practices (meditation, New Age therapies, etc)." Wall of Separation blog has a fuller description of the study.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Kanda v. Melching-Rianda, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65817 (ED CA, Sept. 1, 2006), a California federal Magistrate Judge held that a prisoner could file an amended complaint properly challenging denial of his request for a single cell so he would not be housed with someone who violated his religious belief that he could not have beef or beef by-products in his cell. He could also file an amended complaint alleging that he was placed in administrative segregation for invoking his religious beliefs.

In Scott v. Beard, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65673 (MD PA, Sept. 14, 2006), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that defendants had qualified immunity in a prisoner's claim for damages growing out of a denial of his request on religious grounds for an exemption from prison requirements about hair length. The prisoner was a member of the Assemblies of Yahweh and had taken a Nazarite vow. The court found that the prisoner's RLUIPA claim for an injunction was moot because he had now been released from prison and the prison system had adopted revised policies making it easier to obtain an exemption from grooming rules.

In Northrop v. Summersett, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65136 (ND CA, Aug. 30, 2006), a California federal district court dismissed on res judicata grounds a prisoner's claim that the removal of pork from menus in some California prisons violates the Establishment Clause, as well as his rights under the Free Exercise clause, RLUIPA, the equal protection clause and the California Constitution.

In Price v. Caruso, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64322 (ED MI, Sept. 8, 2006), a Michigan federal district court refused to grant summary judgment to defendants in a prisoner's suit claiming that policies prohibiting travel between prison complexes interferred with Jewish prisoners' being able to adequately have Sabbath services and a Passover Seder.

In Smith v. Crose, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64250 (D NJ, Sept. 7, 2006), a New Jersey federal district court permitted an inmate to move ahead with a claim that his free exercise rights were violated when he was prevented from attending Ju'ma services because he had an injured ankle. A number of plaintiff's other claims were dismissed.

In Skenandore v. Endicott, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64175 (ED WI, Sept. 6, 2006), a Wisconsin federal district court rejected a RLUIPA challenge by an inmate who is a member of the Oneida Indian tribe to Wisconsin policies on the practice of religion in correctional institutions. Plaintiff complained that he was not permitted to possess a prayer pipe, smoke tobacco or smudge herbs; that he was prevented from forming a Native American Cultural Activity Group; that he was not given time com complete sweat lodge ceremonies; that he is being denied religious feasts and ceremonial foods; that he may not possess traditional regalia; and that non-Native American inmates are allowed to participate in Native American religious activities.

In Dixon v. Wodruff-Fibley, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65911 (SD IN, Sept. 14, 2006), the court rejected a First Amendment claim by an inmate who was refused permission to pray outside of his cell. He claimed that his prayers are considered invalid if offered in the midst of pictures or drawings of living objects, such as his cellmate has in his cell.

New Publications In Law and Religion

From SmartCILP:
William E. Nelson, The Utopian Legal Order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1686, 47 American Journal of Legal History 183-230 (2005).

From SSRN:
Steven Douglas Smith, The Jurisdictional Establishment Clause: A Reappraisal (forthcoming Notre Dame Law Review).

From Bepress:
Steven H. Shiffrin, Liberalism and Religion (August 22, 2006), ExpressO Preprint Series. Working Paper 1601.

New Book:
Ray Suarez, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America (Harper Collins, August 29, 2006)-- reviewed in Sunday's Washington Post.

Religious Dress Ban In France As New School Year Begins

As the school year began in France, it appears that high profile controversies over the country's ban on wearing conspicuous religious symbols and dress in public schools have largely disappeared. The only open controversy involves four Sikh students who are being kept isolated in rooms apart from their classmates because they refuse to remove their turbans and and switch to an under-turban keski or patka. (Sikh Sangat News.) However, yesterday's Khaleej Times says that the ban has only been partially successful. It has helped some Muslim girls who came to school wearing headscarfs only because of pressure from their family or community. But other Muslim young women have gone to other countries to study or signed up for distance learning courses in order to avoid the ban. Meanwhile, in a tape released by Al Queida on the anniversary of the 9/11, Ayman Al Zawahiri criticized "those in France who prevent Muslims from covering their heads in schools".

Competing Bills On Military Chaplain Prayer In Congress

On Friday, WorldNet Daily carried a discussion of the competing provisions on prayer by military chaplains that appear in the House and Senate versions of this year's Defense Authorization Bill. The House version would assure chaplains that they could pray according to the dictates of their own conscience, except for narrow limitations compelled by military necessity. The Senate version, on the other hand, would require chaplains, outside of religious services or ceremonies for their own faith, "to be sensitive to and respect the diversity of faiths represented" in their audience." Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, the recently court-martialed proponent of sectarian prayer in the military, strongly opposes the Senate version. He says it would empower the Pentagon to establish "pluralism" as a new form of religion. Klingenschmitt favors yet a third proposal that would merely amend current 10 USC 6031 to broadly permit chaplains to pray according to the manner and forms of their religious denominations.

2nd Circuit Interprets 1998 Charitable Donation Protection Act

While a decision earlier this month by a Bankruptcy court judge on charitable donations in bankruptcy proceedings garnered a good deal of attention, an equally important case on the issue decided several weeks ago by the Second circuit seems to have gone largely unnoticed. In Universal Church v. Geltzer, (2nd Cir., July 26, 2006), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that treating some contributions to churches as fraudulent conveyances in bankruptcy does not violate the Free Exercise of Establishment clauses. It went on to interpret various provisions of the Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act of 1998. It held that the statute's shield for charitable donations of up to 15% of a debtor's annual income applies to aggregate annual transfers, not to individual donations. The court held that in this case, the Church had waived its claim that it should be able to retain amounts donated to it under the 15% limit. Finally it held that on remand the church could raise the statutory defense that donations in excess of 15% "were consistent with the practices of the debtor in making charitable contributions."

Most Muslim Leaders Say Pope's New Statement Not A Sufficient Apology

As angry reaction spread across the Muslim world to an address last week by Pope Benedict XVI (see prior posting), the Pope today spoke on the issue (full text). He said:

I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words. I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.

The full text of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone's statement, to which the Pope refers, is available as part of NPR's coverage of the story. Bertone assumed his office as Secretary of State only two days ago.

Before the Pope spoke today, there had even been calls by a Somali cleric for Muslims "to hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements as you have pursued Salman Rushdie, the enemy of Allah who offended our religion." (Zimgreats. com). In a possibly related incident, an Italian nun at a children's hospital in Mogadishu was murdered on Sunday. (New York Times.)

After the Pope's statement on Sunday, Muslim clergy in Syria expressed satisfaction. (Deutsche Presse Agentur). However most Muslim leaders around the world say that the Pope's Sunday address did not go far enough in apologizing. (CNN).

Tennessee Ten Commandments Case Moves To Trial

In ACLU of Tennessee v. Rutherford County, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65882 (MD TN, Sept. 14, 2006), a Tennessee federal district court lifted a stay on proceedings, and agreed to move to trial, in a Ten Commandments case. The court had imposed the stay in 2002 pending appellate review of a similar case from McCreary County, Kentucky. The McCreary County case was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in decisions that struck down that county's Foundations of American Law and Government Display. Along with imposing a stay of proceedings in the Rutherford County case, the court in 2002 issued a preliminary injunction against Rutherford County's courthouse display of documents (including the Ten Commandments), finding that the county had an impermissible religious purpose in creating it. In compliance with the order, the display was removed. In its current decision the court has refused to automatically turn its 2002 preliminary injunction into a permanent injunction. It said:

[E]ven if the same public body previously attempted to post the Ten Commandments in an unconstitutional manner, it may be able to post the Ten Commandments in the future in a constitutionally permissible manner. While recent cases provide a "road map" to follow in permissibly displaying documents with religious content, these Rutherford County Defendants must show that they have purged themselves of their original sectarian purpose relating to the posting of the Ten Commandments.

Court Says Privilege Did Not Excuse Failure To Report Sex Abuse

R.K. v. Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65772 (WD WA, Sept. 14, 2006), involves a suit in a Washington federal district court against the Mormon church for negligence in failing to report sexual abuse of a 13-year old boy by his scout leader, as required by state law. The suit was brought by an individual who was abused the following year by the same scout leader. A Bishop learned of the first incident of abuse during a conversation with the father of the abused child. The Church claims that the priest-penitent privilege, as codified in Washington law, precluded reporting, but the court found that the Bishop could have reported the abuse to law enforcement officials in a way that would not have disclosed any confidential communications.

Indian Court Bans Priests' Helpers From Temple

A court in Calcutta, India has banned assistants to Hindu priests-- known as touts or pandaas-- from entry into the famous Kalighat temple . Yesterday, BBC News reported that the pandaas have been accused of extorting money from worshipers who they escort into the temple and help perform the puja (worship).

Newdow Seeks Libel Judgment Against Critic

On Monday, Michael Newdow, who has gained fame through his law suits challenging the constitutionality of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, will be appearing in a state court of appeals in California to defend his right to move ahead with a libel suit against Rev. Austin Miles, an interdenominational chaplain. Yesterday’s issue of The Recorder reports on Newdow’s claim that Miles defamed him in two internet postings that accused Newdow of committing perjury before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the "Pledge of Allegiance" case. Miles said that Newdow told the court that his daughter had suffered emotional distress by being forced to recite the pledge. Newdow says he only told the court that children like his daughter are unduly influenced when schools lead them in a ritual proclaiming the existence of God. Newdow says that the chaplain acted with actual malice in making the false statements—a standard that must be met when a public figure like Newdow sues for libel. Newdow is also seeking reinstatement of a default judgment against Miles that was originally issued and then set aside by the trial court.

California Church Location Approved Under Pressure of RLUIPA

Yesterday’s San Diego Union-Tribune reports that in Rancho Bernardo, California, city planners next week will reluctantly recommend that Grace Church be permitted to hold evening and Sunday services in an 18,000 square foot leased space in Bernardo Industrial Park. Planners would rather preserve the space in the industrial park for more lucrative industrial uses that generate jobs and taxes. However, officials say that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act requires them to approve the church’s requested 10-year conditional use permit, especially because a few other churches have been granted permits to locate in the same industrial park. Grace Church's pastor, Eric Turbedsky, says the rented space is a small warehouse that has been unoccupied for six years, and that there is no other land in Rancho Bernardo left that is zoned for churches.

State Department Issues International Religious Freedom Report

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department released its eighth annual International Religious Freedom Report. (Press Release, Full Text of Report, Secretary RiceÂ’s Statement) The report examines the extent to which religious freedom is protected in 197 different countries. The report is required by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which also requires the State Department to designate as "countries of particular concern"(CPCs) those nations that are most egregious in violating, or tolerating violations of, religious freedom. However, Ambassador At Large for International Religious Freedom, John V. Hanford III, said that while the report is being released, the State Department has not yet finalized its list of CPCs for 2006. It will do that in "several weeks". Immediately following the State Department release, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement criticizing thereport's drafters for removing "longstanding and widely quoted language ... that freedom of religion does not exist in Saudi Arabia".

Kansas AG's Campaign Tactics Toward Churches Revealed

In Kansas, a memo from the campaign of Attorney General Phill Kline on how he plans to appeal to religious voters has been leaked to the media, according to the Associated Press yesterday. In the memo, Kline tells his re-election campaign to hold political receptions near churches after their services, and to try to get pastor to mention the receptions during services. He also wants pastors to bring a few "money people" to each reception. In a debate with his Democratic challenger Paul Morrison yesterday, Kline defended his outreach to churches. He said, "They didn't need to break into my campaign software program and computer and hack this information to know about it - I have been speaking in churches for more than 20 years now." Challenged about church-state separation issues, he said that the principle is designed to prevent government imposing a religion, and not to preventing people of faith from expressing their opinions or holding public office.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the Attorney General's memo to his campaign staff. For more on this see Jews On First blog.

Still No Agreement Over Women's Protection Bill In Pakistan

The New York Times reported yesterday that the Pakistani government has encountered continued opposition from some Muslim clerics over its attempt to enact the Women's Protection Bill that would amend the Hudood Ordinance of 1979. A vote planned for Wednesday was postponed. Under the government's original proposal, rape cases would be moved from Islamic courts to civil courts, and accusers in adultery cases would have to appear before a court instead of just filing complaints with the police. It would also raise the age of consent to 16, and allow women as well as men to be one of the four required witnesses to prove adultery. Under a compromise agreement this week, the punishment would remain the same for women for rape and adultery, though a judge could under some circumstances elect to use the country's civil law instead of Sharia. Another proposal would criminalize "lewdness", including consensual sexual relations. Some supporters of the original bill say these changes are unacceptable. (See prior posting.)

Religious Amusement Parks and Tax Breaks

An article published in McClatchy Newspapers today explores the issue of property tax exemptions for religious-themed amusement parks. Florida has passed a special property tax exemption for theme parks like Holy Land. (HB 7183). Some tax officials argue that these operations should be taxed like other amusement parks, and not like religious organizations.

Pope's Remarks Anger Muslim Countries

Anger spread across the Muslim world today at remarks made last Tuesday by Pope Benedict XVI in an address to scientists at the University of Regensburg, where he was a professor and vice rector from 1969 to 1971. (Bernama; Investors Business Daily.) The Pope titled his address "Faith, Reason and the University" (full text). In his remarks, the Pope decried the use of force, rather than reason, to convert individuals to a particular religious belief. In making his point, the Pope referred to statements made in 1391 by Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who, in debating an "educated Persian" on the subject of Islam and Christianity, said: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Pakistan's Parliament unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Pope's remarks, and in Turkey a leader in the Prime Minister's party said the Pope would go down in history with leaders like Hitler and Mussolini for his remarks. (The Independent.) The Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood said Islamic countries should consider breaking diplomatic relations with the Vatican unless the remarks are withdrawn. (ITV.) In response, the Vatican issued a statement, saying that the Pope wishes to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures, obviously toward Islam too.... What is at the Pope's heart is a clear and radical refusal of the religious motivation of violence."

TRO Denied To Funeral Protesters

In St. Louis yesterday, a federal judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent enforcement of Missouri's law against demonstrating at funerals. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports on the decision. The law is being challenged by Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church. Her group has gained notoriety for picketing funerals of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, holding signs claiming that soldiers' deaths are punishment by God of the United States for sins such as tolerating homosexuality. U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh said that church members would not be irreparably harmed by not being able to protest at Sunday's funeral of Jeremy R. Shank, who was killed by small arms fire in Balad. Another lawsuit has already been filed challenging Missouri's law. (See prior posting.)

Native Americans Argue Snowbowl Appeal In 9th Circuit

Yesterday the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in The Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service, a challenge by various Southwestern Indian tribes to the expansion of an Arizona ski resort. Associated Press reports on the arguments over what would be the country's first ski resort to use entirely reclaimed sewage water to make snow. Scott Canty, attorney for the Hopi Tribe, argued that man-made snow would desecrate the mountain that is sacred to 13 Southwestern tribes. Jack Trope, attorney for the Hualapai tribe, said that the artificial snow could melt into a nearby spring used by the tribe for healing ceremonies, making the waters unusable for spiritual purposes. The lower court had rejected the tribes' First Amendment and RFRA claims. (See prior posting.)

Michigan House Passes Bills To Permit Rejection Of Gay Adoptions By Agencies

Pride Source reports that last week, Michigan's House of Representatives passed two companion bills that would allow faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex parents if they have "written religious moral convictions or policies" against homosexuality. HB 5908 and HB 5909 also prohibit the state from considering such policies adversely in its dealings with faith-based agencies. The votes on the bills were 69-37.

Study Finds Behavioral Changes When "Blue Laws" Are Repealed

Richard Morin's column in today's Washington Post calls attention to a fascinating empirical study of the impact of repealing Sunday closing laws. Recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Jonathan Gruber & Daniel M. Hungerman, The Church vs the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?, concludes that the repeal of "blue laws" has definite effects on the behavior. Here is part of the Abstract:

We ... use a variety of datasets to show that when a state repeals its blue laws religious attendance falls, and that church donations and spending fall as well. These results do not seem to be driven by declines in religiosity prior to the law change, nor do we see comparable declines in membership or giving to nonreligious organizations after a state repeals its laws.... We find that repealing blue laws leads to an increase in drinking and drug use, and that this increase is found only among the initially religious individuals who were affected by the blue laws.... [T]he gap in heavy drinking between religious and non religious individuals falls by about half after the laws are repealed.

The full report is available online from SSRN at a cost of five dollars.

Wiccan Symbol Will Go On Memorial Plaque For Veteran

While Nevadan Roberta Stewart has still not gotten the federal Department of Veteran's Affairs to approve the use of a Wiccan symbol on the grave marker of her deceased husband who was killed in Afghanistan, she has received a more sympathetic reception from state officials. The Nevada Office of Veterans Services has approved placement of a plaque containing a pentacle on the Veterans' Memorial Wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, NV. It will be ready for installation by Sept. 25, the one-year anniversary of Patrick Stewart's death. Today's Reno Gazette-Journal and today's Nevada Appeal report on these developments. The deceased serviceman was a member of Nevada's National Guard.

Ohio School District Will Not Defend Its Win Before 6th Circuit

The Toledo Blade yesterday reported that the Rossford, Ohio Board of Education has voted, 3-2, not to spend the money that it will cost defend its victory in a church-state case. At the end of July, an Ohio federal district court rejected claims of a Christian rock band that it had been discriminated against when its planned concert at Rossford (Ohio) High School was cancelled out of concern that it might violate the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The band appealed, represented by the Rutherford Institute. The Rossford board will enter settlement discussions with the band.

Baltimore Archdiocese Can Tear Down Historic Building

On Tuesday, Maryland's Court of Appeals (its highest court) denied certiorari in Mt. Vernon Belvedere v. Dept. of Housing, ending attempts by preservationists to prevent the Archdiocese of Baltimore from tearing down a 100-year old apartment building in order to build a prayer garden. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Baltimore Sun reported that Paul Warren, president of the Mount Vernon Belvedere Association that was challenging the Archdiocese's plans, reacted bitterly: "It is disgusting that the archdiocese will succeed, with a Catholic mayor's acquiescence, in demolishing a key Baltimore historic asset.... [T]he archdiocese is using the church-state laws not as the shield they were intended to be, but as a sword to gain privileges none of the rest of society has been granted.

Indian State To Amend Its Anti-Conversion Law

In the Indian state of Gujarat, the Cabinet has decided to propose liberalization of its anti-conversion law that had been enacted in 2003, according to yesterday's Times of India. The amendments to the Freedom of Religion Act will eliminate the need for government approval of conversion between sects of the same religion. It will consider Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism all sects of a single faith for these purposes. The amendments will be presented to the Assembly during its Sept. 18-19 session. The government hopes that this will permit it to implement the 2003 statute which it so far has not enforced because of doubts about its legality.

UPDATE: On Sept. 19, the amendments to the Freedom of Religion Act were passed by the State Legislative Assembly. However opponents vigorously protested the law's description of Buddhism and Jainism as Hindu denominations. (Express News Service.)

Puzzling Developments In Ohio On Intelligent Design

What is Ohio's State Board of Education doing? After much speculation that it would be adopting a "Controversial Issues Template" that might permit discussion of Intelligent Design in the classroom, on Monday a board subcommittee failed to vote on the proposal. The Akron Beacon Journal says that instead, the subcommittee spent the two hours allocated to the issue rewriting the minutes of its July meeting to remove references in them to Intelligent Design. The original July minutes referred to other controversial issues, such as global warming, cloning and stem-cell research. Apparently, however, these were in fact not discussed, and Monday's revised minutes delete references to them.

Dutch Justice Minister-- Sharia Could Be Established Democratically

In Netherlands, Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said that if enough people vote for it, the country should be able to adopt Islamic law. The statement is reported Wednesday in WorldNet Daily. It came in reaction to parliamentary leader Maxime Verhagen who argues that the country should ban parties wanting to establish Islamic law. Donner said that Muslims have a right to practice their religion in ways that are different from Dutch social norms, and concluded that Muslim groups should be able to come to power through democratic means.