Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Creator Of "Draw Mohammed" Campaign Backs Off, As Others Continue It
Dispute Continues Over Nepal As Secular State In Proposed Constitution
9th Circuit: Appeal To Religion Did Not Void Miranda Waiver
Recommended Life Sentence For Rubashkin Questioned
Interpretation of Florida "No-Aid" Provision Certified To State High Court
As the panel had done in its original decision (see prior posting), the revised decision struck down the state payments to these religious organizations, but held that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of the contracts that were entered into with these organizations and required them to provide faith-based transitional housing. Finally the court rejected a challenge to provisions requiring consultation with a chaplain before an inmate is placed in a faith-based substance-abuse transitional housing program.
Justice Thomas (joined by 4 others) wrote a dissenting opinion to the denial of en banc review urging the court to use this case as an opportunity to reverse earlier precedent and hold that paying a religious institution to provide a public benefit does not amount to "aid" to the institution. Yesterday's Miami Herald reported on the decision.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Islamic Clerics In Kenya Banning Public Soccer Broadcasts
Court Says Student May Participate In Pro-Life Day of Solidarity
New Poll On Religion In Public Life
5th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments On Texas School Agency Creationism Policy
Christian Stock Index Launched
Monday, April 26, 2010
Obama Meets With Ailing Billy Graham In North Carolina
Prayers At Honolulu City Council Questioned
Recent Articles of Interest
From SSRN:
- Adam Schwartzbaum, The Niqab in the Courtroom: Protecting Free Exercise in a Post-Smith World, (April 20, 2010).
- Samuel J. Levine, Of Inkblots and Omnisignificance: Conceptualizing Secondary and Symbolic Functions of the Ninth Amendment, in a Comparative Hermeneutic Framework, (Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 2009, No. 2, 2009).
- Samuel J. Levine, Goldman v. Weinberger: Religious Freedom Confronts Military Uniformity, (Law and Religion: Cases in Context: Leading Law and Religion Scholars Explore the Issue That Confound the Courts, Leslie C. Griffin ed., 2010.)
- Mike Newdow, Question to Justice Scalia: Does the Establishment Clause Permit the Disregard of Devout Catholics?, (Capital University Law Review, Forthcoming).
- David W. Opderbeck, A Critical Realist Theology of Law, Neurobiology, and the Soul, (Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper, April 23, 2010).
- Lorenz Langer, Panacea or Pathetic Fallacy? The Swiss Ban on Minarets, (Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 43, 2010).
- Robert K. Vischer, Individual Rights vs. Institutional Identity: The Relational Dimension of Conscience in Health Care, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-17, 2010).
- Robert K. Vischer, Conscience and the Common Good: Reclaiming the Space between Person and State, (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
From SmartCILP:
- John A. Eidsmoe, The Use of the Ten Commandments in American Courts, 3 Liberty University Law Review 15-46 (2009).
- Jeffrey C. Tuomala, Book Review, (Reviewing Robert George, The Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis), 3 Liberty University Law Review 77-102 (2009).
- Symposium: A Celebration of the Twentieth Anniversary of Mulieris Dignitatem, Part I. Articles by Marguerite A. Peeters, Sr. Prudence Allen, Maria Sophia Aguirre, Mary Timothy Prokes, Elizabeth R. Schiltz, Margaret McCarthy, I.F.C. Camp, M.R. Gonzales and Helen M. Alvare. 8 Ave Maria Law Review 1-195 (2009).
Suit In Botswana Challenges Authority of Territorial Chief Over Churches
UPDATE: MMEGI reported Tuesday that in an interim ruling a High Court justice has held that Family Church of God's constitutional rights to freedom of conscience, thought and religion were infringed by Kgafela and his regiments. The court issued an order barring Kgafela, pending final determination of the case, from interfering with the activities of any church that is a member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana.
British Court Sentences Atheist For Leaving Insulting Material In Airport Chapel
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Compromise Will Let South African Jurist Attend His Grandson's Bar Mitzvah
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Simmons v. Herrera, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39819 (ND CA, March 26, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed as moot an inmate's suit for injunctive relief to obtain Native American religious services at Salinas Valley State Prison. Plaintiff has been moved to a different prison facility.
In Ransom v. Martinez, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39707 (ED CA, March 24, 2010), a California federal magistrate judge permitted a prisoner to move ahead with free exercise and RLUIPA claims that the requirement he undergo a strip search in front of female guards violates his Muslim religious beliefs.
Traffic Arrest Intensifies Debate In France Over Ban of Burqa and Niqab
Meanwhile the government confirmed that its proposed ban on the full face veil in all public places would apply to tourists as well as residents. This led to speculation that police might force luxury shoppers from the Gulf states to remove their veils on the Champs-Elysees.
Congressional Earmarks Challenged On Church-State Grounds
Britain Apologizes To Vatican Over Leaked Memo On Pope's Planned Visit
A second document circulated at the same time lists individuals and groups that are important to the Pope's visit, and ranks them in order of how influential and positive they are. The singer Susan Boyle is listed as more influential than the Archbishop of Westminster.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tax Court Rules On Disputed Religious Charitable Deductions
Sri Lankan Official Complains About South Park's Portrayal of Buddha
Challenge To Nativity Scene Dismissed As Moot
the County recently enacted a written Policy governing the placement of displays on courthouse grounds. Previously, citizens wanting to place a display on the grounds sought permission from the Director of Public Works.... Now, however ... the new written Policy is intended to allow all citizens equal access to the courthouse grounds. Because citizens will now have open access, any Nativity scene displayed in the future would be seen not as a government-sponsored message but simply as the message of a citizen group taking advantage of an open forum.The court rejected plaintiff's argument that the new policy is a sham and that the county will continue to favor Christian religious displays.
Suit Against Vatican and Pope Seeks Damages, Release of Names of Absuive Clergy
The Vatican Press Office issued a release yesterday responding to the lawsuit, saying: "the lawsuit - together with its de rigueur press conference and news releases - is simply the latest attempt by certain U.S. lawyers touse the judicial process as a tool of media relations."
UPDATE: An April 26 article from CNN profiles Jeff Anderson, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit. Active in bringing clergy sex abuse litigation for decades, the article describes Anderson as the attorney who has most driven U.S. media coverage of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Church Property Tax Disputes Continue In Various Locations
[Thanks to Joseph Landau for the lead.]
Meanwhile in Scituate, Massachusetts, the Boston Archdiocese has withdrawn a lawsuit seeking a court declaration that the town cannot tax the St. Francis X. Cabrini church building that had been closed by the archdiocese, so long as it was not used for non-religious purposes. The archdiocese argued that the building remains a sacred place designated for divine worship. (See prior posting.) The Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger reports that the Archdiocese has decided to pursue appeals through the state Appellate Tax Board instead of in court.
New Law Expands Florida Tax Credit School Voucher Program
Canadian Judge Refuses To Let Sikh Witness Wear Kirpan
Kentucky High Court Voids Funding of Pharmacy Building, Scholarships At Baptist University
Korea's Supreme Court Says Private Mission School Must Respect Students' Religious Rights
Taxpayer May Not Intervene To Challenge Settlement of Suit By School District
[Intervenor] objects in toto to the enforcement of the Establishment Clause as it pertains to Christianity in public schools and to the ability of the ACLU to collect fees for its efforts to enforce the Establishment Clause in such cases, both of which are far beyond the scope of the issues presented here. Allowing her to pursue such global claims would undoubtedly prolong what is a simpler question of whether specific acts by certain teachers and administrators violated either the state or federal constitution.
Canadian FLDS Leader Denied Advance of Legal Fees In B.C. Polygamy Reference
Government Will Appeal Decision Striking Down National Day of Prayer
Meanwhile, according to AOL News, the Pentagon Chaplain's Office yesterday withdrew its invitation to Franklin Graham, honorary chairman of this year's National Day of Prayer Task Force, who had originally been invited to speak at the Pentagon's special prayer service scheduled for May 6. The move came after complaints surfaced about Graham's previous references to Islam as an "evil and wicked" religion. (See prior posting.)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Supreme Court's Attorneys' Fees Decision Will Impact Religious Rights Cases
Lawsuit Argues Publisher's Pension Plan Was Not An Exempt Church Plan
Jehovah's Witness Loses Unemployment Comp Bid Over Beliefs About Birthday Celebrations
OIC Will Set Up New Committee On Human Rights
Russian Court Says Scientology Titles Are Extremist Literature
Bill To Permit Mennonites To Self-Insure Autos Goes To Georgia Governor For Signature
French Government Will Propose Burqa Ban In All Public Places
Meanwhile, Voice of America reports that tomorrow debate will begin in the Belgian parliament on similar legislation. Amnesty International urged the Belgian Parliament to reject the proposal, but said that women should be protected from coercion to wear the garment.
Miami Transit Authority Backs Off Decision To Pull Anti-Muslim Ads
Suit For Clergy Sex Abuse Relies On Alien Tort Claims Act
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Ohio High Court Says No Tax Exemption For Church's Low-Income Apartments
U.S. Sentencing Commission Incorporates New Hate Crimes Law Into Sentencing Guidelines
Florida Legislature Considering Proposals To Lower Church-State Wall In Schools
The Florida House and Senate are also considering a proposed state constitutional amendment to eliminate Florida's ban on state funds aiding any religious denomination. The amendment would also specifically allow inidividuals to use public benefits at religious service providers. (SJR2550/HJR1399). Significant opposition has developed to this proposal.
City Permanently Enjoined From Enforcing Noise Law Against Church Bells
Chinese Lawyers Who Defended Falun Gong Face Disbarment
Objections Raised To Pentagon's Speaker For National Day of Prayer
Government Policy and Poverty Encourage Polygamy In Gaza
Islamist Website Threatens "South Park" Creators Over Muhammad Episode
UPDATE: Thursday's New York Times reports that an episode of South Park aired on Wednesday on Comedy Central continued a story line involving the Prophet Muhammad but included a number of audio bleeps and image blocks reading "CENSORED". Many of the audio bleeps were added by Comedy Central. Meanwhile Thursday's Musalman Times ran a long article titled South Park: A Muslim Perspective justifying strong Muslim opposition to the South Park episode.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tennessee AG Opinion Says "Jesus Is Lord" Plates Violate Establishment Clause
Brazil Is Latest Focus In Church Sex Abuse Scandal
Indonesia's Constitutional Court Upholds Blasphemy Law
White House Reaches Out To Muslim Americans
Cert. Denied In Bail Plea of Kosher Meat Plant Executive
Monday, April 19, 2010
Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Christian Legal Society's Clash With Hastings' Discrimination Rules -- [Updated With Link To Transcript]
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito questioned the school's lawyer sharply, saying that being forced to admit someone who doesn't share their beliefs was a threat to the group. But Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor pressed the group's lawyer on notion that if they can ban gays, other groups can legally ban women and minorities.Scotus Blog last week had an excellent background article on the case. Scotus Wiki has links to all the briefs and much more background. An editorial titled The End of Religious Freedom? in Christianity Today outlines the arguments of Christian religious groups who hope that the 9th circuit will be reversed; while an editorial in today's New York Times titled A Case of Discrimination urges the Court to support the University's position.
The full transcript of the arguments is available online. Scotus Blog also has podcasts of the oral arguments of counsel for both sides, recorded before the actual argument. Last week, the Court turned down media requests for same-day release of the audio tapes of oral arguments in the case. According to the National Law Journal, this is the seventh time this term that such requests have been rejected.
UPDATE: Constitutional Law Prof Blog also has an interesting analysis of the oral argument.
Alamo Seeks New Trial Because of Sentencing Judge's Religious Comments
Bankruptcy Court Awards Damages For Violation of Stay Through Rabbinical Court Proceedings
Recent Articles of Interest
From SSRN:
- Ruthann Robson, Sexual Justice, Student Scholarship and the So-Called Seven Sins, (Law and Sexuality, Vol. 19, p. 31, 2010).
- Liav Orgad, Creating New Americans: The Essence of Americanism under the Citizenship Test, (Houston Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 5, 2011).
- Paul Horwitz, Of Football, 'Footnote One,' and the Counter-Jurisdictional Establishment Clause: The Story of Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, (April 14, 2010).
- Bernadette A. Meyler, Constitutional Commitments and Religious Identity, (Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, Forthcoming).
From SmartCILP:
- Daniel Gordon, Madison 1, Bush 0: Survey Testing Mr. Madison's Hypotheses, 26 Touro Law Review 1-22 (2010).
- Frederick B. Jonassen, Free Speech and Establishment Clause Rights at Public School Graduation Ceremonies: A Disclaimer: The Preceding Speech Was Government Censored and Does Not Represent the Views of the Valedictorian, 55 Wayne Law Review 683-820 (2009).
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Goldstone Will Not Attend Grandson's Bar Mitzvah In South Africa After Demonstrations Threatened
Free Exercise Objection To Cellular Tower Rejected By Court
UPDATE: The trial court opinion was affirmed by Jaeger v. Connecticut Siting Council, 2011 Conn. App. LEXIS 215 (App. Ct. CT, April 26, 2011).
Article Profiles Lawyer Chosen By Vatican To Defend U.S. Abuse Suits Against It
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Sandeford v. Plummer, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35044 (ND CA, March 31, 2010), a California federal magistrate judge granted defendants summary judgment in a suit in which a Muslim prisoner alleged denial of an Islamic diet, interference with the observance of Ramadan, failure to provide an imam, and denial of a kufi cap.
In Copeland v. Livingston, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24216 (ED TX, March 12, 2010), a Texas federal district court granted an inmate's motion to reopen a lawsuit alleging that he was forced to worship in a chapel containing Christian icons. In so ruling, the court adopted amended recommendations of a federal magistrate judge (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24107, Feb. 10, 2010).
In Wesley v. Muhammad, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37154 (SD NY, April 13, 2010), a New York federal magistrate judge refused, because of undue delay, to permit a Muslim prisoner to amend his complaint in a suit against city and prison officials complaining that he has not been supplied correctly prepared Halal meals.
In Cable v. Wall, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37143 (D RI, April 13, 2010), a Rhode Island federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37176, March 18, 2010) and dismissed some claims but permitted plaintiff to move ahead with claims that he was denied certain Islamic books because his religion was considered a gang.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Suit Challenges Exclusion of Sectarian Groups From State Employee Charitable Campaign
Religion Clause Blog Is 5 Years Old Today
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Kyrgyzstan's New Government Seeks To Liberalize 2009 Religion Law
Father's Religious Freedom Trumped By State's Interest In Protection of His Children
Foster Care Agency Charged With Religious Discrimination
Rights Group Charges Exploitation of Beggar Children By Senegal's Quranic Teachers
In Senegal's predominantly Muslim society, where religious leaders wield immense social and political power, children have long been entrusted to marabouts who educate them in these residential Quranic schools, called daaras. Many marabouts, who serve as de facto guardians, conscientiously carry out the important tradition of providing young boys with a religious and moral education.A New York Times article also focuses on the HRW report.
But research by Human Rights Watch shows that in many urban residential daaras today, other marabouts are using education as a cover for economic exploitation of the children in their charge. Many marabouts in urban daaras demand a daily quota from the children's begging and inflict severe physical and psychological abuse on those who fail to meet it.
NASA Employee Sues For Religious Discrimination After Demotion For Pushing Intelligent Design
Presidential Memo Expands Non-Family Members' Visitation and Surrogate Health Care Rights
Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.The Memorandum calls both for new rule making and for enforcement of current protections. New rules must also bar hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid from denying visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Memorandum gives HHS six months to develop further recommendations on health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families. The Washington Post reported on the President's action.
Court Says Muslim Did Not Prove Employment Discrimination, But Can Proceed on Other Claims
National Day of Prayer Declared Unconstitutional
Conceding that much of the controversy had resulted from activities of the private National Day of Prayer Task Force, the court said that "government officials, including former Presidents, have sometimes aligned themselves so closely with those exclusionary groups that it becomes difficult to tell the difference between the government's message and that of the private group."This legislative history supports the view that the purpose of the National Day of Prayer was to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, and in particular the Judeo-Christian view of prayer. One might argue that members of Congress voiced secular purposes: to protect against "the corrosive forces of communism" and promote peace. That is true, but the references to these purposes do nothing to diminish the message of endorsement. If anything, they contribute to a sense of disparagement by associating communism with people who do not pray. A fair inference that may be drawn from these statements is that "Americans" pray; if you do not believe in the power of prayer, you are not a true American. Identifying good citizenship with a particular religious belief is precisely the type of message prohibited by the establishment clause.
The court concluded with this explanation of its holding:
AP reporting on the decision quotes a White House spokesman as saying that the President still plans to issue a proclamation to recognize a National Day of Prayer next month. The court in its decision stayed its injunction for the 30-day period during which an appeal may be filed, and for the peridod during which any appeal is pending. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Paul Ballard and Ira "Chip" Lupu for the leads.]Although the law does not always point in the same direction on matters related to the establishment clause, my review of that law requires a conclusion that 36 U.S.C. §119 is unconstitutional.
I understand that many may disagree with that conclusion and some may even view it as a criticism of prayer or those who pray. That is unfortunate. A determination that the government may not endorse a religious message is not a determination that the message itself is harmful, unimportant or undeserving of dissemination. Rather, it is part of the effort to "carry out the Founders' plan of preserving religious liberty to the fullest extent possible in a pluralistic society." .... The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy.
It is important to clarify what this decision does not prohibit. Of course, "[n]o law prevents a [citizen] who is so inclined from praying" at any time.... And religious groups remain free to "organize a privately sponsored [prayer event] if they desire the company of likeminded" citizens.... The President too remains free to discuss his own views on prayer.... The only issue decided in this case is that the federal government may not endorse prayer in a statute as it has in §119.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Anti-Semitism
Magazine Explores Hipsters Intrusions Into Insular Hasidic Community
For a full year, the city seemed to ignore the hipster-Hasid war. Then, on December 1, 2009, came a sudden announcement. The Department of Transportation—under Janette Sadik-Khan, the bike-friendliest commissioner it’s ever had—was going to rip up "a small portion" of the lane.... Just about everyone’s assumption, including that of more than a few Hasids, is that Michael Bloomberg had needed the Satmars—who tend to vote enthusiastically and in a single block—in the upcoming election and that this was an easy bone to throw them.
On December 1, a crew of municipal workers descended on Bedford, sandblasting the lane and its stenciled biker figures off the asphalt. The next day, a group of three bike activists ... hit the street with aerosol cans and handmade stencils. According to Ben, more than a few Satmars saw them paint. "As they walked by, I made sure I said hello, explained to them that we’re not vandalizing the street, and asked if they wanted to help," he says. "At first, they were a little standoffish, but a couple of guys had a sense of humor about it."
.... Baruch Herzfeld, 38, is a classic macher and motormouth with a foot in both the Hasid and hipster worlds.... His real bread and butter is some sort of telephone-card business, which finances his largely nonprofit bike shop with the awesome name Traif Bike Gesheft—Unclean Bike Business. For South Williamsburg’s Hasids, Traif Bike Gesheft functions as a semi-secret window onto the larger world and a clubhouse of mild transgressions. Herzfeld rents bikes to Hasids at no cost, just to get them to venture beyond the neighborhood....