Suit Charges Dearborn High School Principal With Discrimination Against Non-Muslims

A discrimination lawsuit was filed late last month by two Christian high school teachers against Imad Fadlallah, the now-retired principal of Dearborn, Michigan's Fordson High School, and against the school district. The complaint (full text) in Purcell v. Fadlallah, (ED MI, filed 8/27/2010), alleges that Fadlallah used his position as principal to promote Islam and to systematically weed out teachers, coaches and employees who are not Muslim or Arab. The complaint also makes repeated references to ties between Fadlallah's family and the terrorist group, Hezbollah. Among the incidents of harassment against non-Muslim teachers described in the complaint were scheduling classes for one plaintiff, a science and math teacher who was a diabetic, at the times he needed to eat and administer insulin. It charges that Fadlallah harassed the second plaintiff, a business and marketing teacher, by, among other things, assigning her to teach two classes that met at the same time at opposite ends of the school building. The 34-page complaint alleges numerous other incidents of harassment and discrimination in violation of the First and 14th Amendments and of various statutory and state constitutional protections. The lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of the teachers has issued a press release summarizing plaintiff's claims.

Secretary of State Clinton Hosts State Department Iftar

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last night hosted the State Department's annual Iftar (Ramadan break fast). In her remarks (full text), she said in part:

Ramadan teaches and reinforces values that are honored by millions and tens and hundreds of millions of people from other faiths and beliefs. So tonight, while we celebrate together, let us consider how we can build broader and deeper bonds of mutual understanding, mutual respect and cooperation among people of all faiths in the year to come...

We sit down together for this meal on a day when the news is carrying reports that a pastor down in Gainesville, Florida plans to burn the Holy Qu’ran on September 11th. I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths, from evangelical Christians to Jewish rabbis, as well as secular U.S. leaders and opinion-makers. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. Many of you know that in 1790, George Washington wrote to a synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, that this country will give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

Among those attending the Iftar were 70 young American Muslim leaders. The Hill reported last week on the State Department's plans for yesterday's event.  

Court Dismisses Christian Pastors' Challenge To Hate Crimes Law

In Glenn v. Holder, (ED MI, Sept. 7, 2010), a Michigan federal district court dismissed on standing and ripeness grounds a challenge to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that had been brought by several Christian pastors. Plaintiffs claim that the law interferes with their right to express opposition to homosexuals and homosexual behavior.  They allege that the Act is vague and overbroad, and will chill individuals from expressing their views that "homosexual orientation is morally wrong."  The court however did not reach the merits of those claims, finding instead that plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that they faced a credible threat of prosecution under the Act.  No case or controversy exists because plaintiffs failed to allege that they intend to willfully cause bodily injury to anyone. The court also concluded that plaintiffs' claims are not ripe. They merely present hypothetical situations that plaintiffs believe will be investigated or prosecuted. Bay City (MI) Times reports on the decision.

Religion Becoming An Issue In Hawaii's Democratic Gubernatorial Primary

Religion is beginning to play an important role in Hawaii's Sept. 18 gubernatorial primary election. KITV News yesterday reported on ads and flyers by a group calling itself Island Values. Supporting Democratic candidate Mufi Hannemann over his opponent in the Democratic primary, Neil Abercrombie, flyers charge Abercrombie with mocking the faith-based community.  At issue is Abercrombie's support for same-sex civil unions. Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a civil union bill this summer. (See prior posting.) An Island Values ad urges Christians who would otherwise vote in the Republican primary to instead take a Democratic ballot to vote for Hannemann.  Their radio ad says: "There are acceptable and unacceptable candidates. Neil Abercrombie is unacceptable. He declares no religious affiliation." Abercrombie says he was confirmed as an Episcopalian.

Tajikistan Continues Restrictions on Religion While Tajik Muslims Prefer Religious Dispute Settlement

Forum 18 last week reported that the government of Tajikistan is imposing ever tighter controls on religious activity in the country whose majority religion is Islam.  Invoking the ban on political organizations establishing mosques, the government has ordered the Islamic Revival Party to stop using its offices for prayers-- though the ban will not be enforced until after Ramadan. The country's Religious a\Affairs Committee has reaffirmed the 2009 ban on children taking part in the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Just before the beginning of Ramadan, authorities in the town of Panjakent banned the broadcast of Muslim prayers over loud speakers. Also a case against 17 Jehovah's Witnesses remains open.

Meanwhile, Radio Free Europe today reports that Muslims in Tajikistan are increasingly resorting to local mullahs who apply Sharia law to resolve disputes, particularly issues growing out of divorces. Individuals find this route faster and cheaper than state courts, and prefer the personalized approach of mullahs.  Also some state courts officials are corrupt, requesting bribes for specific decisions.

Petraeus Says Florida Church's "Burn a Qur'an Day" Could Endanger U.S. Efforts In Afghanistan

According to a report by ABC News yesterday, the plans of a pastor in Florida to hold a "Burn a Qur'an Day" at his church on the anniversary of 9-11 is now seen as a danger to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (See prior posting.)  Some 500 people in downtown Kabul yesterday protested the plans of of Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said he is outraged by the Florida church's plans, and predicted that it could endanger troops and the overall U.S. effort in Afghanistan.

USPS Issues Postage Stamp Honoring Mother Teresa

On Sunday, the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Mother Teresa.  Announcing the stamp last week, USPS said:

The U.S. Postal Service will pay tribute to Mother Teresa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years.

According to a press release on Sunday, the stamp was issued during a special ceremony at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.  Postmaster General John Potter spoke at the ceremony. He was joined by a number of Catholic clergy, including Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. [Thanks to Pew Sitter for the lead.]

American Muslims Distressed Over Hostile Attitudes

Today's New York Times carries a front page article titled American Muslims Ask, Will We Even Belong?.  It focuses on Muslim distress over the hostile reactions triggered by the proposed Muslim cultural center near Ground Zero. Many Muslims interviewed are frightened  "to learn that the suspicion and even hatred of Muslims is so widespread."  According to reporter Laurie Goodstein, American Muslims:

liken their situation to that of other scapegoats in American history: Irish Roman Catholics before the nativist riots in the 1800s, the Japanese before they were put in internment camps during World War II. Muslims sit in their living rooms, aghast as pundits assert over and over that Islam is not a religion at all but a political cult, that Muslims cannot be good Americans and that mosques are fronts for extremist jihadis.

Eboo Patel, founder of Chicago's Interfaith Youth Core, says:

After Sept. 11, we had a Republican president who had the confidence and trust of red America, who went to a mosque and said, "Islam means peace," and who said "Muslims are our neighbors and friends," and who distinguished between terrorism and Islam. Now, unlike Mr. Bush then, the politicians with sway in red state America are the ones whipping up fear and hatred of Muslims. There is simply the desire to paint an entire religion as the enemy.

Israeli Politicians Debate Traditional Switch Off Daylight Savings Time For Yom Kippur

In Israel, members of the Knesset this week were engaged in debates over whether to continue the traditional practice in Israel of moving off daylight savings time beginning during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The motivation for the practice is to obtain an earlier sundown and thus end the Yom Kippur fast at an earlier hour-- though the move does not shorten the total number of hours in the day-long fast which would also begin earlier with the change. This year the Jewish High Holidays come particularly early. Yom Kippur falls on Sept. 18.  Business leaders say an early move to Standard Time costs the economy NIS 10M ($2.6M U.S.) and increases road accidents because of increased driving time in the dark. Israel is on Daylight Savings Time each year several weeks less than are the U.S. and Europe. Last week, some 100,000 Israelis signed an online petition urging the public to ignore the switch back to Standard Time. Interior Minister Eli Yishai suggested a compromise-- switch to Standard Time for Yom Kippur, and then go back to Daylight Savings Time the next week.

Department of Labor Blog Honors Ties Between Religion and Labor Movement

Today is Labor Day in the United States. On the official blog of the U.S. Department of Labor, Phil Tom, Director for DOL's Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships, recently posted his thoughts on Labor Day in a piece titled Keeping Faith In Labor. He writes in part:

Labor Day weekend is a time when faith communities and the labor movement celebrate their common bonds of equality, justice, dignity, and fair treatment for all workers. In fact, in 1909, the American Federation of Labor adopted the Sunday before Labor Day as "Labor Sunday" to honor the spirituality of the labor movement.

USA Today's Faith and Reason blog has more on Labor and religion.

Border Guard Survives Dismissal Motion In His Religious Discrimination Suit

In Israel v. Napolitano, (ND NY, Aug. 24, 2010), a New York federal district court refused to grant summary judgment to the Department of Homeland Security in a religious discrimination suit brought against it by a Jewish Customs and Border Protection Guard. Plaintiff Brian Israel alleged that over the course of his employment he was subjected to repeated anti-Semitic harassment by co-workers and supervisors, including swastikas being placed on his work locker. In 2007, Israel was fired, purportedly for his conduct following three separate altercations with the public.The court concluded, however, that "there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable fact finder could conclude that Israel's removal resulted from religious discrimination." [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Patrick Parkinson, Kim Oates & Amanda Jayakody, Breaking the Long Silence: Reports of Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church of Australia, (Ecclesiology, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 183-200, 2010).
• Robert A. Kahn, Tragedy, Farce or Legal Mobilization? The Danish Cartoons in Court in France and Canada, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-21, 2010).
• Peter G. Danchin, Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights, University of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-41, Sept. 1, 2010).
• Geoffrey P. Miller, Sovereignty and Conquest in the Hebrew Bible, NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-61, Sept. 3, 2010).
• Wilbren Van der Burg, Legislation on Human Embryos: From Status Theories to Value Theories, (Erasmus Working Paper Series on Jurisprudence and Socio-legal Studies No. 10-03, Aug. 30, 2010).
• Joshua Kleinfeld, The Concept of Evil in American and German Criminal Punishment, (August 25, 2010).

From SmartCILP:

• Melissa Lewis, The Regulation of Kosher Slaughter in the United States: How to Supplement Religious Law So As to Ensure the Humane Treatment of Animals, 16 Animal Law Review 259-285 (2010).
• Alexandra Lang Susman, Strings Attached: An Analysis of the Eruv Under the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 9 University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class 93-134 (2009).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Fairwell v. Cates, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88856 (ED CA, Aug. 2, 2010), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed an inmate's free exercise and RLUIPA complaint with leave to amend and refile. Plaintiff set out numerous allegations of interference with his practice of Asatru/ Odinism, as well as an allegation of retaliation. However the complaint failed to adequately link particular defendants to specific alleged violations.

In Johnson v. Schoen, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90053 (SD IL, Aug. 31, 2010), an Illinois federal district court held that a prisoner's allegation that a correctional officer refused to give him a Bible during his visit with his mother was insufficient to support a free exercise claim.

In Williams v. Beard, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89492 (MD PA, Aug. 30, 2010), a Pennsylvania federal district court rejected a Muslim inmate's free exercise and RLUIPA challenges to disciplinary action that led to a loss of his kitchen job for offering prayers in an unauthorized area and failing to obey staff orders to stop.


In Walden v. Smith, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90084 (ND IA, Aug. 30, 2010), an Iowa federal district court dismissed on qualified immunity grounds a Muslim prisoner's complaint that his free exercise rights were violated when, because of his security status, he was not permitted to participate in communal daily prayers during much of Ramadan in 2007. During those times, he was restricted to one communal prayer service per week and thus attended the Friday Jum'ah prayers.


In Kuperman v. Wrenn, (D NH, Aug. 27, 2010), a New Hampshire federal district court rejected challenges by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner to rules that limited the length of beards that can be grown for religious reasons to 1/4 inch. The court found that plaintiff had not sustained his free exercise, equal protection or RLUIPA claims.

In Grayson v. Schuler, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89239 (SD IL, Aug. 30, 2010), an Illinois federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89240, July 20, 2010) and granted summary judgment for defendant on qualified immunity grounds in connection with a claim by an inmate who was a member of the African Hebrew Israelite faith. Plaintiff argued that the prison's grooming policy violated his free exercise rights because he had taken the Nazarite vow that required him to grow his hair long.


In Shelton v. El Paso County, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91248 (WD TX, Sept. 1, 2010), a Texas federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing an inmate's complaint that a county jail refused to allow him access to his hard cover Qur'an, failed to supply him with a soft cover version, denied him a prayer rug, did not give him access to a Muslim representative and denied him a pork-free diet. Plaintiff asserted free exercise, RLUIPA, establishment Clause and equal protection claims.

In Ortiz v. Baker, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91430 (D NV, July 27, 2010), a Nevada federal court judge dismissed, with leave to refile an amended complaint, a suit by a Jewish prisoner that merely alleged, without elaboration that defendants refused to permit him to practice Judaism and receive a kosher diet in violation of his First Amendment rights.

In Montague v. Corrections Corporation of America, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91616 (MD TN, Sept. 2, 2010), a Tennessee federal magistrate judge recommended denying a Muslim inmate's request for a temporary restraining order to permit Muslim inmates to pool funds to purchase requested food for Eid ul-Fitr and Eid Adha banquets.

In Soria v. Skolnik, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91543 (D NV, Aug. 10, 2010), a Nevada federal district court permitted an inmate to proceed with his claim that his rights under the free exercise clause, RLUIPA and the equal protection clause were violated by a prison policy requiring that for an inmate to receive a kosher diet, he must be recognized as a practicing Jew by the Aleph Institute or other recognized Jewish organization.

Maryland High Court Hears Arguments On Refusal To Reschedule Trial To Accommodate Religious Holiday

Last week, Maryland's Court of Appeals-- the state's highest court-- heard oral arguments in Neustadter v. Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Inc., posing the question of whether the religious freedom rights of a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case were infringed when the trial court refused to reschedule the trial in the case.  (Video of full oral argument). According to Saturday's Baltimore Sun, plaintiff, an Orthodox Jew, was denied a postponement or a two-day suspension of the trial for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Plaintiff did not attend those two days of trial and ordered his attorney not to work on his behalf on those days either. This led to crucial testimony by defendants' witnesses going unchallenged.

In Australia, Challenge Planned To School Chaplaincy Program

WA Today reports that in Australia, Queensland parent Ron Williams is planning to file suit to challenge the constitutionality of the country's school chaplaincy program.  Politicians have pledged to find $220 million to fund another 1000 chaplains in the schools. Meanwhile the Australian Psychological Society says the program is dangerous to children's mental health because many children are seeking out chaplains rather than psychologists to deal with mental health problems. At least one school even replaced its psychologist with a chaplain to save money. Program rules bar school chaplains from proselytizing.

Israeli Labor Court Says Private Catholic School Can Ban Muslim Teacher From Wearing Hijab

In Israel, the Jerusalem District Labor Court upheld the dress code requirements of a private Catholic school that barred a Muslim teacher from wearing a hijab (headscarf).  Today's Jerusalem Post reports that teacher Nada Nimri, who taught Arabic and Islam at the 120-year old Schmidt School for Girls, operated by the Mary Ward Sisters and owned by the Diocese of Cologne, decided after 27 years of teaching without wearing a hijab that she wanted to begin wearing one.  The school, which has both Catholic and Muslim students, enforces its dress code "in order to create uniformity between the students and teachers from Muslim and Christian backgrounds." Nimri argued that the requirement violated the Equal Opportunity in Work Law and the Equal Rights for Women Law (legislative background). The Labor Court held that because the school was a private school operated by a religious order, its pedagogical and educational concerns outweighed the burden on Nimri's religious beliefs.

Suit Against Scientology Creates Conflict Between State and Federal Judges

Saturday's St. Petersburg (FL) Times reports on an unusual clash between a state and a federal court judge in a case involving the Church of Scientology. Six years ago, attorney and vocal critic of Scientology, Ken Dandar, settled a state court wrongful death suit he brought against the Church of Scientology on behalf of the family of Lisa McPherson. She died in 1995 after being under the care of Scientology members for 17 days. As part of the settlement, Dandar agreed never to take another case against the Church of Scientology. However last year, Dandar filed a suit in federal court against Scientology's Flag Service Organization and the twin sister of Scientology's world leader, David Miscavige. Church attorneys claimed this violated the earlier settlement agreement, and state court Circuit Judge Robert Beach agreed. He ordered Dandar to withdraw from the federal case.

In response, Dandar filed a motion to withdraw, but attached an affidavit from his client asking that Dandar stay on because no other attorney will take the case. Federal district judge Steven Merryday decided that Dandar had not violated the settlement agreement and refused to allow him to withdraw. In response, state court judge Beach held Dandar in contempt and imposed a judgment of $130,000 to be paid to the Church of Scientology. Scientology's attorney said that Dandar could have gotten off the federal case by filing an affidavit claiming a conflict of interest. This angered federal Judge Merryday who saw it as an attempt to deceive the court. So he got Scientology's attorney and Dandar to agree to stop all proceedings in state court, including attempts to collect the judgement, until both sides can present full arguments in federal court. State court judge Beach says he does not think that a federal district court has jurisdiction to overturn his contempt finding.

Court OKs Menorah Display, But Not Use of City Personnel and Equipment To Light It

In Chabad of Mid-Hudson Valley v. City of Poughkeepsie, (NY App. Div., Aug. 31, 2010), a New York state appellate court held that the display of an 18-foot high menorah on public property in downtown Poughkeepsie (NY) did not violate the Establishment Clause because:

in the immediate vicinity of the menorah, as well as throughout the downtown area, are garlands, wreaths, and white lights, which ... "typify the secular celebration of Christmas".... These nearby secular decorations serve to emphasize the cultural message of Chanukah as represented by the menorah.... The relevant context also includes the symbols in the public lot ... 250 east [or the menorah display] ... which ... included not only a Christmas tree but a display of the Muslim faith in the form of a star and crescent. Therefore while the menorah does not lose its its religious symbolism, its surroundings negate any appearance of government endorsement....

The court concluded however that the Establishment Clause was violated in "allowing the plaintiffs to use municipal funds, labor, and equipment for the nightly menorah lighting, even if the plaintiffs repaid the City for such labor and equipment" because this "would foster the perception of an unconstitutional excessive governmental entanglement with religion."

White House Press Secretary: President Is a Committed Mainstream Christian

The Christian Science Monitor reported last week that Fox News commentator Glenn Beck is accusing President Obama of not being a true Christian, but instead of believing in Marxist-based "Liberation Theology". The issue was raised by reporters at yesterday's White House press briefing (full text) in this exchange with press secretary Robert Gibbs:

Q    Robert, for the last four days, Glenn Beck has criticized the President for believing in liberation theology, which he calls a Marxist form of Christianity.  I’ve got two questions.  One, does the President, to your knowledge, even know what liberation theology is?

MR. GIBBS:  I don’t know the answer to that.  I will say this, Bill, a crude paraphrasing of an old quote, and that is people are entitled to their own opinion, as ill-informed as it may be, but they’re not entitled to their own facts.  The President is a committed mainstream Christian.  I don’t -- I have no evidence that would guide me as to what Glenn Beck would have any genuine knowledge as to what the President does or does not believe.

Q    When is he going back to church?

Q    So this Marxist form of Christianity --

MR. GIBBS:  Again, I can only imagine where Mr. Beck conjured that from.

Mormon Church Talks With China Will Likely Lead To Regualarizing LDS Operations In China

In Salt Lake City (UT) this week, the Mormon Church announced that recent meetings with an official of the People's Republic of China are expected to lead to regularizing of the Church's operations in China. However the Church will not be sending missionaries to China. Instead the initiative means that the way in which the Church can legally proceed with daily activities in China will be clarified.

Abercrombie Sued For Second Time Over Clash Between Its "Look Policy" and Wearing Hijab

For the second time in a year, the EEOC has brought a lawsuit against clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch over the conflict between its "Look Policy" for its personnel and the need of Muslim women to wear a headscarf (hijab). The EEOC announced on Wednesday that it had filed suit in a California federal district court on behalf of an 18-year old whose application for a job stocking merchandise at an Abercrombie Kids store in Milpitas, California was rejected. According to the complaint, the applicant wore a headscarf to the job interview. The Abercrombie manager asked her if she was a Muslim and required to wear a headscarf. When she replied she was, the manager marked "not Abercrombie look" on her application. In September 2009, the EEOC sued Abercrombie in an Oklahoma federal district court for rejecting a prospective employee because she wore a hijab. (See prior posting.) Also in February 2010, a complaint was filed with the EEOC on behalf of a Muslim stockroom worker who was fired from Hollister (an Abercrombie subsidiary) in San Mateo, California, because she insisted on wearing her hijab. (See prior posting.)

California Trial Court Affirms Religious Court's Decision On Ownership of Torah Scrolls

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that on Tuesday a Los Angeles trial court confirmed a ruling by a Jewish religious tribunal in a dispute over ownership of four Torah scrolls. The court agreed with the bet din (Jewish religious court) that the scrolls belong to the widow of Rabbi Norman Pauker, and that they were merely on loan to Pauker's former assistant, Rabbi Samuel Ohana. (See prior related posting.) That conclusion was based on a handwritten loan agreement seen as authentic by the bet din.  Ohana is using the scrolls at his Sherman Oaks, California synagogue. Pauker's widow wants her nephews, who are rabbis, to have the scrolls for their synagogues instead.  The challenge to the ruling of the bet din was based on the fact that the religious tribunal ordered the scrolls returned not to Pauker's widow personally, but to Pauker's orgainzation, Valley Mishkan Israel Congregation. Ohana claimed the religious panel had no authority to do that since the widow personally, not the Congregation, was the party to the action. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Court Refuses To Mandamus California Governor and AG To Defend Prop 8

The Recorder reports that the Pacific Justice Institute on Tuesday filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in California's Third District Court of Appeal, seeking to force California's governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8-- the state's ban on same sex marriage-- in court. Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have said publicly that they do not intend to defend the constitutionality of the voter-approved state constitutional amendment. Brown is the Democratic candidate for governor this fall. Apex News Network reports that on Wednesday the court refused to grant the mandamus petition. The court gave no reasons for its decision.

Army Accommodates Third Sikh Recruit

According to a release yesterday by the Sikh Coalition, the U.S. Army, for the third time in less than a year, has agreed that a Sikh recruit may enlist and continue to wear his religiously-mandated turban along with unshorn hear and a beard. Simran Preet Singh Lamba was brought into the army in 2009 through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program-- designed to recruit non-citizens who have needed language skills.  Lamba, a native of India, speaks Punjabi and Hindi. The Army's ruling (full text) granting Lamba religious accommodation said the exemption from the Army's hair and grooming policy is granted for basic training and military occupational school, and emphasizes that accommodation requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Fraud Claim Against Diocese For Nondisclosure of Priest's Past Sex Abuse Is Dismissed

In Doe v. Diocese of New Ulm, (MN Ct. App., Aug. 31, 2010), the Minnesota Court of Appeals dismissed claims against a Catholic diocese by several women who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by a priest, Father David Rooney. The court held that while plaintiffs' fraud claims were not barred by the statute of limitations, the claims stemmed from the diocese's failure to disclose Father Rooney's history of sexual abuse.  Nondisclosure amounts to fraud only if the diocese had a duty to disclose, and plaintiffs did not allege or establish any such duty.  The court rejected plaintiffs' theory that the diocese engaged in an implied affirmative misrepresentation that it was safe for Father Rooney to be around children when the diocese permitted him to serve as a pastor and have unsupervised access to minor children.

7th Circuit Says University of Wisconsin Must Make Student Activity Fees Available To Religious Worship

In a 2-1 decision yesterday in Badger Catholic, Inc. v. Walsh, (7th Cir., Sept. 1, 2010), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a University of Wisconsin policy that withheld student activity fee funding for worship, proselytizing  or religious instruction by recognized student groups. The majority opinion, written by Judge Easterbrook, concluded that the University acted improperly in refusing to fund certain programs of a Catholic student group. The group, Badger Catholic, was formerly known as the Roman Catholic Foundation. The majority held that funding religious programs on the same basis as programs of other student groups does not violate the Establishment Clause, and that the University must fund  the Catholic group's programs if similar programs that espouse a secular perspective receive money. The majority held however that an award of damages is not available to plaintiffs. They may obtain only a declaratory judgment or injunction as relief.

Judge Williams, dissenting, argued that while it is not required to do so, the University may create a limited forum and exclude worship from it because the practice of religion does not serve the purpose of the limited forum. She argued that the majority's treatment of purely religious activities as being merely a species of dialog, discussion or debate "degrades religion and the practice of religion." She asks:

If religion, and the practice of one’s religion, can be described as merely dialog or debate from a religious perspective, what work does the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment do?

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the decision.

City Relents On Collecting Tax Assessment That Violates Religious Beliefs of Hindu Woman

The city of Evanston, Illinois has decided that it will no longer press a Hindu woman and her mother for a $635 tax bill reflecting an assessment that the woman says violates her religious beliefs. At issue is the removal of a box elder tree that stands mostly on common property of Padma Rao's condominium.  She says that her Hindu religion prohibits the needless killing of any living thing. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Evanston Review reports that a city attorney now says the city is in the process of removing Rao from the delinquent tax notification list it sends the county.

City Rents Space For Satanist Exorcism Ceremony

Oklahoma City's Parks and Recreation Department, saying that it cannot constitutionally discriminate on the basis of viewpoint in renting out its Civic Center auditoriums, has agreed to rent out its smallest room, seating 100, to a Satanist Church for a public exorcism ceremony.  ABC News today reports that James Hale, the leader of the Church of the IV Majesties, says he wants to erase  fears about Satanism by opening the ritual exorcism of God to the public. He says that the ceremony, which is "a parody of the Catholic rite of exorcism," is designed to extract the gods of the "right handed path," that is, traditional religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Tickets for the Oct. 21 exorcism are $15.

7th Circuit: Rastafarian Failed To Inform Potential Employer That Dreadlocks Were Religious Requirement

In Xodus v. Wackenhut Corp., (7th Cir., Aug. 27, 2010), the 7th Circuit affirmed a trial court's holding that Wackenhut Corp. did not violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it refused to hire plaintiff, a Rastafarian, as a security guard because plaintiff refused to cut his dreadlocks. The Court affirmed the trial court's finding that plaintiff (whose name is Lord Osunfarian Xodus) failed to bring his religious beliefs to Wackenhut's attention. The Wackenhut manager, Clarence McCuller, who interviewed Xodus testified that when he told plaintiff about the company's grooming policy, plaintiff said that cutting his dreadlocks is "against my belief."  But McCuller testified that he was not aware of the Rastafarian religion and did not equate the use of the term "belief" with "religion." The Court wrote:

Xodus claims that his use of the word "belief" and the dreadlocks themselves sufficed to notify McCuller of the religious nature of his hairstyle. But unlike race or sex, a person’s religion is not always readily apparent.... "[E]mployers are not charged with detailed knowledge of the beliefs and observances associated with particular sects." ....  Nor does the fact that Xodus' name begins with the word "Lord" persuade us that McCuller knew the dreadlocks were religious.

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Indonesian Court Orders Closure of Buddha Bar; Awards Damages To Plaintiffs

In Indonesia today, the Central Jakarta District Court ordered the Jakarta branch of the Paris-based Buddha Bar to close.  The court also ordered the company that operates the bar, along with the Jakarta's governor and its tourism agency that allowed the bar to operate,  to pay plaintiffs the equivalent of $111,000. Today's Jakarta Globe and M&C report that a group called the Anti-Buddha Bar Forum filed the law suit last year, charging that the bar's name and its use of Buddhist symbols violated laws requiring respect for state-approved religions. Last year the bar's owners, in response to complaints, renamed it, but plaintiffs say that is not enough because it has refused to remove Buddhist symbols used in the bar,

Court Refuses So Far To Drop Charges Against Preachers At Dearborn's Arab International Festival

A Dearborn, Michigan trial judge Monday, after two hours of oral arguments, refused, at least for now, to dismiss charges beach of peace and failure to obey lawful orders that have been brought against four street preachers for their activities in June at Dearborn's large Arab International Festival. One of the defendants, all members of Acts 17, was engaged in conversations with attendees at the Festival. The other three were videotaping the conversations. According to yesterday's Christian Post, police say the four drew and incited a large crowd, while defendants say their arrest violates their rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. They also claim the arrests were retaliation for an embarrassing video of activities of Festival security guards last year. The court said it needed clarification on some issues before finally deciding whether to drop charges. If they are not dropped, a trial will start Sept. 20.

Wide Ranging Challenge To Health Care Reform Includes Religion Claims

A group of individuals and organizations yesterday filed a lawsuit in a Nevada federal court asserting a wide range of constitutional challenges to the requirement in this year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that all U.S. citizens and legal residents maintain health care coverage.  Several of the challenges in the 55-page complaint are based on the free exercise clause, the establishment clause and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  The most straight forward are claims that the law forces Plaintiffs to fund abortion in violation of their religious beliefs and that it establishes "the secular religion of Socialism."  Some of the other religion claims in the complaint (full text) in People V US v. Obama, (D NV, filed 8/31/2010) are more elaborate:

47.... Plaintiff Joshua Hansen has a sincerely held religious belief that God will provide for his physical, spiritual, and financial well-being. Being forced to buy health insurance ...is highly offensive to his faith and beliefs. Plaintiff Joshua Hansen’s faith leads him to want to be free to obtain the health care of his own choosing, whatsoever health care he feels God directs him to obtain, including alternative forms of medicine, such as natural healing, homeopathic treatment, and other alternative forms of medical treatment not recognized or covered by PPACA....

73. Plaintiff TRACIE PISTOCCO is a Christian.... She has a sincerely held religious belief that charity is an obligation and sacrament of his faith as commanded by the Bible that people, as individuals—as opposed to government—are to care for one another. See Luke 14:13; Psalm 41:1, 2; 1 Timothy 6:17, 18. Part of this sincerely held religious belief is that all forms of Socialism are abhorrent and contrary to her Christian faith, because Socialism dictates, by force of law and without free will, that the government will take what the people have and distribute it to those who allegedly have less, regardless of latter’s need or attempt to care for themselves. She objects to PPACA because it compels her, under the guise of the "shared responsibility payment", to perform forced charity which violates the very foundation of his Christian faith.

74.... Christopher Hansen is a Christian and member and founder of the First Christian Fellowship of Eternal Sovereignty and believes that Socialism and its twin brothers, Communism, Fascism, and Marxism, are State/Civic religions and thus that Obamcare/ PPACA, an admittedly socialistic and compelled system of belief, violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, because it destroys his ability to exercise his religion according to the dictates of his own conscience. In his belief, Satan is the founder of compelled "charity," which violates the principles of free agency set forth in the scriptures in which Christopher Hansen believes, including the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and the Constitution of the United States of America, which he believes to be inspired by God and the only true political religion. To force him to participate in Obamacare thus violates his free exercise of religion under the First Amendment.

Courthouse News Service reports on the filing of the case.

Suit Claims IRS Has Special Policy To Scrutinize Non-Profit Applications From Pro-Israel Groups Opposed To Obama Policies

The non-profit pro-Israel, Zionist group, Z Street, filed a lawsuit in a Pennsylvania federal district court last week challenging on free expression grounds a purported policy of the Internal Revenue Service to scrutinize particularly closely applications for Section 501(c)(3) non-profit status from organizations that deal with Israel, and especially if the organization supports policies inconsistent with those of the Obama administration on the Middle East. The complaint (full text) in Z Street v. Shulman, (ED PA, filed 8/25/2010), asks for a declaratory judgment that the Israel Special Policy amounts to viewpoint discrimination and seeks an injunction requiring disclosure of the origin and development of the Special Policy. The lawsuit also asks the court to order that Z Street's application for non-profit status be considered expeditiously and fairly. In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Z Street said that its application for non-profit status was filed in January and has, according to an IRS agent, been stalled because of this special policy. The Forward last week said that experts are skeptical about Z Street's claim that its application was sent to a special IRS unit to determine whether its policies contradict those of the administration.

National Religious Moot Court Competition Scheduled For February

The 5th annual National Religious Moot Court Competition will be held at George Washington University Law School on Feb. 4-5, 2011. The competition is open to teams from ABA-accredited law schools. This year's problem deals with RLUIPA as it applies to zoning decisions. This year's final round will be judged by Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; Professor Michael McConnell of Stanford University's Constitutional Law Center and formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit; and Melissa Rogers of Wake Forest University who is Chair of President Obama's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships . More information is available at the website devoted to the competition. [Thanks to Ira "Chip"Lupu for the lead.]

En Banc Review Granted In Challenge To Orlando's Park Feeding Ordinance

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday issued an order (full text) granting an en banc rehearing in First Vagabonds Church of God v. City of Orlando, Florida.  The 3-judge panel in the case, in a 2-1 decision rejected free exercise, free expression and other challenges to Orlando's Large Group Feeding Ordinance that requires a permit to feed more than 25 people in any downtown park, and limits a group to 2 permits per year in any park. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Glenn Katon for the lead.]

Libya's Gadhafi Irks Italians By Pushing Islam On Italian Women

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi has upset some Italians during his current visit to Italy. On Sunday and Monday, Gadhafi held a series of private meetings with 800 Italian women and a small group of men all recruited online by an agency, Hostessweb. They were all paid by the Libyan government to attend. At the meetings, Gadhafi lectured the attendees on Islam, handed out copies of the Quran, and apparently converted a handful of women. At the meetings, Gadhafi told participants that Islam should become the religion of Europe.

Law and Religion Scholar Steven Goldberg Dies

Today's Washington Post reports that law and religion scholar Steven P. Goldberg died last week. Goldberg was a professor at Georgetown University's Law Center since 1977 and has written a number of books on the intersection of law, science and religion, including Bleached Faith: The Tragic Cost When Religion is Forced Into the Public Square, (Stanford Univ. Press, 2008).

Lincoln Parallels Cited In Confusion About Obama's Religion

In today's San Francisco Chronicle, New York University Professor Jonathan Zimmerman calls attention to an interesting parallel between the persistent rumors that President Barack Obama is a Muslim and rumors faced by Abraham Lincoln. Here is an excerpt:

Just as Obama's enemies call him a closet Muslim, Lincoln's opponents hinted that he was ... a closet Catholic. And in each case, the reason was exactly the same: Millions of Americans feared, derided or despised these faiths....

The whispers about Lincoln's religion began right after he was elected president. The "evidence" was simple, and altogether spurious. Jesuits were active in Lincoln's region of Illinois, so he must have been baptized by them. Oh, and Lincoln had once defended a prominent priest in a slander lawsuit.

.... Lincoln also denounced the bigotry and prejudice of the Know-Nothings, America's most vehemently anti-Catholic political party. "If the Know-Nothings get control," Lincoln warned in 1855, "the Declaration of Independence will read: All men are created equal except for Negroes, foreigners, and Catholics."

And here's why it mattered: Across the political spectrum, including Lincoln's Republican Party, Protestant Americans assumed that Catholics were disloyal to the Republic. "We" respected individual rights, liberties, and freedoms; but "they" took orders from the Vatican.

After a Pew poll earlier this month revealed that 18% of Americans thought Obama is Muslim and 43% did not know his religious affiliation (see prior posting), Obama told NBC interviewer Brian Williams on Sunday that this there is a "network of misinformation" in today's "new-media era." (Los Angeles Times).

Suit Charges Discrimination In Illinois State Police Revoking Appointment of Muslim Chaplain

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that the Council on American Islamic Relations has filed a federal civil rights discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a Chicago imam whose appointment as the first Muslim state police chaplain was rescinded after critics complained that he had ties to Hamas. The imam, Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, had solicited funds on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the country's largest Muslim charity until its leaders were indicted on charges of funneling money to Hamas. (See prior posting.) Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism  said that Mustapha was one of some 300 unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case. Mustapha's lawyer said the imam believed the funds were being used for Muslim causes in the United States. In a release announcing the filing of the lawsuit, CAIR-Chicago said the state police action was reminiscent of the Red Scare of the 1950's. (See prior related posting.)

EEOC Sues Nebraska Meat Packing Plant Over Religious Accommodation of Muslim Employees

According to an AP report, the EEOC yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against JBS Swift & Co. charging that the company failed to make reasonable accommodation for religious observance by some 80 Somali Muslims who were fired from company's Grand Island, Nebraska meat packing plant. The long-running problems at the plant began in 2007 when a number of East Africans were hired to fill spots that became vacant after an immigration raid found a number of illegal Hispanic immigrants working there. During Ramadan in 2008, hundreds of Muslim workers protested that they wanted time to pray and break their fast at sunset. When management tried to accommodate them, the company faced counter protests by non-Muslim workers who said the accommodation would burden them. Eventually the company fired 86 Muslims for walking off the job, and later hired back around a dozen of them. (See prior related posting.)

Suit Charges RLUIPA and FOIA Violations In Church Zoning Dispute

The Power of Praise Worship Center has filed a RLUIPA lawsuit against the village of Dixmoor, Illinois. The suit claims that even though village trustees had approved its use of a building it leased, the village's code enforcement officer ordered it to vacate the building, saying that churches are allowed only in areas zoned residential. The complaint (full text) in Power of Praise Worship Center Church v. Village of Dixmoor, Illinois, (ND IL, filed 8/27/2010), also alleges that the village has prevented the church's attorneys from obtaining a full copy of the village's zoning code. In addition to its RLUIPA claim, the complaint also alleges violations of the Free Exercise Clause and the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The law firm of Mauck & Baker issued a press release on the case.

UPDATE: WGN News reports that on Aug. 31, a federal judge issued an emergency order allowing the church to reopen while it negotiates a settlement with the city.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Carl H. Esbeck, Uses and Abuses of Textualism and Originalism in Establishment Clause Interpretation, (Utah Law Review, Vol. 2011, No. 2).
• Joseph Blocher, Schrödinger’s Cross: The Quantum Mechanics of the Establishment Clause, (Virginia Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Barbara P. Billauer, Human Reproductive Cloning: Science and Jewish Law, (August 25, 2010).
• Christopher C. Lund, Religious Liberty after Gonzales: A Look at State RFRAs, (South Dakota Law Review, 2010).
• Geoffrey P. Miller, Nationhood and Law in the Hebrew Bible, (NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-57, Aug. 26, 2010).
• Nadia N. Sawicki, The Hollow Promise of Freedom of Conscience, (Loyola University Chicago School of Law Research Paper No. NO. 2010-009, Aug. 23, 2010).
• Christopher C. Lund, Salazar v. Buono and the Future of the Establishment Clause, (Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, 2010).
• Lorenzo Zucca, Crucifix in the Classroom: The Best Solution to the Lautsi Case, (August 28, 2010).
• Abhayraj Naik, Imperative Values of a Logical Forgiveness, (Socio-Legal Review, Vol. 6, p. 101, August 2010).

From SmartCILP:

• Christopher C. Lund, Exploring Free Exercise Doctrine: Equal Liberty and Religious Exemptions, 77 Tennessee Law Review 351-383 (2010).
• Malcolm Voyce, Ideas of Transgression and Buddhist Monks, 21 Law and Critique 183-198 (2010).

Court Rejects Quaker's Challenge To Use Of His Tax Payments For Military

In Moore- Backman v. United States, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88547 (D AZ, Aug. 24, 2010), an Arizona federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88548, June 28, 2010) and dismissed a complaint by a Quaker that the use of his federal income tax payments for military spending substantially burdens his religious exercise in violation of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. Plaintiff sought return of a portion of a refund that was not paid to him but was instead applied by the government to offset prior taxes he did not pay because he objected to their use. He also sought an order requiring the government to apply his tax payments solely to non-military uses.

The court held that the action for a refund should be dismissed because plaintiff never first filed an administrative claim for a refund. Plaintiff's request for an order directing the United States to apply his taxes to non-military purposes is not barred by the Declaratory Judgment Act or the Anti-Injunction Act because it is not a challenge to the collection or assessment of taxes. However, the court concluded that there was no free exercise or RFRA violation because under relevant case law the Government is not required to conduct its own internal affairs in a way that comports with an individual's religious beliefs.

Utah High Court Says FLDS Challenge To Trust Reformation Barred By Laches and Ripeness Doctrines

The Utah Supreme Court on Friday rejected an attempt by members of the FLDS Church to challenge a Utah trial court's long-running efforts (see prior posting) to reform the United Effort Plan Trust that holds property on which FLDS members lived in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. In Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Lindberg, (UT Sup. Ct., Aug. 27, 2010), the Court held that by delaying its objections for three years, the FLDS had waited too long to bring most of its challenges. They are barred by the doctrine of laches. The association of FLDS members that brought suit claimed that the reformation of the trust violated state law and members' constitutional rights, and that the trial court's ongoing administration of the trust also violated their constitutional rights. The only claim that was not barred by laches was a claim that "the district court endorsed a religious test that would give former FLDS members outright deeds to Trust property but would relegate current and practicing FLDS members to receiving spendthrift trusts based on the concern that they might deed their property back to FLDS Church leaders." The Court concluded that this free exercise challenge is not ripe since so far neither the trial court nor the special fiduciary administering the trust has used religion as a factor in determining how to allocate property. The Idaho State Journal reports on the decision.

For those who are following the lengthy developments in Utah's attempt to reform the UEP Trust, the opinion includes an excellent chronology of events.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Palecek v. Zavaras, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85513 (D CO, Aug. 18, 2010), a Colorado federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86027, July 1, 2010), and permitted a Jewish inmate who objected to the manner in which his kosher food was being prepared to proceed with a claim for injunctive relief against defendants in their official capacities. However other claims, including ones for monetary damages, were dismissed on various grounds.

In Tran v. Gores, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86519 (SD CA, Aug. 23, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed an inmate's free exercise claim based merely on allegations that an unnamed Deputy Sheriff took a "religious cross artifact" from him.

In Odneal v. Pierce, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86089 (SD TX, Aug. 20, 2010), a Texas federal magistrate judge, in a case on remand from the 5th Circuit (see prior posting), ruled that Texas prison grooming rules impose a substantial burden on free exercise rights of a Native American inmate who wants to grow and wear a kouplock. However, the court concluded, a question of fact remains as to whether the grooming policy serves a compelling interest and is the least restrictive means to satisfy that interest.

In Ciempa v. Jones, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86796 (ND OK, Aug. 23, 2010), an Oklahoma federal district court upheld a prison's decision to ban a particular issue of The Five Percenter (a publication of the Nations of Gods and Earth) and found no evidence that an inmate's religious correspondence was interdicted. It also rejected his complaint regarding denial of a Halal diet and his attempt to get the prison canteen to buy pork-free hygiene products from an NGE vendor. However the court permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his claim that his rights under RLUIPA were violated when he was denied copies of two books, The Soldier's Guide and Stoic Warriors, and when he was denied chapel time for NGE study circles.

In Woods v. Harris, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86628 (ED AR, Aug. 20, 2010), and Arkansas federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86616, Aug. 4, 2010) and dismissed an inmate's complaint that when participating in the Therapeutic Community Program group sessions he was required to use the term "Higher Power" and was not permitted to use the term "God" or "Jesus Christ."

In Bukhari v. Piedmont Regional Jail Authority, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87169 (ED VA, Aug. 20, 2010), a Virginia federal district court held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not apply to non-resident aliens denied admission to the country who are being held in custody while removal proceedings are initiated. Plaintiff, a Pakistani national, complained that while in custody he was denied meals that meet Muslim dietary requirements.

In James v. Hayden, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88097 (SD NY, Aug. 23, 2010), a New York federal magistrate judge concluded that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether requiring a Rastafarian prisoner to participate in a group strip search is the least restrictive means by which officials could inspect him for concealed contraband and whether conducting strip searches in a gymnasium rather than a bathroom was reasonably related to a legitimate penological interest. Therefore the court refused to grant summary judgment to defendant on the RLUIPA or Free Exercise claims brought by plaintiff.

In Arnez v. Florida Department of Corrections, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88398 (SD FL, Aug. 25, 2010), a Florida federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88401, Aug. 4, 2010) and refused to dismiss the personal capacity claims by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner against prison officials for refusing to provide him with a kosher diet, and instead providing only a vegan diet despite a 2002 settlement in a prior lawsuit under which the state agreed to provide plaintiff with kosher food.

Court Rejects Free Exercise and Establishment Clause Challenges To Domestic Violence Laws

In Currie v. Michigan, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85804 (ED MI, Aug. 20, 2010), a Michigan federal district court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's domestic violence laws on free exercise grounds.  In a complaint described by the court as "nearly unintelligible," plaintiff contended that he was "convicted ... of a crime he didn't commit as corporal punishment and many other forms of disciplinary measures are demanded by the Christian God in the rearing of a child." The court also rejected an establishment clause challenge to mandatory domestic violence counseling sessions. Plaintiff claimed that the counselling sessions were "devised to reshape, alter, reform and prohibit the Plaintiff's religious beliefs."

Christian Icon In Gate of Kremlin Is Restored

In a ceremony in Moscow yesterday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill unvieled a restored icon of Jesus that had been a part of the main gates in the Kremlin (the official residence of Russia's President), but had been bricked over by Soviet authorities in the 1930's. Yesterday's Kyiv Post reports that the icon was originally placed in the gate in the 16th century, and was rediscovered when the Spasskaya Tower gates were being renovated. In yesterday's ceremony, held on the day of the Assumption in the Orthodox calendar, President Medvedev said: "Now that we've got the icon back, our country secures an additional defense."

Kentucky High Court Says Christian Medi-Share Program Is Insurance Contract Subject To State Regulation

In Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold, (KY Sup. Ct., Aug. 26, 2010), the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the Medi-Share Program operated by the American Evangelistic Association and the Christian Share Ministry is subject to regulation by the Kentucky Department of Insurance.  Medi-Share bills itself as a "sharing ministry" which people voluntarily join to help pay medical bills of other members. In return, members are eligible to receive donations to cover their own medical expenses. Members make commitments to live by Biblical standards, and also agree to make a monthly "share" payment directly to Medi-Share in an amount based on actuarial standards. The member is assessed an "extra blessing gifts" penalty if the monthly payment is late. Members are removed if they do not make their payments within a specified time. The court concluded that this is a contract of insurance under Kentucky law and is not entitled to the "religious publication" exemption under Kentucky's insurance law. That exemption is available only to religious arrangements in which medical expenses payments are made directly from one member to another. AP reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

National Archives Gets Nuremberg Laws For Its Collection

In a ceremony last Wednesday, the National Archives received Germany's original 1935 Nuremberg Laws, signed by Adolph Hitler, for its extensive collection of World War II documents. The laws were Germany's blueprint for its anti-Semitic racial policies. A National Archives press release reports that the documents came from California's Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens which had received them from Gen. George S. Patton. At the transfer ceremony, Huntington's president recounted:

These documents should have been part of the National Archives, had Gen. Patton followed instructions from his commander-in-chief in Europe, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower directed that all documents related to the persecution of the Jews should be sent to a common collection point in Germany that was preparing for the Nuremberg War Crime Trials. These materials eventually were deposited at the National Archives.

The Archives also released a video on the documents and their background,

Tensions Grow Between Archbishop and Mayor of Mexico City

BBC News yesterday reported that in Mexico the tension between the Catholic Church and the mayor of Mexico City has gotten rather ugly as the Archbishop of Guadalajara, Juan Sandoval Iniguez, accused the mayor of bribery.  Reacting to a Mexico Supreme Court ruling earlier this month upholding legislation in Mexico City granting various rights, including adoption rights, to same-sex couples (AP), the Archbishop remarked at a recent news conference: "Would any of you want to be adopted by a couple of lesbians or queers." He then accused Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of bribing Supreme Court justices to rule the way they did.  In response, the mayor has filed a defamation suit against the Archbishop, and the Supreme Court has issued an unusual condemnation of the Archbishop's allegations. A Church spokesman has urged Catholics to vote against the mayor's PRD party at the next election. Mexico's Constitution, Sec. 130, bars clergy from attacking political candidates or parties or publicly attacking the country's laws. A spokesman for the Mexico City Archdiocese argues that Sec. 130 should be changed because it now infringes the freedom of expression of Church leaders.

Ft. Wayne Ends Released Time Classes In Favor of After-School Program

Today's Ft. Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette reports that a lawsuit filed this summer challenging the released-time religious education program in a Ft. Wayne school (see prior posting) has now apparently become moot. The challenged Weekday Religious Education program had been operating in Ft. Wayne schools for 60 years and for 20 years in East Allen County schools. But now the program --that offered 30-minute per week classes to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in trailers on or near school grounds-- has ended as a result of both the lawsuit and a concern that too much time was being taken from academic subjects that are on standardized tests. In place of the released time classes, Associated Churches starting in fall 2011 will offer a once-per-week 2-hour after-school program of religious studies and character building. The group will also help schools offer character-building and values-based assemblies in the schools.

Fired Ohio Employees Settle Their Religoius Discrimination Suit

A settlement was filed with the Ohio Court of Claims yesterday in a suit against the state by three former employees who made up the entire staff of the Ohio Workers' Compensation Council.  The former employees-- two staff attorneys and an executive assistant-- accused the Council's director Virginia McInerney of religious discrimination, wrongful discharge, harassment and retaliation.  They claimed that McInerney, who believed she had been placed in her director's position by God, led the staff in prayer and asked an employee to listen to and take notes on God at Work CDs. McInerney also complained that a Senate resolution seeking to privatize the Bureau of Workers' Compensation was "another of Satan's efforts to stall or impede the council's progress." According to the Columbus Dispatch, two of the employees will receive over $20,000 each in the settlement and the third will receive over $12,000. The state will also pay their $15,000 in attorneys' fees. (See prior related posting.)

Muslim Woman Settles In Suit Claiming "Outrage" Over Treatment During Search of Her Apartment

Yesterday's Seattle Times reports that federal officials have settled a lawsuit brought by a Somali Muslim woman over conduct of DEA and police officials in searching her Seattle (WA) apartment in a raid seeking evidence of khat distribution. In May, a federal district court in Jama v. United States ruled that the woman could move ahead with her claim based on the common law tort of outrage. Plaintiff Habibo Jama claimed that during the raid, federal agents handcuffed her and made her wait for several hours in her nightclothes in front of unrelated men in violation of her Muslim religious beliefs. (See prior posting.) Jama settled the suit for $40,000.

Glenn Beck Hosts Conservative Rally; Some Evangelicals Object To Participiation Because of Beck's Mormon Beliefs

Radio and television commentator Glenn Beck is hosting an event tonight at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. titled "America's Divine Destiny." Beck's website describes the event as follows:

Guided by uplifting music, nationally-known religious figures from all faiths will unite to deliver messages reminiscent to those given during the struggles of America's earliest days. The event will leave you with a renewed determination to look past the partisan differences and petty problems that fill our airwaves and instead focus our shared values, principles and strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country.

CNN reports that this event precedes a rally to be held over the week end at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. The main speaker will be Sarah Palin. However some Christian conservatives have criticized the decision of evangelicals to take part in the Friday event because of Beck's Mormon beliefs. Brannon Howse writes: "The Apostle Paul warns Christians against uniting with unbelievers in spiritual endeavors.... While I applaud and agree with many of Glenn Beck's conservative and constitutional views, that does not give me or any other Bible-believing Christian justification to compromise Biblical truth by spiritually joining Beck." However evangelical activist David Barton defends participation, saying: "Christians concerned about Glenn's faith should judge the tree by its fruits, not its labels."

Staten Island Hosts Its First Official Iftar

SI Live reports on the first ever Iftar to be held at Staten Island (NY)'s Borough Hall.  The Ramadan event was attended by Borough President James P. Molinaro, even though he is an outspoken critic of plans to build a Muslim community center and mosque in lower Manhattan. Some 50 people from Staten Island's five mosques attended the event. Staten Island has some 25,000 Muslim residents. The sundown meal was preceded by a recitation from the Quran and remarks on the significance of Ramadan. Staten Island is the last of the five boroughs of New York City to have an official Iftar event.

O Centro Case Finally Dismissed By Federal District Court

In 2006, in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot block a New Mexico church from using a hallucinogenic tea for religious purposes, and remanded the case for further proceedings. (See prior posting.)  Today's Albuquerque Journal reports that the case last week was finally been dismissed by a New Mexico federal district court after the parties entered a 21-page settlement agreement. According to the paper, the agreement specifies procedures for importing hoasca, and for registering, record keeping, inspection, storage and security, as well as agreement on payment of O Centro's attorneys fees.

U.S. Report To U.N. On Human Rights Record Lauds Free Exercise Rights

In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly established the Universal Perioidic Review process through which the human rights records of U.N. member states are assessed every four years. The State Department announced this week that on Aug. 20 the United States submitted its  report (full text) to the U.N. Human Rights Council, reviewing the U.S. human rights record. Here is what the report had to say about relgious freedom in the U.S.:

19. The desire for freedom from religious persecution has brought millions to our shores. Today, freedom of religion protects each individual’s ability to participate in and share the traditions of his or her chosen faith, to change his or her religion, or to choose not to believe or participate in religious practice.

20. Citizens continue to avail themselves of freedom of religion protections in the Constitution and in state and federal law. For example, in a case this year, a Native American primary school student’s right to wear his hair in a braid, in accordance with his family’s religious beliefs, was upheld pursuant to a Texas religious freedom law.

21. The constitutional prohibition on the establishment of a religion by the government, along with robust protections for freedom of speech and association, have helped to create a multi-religious society in which the freedom to choose and practice one’s faith, or to have no faith at all, is secure.

The ACLU issued a press release this week calling the report: "an important step toward turning the Obama administration's stated commitment to protecting human rights into tangible policies." It said however that "the report omits many issues that need significant improvement and doesn't present a full picture of the state of human rights in the U.S." The conservative Christian group Liberty Counsel issued a press release yesterday complaining that: "the report says that it welcomes 'observations and recommendations' from concerned members of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which includes countries such as North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Libya.... The presidency of Barack Obama will be remembered as one that sought to humiliate America by prostrating it before some of the worst human rights violators in the world."

US Bishop Laments "Post-Christian" World

In a strongly worded address delivered to the Canon Law Association of Slovakia on Tuesday (full text), Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput argued that events in both the United States and Europe "suggest an emerging, systematic discrimination against the Church that now seems inevitable." Here are a few excerpts:

In general, Catholics have thrived in the United States. The reason is simple. America has always had a broadly Christian and religion-friendly moral foundation, and our public institutions were established as non-sectarian, not antireligious.
 
At the heart of the American experience is an instinctive “biblical realism.” From our Protestant inheritance we have always – at least until now -- understood that sin is real, and men and women can be corrupted by power and prosperity. Americans have often been tempted to see our nation as uniquely destined, or specially anointed by God. But in the habits of daily life, we have always known that the “city of God” is something very distinct from the “city of man.” And we are wary of confusing the two.....
 
Today, in an era of global interconnection, the challenges that confront Catholics in America are much the same as in Europe: We face an aggressively secular political vision and a consumerist economic model that result – in practice, if not in explicit intent -- in a new kind of state encouraged atheism.....

This vision presumes a frankly "post-Christian" world ruled by rationality, technology and good social engineering. Religion has a place in this worldview, but only as an individual lifestyle accessory

LifeSite News yesterday reported on the speech.

Groups Protest Ban On Religion-Based Hiring In Proposed SAMHSA Legislation

Today's New York Times and a press release from World Vision report that over 100 religious organizations have written to every member of Congress objecting to a provision in HR 5466, the proposed SAMHSA Modernization Act of 2010 reauthorizing the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  At issue is a provision (Sec. 501(m)(2)) that would prevent grant recipients under the Act from hiring on the basis of religion. The controversial section reads:

With respect to any activity to be funded (in whole or in part) through an award of a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract under this title or any other statutory authority of the Administration, the Administrator, or the Director of the Center involved ... may not make such an award unless the applicant agrees to refrain from considering religion or any profession of faith when making any employment decision regarding an individual who is or will be assigned to carry out any portion of the activity. This paragraph applies notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, including any exemption otherwise applicable to a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society.

Steven McFarland, chief legal counsel at World Vision USA, said that the language would effect "a seismic change in bedrock civil rights law for religious organizations." Among the groups signing the letter are World Vision, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

New York Bingo Scheme Defrauds Greek Orthodox Diocese

In Queens, New York, three men were indicted last week on 714 gambling related counts in a scheme that defrauded the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  According to yesterday's Queens Gazette, bingo profits were supposed to go to the Greek Orthodox Diocese, but the affiliated charities were bogus organizations that allowed the three men to take some $830,000 from bingo and illegal side bets for themselves over several years.  The defendants, Spiros Moshopoulos, Tommy Skiada, and Daniella Radulescu were also charged with defrauding the city Department of Consumer Affairs out of some $20,000 in fees.