Anti-Gay Church Files Open Records Request In Topeka

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas has gained notoriety for its picketing of veterans' funerals with signs claiming that military deaths stem from U.S. tolerance of homosexuality. (See prior posting.) Today's Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the church has now filed an open records request with the city of Topeka. It seeks information on letters that the city has sent to other communities alerting them of Westsboro's plans to picket there. The request asks for all communications sent by Topeka government officials regarding Westboro Baptist Church, and information on the time spent and funds expended in sending out warnings. Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten says he sent out the letters to deflect anger at Topeka felt by other communities. Westboro's spokesperson, Shirley Phelps-Roper, however, argues that the Constitution bars the mayor from using government funds or facilities to take aim in this way at a religious group.

Queen Elizabeth Reaches Out To Catholic Church

Yesterday AHN reported the Britain's Queen Elizabeth has moved to lessen centuries of tensions between the British Royal Family and the Catholic Church. Last month the queen granted permission for her cousin, Lord Nicholas Windsor, who is a convert to Catholicism, to marry at the Vatican in Rome. The wedding will be performed by a former Anglican vicar who converted to Catholicism in protest of ordination of women. Lord Nicholas is the first member of the British Royal Family in 400 years to marry in Rome. Queen Elizabeth also agreed to attend a reception for the newly-married Catholic couple to be held in Britain in January.

RLUIPA Suit Over Rural Maryland Christian School Project

Anne Arundel County, Maryland's Riverdale Baptist Church has filed suit in federal court invoking RLUIPA to force the county to permit it to move ahead with its building of Arundel Bay Academy, a Christian school that would enroll 220 students in grades K-8. Today's Annapolis Capital reports that the church has been involved in litigation over the project in state courts since 2003, as neighbors object to the traffic the school would bring to the rural county's narrow roads. The church's new lawsuit alleges that changes in county development regulations have been aimed specifically at the church's building project.

Vatican Envoy Addresses UN On Religious Freedom

Last Friday, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations delivered an address to a committee of the General Assembly on religious freedom concerns around the world. He said: "we have come to a turning point in history which demands more of us, including a commitment to interreligious dialogue. At the same time, my delegation is increasingly convinced of the indispensable importance of reciprocity, which, by its very nature, is apt to ensure the free exercise of religion in all societies." Archbishop Celestino Migliore's statement (full text) marked the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The address was covered by Catholic Online.

British Band May Need License To Play Jingle Bells

In a twist from the usual complaints, a band in Cornwall, England may not be able to play Jingle Bells and other non-religious Christmas songs this year. The London Daily Mail reported last week that Britain's Licensing Act 2003 may require the Callington Town Band to obtain a costly license for each of its performances unless it falls within the Act's exemption for entertainment incidental to a religious meeting or service. The Caradon District Council's licensing department interprets this to mean that an exemption is available only if the band sticks to religious Christmas carols. If it plays White Christmas or Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, the band that raises hundreds of pounds for charity each year will need to have a temporary license for each of its seven Christmas programs that are to be presented in venues that do not have public licenses. South East Cornwall representative in Parliament, Liberal Democrat Colin Breed, who is trying to resolve the issue, said that the ruling was an unintentional consequence of the licensing regulations. He added, "It's just total nonsense.... Hopefully common sense will prevail."

Saudi Arabia Opens To Tourists-- With Religious Limitations

For the first time, Saudi Arabia will issue tourist visas to foreigners, according to a report from Reuters in today's Kaleej Times. In the past, only haj pilgrims and foreigners sponsored by Saudi residents could enter the country. Now 18 tour operators will be able to issue visas. However, non-Muslim tourists will not be able to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Alcohol will continue to be banned, and women visitors will be required to be covered from head to toe in public. However the country's ban on photography has been lifted, as the Supreme Commission of Tourism hopes to attract 1.5 million wealthy tourists by 2020. Already, the website of Saudi Arabian Airlines offers information about available tours.

Australian Catholic Church Skeptical Over Government Funding For Chaplains

In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard is backing a $90 million national school chaplaincy program. Under the program, both public and private schools will be able to apply for grants of up to $20,000 to employ chaplains who will promote values and mentor students. The Age yesterday reported that the originator of the proposal, Liberal MP Greg Hunt, says that church-state issues are avoided because acceptance of government money will be purely voluntary, as will be any student's decision to consult a chaplain. However Catholic school officials are expressing caution over provisions requiring federal government approval of chaplains who are hired. Catholic News today quotes the head of New South Wales Catholic Education Commission who calls a government veto over Catholic school staff "unprecedented".

More October Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Hills v. Epps, (5th Cir., Oct. 24, 2006), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that a challenge to a Mississippi prison regulation regulating hair length was frivolous. Plaintiff prisoner wanted to wear dreadlocks for religious reasons.

Greybuffalo v. Frank, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77238 (WD WI, Oct. 20, 2006), was an action for damages in which a Native American inmate alleged that his free exercise of religion was infringed when certain documents of his, allegedly religious in nature, were seized by prison authorities. The court ordered plaintiff to file an addendum to his complaint alleging the contents of the documents, how he used them to practice his religion, and the effect the taking of the documents had on his religious practice.

In Salahuddin v. Goord, (2d Cir., Oct. 27, 2006), the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment to prison officials and found that a Sunni Muslim prisoner had alleged sufficient facts to proceed with his Free Exercise and RLUIPA claims. Plaintiff Salahuddin alleged that Sunnis and Shi'ites were required to pray together; that while in disciplinary keeplock he was denied the opportunity to either attend holiday services or eat a holiday meal in his cell; and that the prison refused to provide a Muslim chaplain or have a copy of the Quran in its library.

In Gainer v. Cooper, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77830 (SD GA, Oct. 13, 2006), a state prisoner claimed that his rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were infringed when prison authorities refused to permit him to participate in Ramadan observances. Prison officials argued that plaintiff is not a Muslim; however he is a member of the Nuwaubu faith that also observes Ramadan. While plaintiff's transfer to another prison mooted his claim for an injunction, a Georgia federal magistrate judge denied defendants' motions for summary judgment on plaintiff's RLUIPA claim and his First Amendment claim for nominal and punitive damages.

Bush's Faith-Based Policies Criticized

Thanks to Blog from the Capital for highlighting an article in the most recent issue of the New York Review of Books. Gary Wills writes a stinging review of President George W. Bush's policies titled A Country Ruled By Faith. His thesis, detailed in the article, is:

Bush promised his evangelical followers faith-based social services, which he called "compassionate conservatism." He went beyond that to give them a faith-based war, faith-based law enforcement, faith-based education, faith-based medicine, and faith-based science. He could deliver on his promises because he stocked the agencies handling all these problems, in large degree, with born-again Christians of his own variety.

Extending his critique to the Iraq war, Wills concludes:

There is a particular danger with a war that God commands. What if God should lose? That is unthinkable to the evangelicals. They cannot accept the idea of second-guessing God, and he was the one who led them into war.

Animal Rights Demonstrators Lose Establishment Clause Claim

In Deardorff v. Louisville/ Jefferson County Metro Government, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78235 (WD KY, Oct. 20, 2006), a Kentucky federal district court rejected the claim of animal rights demonstrators that police violated the Establishment Clause by moving them away from the front of a church where they could be seen by cars entering the church's premises. The demonstrators believed that Kentucky Fried Chicken executives attended the church, and they wanted to reach those executives with their protest.

Archbishop of Cantebury On Regulation of Religious Symbols

Last week, upon his return from a trip to China, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Cantebury, published an of-ed column in the London Times titled A Society That Does Not Allow Crosses or Veils in Public Is a Dangerous One. The column comes after British political leaders have criticized the wearing of the Niqab by Muslim women. (New York Times, Oct. 22.) Reactions to William's column were reviewed in This Is London last Friday.

Vandalism Follows Teachers' Request To End School Board Prayer

Two teachers who requested the Crawford County, Georgia Board of Education to stop opening board meetings and new teacher orientations with prayer found that someone disagreed strongly with their proposal. The Macon (GA) Telegraph reported today the teachers found the tires on their cars slashed. The vandalism took place in the school board parking lot on the night of the October board meeting-- a meeting that, as usual, opened with a prayer. School officials say that prayer will continue, but they will comply with guidelines that call for prayers to be denominationally neutral. Presumably that means that the routine practice of mentioning Jesus by name in opening prayers will be changed.

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

From SmartCILP:

• Constance Frisby Fain & Herbert Fain, Sexual Abuse and the Church, 31 Thurgood Marshall Law Review 209-238 (2006).
  
• Jonathan Klick, Salvation As a Selective Incentive, 26 International Review of Law & Economics 15-32 (2006).
  
• A. G. Roeber, The Law, Religion, and State Making In the Early Modern World: Protestant Revolutions In the Works of Berman, Gorski, and Witte, 31 Law & Social Inquiry 199-227 (2006).
  
• 12th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium: Religion and the World's Legal Tradition. Articles [links to full text] by Rex J. Abdar, Louis-Leon Christians, Cornel W. du Toit, Carolyn Evans & Christopher A. Thomas, (Pakistan) Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Tahir Mahmood, Javier Martinez-Torron and Paul M. Taylor, 2006 Brigham Young University Law Review 619-836.

From SSRN:

• George W. Dent, Jr., Civil Rights for Whom?: Gay Rights versus Religious Freedom, (Sept. 2006).

Recent Books:

• Newt Gingrich, Rediscovering God in America, (Integrity Publishers, Oct. 2006).
  
• Andy Olree, The Choice Principle: The Biblical Case for Legal Toleration, (University Press of America, Aug. 2006).
  
• Michael L. Weinstein & Davin Seay, With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military, (St. Martin's Press, Oct. 2006).
  
  

Australians React To Muslim Cleric's Offensive Sermon

Support for Australian Prime Minister John Howard's proposal to require a pledge supporting Australian values by immigrants seeking citizenship was strengthened this week after a controversial sermon by an Islamic cleric in Australia. (Khaleej Times (Sunday).) Howard wants immigrants to show support for democracy, the rule of law and the equality of men and women. The controversial sermon (full text) was delivered by Sheikh Taj Aldin Al Hilali, Australia's most senior Muslim cleric. His Ramadan remarks, aimed at immodest dress, have been seen as blaming women for rape. He described women who did not wear a head covering as "uncovered meat", and said "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?"

Subsequently Hilali and his spokepersons have both tried to explain the remarks and have apologized for them, as leading Muslim women condemned the remarks. Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Pru Goward, said the comments could be an incitement to crime. (BBC News (Thursday).) In an effort to prevent further fallout, it was announced Friday that Hilali will not preach sermons for the next two to three months. (Baku Today (Friday).)

2 State Courts Assert Jurisdiction In Break-Away Church Land Disputes

In two recent cases, state courts have agreed that they can decide disputes over church property between break-away congregations and parent church bodies.

In Malankara Archdiocese of Syrian Orthodox Church in N. Am. v Thomas, (NY App. Div., Oct. 24, 2006), 3 judges on a New York appellate court held that a dispute over property ownership of church land can be resolved using neutral principles of law. When the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church replaced the Archbishop of the Archdiocese with a new Archbishop, who in turn replaced the vicar of St. Mary's Church, 29 members of St. Mary's signed a document stating that St. Mary's had resolved to be affiliated with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The court however affirmed the trial court's decision that the property belonged to the Archdiocese. Judge Spolzino dissenting argued that the case should be dismissed because it involves a doctrinal dispute that a civil court cannot adjudicate.

In a dispute in Tulsa, Oklahoma between Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church and the Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA), an Oklahoma state district court has held that it can decide whether a church building on 10 acres of prime real estate was held in trust for the parent body or belongs to the local church. Friday's Tulsa World reported on the decision involving a claim by the church that the denomination was moving away from its biblical base and was lessening its opposition to gay clergy. While lifting a stay on state proceedings, the judge did order the local church to furnish the Presbytery the church's membership list.

New Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition

George Washington University Law School has announced that it is inaugurating the National GW Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition. Students from ABA accredited law school may participate in the competition that will be held in January 2007.

Cert. Filed In 9th Circuit Anti-Gay T-Shirt Case

The Alliance Defense Fund announced that this week it filed a petition for certiorari (full text) with the U.S. Supreme Court in Harper v. Poway Unified School District. In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held last April that a California high school could ban a student from wearing a T-shirt proclaiming: "Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned", and "Homosexuality Is Shameful". (See prior posting.) The cert petition argues that the decision is in conflict with those in other circuits.

Justice Department Cancels Controversial Religious Prison Program

The New York Times today reports that the Justice Department has cancelled plans for "Life Connections", a single-faith religious pre-release prison rehabilitation program that it proposed last March. (See prior posting.) Critics had argued that the program violated the Establishment Clause by funding indoctrination in the views of a particular religious faith.

Clergy Get Employment Protection In Britain

Britain's Employment Appeal Tribunal yesterday handed down a landmark case holding that clergy will be treated as employees of the church for purposes of bringing unfair dismissal cases. Reporting on the case, Personnel Today said that previously ministers were regarded British courts as appointed to a holy office, and not as employees. The decision in New Testament Church of God v. Stewart, (EAT, Oct. 27, 2006), relies on last year's House of Lords decision in Percy v Church of Scotland Board of National Mission, [2006] IRLR 195, in reaching its conclusion. (See prior posting.)

Controversial Mozart Opera Will Be Performed

Playbill Arts reported yesterday that the Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced it will produce Mozart's Idomeneo after all. The production was cancelled last month due to fears of violent reaction to the scene depicting the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad. (See prior posting.) However, Berlin police have now said that there is no "concrete danger" to the opera company if it revives the production.