School Argues For Dismissal Of Challenge To School Discussion Of Gay Families

The Associated Press reported on a hearing yesterday in a Boston courtroom in which Lexington, Massachusetts school officials argued for dismissal of a case challenging the school's use of books in kindergarten that portray same sex couples. Two sets of parents who sued argue that the school has violated their right to teach their own morals to their children by refusing to notify parents before homosexuality is discussed in their children's classroom. They want to be able to remove their children from class discussions that violate their religious beliefs. The suits were triggered by a book portraying a gay family, and the reading of the fairy tale "King and King" that portrays two princes falling in love.

UPDATE: On Feb. 23, a federal judge dismissed the case saying that parents' free exercise rights are not violated when their children are exposed to contrary ideas in school. (AP).

Muslim Teacher Harassed On Religious Grounds By Oklahoma Police

Little Rock (AK) THV News reports that a Little Rock kindergarten teacher, Nadiah Yusuf, has received an apology from the town of Webbers Falls, Oklahoma for the religious harassment to which she was subjected last November by two of the town's police officers. When Yusuf, on her way home from a teacher's conference in Tulsa, was pulled over for speeding, the officers-- seeing she was hearing a headscarf-- asked her if she knew the person who flew the plane into the World Trade Center. They also asked her why she was not a Christian, made her explain her religious beliefs and asked her if she had a copy of the Koran in her car. They detained her for over an hour searching her belongings for knives, guns or explosives. The town has fired one of the officers and demoted the other. Yusuf says both officers should be fired, and may sue if they are not.

Lawyers Argue Prisoner RLUIPA Case Before 1st Circuit

The Associated Press reported on yesterday's oral arguments before the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Spratt v. Wall, a case arising under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. (See prior posting.) At issue is whether the warden at a Rhode Island prison was justified in prohibiting convicted killer Wesley Spratt from preaching to fellow inmates in a maximum security unit of the prison. Spratt believes he has been called upon by God to preach to other Christians and preached to an inmate congregation at weekly services in the prison chapel or dining room before a new warden stopped the practice. The state argued that prison was entitled to act pre-emptively to prevent potential security risks.

Christian British Docs Want Exemption From New Rules On Gay Adoptions

In Britain, it is not only Catholic social service agencies that are seeking an exemption from new regulations under the Equality Act-- scheduled to take effect in April-- that prohibit discrimination against gay and lesbian couples who wish to adopt a child. (See prior posting.) Christian Today reports that a Christian doctor who is a medical advisor to a local adoption agency has asked the government to give physicians an opt-out on moral grounds when they are asked to provide a reference to gay couples seeking to adopt. Dr. John Lockley from Bedfordshire says that physicians are often called upon to conduct medical exams of potential adoptive parents and to give a recommendation as to their suitability as adoptive parents. He says that without an exemption, he could be subject to disciplinary action by the adoption agency, or even by the General Medical Council, if he refuses on conscientious grounds to give positive references for same-sex couples.

Trial Begins In Palm Beach Church's Attempt To Keep Open As Homeless Shelter

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports on testimony in yesterday's the trial of a civil lawsuit filed by Palm Beach County's Westgate Tabernacle Church that is fighting county efforts to close down its operations as a homeless shelter. (See prior posting.) Westgate claims that the county is violating its religious freedom when it interferes with its housing the homeless. County Commissioners disagreed in their testimony as to whether Palm Beach County currently has sufficient shelter spaces for the homeless. Many of the homeless people served by Westgate attended the trial.

UPDATE: Saturday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the jury in the state court trial has returned a verdict, finding that the county did not interfere with Westgate Tabernacle Church's religious freedom to shelter the homeless. It did, however, find that a substantial burden was placed on the religious exercise of Bishop Avis Hill, but that the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was not violated because the regulations were the least restrictive means to insure public safety. Rev. Alan Clapsaddle and Westgate's attorney Barry Silver said they would seek a new trial or would appeal on the grounds that the court misinterpreted provisions of RLUIPA and Florida's RFRA.

French Trial Of Paper On Muhammad Cartoons Opens

In a French court, a trial opened today in a suit brought by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of French Islamic Organizations against the publication Charlie Hebdo which is accused of inciting racial hatred by reprinting the Danish caricatures or the Prophet Muhammad. (Reuters). In a surprise move, the newspapers introduced a letter of support from leading presidential candidate, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The Interior Ministry is responsible for religious affairs. His letter read in part: "I prefer an excess of caricatures to an absence of caricatures." (Washington Post). Meanwhile in a show of support for Charlie Hebdo, the French newspaper Liberation today again printed the controversial cartoons.

Problems In Israeli Rabbinical Court System Highlighted By Israeli Press

In Israel, today's Knesset approval of the controversial Professor Daniel Friedmann as the next justice minister is expected to help break the logjam over appointments of new judges to Israel's rabbinic courts. The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that the Council for Rabbinic Judge Appointments has been deadlocked for over three years. 13 vacancies need to be filled, and a meeting of the Council is scheduled for March 29 to make the appointments. The picture is a complex one. Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) members control the Council by a 5-4 majority. Among them, there is disagreement on the allocation of power between Ashkenazi and Sephardi factions. The minority on the Council represent the modern-Orthodox movement, including one modern Orthodox feminist-- Sharon Shenhav -- who says that the appointment of Friedmann -- a professional who is not politically aligned-- could weaken Haredi control of the Council. Past justice ministers have used their power to convene or dismiss the Council to attempt to get compromise agreements on appointments.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports on the problems being caused for a divorced woman by the Israeli Supreme Rabbinical Court's delays in deciding on the validity of the religious divorce-- get -- granted to her by her husband. The husband granted his wife a get, conditioned on their continuing to resolve other issues that had already been raised in the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court. Subsequently the wife filed a petition in the civil Family Court relating to her children's education, saying that this was never a part of the original rabbinical court proceedings, so there was no problem in raising it elsewhere. The Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court however said that the filing with the Family Court raised doubts about the validity of the original get. Meanwhile, relying on the get, the wife had already remarried and had a child with her new husband. If the get is cancelled, she will be seen as legally still married to her first husband-- and the child will be considered a "mamzer" who, under Jewish religious law, is limited in who he or she can marry.

South Carolina County Moves To Moment of Silence

In Oconee County, South Carolina, in hope of ending "the County being used as a Ping Pong ball", county council voted 4-1 on Tuesday to open meetings with a moment of silence instead of a prayer. For two years the ACLU has been complaining about Council opening its sessions with a sectarian prayer, explicitly invoking Jesus. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Anderson (SC) Independent Mail reported on the council session at which the decision was made. Before the official opening of the session, three individuals in attendance offered competing prayers, one asking for moral courage to govern rightly in Jesus' name, one offered in the name of the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law the council swore to uphold, and a third-- interrupted by the start of the Council session-- described as a humanist and atheist prayer. An Alliance Defense Fund attorney at the Council session called the decision to move to a moment of silence cowardly and unfortunate. ADF had volunteered its services to represent the County if its practice of opening prayers was challenged in court.

Scientology Foe Arrested After Fleeing Misdemeanor Conviction

Keith Henson, a Silicon Valley engineer and long-time opponent of Scientology was arrested Friday in Arizona and faces extradition to California to face sentencing for a misdemeanor conviction handed down in 2001. CNet News yesterday reported that Henson's conviction under California Penal Code Sec. 422.6 for threatening to interfere with another person's free exercise of religion stemmed largely from an online posting on a Usenet bulletin board in which he joked about sending a nuclear "Tom Cruise" missile against a Scientology compound. He also had picketed Scientology buildings. After his conviction in 2001, Henson fled to Canada and has remained a fugitive until now. (Slashdot, Feb. 5).

Court Refuses Delay In Challenge To Faith-Based Prison Program

In Moeller v. Bradford County, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7965 (MD PA, Feb. 5, 2007), a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge rejected defendant's motion to stay proceedings in a case challenging the constitutionality of federal, state and local funding of a faith-based vocational training program in the Bradford County (PA) Correctional Facility. (See prior posting.) Defendant had argued that the case should not move ahead until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in the pending case of Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation. (See prior posting.) The court wrote: "It is speculative as to if any decision issued by the Supreme Court in Hein would in fact affect our case and the standing decision this Court has rendered, and it is speculative as to when the Supreme Court will issue its decision."

Canadian Court Permits Forced Blood Transfusion For Minor

In Canada, the Manitoba Court of Appeal has unanimously decided that lower courts may reject a minor's desire to not have a blood transfusion if doing so will likely save the individual's life. The Winnipeg Free Press yesterday reported that the appellate court's opinion, written by Justice Freda Steel, held that while forcing treatment may violate a child's rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights, those rights can be over-ruled to save the child’s life. She said: “Given the ... concerns of sanctity of life and protection of children, the infringement is not contrary to the principles of fundamental justice. The state does have a continuing interest in the welfare of a child."

California Court Orders Wisconisn Diocese To Release Records

In Los Angeles, California, Tuesday a Superior Court judge ordered the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to make public 3,000 pages of insurance records and hundreds of pages from files on a priest who had been convicted of molestation before he was transferred to California. Yesterday's Washington Post reported that the court rejected claims by the Archdiocese that release of the records would violate third-party privacy rights, the First Amendment and the Archdiocese's confidential business rights. The court's holding only applies to priests, like Siegfried Widera, who have died and in whose cases no protective order has been issued.

Turkey Celebrates 70th Anniversary of Secularism

In Turkey, this week marks the 70th anniversary of the Constitutional recognition of secularism as a basic foundation of the country's legal system. Todays Zaman reports on a message from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan praising secularism as a foundation of Turkey's democracy. Sabah reports on a message from Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer similarly marking the anniversary.

DC Circuit Prevents Chaplain's Discharge From Navy Pending Decision On Appeal

Chaplain Gordon J. Klingenschmitt is in the midst of a dispute with the U.S. Navy over chaplains' right to offer sectarian prayer at public events, and over his right to wear his Navy uniform at a press conference challenging the Navy policy. As reported previously, Klingenschmitt's tenure as chaplain was set to expire on January 31, as the Navy refused to accept his new endorsement as a chaplain from the Full Gospel Church. Klingenschmitt went to court and the U.S. federal district court for the District of Columbia refused to enjoin his discharge. Klingenschmitt then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. In Klingenschmitt v. Winter, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 2339 (DC Cir., Jan. 31, 2007), the Court of Appeals, without ruling on the merits, enjoined the military from effectuating Klingenschmitt's separation from the Navy while the court is considering his appeal. Friday's Army Times reported on the decision. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Liberal Muslim Group Will Help Fund British School's Battle Against Niqab

As previously reported, in Britain's Buckinghamshire County a public school has banned a 12-year old Muslim girl from wearing her niqab (full face veil) to classes. However, the County's Council refused to pay for the school's litigation costs to defend its decision after it was sued by the girl's father. Now the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford (Meco)-- a liberal Muslim group-- has offered to contribute toward the school's legal costs. This Is London yesterday reported that Meco's chairman, Taj Hargey, said in his letter to the school: "We trust that you will continue to resist any move to implement this kind of minority ethnic obsession, which has no foundation whatsoever in Islamic law.... It is high time that moderate progressive Muslims tackle extremists on their own theological grounds."

Free Exercise Challenge To Hospital Closing Rejected By NY Court

St. Joseph Hospital of Cheektowaga, NY v Novello, (NY S.Ct., Erie Co., Feb. 2, 2007), a New York state trial court rejected a lengthy series of challenges by a Catholic hospital challenging the recommendation by the state's Commission on Healthcare Facilities in the 21st Century that the hospital be closed. Among otter claims, the court rejected the hospital's state and federal free exercise of religion claim. Plaintiffs had claimed unequal treatment in the amount of time they were given to meet with the Commission and that the closing prevented the hospital from practicing its religious ministry.

Texas HPV Immunization Order Said To Create Complex Religious Discrimination Issue

On Feb. 2, Texas Governor Rick Perry issued Executive Order RP65 , ordering the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules requiring the girls to receive the new vaccine against the Human Papillomavirus before they enter the sixth grade. (Press release). The vaccine protects girls against later contracting a sexually-transmitted disease that leads to cervical cancer. The Executive Order, however, requires that parents be able to submit an affidavit of conscientious objection if they object on conscientious or religious grounds to their daughter receiving the immunization. Indeed it calls for making affidavits available online.

Perry used the Executive Order route in order to bypass opposition in the state legislature by conservatives and parents' rights groups. (Associated Press.) Responding to critics of his order, the Governor in a February 5 statement said, "Providing the HPV vaccine doesn't promote sexual promiscuity anymore than providing the Hepatitis B vaccine promotes drug use. If the medical community developed a vaccine for lung cancer, would the same critics oppose it claiming it would encourage smoking?"

Yesterday, the Catholic group "Children of God for Life" (CGL) issued a release setting out a rather elaborate-- and somewhat dubious-- legal theory as to why the conscientious objection provisions in Governor Perry's Executive Order will create problems. In 2006, the Texas Attorney General ruled in Opinion No. GA-0420 that private schools-- including religious schools-- not accepting state funds did not have to honor immunization exemptions granted by the state-- e.g. exemptions for those who object to chicken pox vaccines that may have been made from fetal cell lines. According to CGL executive director, Debi Vinnedge, refusing to recognize exemptions for vaccines from fetal cells, but recognizing the exemption for HPV vaccine, could amount to illegal religious discrimination by private religious schools. They may not be able to favor one religion's objections over another's.

State Department Website Features Muslim Congressman

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department's USINFO website carried an interview with Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. Saying that his constituents elected him because of his values, he continued: "The values that underlie Islam ... are shared by all faith traditions. Belief in charity, in giving to others in need and facing adversity, the belief in equality and justice -- there is no religion, including Islam, that has a monopoly on these ideas.... In fact, they're not just compatible with democracy; they drive us toward a society in which there is consultation, in which there is input and approval from the populace." Emphasizing his point, Ellison, the article pointed out, quoted by memory a Quranic verse, Surah 49:13, that says humanity was "created you from a single pair, male and female, and fashioned you into tribes and nations, so that you would know each other ... and not hate and despise each other. Surely the most honored among you is the one who is most righteous and just."

Paraguay Bishop Suspended After He Announces As Presidential Candidate

Zenit earlier this week reported that Paraguay's Bishop Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez has been suspended from exercising his ministry after he announced that he intends to run for President of the country in its 2008 elections. The Vatican said it regretted the decision, but it is required by Canon Law. Section 285 (Par. 3) provides: "Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power." Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, imposed "the punishment of suspension 'a divinis' in keeping with Canon 1333, Paragraph 1" of the Code of Canon Law. In addition, Paraguay's Constitution (Art. 235(1)(5)) does not permit ministers or clergymen of any religion to hold the post of President. Mendez had already resigned from his active ministry in order to run. (Catholic News Service, Jan. 12).

USCIRF Focuses on China; U.S. Asylum Seekers

Last week (January 31), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom held hearings on The Many Faces of China’s Repression: Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and U.S. Diplomacy in China. The text of the testimony of five of the witnesses is available online. Baptist Press yesterday, reporting on the hearings, said that the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in China are driving China to change its regulation of religion to appear more tolerant of Christians to the international community.

On Feb. 2, USCIRF released Report on Asylum Seekers in Expedited Removal, making recommendations on the protection and detention of asylum seekers.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reported on Feb. 8 that Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Rep. Chris Smith plan to introduce legislation to require the Department of Homeland Security to carry out the recommendations on treatment of asylum seekers recommended in USCIRF's report.