In Boston Mosque Dispute, Both Parties Drop Lawsuits

A long-running legal dispute over the construction of a mosque by the Islamic Society of Boston is mostly over as parties agreed to drop competing lawsuits. The Boston Herald reported yesterday that Boston resident James Policastro will drop appeals of his Establishment Clause challenge to the discounted sale of land by the city of Boston to the Islamic Society. In turn, the Islamic Society will drop a defamation and civil rights suit it has filed against mosque opponents and member of the media who reported on the dispute. This will permit construction of the mosque to move forward. However, the David Project, says it will continue to pursue a lawsuit against the Boston Redevelopment authority seeking documents about the sale of the land. (See prior related postings.)

Line Drawing Is Difficult On Graduation Prayer In Michigan Case

A report in yesterday's Christian Post shows that line drawing on Establishment Clause issues continues to be difficult. A Comstock Park, Michigan high school student, Nick Szymanski, was killed last October when he was accidentally electrocuted painting a house. Symanski, who was a member of the school choir, had a favorite song-- The Lord's Prayer. The choir wants to sing it in his memory at graduation on Thursday. It would also present a second, non-religious piece as part of its performance.

The choir sang The Lord's Prayer earlier this year at a concert to raise funds for Szymanski's funeral and during a winter school concert. School officials, however, say that commencement is different-- there is more of a captive audience. That is what the Supreme Court said in a 1992 decision. Counsel has advised Comstock Park school officials that the song should not be included. (Grand Rapids Press). Disagreeing with that advice, the Alliance Defense Fund sent school officials a letter last week arguing that the performance is permissible, saying that under the circumstances it would not be seen as an endorsement of religion.

Northern Ireland Faces "Reverse Religious Discrimination" Charges

Affirmative action in recruitment for Northern Ireland's Police Service has led a Protestant leader-- Lord Laird of Artnagarvan-- to charge religious discrimination. A report yesterday by Catholic World News explains that starting in 2001, as part of the peace process, half of all new openings in the Police Service have been set aside for Catholics. The set-aside was aimed at increasing the confidence of Catholics in law enforcement. They had previously held less than 10% of the police positions.

Christian Coalition Suing Break-Off Group In Alabama

Today's Montgomery Advertiser reports on a bitter split in Alabama between two Christian political groups. Last year, John Giles, then head of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, split off from the national Christian Coalition and changed the name of the Alabama organization to Christian Action Alabama. The move followed decisions by the national group to expand its agenda to include support for labor and environmental issues. The national Christian Coalition then decided to rebuild its own chapter in the state and appointed Randy Brinson as president. Brinson has brought suit in state court alleging that the assets now controlled by Giles really belong to the Christian Coalition. He claims that Giles wrongly kept the group's mailing list and website URL. The two competing groups are currently lobbying on opposite sides on pending gambling legislation in the Alabama legislature, with Giles charging that Brinson's Christian Coalition has been subverted by gambling interests.

Muslim Cleric In Kashmir Opposes Army Aid In Renovating Mosques

In the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, the army has been helping to construct and renovate community service buildings such as schools, hospitals, and sports and entertainment venues. However one aspect of their work has created controversy. They have been building and repairing Islamic religious places. Now the grand mufti of Jammu & Kashmir has issued a fatwa saying that Islamic law bans non-Muslims from constructing, reconstructing or renovating any mosque or shrine. Greater Kashmir has much of the text of the ruling. He also ruled that no donation can be accepted from a non-Muslim for religious affairs. He urged the people to pay the army back the money it has already spent on the construction. ZeeNews today reports that the fatwa has been endorsed by the Muslim Personal Law Board and Nadwatul Ulama Jammu and Kashmir. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said that the Army's efforts wree an attempt to dilute the Kashmiri culture and religion.

Recent and Upcoming Books of Interest

University of California Press:

• Donald E. Miller & Tetsunao Yamamori, Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, (Sept. 2007).
• John J. DiIulio., Jr., Godly Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future (Oct. 2007).

Rutgers University Press:

• Kate McCarthy, Interfaith Encounters in America, (March 2007).
• Lynn Schofield Clark, Religion, Media and the Marketplace, (March 2007).

University of Michigan Press:

• Angela D. Dillard, Faith in the City- Preaching Radical Social Change in Detroit, (2007).

Georgetown University Press:

• David L. Clough & Brian Stiltner, Faith and Force- A Christian Debate about War, (May 2007).
• J. Matthew Wilson (ed.), From Pews to Polling Places- Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic, (Oct. 2007).
• Irene Oh, The Rights of God- Islam, Human Rights, and Comparative Ethics, (Nov. 2007).
  

Ugandan Religious Leaders Oppose Domestic Relations Reform

Uganda has ratified the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In an attempt to carry out its terms, Parliament has been attempting to reform its marriage and divorce laws. However so far both the Muslim and Christian communities have opposed the Domestic Relations bill-- and Parliament has been unable to pass it, according to a report yesterday by the East African Standard. Muslim leaders say that the bill is inconsistent with Islamic law in several ways. It does away with required parental consent for marriage; and it allows polygamy only with the existing wife's consent. The Federation of Women Lawyers in Uganda says that less controversial parts of the bill should be enacted quickly so that pressing issues like alimony, property distribution, child support and cohabitation could be dealt with.

Malaysia's High Court Will Rule Wednesday On Reach of Islamic Courts

On Wednesday, Malaysia's Federal Court, the country's highest tribunal, will be announcing a decision that will be crucial in determining the role of Islamic law in the country. The Associated Press reports on the long-awaited decision. The case involves Lina Joy, who renounced Islam and converted to Christianity. After she converted, she applied for a name change on her identity card. The National Registration Department made the change, but refused to change her religious designation. When she appealed, the lower courts told her that only a Sharia court could pass on whether she could convert. Lina Joy however argues that under the country's Constitution she has the right to choose her religion, and that once she decided to become a Christian, she should no longer be under the jurisdiction of Islamic courts. (See prior posting.)

Joy's attorney, Benjamin Dawson, says: "Our country is at a crossroad. Are we evolving into an Islamic state or are we going to maintain the secular character of the constitution?" If Joy loses, apparently she could be prosecuted in Islamic courts for apostasy.

Diocese's Firing Of Youth Protection Advocate Upheld

In O'Connor v. Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Phoenix, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38141 (D AZ, May 24, 2007), an Arizona federal district court dismissed a Title VII claim, finding that the termination of a Youth Protection Advocate by the Diocese of Phoenix was within the statutory exception that permits religious employers to discriminate in favor of members of their faith. Jennifer O'Connor claimed that her termination was triggered by her disagreement with the way in which the Diocese was handling a particular sexual abuse case. However the court found that a stated requirement of her position was that she be "an active practicing Catholic who is in full communion with the Church". It accepted the Diocese's contention that O'Connor was terminated because she had recently married outside the Catholic Church, holding that it is a matter of religious interpretation as to whether that was a violation of the requirement to remain in full communion with the Church. Having dismissed the federal claim, the court declined to exercise jurisdiction over a related state law claim.

Recent Law and Religion Articles

From SSRN:
Christopher Borgen, Triptych: Sectarian Disputes, International Law, and Transnational Tribunals in Drinan's Can God and Caesar Coexist?, St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06-0074.

From SmartCILP (in part):
Karima Bennoune, Secularism and Human Rights: A Contextual Analysis of Headscarves, Religious Expression, and Women's Equality Under International Law, 45 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 367-426 (2007). (Article abstract).

Mark C. Weber, Services for Private School Students Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act: Issues of Statutory Entitlement, Religious Liberty, and Procedural Regularity, 36 Journal of Law & Education 163-210 (2007).

Eric Alan Isaacson, Assaulting America's Mainstream Values: Hans Zeiger's Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America, 5 Pierce Law Review 433 (2007).

Memorial Day Connects Government With Religion

The legal framework for setting today as Memorial Day-- and connecting it to prayer-- is found in President Bush's Proclamation titled Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2007, issued earlier this month. The Proclamation points out that:

Congress, by a joint resolution approved on May 11, 1950, as amended (64 Stat. 158), has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated the minute beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance.

However the President's Radio Address on Saturday that focused entirely on Memorial Day was entirely a secular tribute to America's war dead.

As Melissa Rogers has pointed out, a new church-state issue has emerged as Task Force Patriot USA, an evangelical Christian group, for the first time became a sponsor of the annual Memorial Day weekend Salute to the Troops at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia. Originally this year's Salute was billed as an official U.S. Air Force 60th Anniversary event. However, after objections were raised by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Air Force issued a statement saying it is not a sponsor of the event. It said that after becoming aware of the religious nature of scheduled activities, it began taking steps to avoid the appearance of endorsement or preferential treatment of any religious faith. (Washington Post).

The Air Force will still do jet fly-overs of the park this weekend, but will only do two of them instead of the originally scheduled nine, and will not schedule them to coincide with religious events at the Salute. (Atlanta Journal Constitution.) The Army's Silver Wing Parachute Team is no longer participating in the event at all.

New York Teen Charged With Religious Hate Crime For Attack On Sikh Student

In Queens, New York on Friday, a 17-year old was charged with violation of New York's Hate Crimes Act for forcibly cutting off the hair of a 15-year old Sikh student whose religious beliefs required him to wear his hair long. A report by 1010WINS says that the two students were trading insults at Newton High School when the 15-year old offered to apologize. The older boy said that only cutting the younger boy's hair would be an apology. He then dragged the Sikh student into a rest room, threatened him, pulled off his turban and cut off his hair, while two other students acted as lookouts. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said the actions were an attack on the 15-year old's fundamental religious beliefs and on his freedom to worship.

Alito Calls For Continued Religious Tolerance In U.S.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito used his appearance as commencement speaker at Seton Hall University Law School on Friday to make a plea for continued religious tolerance in the United States, in the face of growing intolerance around the world. He emphasized the importance of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution that bars any religious test for federal office, saying we must not return to a time when it was felt that people of some faiths were unfit for public office. The Associated Press reported on the speech. Alito taught as an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall from 1999 to 2004. (Seton Hall press release.)

RLUIPA Suit Challenges Florida City's Zoning Law As Discriminatory

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that a suit under RLUIPA filed Friday in a Florida federal district court challenges Cooper City, Florida's ban on locating houses of worship in commercial areas. Brought by Chabad of Nova , the suit alleges that the city's zoning laws illegally discriminate against religious organizations. Chabad says the city is attempting to protect its tax base by keeping tax-exempt houses of worship out of commercial areas. For 30 years, the city kept houses of worship in the western, agriculturally zoned area of the city. Last October, it amended its law to allow houses of worship in office parks and recreational facilities, but it still bans them from commercial areas where new congregations often like to find store fronts in which to locate.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Decisions In District and Circuit Courts

In Boles v. Neet, (10th Cir., May 24, 2007), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to dismiss a suit filed against the warden of a Colorado correctional facility by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner who was kept from leaving the facility for eye surgery because he insisted on wearing his yarmulke and tallit katan. The court said that plaintiff adequately demonstrated that prison authorities substantially burdened his sincerely held religious beliefs, and defendant made no showing of penological interests justifying the restriction. The warden has claimed qualified immunity as a defense.

In Harris v. N.C.P. Dept, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37902 (ED NY, May 24, 2007), a New York federal district court held that a prisoner's pro se complaint, liberally construed, may raise a legitimate free exercise claim. Plaintiff claimed he was denied food on one or more occasions because he failed to interrupt his prayers when directed to do so by correctional officers.

In Miller v. Sullivan, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37318 (ED CA, May 8, 2007), a California federal Magistrate Judge dismissed, with leave to amend, a prisoner's free exercise claim because it did not allege the nature of the infringement of his religious activity nor what defendants had done to burden his free exercise.

In Livingston v. Griffin, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36941 (ND NY, May 21, 2007), a Rastafarian prisoner won a partial victory in his claims that his free exercise rights had been violated by prison authorities. The court rejected his claim that his religious beliefs were substantially burdened when authorities attempted to force him to be handcuffed to, and sit for several hours beside, another inmate who he believed to be a homosexual or transsexual. However the court allowed plaintiff to proceed with his claim that he was wrongfully denied alternative religious meals by prison officials.

In El-Tabech v. Clarke, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36719 (D NE, May 18, 2007), a Muslim prisoner filed a claims under the First Amendment and RLUIPA alleging that "his religion requires that he adhere to a Halal diet: eating only permitted kosher food". A Nebraska federal district court refused to grant defendants' motion for summary judgment, finding that genuine issues of material fact exist concerning the allegations of cost and security in affording plaintiff a kosher diet. It similarly allowed plaintiff to proceed with his claims that his religious beliefs require additional showers and adherence to a prayer schedule.

In Dicks v. Binding Together, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36615 (SD NY, May 18, 2007), a New York federal district court allowed an inmate in a work release program to move ahead with his Free Exercise and state law challenges to the refusal by authorities to grant him a pass to attend Pentecostal church services.

In Stewart v. Canteen Food Services, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36396 (D AZ, May 16, 2007), an Arizona federal district judge refused to grant a motion by defendant to reconsider an earlier decision permitting a prisoner to move ahead with a free exercise claim that he was not consistently served a lacto-vegetarian diet. It also refused to grant plaintiff's motion to re-instate certain of his claims that had been previously dismissed.

Free Execise Challenge to Sex-Offender Treatment Rejected By Court

In Washington State v. Shaughnessy, (WA Ct. App., May 22, 2007), a Washington state appellate court rejected a claim by a convicted sexual offender, whose supsended sentence was revoked, that his free exercise rights protected by the state constitution had been violated. James Shaughnessy had been sentenced to complete three years in sex-offender treatment, along with other restrictions, as a condition of the suspended sentence. After completing only a few sessions, Shaughnessy fled to Mexico. When he was finally sent back to the U.S., he claimed that the only reason he had fled was that his treatment provider would not let him bring a Bible to his treatment sessions and allowed him to attend church only if he avoided children there. The court held that the reason for revoking Shaughnessy's sentence was that he fled to Mexico. He could have gone to court to challenge the conditions imposed or could have requested a change in treatment providers. The court held that the state did not burden Shaughnessy's religious practices because the conduct he complained of came from his private treatment provider, and the court had not required that particular person be used.

Accommodating Muslim Prayer Is Growing Issue

Accommodation of Muslims who wish to take time at school or work to pray has become a growing issue. The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its May Newsletter, Religious Freedom in Focus, that earlier this month it settled a complaint by Muslim students in the Lewisville Texas Independent School District who wanted to use an empty classroom during lunch to pray. Under the settlement agreement, the school agreed that the Muslim students could use space in a common area outside the cafeteria for their mid-day prayers.

Meanwhile, in Omaha, Nebraska, 70 out of 120 Somali meatpacking workers have now returned to work after they quit their jobs because they were not given sufficient time off to pray at sundown. The company has agreed to accommodate workers as much as they can within the terms of the union contract. The Associated Press says that, as summer arrives, later sundowns may create problems, however. The company is concerned that they will need to completely close down production if too many workers are off the assembly line at the same time for prayer.

Kansas Legislature Passes Bill Urging Faith-Based Prisoner Re-Entry Programs

The Kansas House of Representatives and Senate this week have both passed HB2101, the Transformational Justice Act. The Act broadly encourages re-entry programs for prisoners to help then find jobs, housing and medical treatment upon release. However, the Act contains a number of provisions encouraging provision of these services by faith-based organizations. It directs the Transformational Interagency Task Force to seek partnerships with and communicate regularly with faith-based and community organizations. It also sets up a revolving fund for the Office of Faith-Based initiatives to use for grants to volunteer organizations including, but not limited to, faith-based organizations to provide health, educational or vocational training and programs that assist the reintegration efforts for offenders.

Reporting on the bill following House passage on Tuesday, the Associated Press quoted two representatives who are critical of the bill using state funds for faith-based programs. [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

Saudis Enforce Ban On Non-Muslims In Mecca

World Net Daily today reported on the continuing enforcement by Saudi Arabia of a ban on non-Muslims entering the city of Mecca and having access to the Grand Mosque. A Sri Lankan Christian, Nirosh Kamanda, came to Saudi Arabia to work as a truck driver, and secretly moved to Mecca to sell goods near the Grand Mosque. He was arrested after the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee used a high-tech finger-print identification system to find him.

Alabama Supreme Court Remands Case On Inspecting Church Records

In Ex Parte Board of Trustees/ Directors and/or Deacons of Old Elam Baptist Church, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 92 (May 25, 2007), the Alabama Supreme Court issued a writ of mandamus directing a trial court to vacate its order permitting inspection of a church's business and financial records. A suit seeking the records was brought under provisions of the state’s non-profit corporation law that permits inspection of books and records by church members.

Defendants claim that plaintiffs are no longer members of the church, and so are not entitled to inspection. In face of the lawsuit by plaintiffs, the Church had amended its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) to provide that anyone who is a party to a lawsuit against the church or its leaders shall be removed from the membership rolls. The SOP's also provided that the pastor could place members on probation. However the court refused to totally dismiss the case and remanded it to the trial court for it to determine whether the SOP's are in fact the bylaws of the church, and, if they are, whether the relevant amendments to them on expulsion of members were properly adopted.

Justice See, dissenting in part, said that the First Amendment precludes civil courts from inquiring into ecclesiastical concerns of the Church. That includes inquiry on whether those acting on behalf of the Church had the authority to terminate plaintiffs' membership.

UPDATE: On Oct. 5 2007, the Alabama Supreme Court denied a petition for rehearing, with Justice Parker writing an opinion concurring specially in the denial. 2007 Ala. LEXIS 208.