Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Detroit Area Church Sues Housing Commission For Discrimination
Indian Candidate Creates Controversy By Opposing Veils
Taking of Church Property By Eminent Domain Upheld
Tomorrow Is National Day of Prayer For Native American Sites
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
North "Dakota City Moves 10 Commandments Monument
UPDATE: Today's Fargo Forum reports that religious activists are circulating an initiative petition that would add a section to Fargo's City Code requiring the 10 Commandments monument to remain on public property where it has stood for many years. Meanwhile the city is accepting proposals from private parties who would like to have the monument placed on their land. It will decide on a location on July16.
Italian Prosecutors Investigating "Da Vinci Code" Film
President Attends National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast
New Zealanders Oppose Queen's Title of "Defender of the Faith"
Monday, June 18, 2007
Cert. Denied In Libel Suit By Church Group Against Encyclopedia
When Are Bilingual Charter Schools Too Religious For State Sponsorship?
Can State Protect Children From Religious Approaches At County Fair?
Group Issues Report On Religious Right's Influence In Texas
the TFN Education Fund’s second annual report on the religious right’s powerful influence in Texas. Inside the report you will find:
• A comprehensive history of proposed state legislation relating to key parts of the religious right's agenda, including promoting private school vouchers, opposing responsible sex education, attacking stem cell research and censoring public school textbooks.
• A listing of Texas groups associated with the religious right, including data on each group’s finances, leadership and activities.
• An analysis of the 2006 Texas Republican Party platform
• A compilation of some choice quotes attributed to far-right leaders and elected officials in 2006.
Indonesian Christian Women Released Early From Prison
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Danish Official OK's Muslim Practices For Judges, Attorneys
Performance Of IN Social Service Agency Chaplain Raises More Than Church-State Issues
Queen Knights Rushdie; Iran Says This Shows Anti-Islamism
UPDATE: The AP reported on Monday that Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution demanding Britain withdraw the knighthood awarded to Rushdie, while in the Pakistani city of Multan, students burned the Queen and Rushdie in effigy, and chanted "Kill Him! Kill Him!"
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Recent Scholarly Articles of Interest
Carolyn M. Evans, Religious Freedom and Religious Hatred in Democratic Societies, (Univ. of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 236).
Carl H. Esbeck, When Accommodations for Religion Violate the Establishment Clause: Regularizing the Supreme Court's Analysis, (West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 110, No. 1, Fall 2007).
From Bepress:
Paul E. McGreal, Social Capital in Constitutional Law: The Case of Private Norm Enforcement Through Prayer at Public Occasions, (May 2007).
From SmartCILP:
Ezekial Johnson & James Wright, Are Mormons Bankrupting Utah? Evidence from the Bankruptcy Courts, 40 Suffolk University Law Review 607-639 (2007).
Heba A. Raslan, Shari'a and the Protection of Intellectual Property--the Example of Egypt, 47 IDEA 497-559 (2007).
Symposium on Pope John Paul II and the Law. Foreword by Elizabeth R. Kirk; articles by Gerald J. Beyer, Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino, Gregory R. Beabout, Mary Catherine Hodes, Michael Lower, Christopher Tollefsen and Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio. 21 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 1-214 (2007).
MD Court Says Organist Not Excluded By Title VII "Ministerial Exception"
Judge Harrell, dissenting, argued that "Moersen's position was of a ministerial nature…. A position entailing the performance of religious music, for a church during its religious services, to a religious end cannot possibly be perceived as anything but religious."