Rhode Island Policy Banning Religious Group Use of State House May Be Changed

In Rhode Island, a recently appointed state official has discovered a long-ignored formal state polciy that prohibits religious functions or functions held by religious groups from taking place at the State House, even though other non-profit groups may use the State House for events and fundraisers. Today's Providence Journal reports that Department of Administration official Marco Schiappa has recommended that an application by Hispanic Protestant congregations to hold a day of prayer on the State House lawn be approved because the policy has been ignored for so long. Regularly, events like a Catholic group's recitation of the rosary to pray for an end to legalized abortion and a menorah lighting by a Jewish group have been permitted. Religious and civil liberties groups and state officials, including Governor Donald Carcieri, have all called for the policy to be changed. Rev. Eliseo Nogueras, resident of the Hispanic Ministerial Association of Rhode Island, pointed out that Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams who left Massachusetts because of religious persecution.

8th Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Bible Distributions In School

Yesterday, in Doe v. South Iron R-1 School District, (8th Cir., Aug. 21, 2007), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction prohibiting a Missouri school district from allowing the Gideons to hand out Bibles to elementary schoolers on school property during the school day. (See prior posting.) In the appeal, the school district argued that the injunction required it to impose a content-based restriction on speech. The court said that this argument was without merit, since Establishment Clause cases always make content-based distinctions when they prohibit government from endorsing religion. Yesterday's Kansas City Star reports on the case.

Suit Challenges Graduation Prayer Policy of Texas High Schools

On Monday, six parents and a former student sued the Round Rock (TX) Independent School District, alleging that its policy on prayer at high school graduation ceremonies is unconstitutional. The Texas school district allows a yearly vote by seniors on whether there should be prayer at their graduations. The suit, filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argues that the vote is an official school-sponsored event in which the district makes clear that they want students to vote in favor of prayer. In one case, the school district ordered a re-vote when students voted against prayer. The complaint in Does v. Round Rock Independent School District was filed in federal district court for the Western District of Texas. (Press release).

ADA Held Not Applicable To State Prisons- Free Exercise Issues Discussed

An interesting decision in Chase v. Baskerville, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60640 (ED VA, Aug. 2, 2007) may have an impact on religious freedom issues in prisons. The case invovles a claim by a deaf inmate under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Rehabilitation Act. He argued that a Virginia prison should have provided him with an interpreter to assist him in his school work. Much of the decision focused on whether the ADA could be applied constitutionally to state prisons. That in turn, under the U.S. Supreme Court's test developed in City of Boerne v. Flores, depends on whether applying the ADA in this context is an attempt to redefine the substantive meaning of the 14th Amendment, or is merely a congruent and proportional response to identified unconstitutional conduct.

The court ultimately concluded that Title II of the ADA is not tailored to remedy likely constitutional violations in state prisons. In the course of its opinion considering whether the ADA is an appropriate response to potential prison problems the court included this observation:

Admittedly, there is some congruency between an inmate's right to the free exercise of his religion and Title II's reasonable accommodation requirement and certain due process protections. For example, the lack of a handicap accessible chapel may substantially burden a disabled inmate in the free exercise of his religion. Thus, the imposition of an accessibility requirement is facially congruent and proportional in that context with the inmate's underlying free exercise rights. Nevertheless, the strict liability imposed by the ADA in this context is not entirely congruent with the jurisprudence that "negligent acts by officials causing unintended denials of religious rights do not violate the Free Exercise Clause."

Baptisms In Prisons Face Hurdles

A recent article in the Christian Chronicle discusses the problems encountered by Christian ministers in accommodating prison inmates who wish to be baptized. Staff prison chaplains often deny the request on security grounds. William Crossman, of the Church of Christ Prison Ministry in Leavenworth, Kan., says: "There are many, many chaplains that do not believe in baptism, and they're not going to go out of their way to see that it’s done." However, as the article chronicles, in a number of institutions, hundreds of inmates have been baptized, sometimes under the threat of litigation if prison officials do not permit it. Often portable baptisteries or inflatable kiddie pools are used for the ceremony.

Romania Considering Compulsory Religion Classes In Schools

Romania's Education Ministry is considering introducing compulsory religion classes in grades 1 through 10 in public schools. HotNews.ro reports today that the move is endorsed by all recognized religious groups in the country. Currently, non-compulsory religious education classes are offered in schools. Students have a choice of enrolling in them, or instead taking a course in the history of religions.

British Columbia Agency Mediates Settlement In Complaints By FLDS Women

In Canada on Monday, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal released an agreement that it had mediated in order to settle a complaint brought by several women charging that the government had discriminated against women members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the community of Bountiful by failing to enforce the province's law against polygamy. (See prior posting.) The complaint also claimed that the province had failed to provide girls and women in the community with equal access to government services.

Today's Vancouver Sun reports that the settlement gives a partial victory to the complainants. One part of it deals with government-funded schools operated by the FLDS under the Independent School Act. Government officials will be advised that the Act does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, but it does prohibit the schools from teaching doctrines of racial or ethnic superiority or persecution, or religious intolerance. Also under the agreement, the government will provide funds for basic crisis intervention training and an information package on all available government services, including counselling and safe houses. Finally, the government will work to refine the way in which its current level of services are delivered to residents of the closed community.

Indiana Reps Want Churches To Pay For Basic Government Services

Sunday's Indianapolis (IN) Star features an article on the large amount of tax revenues being lost because of property tax exemptions for churches. It estimates that church properties in Marion County, Indiana are worth $1 billion. Two state representatives, Bill Crawford and Thomas E. Saunders, are suggesting that religious groups begin to pay some fees to cover basic services such as police and fire protection. [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

USCIRF Delegation Visiting Turkmenistan

A delegation from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday began a 6-day visit to Turkmenistan where they will meet with government officials and be greeted by the country's president. Turkmenistan.ru reports that the group is headed by USCIRF Chairman Michael Kromartin. In May, USCIRF recommended that Turkmenistan be added to the U.S. list of "countries of particular concern", a compilation of nations with the most egregious records of trampling on religious rights. (See prior posting.) Last January, USCIRF issued a long release on conditions in Turkmenistan, emphasizing the possibility for human rights reform with the death of former president Saparmurat Niyazov.

Iraqi Christians In Mosul Face Difficulties

Yesterday's Boston Herald reports on the particularly difficult problems being faced by Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Their churches have been bombed and clergy have been murdered. Many have fled to Kurdish controlled territory in the north, or to Syria. The city's 23 churches have stopped functioning publicly, and many Christian women have been forced by militants to wear Islamic dress.

Deportation of High-Profile Immigrant Focuses Attention On Sanctuary Movement

On Sunday night, federal officials arrested and deported high-profile immigration activist, Elvira Arellano, to Mexico. Part of the growing "sanctuary movement", Arellano had taken refuge in Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church for the last year, and had become a symbol for immigrant rights activists. Today's Los Angeles Times reports on the arrest and deportation, and the Chicago Tribune reports on Arellano's difficult decision on whether her 8-year old son (who is a U.S. citizen) will stay with her in Mexico or remain in the U.S. Interestingly, officials did not arrest Arellano until she left her sanctuary church in Chicago and went to Los Angeles to attend a rally.

This series of events poses the question of the extent to which government officials are de facto respecting churches as a place of sanctuary, even though it is fairly clear that they have no legal obligation to do so. Arellano said she left Chicago because she thought authorities were preparing to enter the church to arrest her. However, U.S. immigration enforcement officials said that it was her decision to leave the church that led to her arrest. They said it was safer to arrest her outside the church. Rev. Walter "Slim" Coleman, pastor of the Chicago church where Arellano had lived for the past year, said: "I think they obviously didn't want the embarrassment of breaking into a church and separating a mother from her son in front of the cross."

Today's Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram runs an article discussing the sanctuary movement more broadly, with a focus on Los Angeles County. It quotes Chicago's Rev. Coleman who says that the movement is "based on faith, not fear. It's not a place to hide, it's a place to bear witness that this country is destroying families."

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:
Sandeep Gopalan, From Darfur to Sinai to Kashmir: Legalization and Ethno-Religious Conflicts, (August 18, 2007).

Paul E. McGreal, Social Capital in Constitutional Law: The Case of Religious Norm Enforcement Through Prayer at Public Occasions, SUI School of Law Research Paper No. 2007-1 (Aug. 15, 2007).

Belinda M. Smith, From Wardley to Purvis - How Far has Australian Anti-Discrimination Law Come in 30 Years?, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 07/55.

Free Exercise Defense Being Raised To Smuggling Charges

The New York Sun today reports on a free exercise case that is moving toward trial in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. At a hearing earlier this month, a judge ruled that a New York woman-- originally from Liberia-- has standing to raise a free exercise of religion defense to charges of smuggling monkey meat into the United States. The defendant, Mamie Manneh, says that the monkey parts were imported for use in religious ceremonies. Supporting her claim are the pro bono efforts of a major New York law firm and potential testimony from a Harvard Divinity School faculty member.

Losing Plaintiff Gives His Arguments In Church Polling Place Controversy

The unsuccessful plaintiff in a recent Florida lawsuit challenging the use of a Catholic church as a polling place, gives his side of the argument in an op-ed piece in today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Jerry Rabinowitz, plaintiff in the federal court case of Rabinowitz v. Anderson, says:

As I approached my polling location I passed a large, anti-abortion banner put there by the host, Emanuel Church. Inside the religious classroom that served as the voting location, I was presented with religious iconography in every direction, including directly above the voting booths.... Although abortion, stem cell research, and gay rights weren't on that ballot, they are issues candidates run on and use to receive support. And they are religious concerns. Thus religion is, in that sense, on the ballot, making a church polling place inappropriate in any fair election.

CNN To Present Series On Religious Radicals

CNN is giving extensive publicity to its 3-part documentary, God's Warriors, scheduled for this week. Produced by Christiane Amanpour, the special will run two hours on three successive evenings beginning tomorrow. Tuesday's program is on Judaism, Wednesday's is on Islam and Thursday's is on Christianity. CNN says the series will explore "the intersection between religion and politics and the effects of Christianity, Islam and Judaism on politics, culture and public life," and it is asking viewers to submit questions ahead of time to Amanpour. David Yonke of the Toledo Blade describes the series this way:

For those who follow the news closely, there will be few major revelations in this series. Most of God's Warriors centers on pivotal events of recent history that have religious connections.... Around this historical framework, however, Amanpour and her crew expand on the events by interviewing extremists and their families and getting insights from political, cultural, and religious experts, seeking to understand the reasons behind the headlines.

The series has been extensively reviewed in newspapers and online forums across the country. Here is a sampling of the reviews from AP, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Toledo Blade, and Variety. A summary of each episode is at Digital Home.

Thais Approve New Constitution by Divided Vote- No State Religion In It

Thailand voters approved its new Constitution yesterday by a divided vote-- only 57% voting in favor of it. (Bangkok Post). Early on the Constitution was controversial because of its failure to make Buddhism the state religion. That issue, however faded after a speech by Queen Sirikit earlier this month. (See prior posting).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Quintana v. Edmond, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58213 (D CO, Aug. 9, 2007), a Colorado federal district court permitted an inmate to move ahead with his claim that he was singled out for additional experimental urinalysis tests because he was permitted to smoke tobacco for religious reasons. The court said this could amount to a violation of plaintiff’s equal protection rights based either on his religion or his status as a Native American heritage. UPDATE: The Magistrate Judge's recommendations in the case are reported at 2007 U.S. Dist LEXIS 62203.

In Kay v. Friel, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58205 , (D UT, Aug. 7, 2007), a Utah federal district court dismissed a prisoner’s complaint after he failed to amend it to adequately state a claim. Plaintiff’s allegation of interference with his free exercise rights was merely conclusive, and did not allege facts about the nature of his religious beliefs or about the items and rituals allegedly denied to him.

In Mustafa-Ali v. Irvin, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58477, (SD MI, Aug. 9, 2007), a Mississippi federal Magistrate Judge rejected an inmate’s equal protection and free exercise claims. Plaintiff complained that the warden had denied him a hardback copy of the Quran, a prayer rug, special toiletry and shower facilities and a pork-free meal during Ramadan.

A case from several months ago, not previously discussed, is David v. Giurbino, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19179 (SD CA, March 16, 2007), in which a federal judge accepted a Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59160,(SD CA, Jan. 22, 2007), that plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed. The case involved a Native American prisoner’s challenge to grooming regulations that did not permit him to wear his hair long enough to extend below his shirt collar. The complaint stems from action before changes in prison policy in response to a 2005 decision by the 9th Circuit. The Magistrate Judge found that prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity because before 2005 it would not have been apparent that the prison’s policies violated RLUIPA.

In Oram v. Hulin, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60264 , (D ID, Aug. 16, 2007), an Idaho federal district court permitted a Seventh Day Adventist inmate to proceed with his claim that his First Amendment free exercise rights were violated when he was denied a religious diet. However, the court dismissed plaintiff’s equal protection claim.

Indian Tribe Seeks To Preserve Sacred Items Far From Reservation

The Day (New London, CT) today reprints a New York Times News Service story on the legal battle being waged by Arizona's Quechan Indians. They are attempting to force Arizona Clean Fuels, developers of a planned $4 billion refinery located 40 miles away from the Quechan reservation, to conduct an archaeological and cultural inventory to look for sacred Quechan remains. At issue is how far beyond the borders of their reservations Indian tribes can extend their demands for cultural preservation. The Quechans have already stopped a planned gold mine and a planned nuclear waste dump in California beyond the borders of their reservation. However in June a federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the land transfers involved in the refinery project. Quechan Indian Tribe v. United States DOI, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47974 (D AZ, June 29, 2007), and the case is on appeal to the 9th Circuit. Meanwhile, last month the district court completely dismissed a portion of the complaint in the case, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50776 (D AZ, July 12, 2007).

Sri Lankan Buddhists Concerned About New Movie, "Music and Lyrics"

The February 2007 Warner Bros. film, Music and Lyrics, has created a legal and religious controversy in Sri Lanka. Colombo's Sunday Times reports that the film has offended Buddhists who have seen it because of the final scene in which film character Cora Corman (played by Haley Bennett) emerges, scantily clad, from a figure of Buddha. Sri Lanka's Secretary of Religious Affairs and Moral Uplift, P. Kodituwakku , said that currently there is no law on the books that allows the government to take action against the film, though the Cabinet has been considering new legislation that would prohibit the misuse of religious symbols. Last year, Ven. Daranagala Kusaladhamma Thera, Chief Incumbent of Sri Sambodhi Viharaya, filed a suit in the Supreme Court challenging misuse of religious symbols in another case, and, while the Court has not yet decided the case, it did order that no religious image should be used in a manner that insults a religion until its decision is handed down.

Connecticut Episcopal Diocese Sues Break-Away Parish

Another lawsuit joins the long list of those involving property disputes between break-away Episcopal congregations and their former Diocese. This time it is the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut suing Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol. In May, the parish affiliated with the conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria in a dispute over the ordination of an openly gay man as the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. Yesterday's Hartford Courant reported the lawsuit claims that by doing so, Trinity's leaders gave up the right to control parish property. Trinity and five other parishes are already appealing a case they lost last year in which they challenged the Diocese's attempt at that time to remove their priests and take over parish property. [See prior posting.] [Thanks to Nick Uva for the lead.]