Nativity Scene To Be Permitted In Washington State Capitol This Year

The Alliance Defense Fund announced yesterday that a settlement agreement (full text) has been filed in Wesselius v. DeShaw, (WD WA, Oct. 16, 2007), a case challenging last year's refusal by Washington state officials to permit a private citizen to put up a Nativity Scene in the state Capitol building next to a menorah and holiday tree that were approved for display. Under the settlement agreement, officials will allow plaintiff to display a Nativity Scene in the commons area of the Capitol Rotunda this December. The Capitol Campus Facilities Policy will be amended to provide that public use of Capitol facilities will be made available on a non-discriminatory basis, without regard to the religious or political content or viewpoint of the person seeking access. (See prior related posting.) Yesterday's Olympian also reported on the settlement.

ORU President Takes Leave Until Charges Are Resolved

Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts has asked the University's Board of Regents for a temporary leave of absence while charges in a civil law suit by three former ORU faculty are resolved. The suit alleges that Roberts and his wife misused University funds and that his wife spent time at night with an underage male in the University's guest house. CNN yesterday quoted Roberts who said: "I have prayed about it, and feel that it is in the best interest of my family and the university." Roberts, in the same written statement, said he would continue as head of Oral Roberts Ministries and would continue his television show. The ORU Board of Regents in a written statement said it had granted the leave request, and had appointed Billy Joe Daugherty, Senior Pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, as acting president, along with University founder Oral Roberts.

9th Circuit Grants En Banc Review In Snowbowl RFRA Case

Reuters yesterday reported that the U.S. Ninth Circuit court of Appeals has granted an en banc rehearing in Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service. Last March, a 3-judge panel held that federal approval of the use of treated waste water to make snow in an expanded ski resort in Arizona's Coconino National Forest would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. (See prior posting.) The panel concluded that the Arizona Snowbowl waste water proposal would substantially burden the carrying out of religious rituals by the Navajo and Hopi Indians who rely on the purity of the mountain water they use.

School Program That Urges Church Attendance Is Challenged

The Denver Channel yesterday reported that two parents of students in the Cherry Creek (CO)School District have filed suit challenging a program known as "40 Developmental Assets". The program aims at helping adolescents become responsible adults. One of its suggestions for constructive use of time is to spend one or more hours per week in activities in a religious institution. Bob Tiernan of the Freedom From Religion Foundation which represents the parents said that this amounts to telling students they should go to church weekly. The suggestion, he said, alienates those who do not, implying that they are not good citizens. For a public school to do that, he argues, violates the Establishment Clause.

Louisiana City To Vote On Whether To Allow Sunday Liquor Sales

In addition to voting for Louisiana's governor this Saturday, voters in East Baton Rouge will vote on whether to repeal the town's Blue Laws that prohibit the sale of packaged wine and liquor on Sundays, and prohibit the sale of packaged beer on Sundays before 12:30 p.m. LSU's Daily Reveille reported yesterday that if the measure passes and is implemented by Metro Council, grocery and retail stores will be able to sell liquor, beer and wine starting at 11 a.m. on Sundays. Restaurants that can already sell wine and liquor on Sundays will be unaffected. The referendum is being supported by residents who believe that local residents are spending money on alcohol in other parishes on Sunday, when those funds could be spent locally. Opponents, like Kitty Blanchard, secretary for St. Agnes Catholic Church, say the repeal would disrupt rest and worship on "the Lord's day".

Scalia Says His Catholic Faith Has Little Impact On His Legal Views

Speaking at Villanova University Law School yesterday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that his Catholic faith has played little role in his court decisions. The AP reported on his remarks, during which he asserted: "I am really hard put to tell you of a single decision or opinion of mine that would have come out differently if I were not a Catholic." He said that his opposition to Roe v. Wade stems not from his religious beliefs, but from his "textualist" views-- there is no reference to abortion in the Constitution. Commenting on death penalty cases, Scalia said that the Church's opposition to capital punishment is fairly recent, and is not an infallible teaching. He said that if he thought that it was, he might feel compelled to resign because of the number of capital cases the Court must decide.

Protestant Chaplains Lack Standing To Challenge Navy's Retirement Policy

The D.C. federal district court has dismissed on standing grounds an Establishment Clause challenge to a practice by the U.S. Navy that permitted 23 reserve corps Catholic chaplains to remain on active duty past age 60 so that they could obtain the 20 years' service needed for their pensions to vest. A group of non-liturgical Protestant chaplains and their endorsing organization claimed this amounted to a denominational preference. In re: Navy Chaplaincy, (D DC, Oct. 15, 2007), because plaintiffs did not claim that non-liturgicals were denied the same opportunity; rather they argued that the Navy's practice communicates a message of preference that constitutes a per se injury. The court rejected this argument. It also rejected plaintiffs' attempt to invoke taxpayer standing, since plaintiffs were not challenging Congressional action under the taxing and spending clause. The case was on remand from the Court of Appeals which, last year, held plaintiffs had shown irreparable injury (see prior posting).

Mezuzah In Florida Capitol Raises Church-State Question

The AP reported yesterday that Florida's Governor, Charlie Crist, has raised church-state issues by hanging a mezuzah on his office door at the Capitol. The mezuzah was a gift to the governor from state Rep. Adam Hasner, who obtained it during a trade mission to Israel earlier this year. Crist, who is not Jewish, said that this was his way of recognizing the religious diversity in the state. ACLU spokesman Larry Spalding, however, said: "It would be appropriate in the governor's mansion or in his office where he works. But when you place it in an area where it even has the appearance of giving the government stamp of approval, then I think you violate that neutrality principle."

British Anti-Gay Activist Banned From Library For Verbal Abuse of Staff

Yesterday's Manchester Guardian reports on a confrontation between British anti-gay rights activist Joe Fairclough, and a librarian at Leigh Library in the town of Wigan. Fairclough, a devoted Christian who had engaged in a number of anti-gay activities at the library in the past, refused assistance from one of the library's staff members because the man was gay and had been through a civil partnership ceremony. Fairclough asked for help instead from another librarian because he does not approve of two men being married. The next day when Fairclough returned to the library, two staff members asked him to leave because he had insulted their colleague. The Library's Code of Conduct permits banning of patrons who engage in verbal abuse. Eventually a police constable arrived and took Fairclough into custody, but released him without filing charges. [Thanks to Towerload blog for the lead.]

Akron City Council Will End Lord's Prayer At Beginning of Meetings

Akron, Ohio's City Council will reluctantly end its practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer before meetings, now that Americans United for Separation of Church and State has complained about the sectarian invocation. The Akron Beacon Journal reported yesterday that, for now, meetings will open only with the Pledge of Allegiance, after Council members decided that having a different prayer every week to represent various faiths would be too complicated. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Student Sues To Get High School Recognition For Christian Student Group

In a federal lawsuit filed in Vermont last week by the Alliance Defense Fund (press release), a student challenged the refusal by Middlebury Union High School to give official recognition to Youth Alive, a student-run Christian organization. The complaint (full text) in V.O. v. Union School District No. 3, (D VT, Oct. 11, 2007), alleges that the school's refusal violates the federal Equal Access Act, First Amendment free speech and free exercise rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection and due process clauses. Plaintiff says that the school recognizes other non-curriculum related student groups. The school's letter refusing recognition said that if Youth Alive were recognized as a co-curricular club, its activities would become school-sponsored with monetary support and an assigned advisor, and that this sponsorship would violate the Establishment Clause. The school says that, as in the past, it will grant Youth Alive meeting space and space for posters advertising its meetings.

One Student Wins, One Loses, Hair Length Challenge

Here is a follow-up on two recent cases (see prior postings 1, 2) in which high school students have claimed that school rules regarding hair length infringe their religious freedom. In Detroit, Michigan, Old Redford Academy (a charter school) has granted a religious exemption from its grooming rules to freshman Claudius Benson whose family's interpretation of the Old Testament precludes him from cutting his hair. Yesterday's Detroit News reports on the student's victory. However in Leakey, Texas, the school board voted unanimously Monday night to refuse to permit Rastafarian student Ben Jamin Daly to keep his hair long. KSAT.com reports that the decision means Daley will continue to be taught in an alternative program, in isolation from his classmates, and will not be permitted to participate in school activities, unless he cuts his hair.

Nebraska Judge Orders Newborn Blood Tests Over Parents' Objections

In Omaha, Nebraska, a juvenile court judge has rejected parents' religious objections and ordered six-week-old Joel Anaya to undergo blood tests that are required for all newborns in order to screen for health conditions. Yesterday's Omaha World-Herald reports that Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich placed the boy temporarily in foster care until the tests were run and the results were in. On Tuesday, when results were received, the case against the boy's parents was dismissed and he was returned to them.

Some Claims Against Westboro Baptist Church Funeral Picketers Dismissed

Baltimore, Maryland federal district judge Richard Bennett yesterday dismissed defamation and invasion of privacy claims brought against the Westboro Baptist Church by the father of a Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who was killed in Iraq. However plaintiff was permitted to proceed on two other claims against the Church, its leader Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters who have gone around the country picketing veterans' funerals with signs protesting US tolerance of homosexuality. The Baltimore Sun described the court's holding:

In granting part of the defendants' motion for summary judgment, Bennett found church members did not defame Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder or his family by implying [in postings on the Church's website] that he was gay or raised by adulterers because his parents divorced. Nor did the church members invade the family's privacy, the judge ruled, because their anti-gay and anti- divorce accusations were based on a general expression of the church members' fundamentalist beliefs.

At the civil trial set to begin Monday in federal court, the jury will be able consider whether Westboro Baptist Church is liable for an intentional infliction of emotional distress based on the message from its members' signs, Bennett said. The judge also will allow jurors to decide whether the Snyder family's expectation of privacy at Matthew Snyder's funeral was violated by the church members' protest outside St. John Roman Catholic Church in Westminster.

Also reporting on the decision, WBALTV said that Church members will "argue their protests are covered by free-speech protections, but acknowledged in court Monday that they had a hard time finding experts to take their side for next week's trial." (See prior related postings, 1, 2, 3.)

New York's High Court Hears Arguments Today In Satmar's Factional Dispute

New York's Court of Appeals, its highest court, will hear arguments today in a long-running suit between two factions of the Orthodox-Jewish Satmar Hasidic community. Yesterday's Times Herald-Record reports that control of millions of dollars worth of property is at stake in the power struggle between followers of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum and followers of his younger brother, Rabbi Zalmen Teitelbaum. Each brother has been declared by his followers to be the grand rebbe to succeed their deceased father, Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum. Also each faction elected its own lay officers to control the movement's assets. The major issue in the case is whether a civil court can apply neutral principles to determine which side won the disputed election. Rabbi Zalmen's side claims that the now-deceased father endorsed its election, and argue that a secular court must stay out of the essentially religious dispute. (Here are links to numerous prior postings on the dispute: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)

US Says Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Is OK Under Establishment Clause

Yesterday's Louisville Courrier-Journal reports that the U.S. State Department and Department of Justice have filed an amicus brief in the pending 6th Circuit appeal in O'Bryan v. Holy See, a class action priest abuse lawsuit. In January, a federal district court in Kentucky held that while the Vatican is a foreign government covered by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"), the "tort exception" to the Act permits a claim to be filed against the Holy See based on clergy acting in the scope of their employment. [District Court opinion.] Plaintiffs claimed that clergy failed to warn parishioners that their children would be under the care of known or suspected pedophiles, and failed to report known or suspected abusers to state and local authorities. (See prior posting.)

The government's amicus brief defends the constitutionality of of FSIA against plaintiffs' claim that the immunity granted to the Vatican by the Act is inconsistent with the Establishment Clause because it grants special favors that benefits only the Catholic Church. The government responds that there is no evidence Congress intended to benefit Catholicism in enacting FSIA. At the time of its enactment, the United States had not yet recognized the Vatican. The government's brief also argues that under the Constitution, the President has the sole right to decide whether to recognize the Holy See as a foreign government.

Town Board Candidate Rejects Interfaith Group

While many political candidates are reaching out to religious voters, in Chili, New York, Democratic Town Board candidate Tim Lancaster is taking the opposite approach. In response to a request by the Interfaith Alliance that he sign the League of Women Voters Fair Campaign Pledge, Lancaster wrote that he does not want to associate himself with the faith-based social justice group. Today's Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports that Lancaster, an atheist, rejected the request, saying that "the Interfaith Alliance is a silly group", that some of its members have al-Qaeda sympathies, and that he does not respect "something that is superstitious and based on mythology like religion". The Democratic Party has sent a letter of apology to the Alliance and to the League of Women Voters.

Catholic College Recognizes GLBT Student Group

While some Catholic colleges have been sued for discrimination for refusing to recognize gay and lesbian student groups, Sylvania, Ohio's Lourdes College has taken a different route. WTVG-TV reported yesterday that Lourdes has recognized Prism, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender organization whose co-advisor is a nun. The group's goal is to acknowledge and promote awareness of the GLBT population on campus. Some alumni, however, accuse the College, which is sponsored by the sisters of St. Francis, of rejecting Catholic teachings in order to increase enrollments.

6th Circuit Rejects Postal Worker's Title VII Religious Accommodation Claim

In Tepper v. Potter, (6th Cir., Oct. 15, 2007), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Title VII religious accommodation and religious discrimination claims brought by a letter carrier against the Chagrin Falls, Ohio branch of the United States Postal Service.

Letter carrier Martin Tepper is a Messianic Jew who observes Saturday as his Sabbath. While the post office initially accommodated him by giving him Saturdays off, in 2002 the accommodation was terminated due to staffing problems. The court held that requiring Tepper to take leave without pay, or use vacation time if he wished to take Saturdays off does not amount to discipline or discharge for his religious observance, nor does it amount to a materially adverse change in his conditions of employment. Rejecting Tepper’s differential treatment claim, the court held that giving other employees Sunday off was not so they could observe their Sabbath, but because few carriers are needed since few mail deliveries are scheduled for Sunday. The court said all employees are treated equally—all must work a 5-day week with a rotating day off. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Alabama Gives Statewide Approval To Bible As Literature Textbook

Alabama has become the first state to adopt statewide a textbook for study of the Bible as literature in public schools, according to a press release yesterday by the Bible Literacy Project. The Bible and Its Influence can now be purchased with state funds by any Alabama school for use as the sole textbook in an elective Literature course. The book which is being used in 163 schools in 35 states has the support of experts in literature, religion and church-state law. (See prior posting.) However, the book still has its critics. (See prior posting.)