Canadian Bill Would Require Muslim Women To Uncover Face Before Voting

In the Canadian Parliament on Friday, the government introduced a bill that would require all voters, including veiled Muslim women, to identify themselves with their faces uncovered in order to vote. Bill C-6 provides an exemption only when uncovering one's face would be harmful to the prospective voter's health. Reporting on the bill, Friday's Toronto Globe & Mail indicated that election officials would have flexibility in administering the law in order to respect religious beliefs. For example, Elections Canada could allow Muslim women to uncover their faces behind a screen with only a female elections official present. The introduction of the bill follows political criticism of Quebec's election officials who said they would permit women wearing a niqab to identify themselves with their faces covered. (See prior related posting.)

Kansas Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Grand Jury Probing Abortion Provider

The state of Kansas has a provision that requires a grand jury to be summoned in a county upon a petition of 100 plus 2% of the total number of votes cast for governor in the county in the last election. (K.S.A. § 22-3001). Following the lead of Sedgwick County citizens, a coalition of anti-abortion groups has just filed a petition to impanel a grand jury in Johnson County, Kansas to investigate whether a Planned Parenthood clinic has violated the state's abortion law. (Background). Meanwhile, according to the Kansas City Star, on Friday the Kansas Supreme Court issued an order temporarily blocking the Sedgwick County grand jury convened in this manner from proceeding. Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, the object of the investigation, alleged that the proceedings amount to harassment. The Supreme Court ordered two Sedgwick County judges to respond to Tiller's petition to the Supreme Court.

No Free Exercise Issue In Church's Flea Market Restrictions

In Shaffer v. Jones, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79117 (ND IN, Oct. 5, 2007), an Indiana federal district court dismissed free exercise and equal protection claims brought against the the manager of a flea market, holding that the manager was a private individual and was not acting under color of law. The market apparently was operated by the Embassies of Christ Church. Plaintiff James Shaffer alleged that the manager, Jerwan Jones, told him that he worshiped a false God and was going to hell. Jones warned Shaffer that if he did not remove all non-Christian items from his booth space, he would no longer be allowed to operate at the market. The court said: "The Constitution does not prevent a church from restricting the message presented at an event it is running."

UN Religious Freedom Official Worries About Abuse of Religious Power

Two recent speeches by Asma Jahangir, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, are in the news as the UN official expresses concern about blasphemy laws and about illegal conduct undertaken in the name of religion.

In an Oct. 25 speech to the NGO, Committee for Freedom of Religion or Belief, she warned against countries going too far in banning defamation against religion. According to the Adventist News Network, Jahangir argued that "objective criticism" of religion is a human right, and expressed concern that blasphemy laws can be used to silence dissent. She also rejected analogies between racial hatred and religious hatred, saying: "religion is unlike race -- you cannot proselytize to change [your] race. There are serious differences."

Speaking on Oct. 26 before the General Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third) Committee, Jahangir warned against the use of religion as an excuse for criminal action that encroaches on the rights of others. A UN News Centre release quotes her: "No impunity should be awarded when criminal acts which infringe on the human rights of others are given a religious label. At the same time, all governmental actions should be proportionate, abide by the rule of law and respect the applicable international human rights standards."

NYT Article Focuses On Splits In Evangelical Movement

Today's New York Times Magazine carries a feature article by David D. Kirkpatrick titled The Evangelical Crackup. It discusses at length generational and theological splits in the evangelical Christian movement. Here is an excerpt:

For the conservative Christian leadership, what is most worrisome about the evangelical disappointment with President Bush is that it coincides with a widening philosophical rift. Ever since they broke with the mainline Protestant churches nearly 100 years ago, the hallmark of evangelicals theology has been a vision of modern society as a sinking ship, sliding toward depravity and sin. For evangelicals, the altar call was the only life raft — a chance to accept Jesus Christ, rebirth and salvation. Falwell, Dobson and their generation saw their political activism as essentially defensive, fighting to keep traditional moral codes in place so their children could have a chance at the raft.

But many younger evangelicals — and some old-timers — take a less fatalistic view. For them, the born-again experience of accepting Jesus is just the beginning. What follows is a long-term process of “spiritual formation” that involves applying his teachings in the here and now. They do not see society as a moribund vessel. They talk more about a biblical imperative to fix up the ship by contributing to the betterment of their communities and the world. They support traditional charities but also public policies that address health care, race, poverty and the environment.

Employment Discrimination Suit Filed Against New York Synagogue

The New York Sun reported Friday on a discrimination suit filed in New York state court by two former administrators against a prominent Manhattan synagogue, Temple Emmanu-El. Plaintiffs Marion Hedger and Phyllis Treichel allege they were fired because of their age and because they were not Jewish as the synagogue attempted to change the image of its religious school.

6th Circuit Says Christian High Schoolers Can Cahllenge Anti-Harassment Code

Yesterday in Morrison v. Board of Education of Boyd County, (6th Cir., Oct. 26, 2007), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected mootness and standing challenges to a claim brought by Christian high school students and their parents who argued that Boyd County (KY) High School students’ First Amendment speech rights were “chilled” by the school’s anti-harassment/ discrimination policy. More specifically, plaintiffs alleged that the speech codes in effect during the 2004-05 school year (and later changed) prevented Christian students from expressing their views that homosexuality is sinful, and that the speech codes and related anti-harassment training undermined students’ ability to practice their Christian faith.

In a 2-1 decision, the majority held that “an allegation of a past chill of First Amendment-protected activity is sufficient to confer standing to a plaintiff seeking retrospective relief, even when that relief comes in the form of nominal damages…. [T]o establish such a claim, a plaintiff must show that the defendant’s actions or policy would deter a person of ordinary firmness from exercising his or her First Amendment liberties in the way that the plaintiff alleges he or she would have, were it not for the defendant’s conduct or policy.”

Judge Cook, dissenting, said: "'This is a case about nothing.' The majority burdens a federal district judge with a full-blown trial to determine whether to award the plaintiff a single dollar if a policy no longer in effect was unconstitutional despite never being enforced against the plaintiff.”

The appeal brought together unusual allies. Both the ACLU and the Alliance Defense Fund praised the 6th Circuit’s result. The AP reported on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Suit Challenges Illinois' Moment-of-Silence Law

In Chicago, high school freshman Dawn Sherman and her father, a radio talk show host, have filed suit against Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Township High School District 214 challenging the constitutionality of Illinois new law mandating a moment of silence each school day. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press report quotes Sherman: “What we object to is Christians passing a law that requires the public school teacher to stop teaching during instructional time, paid for by the taxpayers, so that Christians can pray.” This is not Sherman’s first church-state lawsuit. He previously sued to remove religious symbols from city seals and to ban Boy Scouts from meeting at public schools.

UPDATE: On Monday, according to the AP, Illinois U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman refused to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent District 214 and Buffalo Grove High School from holding a moment of silence, after school officials agreed they would not mention religion in carrying out the law. However the court permitted the suit challenging the law to move ahead and scheduled another hearing for next month. The judge suggested that Sherman drop the Governor as defendant and replace him with the state board of education.

County To Provide Tax Exempt Financing For Parochial School Construction

The Toledo- Lucas County (Ohio) Port Authority Board of Directors has approved a bond inducement resolution indicating that it plans to issue up to $12 million in bonds to provide tax-exempt financing to the Catholic Diocese of Toledo for construction and renovation of six elementary school buildings. Today's Toledo Blade reports that payment of the bonds will be backed by a bank letter of credit, and not by the Port Authority. Michael Frank, chairman of the Board's finance committee, said that the facilities being built or renovated will be used solely for education, and not for religious purposes.

British Prime Minister Announces Plans To Create Constitution and Bill of Rights

In an important speech today at the University of Westminster, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the initiation of a national consultation to draw up a Bill of Rights and create a written constitution for the United Kingdom. Currently Britain's constitution is a collection of basic laws and unwritten traditions. A UK government press release sets out the full text of the Prime Minister's remarks. Part of his lengthy speech focused on the history of religious tolerance in Britain. Here are excerpts:

First, I trace the historical roots of liberty in Britain to a struggle for tolerance, by which I mean also a gradual acceptance of pluralism - a notion of political liberty that would allow those of different denominations and beliefs to coexist peacefully together.... This did not happen all at once, or without setbacks and struggle. The flames of religious intolerance burned across this land too. But never as strongly as in continental Europe....

[W]e should neither glorify nor distort what has gone before - and the struggles, both the ups and downs, of empire are not long behind us - to uphold a particular view of where we are now or what we can become. So we need to recognise, for example, that it took until 1829 for Catholic emancipation, even later for legislation ending discrimination against the Jewish community..... But the single most powerful thread that runs though our history is a succession of chapters in the defence of liberty and toleration. We gave refuge to Huguenots fleeing persecution in the 1600s. By the eighteenth century, London was arguably already the world's most diverse city - a situation which we can remain proud of in Britain to this day.

Head of White House Faith-Based Initiative Interviewed

Today's Waco, Texas Tribune-Herald publishes an interview with Jay Hein, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Among other things, Hein says he expects that his Office, created by Executive Order, will survive beyond the Bush administration. He said: "more and more public officials on both sides of the political aisle see the pragmatic value of this as a governing strategy." Asked about safeguards in maintaining separation of church and state in the program, Hein said: "We're setting the bar very high on understanding appropriateness, the appropriate use of public funds and the appropriate expression of faith in delivery of services."

Suit Challenges New York's Charter Schools Act and Blaine Amendment

The Gotham Legal Foundation announced yesterday that it has filed suit in federal district court in Manhattan challenging a provision in New York's Charter Schools Act that prohibits the state's issuance of a charter to any school "that would be wholly or in part under the control or direction of any religious denomination, or in which any denominational tenet or doctrine would be taught." That prohibition is required by provisions in the New York Constitution (Art. XI, Sec. 3). New York and other states adopted this kind of constitutional prohibition-- known as the Blaine Amendment-- in the late 19th century to prohibit public funding of Catholic schools.

The suit just filed was brought on behalf of the New Horizon Church Ministry that wishes to submit a charter application. The complaint in New Horizon Church Ministry v. Spitzer, (full text) claims that the Charter Schools Act and the state's Blaine Amendment violate federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection, free exercise of religion and free speech.Gotham Legal Foundation has posted online a series of questions and answers about the case.

Some Oklahoma Legislators Spurn Gift of Copy of the Quran

In 2004, Oklahoma's Governor Brad Henry issued Executive Order 04-21 creating the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council. The Council is to promote equal rights and religious freedom for Americans from Middle Eastern and Near Eastern communities. Carrying out that mission, Chairperson Marjan Seirafi-Pour recently e-mailed each state senator and representative offering a copy of the Quran decorated with the state’s centennial seal. The e-mail closed with the statement that the legislator should let the Council know if the lawmaker not want to receive the gift. The AP reported yesterday that now at least 24 legislators have refused a copy after state Rep. Rex Duncan said that he did not want a book that endorses the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology.

Other legislators are taking somewhat more nuanced stands. House Speaker Lance Cargill says he will accept the gift, but "as a measure of goodwill" would present the Council with a copy of the Centennial edition of the Bible published by Oklahoma Baptists. Rep. George Faught said he was refusing the Quran not out of racial or ethnic hate, but because "As a Christian, I view the Holy Bible as God’s inerrant, inspired word and try every day to apply the teachings of Christ to all areas of my life." Council chair Seirafi-Pour lamented that one reason the decision was made to distribute the Quran was to give lawmakers accurate information about Islam.

Austrian Provincial Parliament Wants To Ban Mosque Construction

The Parliament of the Austrian province of Carinthia has voted to ask the government to draft legislation that would ban the construction of mosques or minarets in the province. M&C reported yesterday that the proposal, favored by Carinthia's governor, Joerg Haider, is seen by opponents as merely an attempt to attract right-wing voters since there are no plans for mosque construction in the province. Conservatives who voted for the measure said they do not intend to prevent Muslims from practicing their religion, but that a mosque is not merely a place of worship; it is an "institution of a cultural community".

Louisiana Tries To Correct Appropriations To Churches

Now that a federal district court has found Louisiana's unrestricted appropriation of state funds to two churches to be a clear violation of the Establishment Clause (see prior posting), Louisiana's legislature has approved language making it clear that the appropriated funds are to be used only for educational and social service programs. Among the projects that can receive the funds are church-run after-school, senior citizen, hurricane recovery and violence prevention programs. KATC News reports that the Legislature's joint budget committee approved the new language on Thursday, hoping that this would lead the ACLU to dismiss its lawsuit. The court's preliminary injunction currently bars transfer of any state funds to the churches until the court rules finally on the merits. Meanwhile the lawsuit has been amended to add four other churches that were to receive state funds and two non-profits that the ACLU believed might be church organizations.

New Accord Will Protect Rights of Catholics In Bosnia-Herzegovina

Catholic News Service reports that yesterday in the Vatican, a concordat between Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Holy See was formally ratified. The accord that thus went into effect is designed to guarantee religious rights for the Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina where 15% of the population is Catholic. The new agreement offers some hope for the Catholic Croat community that has been the subject of discrimination in the ethnically divided Balkan nation.

Parents Challenge Nebraska's Metabolic Screening Requirement

Mary and Josue Anaya of Omaha , Nebraska have filed suit in federal district court challenging on religious grounds the constitutionality of Nebraska's requirement that all newborns be screened for various metabolic conditions. Yesterday's Omaha World-Herald reports that the couple is also appealing the state court decision that led to their 6-week old son being temporarily placed in foster care so the testing could be carried out. (See prior posting.) This is not the first time that the Anaya's have pressed this issue. (background). In 2005, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected a similar constitutional challenge to the metabolic screening law brought when the state insisted on testing their daughter who was born in 2003. (Douglas County, Nebraska v. Anaya, NE Sup. Ct., 2005). Nebraska is one of the few states that has no religious exemption to its screening requirement. (See prior related posting.)

Columbus Ohio School Board Candidates Debate Religion In Schools

Today's Columbus (OH) Dispatch reports on a debate yesterday featuring nine of the ten candidates for Columbus school board. One questioner asked candidates whether they support teaching creationism, open prayer in public schools and students' learning from religious texts. Candidate Mike Wiles replied, "Yes." He later explained that teaching religion to students and exposing them to creationism would make them more well-rounded. He said he does not support separation of church and state. Incumbent candidate Carol L. Perkins said it was a disservice to take organized prayer out of schools, but she did not think it could be returned under present law. She advocated giving students an opportunity to say a silent prayer. Most of the other candidates said they would limit teaching about religion to courses on world cultures. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Anti-Abortion Protesters Lose Free Exercise and Speech Claims

In two separate opinions, a Pennsylvania federal district court has rejected free exercise and free speech claims asserted by two anti-abortion protesters who were prevented by police officers from picketing in an alley that ran next to a York, Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood facility. The court held that the police officers' directives to the protesters were neutral and generally applicable, applying to picketers regardless of their views. The restrictions were narrowly tailored and permitted the protesters to carry signs and distribute literature on sidewalks near the building. There was no evidence that the restrictions were motivated by disagreement with the views of the protesters. The cases are McTernan v. Barth, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78567 (MD PA, Oct. 23, 2007), and Snell v. Camacho, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78516 (MD PA, Oct. 23, 2007). (See prior related posting.)

AT&T Loses Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission yesterday announced a $756,000 verdict in a religious discrimination lawsuit in federal district court in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The jury ordered AT&T to pay two Jehovah's Witnesses back pay and compensatory damages for violating Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. AT&T suspended and then fired two customer service technicians for taking one day off work to attend a week-end long religious convention. The employees, whose religious beliefs required them to attend the convention, had submitted written requests to their manager for permission to attend.