Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Trial Begins of Islamic Charity Leaders
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Pope Will Visit U.S. In April
Churches Sue In Challenge To German Law Permitting Sunday Openings
Payment for Confiscated Churches, End of State Support Proposed in Czech Republic
Challenge To Praying Parents Group In School Survives Summary Judgment Motion
Episcopal Church Property Dispute Involves Civil War Era Virginia Law
If a division ... shall ... occur in a church or religious society, to which any such congregation whose property is held by trustees is attached, the members of such congregation over 18 years of age may, by a vote of a majority of the whole number, determine to which branch of the church or society such congregation shall thereafter belong. Such determination shall be reported to the circuit court... and if the determination be approved by the court, it shall be so entered in the court's civil order book, and shall be conclusive as to the title to and control of any property held in trust for such congregation....Today's trial pits the Episcopal Church USA against eleven Virginia churches that have moved to the more conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America under the Anglican Church of Nigeria, after disagreements with ECUSA on biblical authority and its election of an openly gay bishop. (See prior posting.)
Report Says Egypt Infringes Rights of Baha'is and Converts From Islam
document[s] how [Egyptian] Ministry of Interior officials systematically prevent Baha’is and converts from Islam from registering their actual religious belief in national identity documents, birth certificates, and other essential papers. They do this based not on any Egyptian law, but on their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. This denial can have far-reaching consequences for the daily lives of those affected, including choosing a spouse, educating one’s children, or conducting the most basic financial and other transactions.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Recent Articles On Law and Religion
- Robert K Vischer,The Morally Distinct Corporation: Reclaiming the Relational Dimension of Conscience, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-37, 2007).
- John M. Breen, John Paul II, the Structures of Sin and the Limits of Law, ( St. Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 52, 2008).
- John M. Breen Modesty and Moralism: Justice, Prudence and Abortion - A Reply to Skeel & Stuntz, (Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 2008).
- Kenneth L. Marcus, The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism on American College Campuses, (Current Psychology, Vol. 26, Nos. 3 & 4, 2007).
- Robin Fretwell Wilson, The Overlooked Costs of Religious Deference, (Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 64, No. 4, 2007).
- David Caudill, Christian Legal Theory: The Example of Dooyeweerd's Critique of Romanist Individualism and Germanic Communitarianism in Property Law, 5 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 531-560 (2007).
- Choong Yeow Choy, Contra Bonos Mores: Religious Tenets and National Philosophy as the Yardstick for Determining Public Policy in Malaysia, [Abstract], 9 Australian Journal of Asian Law 176-185 (2007).
UN Special Rapporter on Religious Freedom Held In House Arrest In Pakistan
UPDATE: On Nov. 16, Reuters reported that Jahangir had been released from house arrest. [Thanks to IRRP for the lead.]
More Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases-- District and Appellate Courts
In Talbert v. Jabe, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82962 (WD VA, Nov. 8, 2007), a Virginia federal district court rejected an inmate's challenge under the First Amendment and RLUIPA to the classification of the 5% Islamic Nation of Gods and Earths as a Security Threat Group. The court also rejected "an assortment of claims alleging that the preparation and service of food ... does not accord with the dictates of the Common Fare religious diet, which plaintiff receives as a member of the Nation of Islam."
In Murphy v. Missouri Dept. of Corrections, (8th Cir., Nov. 8, 2007), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that district court's denial of a new trial to an inmate claiming that his free exercise rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were violated when prison officials denied his request for group worship services for the Christian Separatist Church.
In Kemp v. Woodford, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82013 (ED CA, Nov. 5, 2007), a California federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of a prisoner's complaint that he was not allowed to legally change his name to his Muslim name. Plaintiff failed to allege that the change was required by his religion or that his religious exercise was substantially burdened by the refusal. Prison officials permitted him to use his religious name along with his commitment name for mail purposes.
In Naves v. Carlson, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82296 (D UT, Nov. 5, 2007), a Utah federal district court rejected First Amendment and RLUIPA challenges by a Wiccan inmate to confiscation of certain religious books and writings and to his interrogation by authorities regarding his religious beliefs and practices. A prison investigation into a hidden computer disk had revealed it contained both sexually explicit stories and a manuscript by Plaintiff titled "Institutional Book of Shadows."
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Clergy Duties As Community Service Does Not Violate Establishment Clause
Afghanistan Arrests Publisher of Koran Translation
UPDATE: The Nov. 12 Gulf Times reports that 1,000 university students demonstrated in Jalalabad on Sunday to demand the death penalty for Ghaus Zalmai. Zalmai is being interrogated after the Parliament barred him from leaving the country. Gulf Times reports: "A commission of clerics and prosecutors is examining the text, which does not include the original Arab verses and is said to differ on several issues, including homosexuality and adultery."
Saturday, November 10, 2007
City Council Debates Rental of City Facility To White Supremacist Church Group
PBS Will Air Program On "Intelligent Design" Debate
Catholic Cleric Argues For Revival of Charitable Immunity Doctrine
Number of Christian Law Schools Is Growing
LAPD Criticzed For Plans To Map Muslim Communities
Harvard Law Prof To Become US Ambassador To Holy See
Friday, November 09, 2007
Appeals Court Hears Arguments On Concealed Carry Law's Application To Churches
Washington Court Enjoins Enforcement of Pharmacy Board Rules
Applying strict scrutiny to the regulations, the court concluded:The evidence thus far presented to the Court strongly suggests that the overriding objective of the subject regulations was, to the degree possible, to eliminate moral and religious objections from the business of dispensing medication.
... [T]he enforcement mechanism of the new law appears aimed only at a few drugs and the religious people who find them objectionable.
Relying on these findings, the court enjoined enforcement of the regulations against any pharmacy or pharmacist who refuses to fill a prescription for Plan B emergency contraceptives if they immediately refer the patient to a nearby source for it. Today's Seattle Times reports on the decision.the interests promoted by the regulations have more to do with convenience and heartfelt feelings than with actual access to certain medications. Patients understandably may not want to drive farther than the closest pharmacy and they do not want to be made to feel bad when they get there. These interests are certainly legitimate but they are not compelling interests of the kind necessary to justify the substantial burden placed on the free exercise of religion.
... On the evidence now before it, the Court cannot say that the subject regulations advance a compelling state interest and they are narrowly tailored to accomplish their announced purpose.... [T]he evidence suggests that the burden on the religious practices of plaintiffs is intentional not incidental, and substantial not minimal.