Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Texas Lawsuit Challenges Water Quality Law Under RLUIPA
Recent Articles on Law and Religion
- Emon, Anver M., The Limits of Constitutionalism in the Muslim World: History and Identity in Islamic Law , ( in Constitutional Design for Divided Societies, Forthcoming).
- Martin H. Belsky, The Religion Clauses and the "Really New" Federalism, [abstract], 42 Tulsa Law Review 537-551 (2007).
- Charles W. Collier, Terrorism as an Intellectual Problem, 55 Buffalo Law Review 815-840 (2007).
- John T. Noonan, Jr., The Religion of the Justice: Does it Affect Constitutional Decision Making?, 42 Tulsa Law Review 761-770 (2007).
- Thomas A. Schweitzer, Book Review. (Reviewing Bruce Ledewitz, American Religious Democracy: Coming to Terms with the End of Secular Politics.) 23 Touro Law Review 561-574 (2007).
- Jack B. Weinstein, Does Religion Have a Role in Criminal Sentencing?, 23 Touro Law Review 539-560 (2007).
- Pope John Paul II and the Law, Part I. Articles by George Weigel, Robert John Araujo, S.J., Kevin L. Flannery, S.J. and Jane Adolphe. 5 Ave Maria Law Review 361-468 (2007).
Muslim Woman In Bangladesh Planning Conversion Burned By Unknown Attackers
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Standards For Use of Religion By Political Candidates Proposed
Meanwhile today's Jerusalem Post reports that the Anti-Defamation League has called on Barack Obama's campaign to clarify fliers distribted to South Carolina voters declaring that Obama is a "committed Christian". Obama's campaign said the fliers were intended to counter false e-mail rumors that Obama was a Muslim. (See prior posting.) A copy of the flier is avaialable online from TPM.Exclusionary religious rhetoric by candidates and constant scrutiny of the minutiae of their faiths undermine religion's valuable role in public life. It also runs contrary to the unique American commitment to both religious freedom and non-establishment of religion. History is replete with examples of religion compromised by its collusion with power, and the role of religion in the current campaign raises concern that it is once again being misused.
... Following Article VI of the U. S. Constitution and the First Amendment, we identify three basic principles.*No person should be expected to leave their faith at the door when operating in the public square. But it is inappropriate to use religious or doctrinal differences to marginalize or disparage candidates.... No religious test may be applied to candidates for public office - not by the law, not by candidates, not by campaigns.
*Candidates for public office should welcome the contributions that religion brings to society. But ... candidates for public office are obliged, in their official capacity, to acknowledge that no faith can lay exclusive claim to the moral values that enrich our public life.
*... While it is appropriate for candidates to connect their faith to their policy positions, their positions on policy must respect all citizens regardless of religious belief.
USCIRF Calls For Release of Afghan Student Sentenced for Blasphemy
Some Are Critical of Proposed Turkish Constitutonal Changes
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Hernandez v. Schriro, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4908 (D AZ, Jan. 22, 2008), an Arizona federal district court rejected claims by a Native American prisoner that his rights under RLUIPA were violated when he was unable to engage in pipe ceremonies and sweat lodges, possess red and blue headbands, wear his religious medicine bag outside his cell, obtain certain herbs, or work with a spiritual advisor after he was placed in a maximum custody unit.
Bratton v. Curry, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4587 (ND CA, Jan. 9, 2008), involved a complaint by a Muslim prisoner that prison authorities refused to serve him Halal or kosher meals with meat and instead offered him only a vegetarian alternative. A California federal district court held that plaintiff had alleged viable Eighth Amendment, Equal Protection and RLUIPA claims, but not a free exercise violation.
In Marr v. Case, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4427 (WD MI, Jan. 18, 2008), a Michigan federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations and dismissed an inmate's free exercise, eighth amendment, retaliation and ethnic intimidation claims. The court described the incident giving rise to the claims: "At a meal, Plaintiff ... requested a kosher eating utensil because the package of utensils he was given was desecrated.... Defendant ... allegedly replied ... 'I'm sick of this sh-t, dude.' ... Defendant [also] ... allegedly stated "get your tray and get the f-ck away from me, they should have exterminated all you bastards in the concentration camps." ... Plaintiff went to a table and waited for 20 minutes without receiving a utensil before leaving without eating."
In Baisden v. Arpaio, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4377 (D AN, Jan. 8, 2008), an Arizona federal district court dismissed, with leave to amend, a prisoner's claim that during a portion of his confinement he was unable to attend church for several weeks because only the first 15 of 250 inmates to get in line were permitted to attend. However plaintiff failed to allege how defendant sheriff was personally involved in this alleged free exercise violation.
New Restrictions Reported On Tibetan Buddhist Monastaries
Saturday, January 26, 2008
9th Circuit Holds For Muslim Prisoner In Dietary Accommodation Case
The court held that the prisoner need not show that a central tenet of his faith was burdened in order to raise a viable First Amendment claim, so long as his religious belief is sincere. It said that "the district court impermissibly focused on whether 'consuming Halal meat is required of Muslims as a central tenet of Islam'." It failed to consider plaintiff's claim that the vegetarian diet gives him gastrointestinal discomfort that interferes with the purity and cleanliness needed for Muslim prayer. The court held that the present record did not permit it to determine whether the requested kosher diet places more than a de minimis burden on the prison system. It also concluded that summary judgment was inappropriate on plaintiff's RLUIPA claim because there is a factual dispute as to the extent of the burden on plaintiff's religious activities, the burden that would be created by accommodating his request, and whether less restrictive alternatives exist. Saturday's Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald reports on the decision.
Oregon High Court Rules In Custody Case Involving Religious Circumcision Dispute
Instead of reaching a decision on custody, the court remanded the case, ordering the trial court to determine whether the child wants the circumcision, or objects to it-- an issue over which the parents disagree. The court said:
(See prior related posting.) Today's Oregonian has extensive coverage of the decision. [Thanks to Steve Sheinberg for the lead.]We conclude that, although circumcision is an invasive medical procedure that results in permanent physical alteration of a body part and has attendant medical risks, the decision to have a male child circumcised for medical or religious reasons is one that is commonly and historically made by parents in the United States. We also conclude that the decision to circumcise a male child is one that generally falls within a custodial parent's authority, unfettered by a noncustodial parent's concerns or beliefs -- medical, religious or otherwise....
However, ... at age 12, M's attitude regarding circumcision, though not conclusive of the custody issue presented here, is a fact necessary to the determination of whether mother has asserted a colorable claim of a change of circumstances sufficient to warrant a hearing.... [F]orcing M at age 12 to undergo the circumcision against his will could seriously affect the relationship between M and father, and could have a pronounced effect on father's capability to properly care for M.... Thus, if mother's assertions are verified the trial court would be entitled to reconsider custody....