Belarus Decree Imposes New Limits On Foreign Religious Workers

Forum 18 today reports that in Belarus, the Council of Ministers last month issued a new decree (full text in Russian) giving the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs complete discretion to refuse-- without giving reasons-- a visa for the travel of invited foreign religious workers to the country. The decree creates a more detailed application procedure for visits, and permits the government to shorten the time for which a worker is invited to that necessary for achieving the purpose of the visit. The Religion Law already allows only registered religious associations to invite workers. The new rules will have their greatest impact on the Catholic and Jewish communities in Belarus. Meanwhile, a petition with over 50,000 signatures is about to be presented to officials asking for liberalization of the country's 2002 Law on Religion.

As Castro Resigns, His Relationship With Catholic Church Is Profiled

As Cuban leader Fidel Castro last night announced that he is retiring, Catholic News Service reviews his "often stormy relationship" with Cuba's Catholic Church. Catholics initially supported the Jesuit-educated Castro's revolution. However in the 1960's, Castro nationalized 350 Catholic schools and expelled 136 priests. Churches were limited to holding religious services on church property and social action projects were banned. Cubans were discouraged from attending church and those who did were discriminated against in state and university employment. In the 1970's, though, Castro cultivated relationships with non-Cuban Marxist Catholic intellectuals. In the late 1990's Castro's relations with the Church improved as Castro met with Pope John Paul in the Vatican and the Pope visited Cuba.

Battle Over Charitable Choice Language Looming In Senate

Today's Washington Times reports that a behind-the-scenes battle is shaping up over the charitable choice provisions in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Act. Groups that are part of the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination want language removed that allows religious groups receiving funds under the Act to limit their hiring to members of their own faith. A coalition of religious groups is attempting to have the language retained in the reauthorization so they can continue to favor members of their own faith when hiring for federally-funded substance abuse programs. (SAMHSA Charitable Choice Regulations.) The charitable choice language was first placed in SAMHSA near the end of the Clinton administration. Some say that removing the language from SAMHSA would be a first step toward eliminating similar provisions from various other federal programs as well.

Hudsonville, MI Resident Wants God Removed From City's Website

Hudsonville, Michigan's official website sets out the following as part of city government's Mission Statement: "The City Commission and Administration of the City of Hudsonville strive to serve God through the strengthening of family and community life and are committed to excellence in providing quality municipal services." According to an AP story yesterday, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, acting on behalf of a Hudsonville resident, has asked the city to remove the reference to God. The city's mayor has no comment until he talks with the city's lawyers.

UPDATE: WZZM13 reported on Feb. 25 that Hudsonville Mayor Don VanDoeselaar said that the city will not change its mission statement. He said that the city is on solid legal ground. [Thanks to Steve Sheinberg for the lead.]

Honolulu Drops Land Use Charges Against Church

In Honolulu, Hawaii, The Ark Christian Center has reached an agreement with the city and county that will result in dismissal of a citation against the church. A press release by the Alliance Defense Fund explained that officials threatened to enforce a zoning rule against the church without citing other nonreligious groups that were also in violation. At issue is a provision prohibiting "meeting facilities" from locating within 1,000 feet of one another in light industrial zones. ADF attorneys represented the church in the negotiations that led to the agreement permitting The Ark to finish out its current lease.

Church of England Faces New Pressures Toward Disestablishment

The influential British magazine, The Economist, last week called for disestablishing the Church of England. In an editorial titled Sever Them, it says in part:

England has an established church whose authority has been intertwined with the state's for five centuries.... The queen is its head; Parliament approves its prayer book; and only last year did the prime minister relinquish the right to select its bishops, 25 of whom sit in the House of Lords.... It makes no sense in a pluralistic society to give one church special status. Nor does it make sense, in a largely secular country, to give special status to all faiths. The point of democracies is that the public arena is open to all groups—religious, humanist or football fans. The quality of the argument, not the quality of the access to power, is what matters. And citizens, not theocrats, choose.... Disestablishing the Church of England does not mean that it has no public role to play.... Let religion compete in the marketplace for ideas, not seek shelter behind special privileges.

Spero News carries an article commenting upon The Economist editorial. Meanwhile Sunday's London Telegraph reported that senior bishops in the Church of England fear that last year's decision (referred to by The Economist) giving the General Synod of the Church more power in selecting bishops could lead to disestablishment. Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to give up the government's role in the selection of bishops. Traditionally the Prime Minister would choose between two names presented to him by the Church's Crown Nominations Commission. A recent a survey of the General Synod found that 63% of its members think disestablishment will come within a generation.

Israel's Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Will Return To Supreme Rabbinical Court

In the complicated religious politics in Israel, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger next month will end his voluntary suspension and return as a member of the country's Supreme Rabbinical Court and as a member of the committee that appoints religious court judges. Metzger is in line to become president of the Supreme Rabbinical Court in six weeks. Metzger had stepped down in the wake of charges that he improperly accepted free stays at a Jerusalem hotel. Haaretz today reports that the Justice Ministry's appointments committee approved Metzger's return, ignoring advice to the contrary from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann.

As Governor Huckabee Rejected Use of Term "Act of God"

CNS News today, focusing on charges that former Akansas Governor Mike Huckabee injects his religious views excessively into politics, reports on an illustrative incident that occurred in 1997 while Huckabee was governor. He refused to sign a bill passed by the Arkansas legislature to protect homeowners from having their insurance cancelled because the bill referred to natural disasters using the common legal term "act of God". Huckabee said: "I refuse to walk through tornado damage and to say that what destroyed it was God and what built it back was only human beings. I saw God protect a lot of people, save a lot of people. That's an act of God, too." After a week of debate, the Arkansas House finally relented and changed the wording of the bill.

President's Remarks In Africa Reflect His Religious Faith

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that during his current tour of Africa, President Bush often invokes religious allusions in his speeches and statements. The article points out the appeal of this approach to religious voters who, in recent years, have focused increasingly on issues of poverty and disease around the world.

Chief Justice Roberts Speaks To Rabbinical Group

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts spoke before the Rabbinical Assembly, the organization of Conservative rabbis, as he received its Truth and Justice award last week in Washington. Saturday's Jerusalem Post reports that Roberts spoke of connections between Jewish tradition and the American legal structure. He said: "The friezes that surround the Supreme Court's courtroom provide a visible reminder that throughout history, progress in law, which is to say human progress, has been marked by a procession in which religion, morality and personal liberty have traveled together." Some rabbis in attendance were critical of Roberts views on certain issues, including women's reproductive health. The Conservative movement supports a woman's right to choose.

Recent Scholarly Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Daniel Augenstein, A European Culture of Religious Tolerance, (EUI LAW Working Paper No. 2008/4, Jan. 2008).


• Katherine B. Darmer & Robert M. Baird, Introduction to Morality, Justice and the Law, (MORALITY, JUSTICE AND THE LAW: THE CONTINUING DEBATE, Prometheus Books, 2007).


• Wojciech Sadurski, Rights and Moral Reasoning: An Unstated Assumption, (December 2007).


• Robert L. Tsai, Reconsidering Gobitis: Lessons in Presidential Leadership, (Feb. 2008).


• Candidus Dougherty, Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (Encyclopedia of the United States Supreme Court, 2008).


• Shelley Ross Saxer, Faith in Action: Religious Accessory Uses and Land Use Regulation, (Utah Law Review, Forthcoming).


• Nathan B. Oman, Preaching to the Court House and Judging in the Temple, (Feb. 11, 2008).


• George P. Smith, Of Panjandrums, Pooh Bahs, Parvenus, and Prophets: Law, Religion, and Medical Science, (CUA Columbus School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-11).


• Jared Rubin, Printing and Interest Restrictions in Islam & Christianity: An Economic Theory of Inhibitive Law Persistence and Divergence, (January 22, 2008).

From SmartCILP:

• Cindy Skach, From "Just" to "Just Decent"? Constitutional Transformations and the Reordering of the Twenty-First-Century Public Sphere, 67 Maryland Law Review 258-280 (2007).

The Journal of Church and State, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Autumn 2007) has recently been published.

Pope Benedict XVI Will Visit White House In April

Last Friday, the White House announced that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the White House on April 16 as part of his trip to the United States. Discussions between President Bush and the Pope are expected to cover issues of peace in the Middle East, inter-faith understanding, and religious liberty around the world.

Suit Challenges Church Zoning Rules of Illinois Village

The Alliance Defense fund has announced that it filed suit last Thursday against the Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois on behalf of the River of Life Kingdom Ministries challenging the village's zoning rules. The village requires churches to obtain special use permits to locate in residential districts, and requires a variation or text amendment for churches to locate in business districts. Various non-religious uses are permitted on less onerous zoning terms. The federal court complaint (full text) alleges that the discriminatory zoning rules violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act as well as the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.

Washington Court Keeps Injunction Against Pharmacy Board Rules

Last November, a Washington federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Washington state pharmacy rules requiring pharmacists to fill requests for Plan B emergency contraceptives even if doing so violates the pharmacists' religious beliefs. (See prior posting.) The AP and the Seattle Times report that last Friday the court refused a request by the state that it lift the preliminary injunction as to everyone except the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The court also rejected the state's request to stay further proceedings in the case while the preliminary injunction is appealed. All of this means that enforcement of the state rules is still enjoined and the trial on the request for a permanent injucnction scheduled for October will go ahead.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Litigation

In Figel v. Overton, (6th Cir., Feb. 6, 2008), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that prison officials could not claim qualified immunity in a case arising after RLUIPA was enacted. Even though the Supreme Court had not yet ruled on its constitutionality, RLUIPA became clearly established law when it was signed. An erroneous 6th Circuit decision on the constitutionality of RLUIPA came after the conduct at issue in the case.

In Salaam v. McKee, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9770 (WD MI, Feb. 11, 2008), a federal district court adopted a magistrate's report rejecting a complaint that prison authorities scheduled Muslim Jumu'ah services at a time that is inappropriate under Islamic law. The magistrate had concluded that the service schedule was motivated by a compelling governmental interest in separating prisoners of different security levels.

In Winford v. Frank, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9907 (ED WI, Feb. 8, 2008), a court rejected free exercise claims by a prisoner who was a Satanist and who was denied access to several requested Satanic religious books. The court found that plaintiff had not shown he was unable to practice Satanism without these publications, and that there were legitimate safety and security reasons for denying him the books.

In Jebril v. Joslin, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10611 (SD TX, Feb. 12, 2008), a Texas federal district court rejected a prisoner's claim that his right to practice his Muslim faith was infringed by authorities' labeling him a terrorist and subjecting him to increased scrutiny. Plaintiff, however, was permitted to move ahead with his claim that requiring that all inmates wear their pants uncuffed infringed his free exercise of religion. The court also permitted him to move ahead with his claim that he was harassed in retaliation for practicing his faith.

Van Wyhe v. Reisch, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10779 (D SD, Feb. 13, 2008), involved a claim by a prisoner that he was denied his rights under the 1st Amendment and RLUIPA when he was taken off a kosher diet for 30 days as a sanction for consuming non-kosher food. A South Dakota federal district court granted summary judgment to defendants on several claims, but permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his claim against some of the defendants under RLUIPA. It held however that plaintiff would be limited to recovering nominal monetary damages.

In Carmony v. County of Sacramento, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11137, February 13, 2008, Decided, (ED CA, Feb. 14, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge rejected an inmate's complaint that his free exercise rights were violated when he was not permitted to attend Bible study classes. The court concluded that plaintiff's religious beliefs were not sincerely held. He testified that he wished to attend to relieve his boredom. Also he was in court at most times when the classes were held.

In Beasley v. Kontek, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10747, (ND OH, Jan. 8, 2008), an Ohio federal district court denied a motion for appointment of counsel and a motion to extend time to file an appellate brief by a prisoner who became an Orthodox Jew while in prison and wanted to wear a beard and sidelocks. In an earlier decision in the case, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96302 (ND OH, Nov. 5, 2007), the court had already held that plaintiff's claim for injunctive relief was moot because of a change in the prison's grooming policy and that plaintiff had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. (Also see prior related posting.)

Meanwhile, Saturday's New York Times reports on a pending religious freedom lawsuit brought by a Hasidic rabbi serving a sentence for fraud at a federal penitentiary in Otisville, NY. Plaintiff wants the Bureau of Prisons to change its policy on where inmates can pray. He argues that his cell, which contains a toilet, is an unclean place under Jewish law for him to pray. He says that Muslims and Buddhists have similar beliefs. Federal prisoners are not permitted to pray in common spaces, and prison chapels are usually not open enough hours to accommodate prisoners who need to pray several times each day. Prison chaplain authorities say that prayers are banned from common areas because they could be threatening to other prisoners, or could make them feel uncomfortable.

Catholic College Faces Legal Challenges To Its Health Insurance Limits

Catholic Online yesterday reported on the legal battle being waged against Charlotte, North Carolina's Belmont Abbey College after it got its health insurance carrier to drop coverage for voluntary sterilization, abortion, and contraception. The Catholic college explained to faculty and staff that the coverage runs contrary to Catholic teaching. However eight faculty members filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charging the school with religious and gender-based discrimination. The college has hired legal counsel to reply to the complaint. The National Women's Law Center has threatened litigation on behalf of the faculty members. In addition, one faculty member complained to the state's Department of Insurance. However it ruled that the school qualified for the religious employer exemption in state insurance law that otherwise requires coverage for contraceptive drugs. (NC GS 58-3-178). The faculty member has asked the National Women's Law Center to appeal the ruling.

Times Focuses On Movement of Egypt's Youth Toward Islam

Today's New York Times carries a front-page article titled "Dreams Stifled, Egypt's Young Turn To Islamic Fervor". The first in a series of articles examining the lives of youth in the Muslim world, reporter Michael Slackman says the economic pressures that force young people to put off marriage lead to increasing frustration. Without the independence, sexual activity and societal respect that comes from marriage, young people are increasingly turning to religion, and pulling their parents and their governments with them. Islam is becoming the defining identity for these young people. The Times makes available an Arabic translation of the article and has created a special blog devoted to a discussion of the series of articles.

School Delays Student's Religious Valentines

In Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine School District, staff members at Wales Elementary School attracted the attention of local radio talk shows and blogs when they took valentines with religious messages from a student to see if they complied with the school's policy against distributing materials that "seek to market, solicit money, recruit, indoctrinate or convert." Yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that school officials decided the valentines were permissible because, whiile they endorsed religion, they were private speech. Superintendent Patricia Deklotz said she was sorry that the 5th grader's distribution of cards to her classmates was delayed. The school's current policy was adopted in 2001 after another incident involving religious valentines led to the filing of a federal lawsuit.

NIU Shooter Researched Paper On Religion In Early US Prisons

The Chicago Tribune reported on Saturday that Steve Kazmierczak, the Northern Illinois University gunman who killed 5 students, wounded 16 others and then shot himself, had been honored with a dean's award for his sociology research. (Also see New York Times). He is reported to have written a paper with his advisor Prof. Emeritus Jim Thomas on the role of religion in the formation of early prisons in the United States. The paper may be one delivered by Thomas at the 2006 American Society of Criminology meeting titled "The Roots of Faith-Based Prison Programming: A Revisionist View." The paper is listed on Thomas' website.

Tradtionalist Catholic High School Refuses Female Basketball Referee

The Kansas State High School Activities Association is looking into dropping St. Mary's Academy from the list of schoools that are approved to compete against association members. The AP reported on Wednesday that the move comes after the Academy refused for religious reasons to permit a female referee to officate at a boy's basketball game. The school is operated by the Society of St. Pius X and follows the Traditionalist Catholic teachings of its excommunicated former leader, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Explaining its views further in its own press release, the Academy said: "Sports for boys are seen as training for the battlefield of life where the boys will need to fight at times through great difficulties. As such, it is more appropriate that it be men who train and direct the boys in these sports programs for only men can teach the boys to be men, just as only women can truly teach girls to be women."