Kentucky Court Permanently Enjoins 10 Commandments Display

In ACLU of Kentucky v. Grayson County, Kentucky, (WD KY, March 28, 2008), a Kentucky federal district court permanently enjoined a display of the Ten Commandments as part of a Foundations of American Law and Government Display in the Grayson County (KY) Courthouse. This follows up on a preliminary injunction issued in 2002, after which the County removed the 10 Commandments from the display, but re-hung on the wall the empty frame in which they had appeared. In granting the permanent injunction, the court first held that county residents who are users of the courthouse and taxpayers, as well as the ACLU, have standing. It then concluded that the display violates the Establishment Clause because the Grayson County Fiscal Court had a predominately religious purpose in approving the display and a reasonable person would conclude it had the effect of endorsing religion.

In a press release issued Sunday, the ACLU of Kentucky praised the decision saying it is not the business of government to endorse religious beliefs. Today's Louisville Courier-Journal, reporting on the decision, says that an appeal is planned. It quoted Rev. Chester Shartzer who originally requested that the county install the display. He complained that the court's decision was "not fair to the children" because it removed part of "our heritage" from the display.

Supreme Court Grants Review In "7 Aphorisms" Monument Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted certiorari in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, (Case No. 07-665). (Order list.) In the case, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Summum was entitled to erect a "Seven Aphorisms of Summum" monument in a city park that already features a number of other displays, including a 10 Commandments monument donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The 10th Circuit denied en banc review of the case by a 6-6 vote. (See prior posting.) AP reports that the main issue that the Supreme Court will decide is whether placing donated monuments in a government-owned park creates a public forum or whether the government retains authority to select which monuments to display. The petition for certiorari, explaining the issues presented more fully, is available online. A Reuters report also has background information. The court took no action on a cert petition in a companion case, Duchesne City v. Summum, (Case No. 07-690). That case poses more complicated factual issues. (See prior posting.) The petition for cert in that case suggests that the Court might hold the case pending disposition of the Pleasant Grove case.

UPDATE: Links to all the briefs relating to the cert petition are available at Scotus Blog. [Thanks to Marty Lederman via Religionlaw for the lead.]

Turkey's Constitutional Court Will Hear Case Charging AKP With Anti-Secularism

The AP reports that Turkey's Constitutional Court today voted unanimously to hear a case that has been filed against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accusing it of undermining the secular principles enshrined in Turkey's Constitution. (See prior posting.) Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the chief prosecutor of the High Court of Appeals, filed the lawsuit, asking the Constitutional Court to ban the AKP and bar 71 people, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Dedogan and President Abdullah Gul, from politics for five years. Even if the suit succeeds, Gul could remain president because the post is technically a non-political one. Reuters says that the European Union is concerned that Turkey's constitution permits submission to a court of these kinds of issues that are normally settled through elections. The case could eventually lead the European Commission to recommend suspending the accession negotiations with Turkey.

UPDATE: The New Anatolian on Tuesday published excerpts from the lengthy indictment filed against AKP.

Another Televangelist Responds To Sen. Grassley's Information Request

As previously reported, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley whose Senate committee has oversight authority over administration of the tax laws, has asked six televangelists who preach the "prosperity gospel" for financial information. Today's Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that another of Grassley's targets, Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, has agreed to cooperate. Grassley has threatened to formally subpoena information from those who do not cooperate by today. Two churches still refuse to furnish any documents. Melissa Rogers continues to cover this story in detail on her blog.

Canadian City Seeks Injunction Against Preacher Who Feeds Homeless In Parks

A trial court in Calgary, Alberta today will hear the city's request for an injunction against Rev. Art Pawlowski whose Street Church Ministry feeds the homeless and preaches to them in local parks. The Calgary Sun reports that the city has previously ticketed Pawlowski 50 times for preaching to up to 500 homeless people in downtown Calgary's Triangle Park. However the court consistently refuses to rule in the cases charging offenses such as illegal use of an amplifier and disturbing the peace. Pawlowski asserts free speech and religious freedom defenses.

New Articles and Books of Interest

From SSRN:

• Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Hate in the Classroom: Free Expression, Holocaust Denial, and Liberal Education, (American Journal of Education, Vol. 114, No. 2, pp. 215-241, February 2008).


• Russell Powell, Theology in Public Reason and Legal Discourse: A Case for the Preferential Option for the Poor, (March 20, 2008).


• Carl H. Esbeck, What the Hein Decision Can Tell Us about the Roberts Court and the Establishment Clause, (Mississippi Law Journal, Vol. 78, No. 2, Forthcoming).


• Nicholas A. Mirkay, Is it 'Charitable' to Discriminate?: The Necessary Transformation of Section 501(C)(3) into the Gold Standard for Charities, (Wisconsin Law Review, Vol. 2007, July 3, 2007).


• Nicholas A. Mirkay, Losing Our Religion: Reevaluating the 501(C)(3) Exemption of Religious Organizations that Discriminate, (Widener Law School Legal Studies, Research Paper No. 08-35, March 24, 2008).


• Sue Irion, The [Un]Constitutionality of the NLRA's Religious Accommodation Provision, (Gonzaga Law Review, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2008).


• Dayna Bowen Matthew, Race, Religion, and Informed Consent -- Lessons from Social Science, (Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2008).


• David L. Gregory, Not the Bishops' Finest Hour: Economic Justice, with Cerberus Unchained?, (St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-0119, March 2008).

From SmartCILP:

• David K. DeWolf, Book Review (Reviewing Stephen Mansfield, Ten Tortured Words: How the Founding Fathers Tried to Protect Religion in America.and What's Happened Since), 85 Denver University Law Review 443-461 (2007).


• Randy Lee, A Rose By Any Other Word Would Smell As Sweet", But Would It Still Be Treasured: The Mislabeling and Misunderstanding of Parents and Grandparents in American Policy, 15 Elder Law Journal 607-631 (2007).


• Mark Strasser, Preaching, Fundraising and the Constitution: On Proselytizing and the First Amendment, 85 Denver University Law Review 405-441 (2007).

Recent Books:

• David Gushee, The Future of Faith in American Politics: the Public Witness of the Evangelical Center, (Baylor University Press, 2008).


• Eleanor Abdella Doumato & Gregory Starrett (eds.), Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East, (Viva Books New Delhi, 2008), reviewed in Pakistan Daily Times.


• Noah Feldman, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, (Princeton University Press, 2008), reviewed in Middle East Online.
• George Weigel, Against the Grain, (Crossroad Publishing Co., 2008).

Paper Publishes Interview With Geert Wilders

Der Spiegel today carries an interview with right wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders whose video attacking the Quran has provoked widespread negative reaction. (See prior posting.) He says: "For me, Islam is a vision of a society that defines all forms of interpersonal behavior -- from inheritance to criminal law. This ideology endangers our values. I hate it, I don't hate Muslims."

Two Cases Say Muslim Inmates Are Entitled To Halal Meals

Two recent cases have broken new ground by granting Muslim prison inmates the right to receive Halal meals, rather than relegating them to receiving only the prison's vegetarian diet. In Hudson v. Dennehy, (D MA, March 5, 2008), a Massachusetts federal district court held that refusal by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to provide a daily Halal menu to Muslim inmates violates RLUIPA. It found that the alternative vegetarian diet is not an adequate substitute. It also held that Muslim prisoners in the Special Management Unit must be permitted access to Jum'ah services through closed-circuit television. However the court upheld the DOC's policy of banning prayer rugs and instead furnishing Muslim inmates with prayer towels. Friday's Boston Business Journal reported on the decision, saying that it "marked the first time a U.S. court decided that Muslim inmates have a right to daily Halal meals and prayer services."

A week later in Perez v. Westchester County Department of Corrections, (SDNY, March 12, 2008), a New York federal district judge approved a settlement (full text) under which any Muslim inmate may now request and must receive Halal meals containing meat as frequently as Jewish prisoners receive kosher meat meals (currently 4 times per week). Friday's New York Law Journal reported on the case. Quoting one of the pro bono lawyers who filed the lawsuit, it reports that the settlement represents a "significant departure from current case law with respect to Muslim inmates' equal protection rights to receive Halal meals containing Halal meat, as opposed to a vegetarian diet, which up until this case was arguably the constitutionally reasonable alternative meal plan."

Three Indicted on Misdemeanor Charges For Taking Turban From Head of Sikh Man

In Yoncalla, Oregon last week, a state grand jury indicted three men accused of taking a turban off the head of a Sikh truck driver. The grand jury concluded that the defendants should be charged with third-degree theft and misdemeanor harassment. The AP reports, however, that the grand jury refused to indict defendants on the felony charge of intimidation. That crime requires that an assault be committed due to the perception of a person's race, color, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. Assault victim Ranjit Singh was also distressed that the value of his turban became relevant to the appropriate theft charge. Oregon statutes (ORS Sec. 164.043) define theft in the third degree as involving property with a value under $50. Singh says his turban is priceless.

Court Discusses Free Exercise Rights of Civilly Commited Sex Offender

In a non-precedential decision, Marsh v. Liberty Behavioral Health Care, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24347 (MD FL, March 27, 2008), a Florida federal district court decided several issues relating to the free exercise rights of an offender who was civilly confined under Florida's Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators' Treatment and Care Act. It held that an individual civilly confined under the act is not considered a "prisoner" for purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Thus the fact that previously, as a prisoner, plaintiff had filed 35 federal court actions did not limit his ability to bring this lawsuit.

Finding, however, that "a person who is civilly committed is in a position analogous to a criminally confined prisoner," the court applied the tests of Turner v. Safley to plaintiff's claim that his free exercise rights were violated when he was disciplined for practicing his "spiritual forms of Nisei GoJu-Ryu Karate." The Court concluded that it "need not make a determination whether martial arts is an essential component to Plaintiff's spiritual beliefs because the challenged FCCC policy is reasonably related to a legitimate security interest." The court however said that plaintiff could refile claims alleging that other actions of the Florida Civil Commitment Center staff interfered with his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation, but must articulate how this substantially burdens his ability to practice his faith.

New Jersey Governor To Sign Two Religious Accommodation Bills

Friday's New Jersey Jewish Standard reports that Gov. Jon Corzine will sign two religious protection bills into law next month in a ceremony at a Passaic synagogue. One is S. 1023, finally passed on March 13. It require that alternative testing arrangements be made available for students who are unable for religious reasons to take the SAT, LSAT, MCAT and similar college and professional school admissions tests on the regularly scheduled date. The second bill, mandates that employers provide alternatives to employees who have religious obligations on scheduled workdays. The second bill, passed in January and already signed by the governor in a private ceremony, is AB 3451. It requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees' who want time off to observe their Sabbath or religious holidays. These bills are part of a 7-bill package to protect religious liberty that have been introduced by Assemblyman Gary Schaer and Sen. Loretta Weinberg. (See prior posting.) Four of the seven have now been passed. Meanwhile Assemblyman Schaer is preparing a new package of religious accommodation bills for introduction into the legislature.

West Virginia County Decides Against Easter Cross After Legal Advice

Friday's Cumberland (MD) Times-News reported that, despite approval by the County Commission, no 7-foot tall cross was put up on the lawn of the Mineral County (WV) Courthouse over Easter weekend. Two days after Commission approval for the display that was to be sponsored by the Keyser Presbyterian Church, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a complaint on behalf of a county resident. County commissioners then contacted Chris Winberg, an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice, who advised that "the proposed display could not be successfully defended in a court action." This led Commission President Janice LaRue to cancel permission, fearing the cost of legal fees that the county would have to pay in any legal challenge. [Corrected].

Moderate Imam Faces Deportation Over Residency Application Omission

The International Herald Tribune reports that a moderate New Jersey Islamic leader is facing deportation because he failed to disclose on his 1999 application for permanent residency an in abstentia conviction by an Israeli military court of which he had no knowledge. The Israelis charged him with aiding Hamas militants. He says he merely assisted some Palestinian students, unaware of their political affiliations. Imam Muhammad Qatanani of Passaic's Islamic Center has been one of the country's most active Muslim leaders, openly reaching out to other religious groups and law enforcement authorities. An immigration judge will hear his case in May.

Police Officer Wins Damages In Religious Discrimination Case

A former part-time police officer who claimed he was fired because of his religious beliefs was awarded $100,000 in damages by a federal court jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. WTOV9 News today reported that Terryn Risk, who was employed by the Burgettstown (PA) Police Department, says his dismissal came primarily because he insisted on wearing a small cross on his police uniform and because he did not wish to work early Sunday morning hours that conflicted with church services.

Courthouse Holding Facility Found To Be Outside of RLUIPA Coverage

In Khatib v. County of Orange, (CD CA, March 26, 2008), a Muslim woman sued after she was ordered not to wear her hijab (traditional headscarf) in a state courthouse holding facility, and was not permitted to cover her head in the courtroom. In what was apparently a question of first impression, a California federal district court concluded that a courthouse holding facility is not an institution covered by the protections of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The court said: "The factors needed to create the atmosphere of stability inside jails and prisons that allows for exercise of religious freedoms without 'undermin[ing] . . . security, discipline, and order . . .' are utterly absent from courthouse holding facilities."

In other aspects of the case, the court permitted plaintiff to proceed with her First Amendment claim against the county, but dismissed the claim against two individual defendants on qualified immunity grounds. Plaintiff was also permitted to proceed with a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff's claim seeking an injunction was dismissed because she was not in immediate threat of again being asked to remove her hijab. The Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported on the court's decision.

British Hindu Monks Threaten To Sue RSPCA Over Cow's Death

In Britain, six monks from Europe's largest Hindu Temple, Bhaktivedanta Manor, threatening to sue have served what is essentially a demand letter on Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. According to yesterday's BBC News, the monks say that last December while they were at prayer, an RSPCA veterinarian euthanized an ailing cow being cared for at the Temple. Cows are sacred to those of the Hindu faith. The monks' letter demands that the RSPCA admit responsibility for trespass. RSPCA says it entered the property accompanied by the police who were carrying a valid warrant.

National Day of Prayer Task Force Criticized For Lack of Inclusiveness

The National Day of Prayer Task Force is excluding Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, and even moderate evangelical Christians from taking lead roles in its events, according to a posting Thursday by Jews On First. In a message from Task Force Chair Shirley Dobson, those applying to become coordinators for this year's May 1 activities are asked to fill out an application "to determine your personal and spiritual qualifications for this service". The application itself says that the Task Force is organizing prayer events "conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values." It then asks applicants to indicate they agree with a Statement of Belief that says that the Bible "is the inerrant Word of The Living God" and that the applicant believes "that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation...." A Policy Statement from the task force says that "People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs."

The Task Force claims only that it is "a privately funded organization whose purpose it is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer." However its website highlights official Presidential and Gubernatorial Proclamations marking the National Day of Prayer, and points out that the day was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress. Last year the Task Force Chair played a leading role in the White House National Day of Prayer ceremony, but the White House added other participants to emphasize the inter-religious nature of the event.

Original Web Host Pulls Much-Criticized Anti-Islam Video

Wired reports that on Friday, the video-hosting website LiveLeak took down the controversial anti-Islamic video Fitna from its website, replacing it with a statement reading in part: "Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature.... LiveLeak has been left with no choice but to remove Fitna from our servers. This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net...." As previously reported, the video, produced by right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, was posted by LiveLeak on Thursday along with its own statement defending free speech. The video, however, remains available on line from a number of servers, including Google Video and YouTube.

Meanwhile, according to the AP yesterday, artist Kurt Westergaard, whose controversial cartoon of Muhammad was used in the video, complained that Wilders had violated his copyright by taking the cartoon out of its original context. Condemnations of the video came from governments of Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovenia and Jordan as well as from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide). Dutch Muslims were mild in their reactions to the video, as they waited for a court ruling, now promised for April 7, in which the Dutch Islamic Federation seeks to ban the video and obtain a court-ordered apology from Wilders. The Sunday Pakistan Daily Times says that Dutch businesses have threatened to sue Wilders if his video leads to a boycott of Dutch goods.

Legal Maneuvers In Russia Undercut Pastor's Suit Against Orthodox Bishop

Forum 18 this week reported on the latest in a series of legal maneuvers against a United Methodist church in the western Russian city of Smolensk. The saga apparently began when the Methodist church put up on its website information about the planned opening in September of a Missionary College. As reported by Forum 18 in February, at that point the local Russian Orthodox Bishop, Ignati (Punin) of Vyazma, asked the Regional Public Prosecutor "to take the measures necessary in this situation to defend the inhabitants of our city, particularly youth, from this pseudo-religious organisation." In response local police officials began investigating the church and demanded that it remove the website information about the missionary college. Feeling intimidated, the church's pastor, Aleksandr Vtorov, filed suit on behalf of the church for moral damages against Bishop Ignati in Smolensk's Industrial District Court. Now, in the latest moves, the Smolensk Regional Court, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, has dissolved the Methodist congregation as a legal entity. The grounds for the dissolution were apparently that the church was conducting a brief Sunday school, attended by 4 children, without having a license to be an educational institution. This is a novel interpretation of the law. The dissolution does not totally ban the church, but it does prevent the pastor's suit against Bishop Ignati from going forward.

Anti-Semitic Incidents In U.S. Continue To Drop

The Anti-Defamation League last week released an updated Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents in the United States for 2007. The data shows a 6% decline from 2006, reflecting the continuing drop in incidents over the past three years. The Audit includes both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment and intimidation, including distribution of hate propaganda, threats and slurs. Data is obtained from official crime statistics as well as from informal reports made to ADL. Forty states and the District of Columbia are included in this year's figures.