New Mexico Removes 3 Minors From Cult's Strong City Compound

The AP reported yesterday that New Mexico authorities have removed two girls and a boy-- all under age 18-- from the "Strong City" compound of The Lord Our Righteousness Church near Clayton, NM. The children are currently in state custody. The move took place after allegations of inappropriate contact between the three minors and the church's leader Wayne Bent (also known as Michael Travesser). In a statement on the group's website, Travesser says there has never been sex with minors.

Shi'ites In Saudi Arabia Unhappy With Removal of Court Head

In Saudi Arabia, tensions have erupted between the dominant conservative Sunnis and the minority Shi'ites who live mainly in Qatif and al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province. Yesterday's Khaleej Times reports that the recent removal of Sheikh Mohammed al-Obaidan as head of the Shi'a court in Qatif is seen by Shi'as as an attempt to subordinate their court system to Sunni judicial authorities. The current 10 judges staffing Shi'ite courts are insufficient to serve the growing Shi'ite population. So some Shi'ites have been forced to use Sunni courts.

School District Sued For Permitting Free Use of Buildings By Religious Groups

The Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed suit (press release) against the Rio (WI) Community School District and the Wisconsin state Superintendent of Public Instruction challenging the Rio district's policy of allowing all local non-profit groups to use school buildings after school hours free of charge. The schools also post information from the non-profits on school bulletin boards and send home information about events with school children. The complaint (full text) in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Burmaster, (Dane Co. Cir. Ct., filed 4/25/08) alleges that inclusion of religious groups, including the Child Evangelism Fellowship, in this policy violates the Wisconsin state Constitution. Art. I, Sec. 18 prohibits the use of state funds for the benefit of religious groups, and Art. I, Sec. 24 permits the legislature to authorize the use of public school buildings by civic, religious or charitable organizations during nonschool hours, but only upon payment by the organization of reasonable usage fees. Today's Portage Daily Register reports on the lawsuit.

UPDATE: The full text of correspondence between the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Rio School District has been posted online by the Portage Daily Register.

Canadian Christian Social Service Agency Barred From Enforcing Lifestyle Code

In Heintz v. Christian Horizons, 2008 HRTO 22 (April 15, 2008), the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal held that a non-profit group, Christian Horizons, is not entitled to an exemption from the sexual orientation non-discrimination provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code. Section 24(1)(a) of the Code provides that the right to equal treatment in employment is not infringed when a "religious ... organization that is primarily engaged in serving the interests of persons identified by their ... creed... employs only ... persons similarly identified if the qualification is a reasonable and bona fide qualification because of the nature of the employment." Christian Horizons operates Christian residences for developmentally disabled children. It is the largest community living service provider in the province and receives $75 million per year in government funding.

Connie Heintz, a support worker at a Christian Horizons residential facility was told she would be terminated because she was not in compliance with the organization's Lifestyle and Morality Statement which, among other things, prohibits staff from engaging in homosexual relationships. The Tribunal held the Sec. 24(1)(a) exemption inapplicable because "the primary object and mission of Christian Horizons is to provide care and support for individuals who have developmental disabilities, without regard to their creed." Nor is the employment requirement a reasonable qualification because of the nature of Heintz's employment. The Tribunal went on to find that "Independent of whether Christian Horizons has met the conditions for the exemption under section 24(1)(a), [it] ... has infringed Ms. Heintz’s rights under the Code as a result of the work environment and how she was treated once her sexual orientation came to light."

The Tribunal in its lengthy opinion awarded Heintz damages of $23,000 plus lost wages and benefits. It also ordered Christian Horizons to cease imposing its Lifestyle and Morality Statement as a condition of employment and ordered it to adopt an anti-discrimination and an anti-harassment policy as well as a human rights training program for all its employees. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Cardinal Says Giuliani Should Not Have Received Communion During Pope's Visit

New York's Cardinal Edward Egan says that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should not have received Holy Communion during the Pope Benedict XVI's recent visit to the U.S. Yesterday's Washington Post reports that Egan had "an understanding" with Giuliani that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of Giuliani's support of abortion rights.

Belarus Petitioners Fined Under Legislative Initiative Law

In Belarus, according to Forum 18 yesterday, three organizers of a mass petition calling for liberalization of the country's 2002 Law on Religion have been fined for violating the the 2003 Law on the Realisation of Legislative Initiatives by Citizens. That law requires groups launching a legislative initiative to register with the electoral commission before collecting signatures. The organizers claimed unsuccessfully that since they had not proposed an specific text for revision of the Religion Law, they were not organizing an initiative. Instead they were asking governmental bodies to amend the law. (See prior related posting.)

President Proclaims May As Jewish American Heritage Month

Yesterday President George W. Bush issued a Proclamation (full text) declaring May 2008 as Jewish American Heritage Month. The Proclamation says that the month creates an "opportunity to celebrate the history, culture, and faith of Jewish Americans and their contributions to our Nation."

Recent Scholarly Articles and Movies of Interest

From SSRN:

• David N. Wagner, Religion and State: An Ecclesiological Perspective, (April 26, 2008).


• Patrick McKinley Brennan, "What's the Matter with You Catholics?" Soundings in Catholic Social Thought: "Traditions in Turmoil" by Mary Ann Glendon, (Journal of Law, Philosophy and Culture, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2008).


• Anita L. Allen, Undressing Difference: The Hijab in the West, (U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 08-18, April 29, 2008).


• David Lawrence Clingingsmith, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Asim & Michael Kremer, Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering, (HKS Working Paper No. RWP08-022, April 2008).


• David A. Simon, Register Trademarks and Keep the Faith: Trademarks, Religion, and Identity, (April 28, 2008).


• Nina J. Crimm, Muslim-Americans' Charitable Giving Dilemma: What About a Centralized Terror-Free Donor Advised Fund?, (Roger Williams Law Review Symposium Issue, Vol. 13 , 2008).

From ACS:

• Edward Correia, A Constitutional Framework for Addressing Religious Viewpoints in Public Classrooms, (April 21, 2008).

From SmartCILP:

• Kenneth A. Klukowski, In Whose Name We Pray: Fixing the Establishment Clause Train Wreck Involving Legislative Prayer, 6 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 219-282 (2008).


• Samuel J. Levine, Taking Ethical Obligations Seriously: A Look At American Codes of Professional Responsibility Through a Perspective of Jewish Law and Ethics, 57 Catholic University Law Review 165-202 (2007).


• Jana R. McCreary, This Is the Trap the Courts Built: Dealing With the Entanglement of Religion and the Origin of Life in American Public Schools, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 1-67 (2008).


• Peter Irons, Darwin, Dogma, and Definitions: A Reply to Professor McCreary, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 69-82 (2008).


• Jana R. McCreary, Focusing Too Much On the Forest Might Hide the Evolving Trees: A Response to Professor Irons, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 83-96 (2008).

New Movies:

• Constantine's Sword (2007), reviewed in New York Times.
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2007), reviewed in New York Times. [Updated]

Obama Denounces His Pastor As Religion Continues Importance In Campaign

Religion has played an unusually important role in the 2008 presidential primaries for many months. In the latest illustration of this, yesterday Barack Obama held a press conference (full transcript) denouncing remarks made at the National Press Club on Monday (transcript) by his long-time pastor Jeremiah Wright. Those remarks followed two other appearances by Wright-- a Friday evening interview on Bill Moyers Journal (transcript) and a speech at an NAACP dinner on Sunday night (transcript). Today's New York Times reports on Obama's public rejection of Wright. Obama said in part: "What became clear to me was that he was presenting a world view that ... contradicts who I am and what I stand for. And what I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing."

Recently Available Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Graham v. Mahmood, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33954 (SDNY, April 23, 2008), a New York federal district court dismissed claims under the First and 14th Amendments and RLUIPA brought by an inmate who was a follower of the Nation of Islam. Plaintiff alleged that NOI was disfavored in comparison to Sunni Muslims in access to prison meeting and office space. He also alleged retaliation for pursuing related grievances.

In Shilling v. Crawford, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33567 (D NV, March 12, 2008), a Nevada federal district court held that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity in a suit by an inmate who claimed that his rights under RLUIPA were violated when his request for a kosher diet was accommodated only by offering to transfer him to a higher security facility at which such meals were available.

Rose v. Masiey, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33499 (SDNY, Feb. 19, 2008), is one of over a dozen suits filed by Muslim inmates challenging the handling of food and related items at Rikers Island prison facility, and the failure to identify non-Halal food at the prison commissary. The court denied most of defendants' motions to dismiss, except that claims against certain of the corrections officers named as defendants were dismissed on the ground of qualified immunity.

Malik v. Ozmint, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33904 (D SC, Feb. 13, 2008), involved a RLUIPA challenge to a South Carolina prison policy that prevented plaintiff from wearing his kufi outside of his cell. A federal magistrate judge recommended that the claim be dismissed without prejudice on exhaustion grounds, but that on the merits prison authorities had not justified the restriction. The court rejected plaintiff's claims that his right to fast during Ramadan was infringed by untimely meal deliveries.

Convicted Murderer Waives Appeals Partly for Religious Reasons

In Hill v. State of South Carolina, (SC Sup. Ct., April 28, 2008), the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the right of convicted murderer David Hill to waive his right to further review and have his death sentence carried out. In explaining his decision to forgo further appeals, Hill discussed his father's health and his own, but also said: "part of my religious beliefs are that if you kill somebody, you shed somebody else’s blood, that your blood has to be shed or you have to die in order to be forgiven for that..." Today's Myrtle Beach Sun News reports on the decision.

British Catholic Adoption Agency Becomes Secular To Avoid Gay Adoption Mandate

In Britain, the Bishop of Nottingham announced yesterday that the Catholic Children's Society adoption agency will become a secular agency by merging with the adoption agency of the Anglican Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. Total Catholic.com reported that the decision was taken because the agency could not, consistent with Catholic teachings, comply with Britain's Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 that would have required the Catholic agency to sometimes place children for adoption with same-sex couples. Catholic agencies are required to come into compliance by the end of 2008. (See prior related posting.)

7th Circuit Upholds RLUIPA Claim; Concurrence Criticizes RLUIPA

Last week, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a former prisoner in a RLUIPA case that is most interesting for the concurring opinion it generated. In Koger v. Bryan, (7th Cir., April 24, 2008), the court held that a former prisoner's claim based on the denial of his request for a vegetarian diet substantially burdened the prisoner's religious exercise. In particular the court found inappropriate the prison's requirement that the religious practice be required by the inmate's religion and that this be verified by a member of the clergy.

Judge Evans concurred, but included in his opinion an interesting attack on RLUIPA:

Clearly, without RLUIPA, this case would have been dead in the water when it was filed because declining Koger’s request for a nonmeat diet would not have violated the United States Constitution....

Because Mr. Koger is out of prison... his request for injunctive relief is moot. And because he was in prison when the case arose, he must proceed under the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act, which takes compensatory and punitive damages off the table as he suffered no “physical injury” but only, at best, a “mental or emotional injury.” And that limits his recovery to nominal damages.

So when all is said and done, the State of Illinois has spent a lot of money defending this case for six years. Koger may end up with a dollar, and his lawyer, Jeffrey L.Oldham, who by the way has done an outstanding job, will get a limited amount of attorney’s fees. A waste of time? Some may disagree, but I lean towards saying “yes.”

Florida Chambers Pass Competing Bills On Teaching of Evolution

In February, Florida's State Board of Education adopted science teaching standards calling specifically for the teaching of evolution. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's St. Petersburg Times reports that attempts by the state legislature to respond to these standards may fail because the House and Senate have passed competing bills. Yesterday the House voted 71-43 to approve HB 1483 that calls for public schools to add to their curriculum a "scientific critical analysis" of the theory of evolution. However the Senate has already passed SB 2692, the Evolution Academic Freedom Act, providing more extensive protections to teachers who present scientific views critical of evolution in the classroom and to students who hold religious views opposing evolution. (See prior related posting.) Sen. Ronda Storms, sponsor of the Senate bill, says her chamber will not pass the House version.

Malaysia Agency Rejects Prime Minister's Proposal On Conversions

In Malaysia, the government's Islamic Development Department must approve any administrative rule changes relating to Islam. Today's International Herald Tribune reports that the Department has rejected a proposal by the Prime Minister that would have required non-Muslims converting to Islam to notify their families in writing ahead of time. (See prior posting.) The proposed rule was intended to deal with the growing number of disputes over burial rights that have arisen when family members do not know of a supposed conversion. However the Islamic Development Department's director-general, Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, said it should be "left to the discretion of the person who wishes to embrace Islam to determine how and when it is appropriate to inform family members. ... The existing laws for conversion to Islam and related matters are sufficient." Parliament could still pass the Prime Minister's proposal over the Department's objections.

Supreme Court Upholds Indiana Voter ID Law, But Majority Question Burden on Religious Objectors

Today in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, (S.Ct., April 28, 2008), the U.S. Supreme Court by a vote of 6-3 upheld Indiana's voter identification law against a facial constitutional attack. Much of the challenge to the law focused on the burdens the law imposes on eligible voters who do not have a valid voter ID, including those with religious objections to being photographed. (See prior related posting.) Justice Stevens' opinion announcing the judgment of the court, which was joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Kennedy, held that for most voters the burden of obtaining the free state voter ID card is not substantial, and while there may be a few voters for whom the burden is not justified, that does not entitle plaintiffs to have the law struck down on its face. Two dissenting opinion disagreed and found the burdens less justified. However, a close reading of the opinions indicate that a majority of the justices believe that the voter identification law imposes an impermissible burden on voters who have religious objections to being photographed.

Under Indiana's law, even though religious objectors may obtain state drivers licenses without a photo on them, these do not suffice for voting purposes. Those voters must cast a provisional ballot in every election, and then each time travel to the circuit court clerk's office within ten days and execute an affidavit. Justice Stevens, writing for three justices, said (at fn. 19):

Presumably most voters casting provisional ballots will be able to obtain photo identifications before the next election. It is, however, difficult to understand why the State should require voters with a faith-based objection to being photographed to cast provisional ballots subject to later verification in every election when the BMV is able to issue these citizens special licenses that enable them to drive without any photo identification.

Justice Souter, writing in dissent for himself and Justice Ginsberg, said:

regardless of the interest the State may have in adopting a photo identification requirement as a general matter, that interest in no way necessitates the particular burdens the Voter ID Law imposes on poor people and religious objectors. Individuals unable to get photo identification are forced to travel to the county seat every time they wish to exercise the franchise, and they have to get there within 10 days of the election.... Nothing about the State's interest in fighting voter fraud justifies this requirement of a post-election trip to the county seat instead of some verification process at the polling places.

Justice Breyer's dissent also found the burden on those lacking the required ID to be disproportionate, though his opinion focuses primarily on the burden imposed on indigents. On the other hand, Justice Scalia writing for himself, Justice Thomas and Justice Alito saw no problem in treating the ID requirement as merely a neutral law of general applicability for which the state is not required to create a religious exemption. The New York Times reports further on the decision. [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

Fellowship of Christian Athletes Sues Middle School After Field Trip Denial

Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish School Board has a policy permitting student clubs to apply for approval to take field trips with transportation provided on school buses. Last week, a Lake Charles (LA) middle school student who is chaplain of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) filed suit in federal court challenging the school's denial of an application for FCA to use a school bus for a field trip to a "Just for Jesus" event. The complaint (full text) alleges that the denial violates the federal Equal Access Act as well as the First and 14th Amendments. Plaintiff's Memorandum in support of its application for a temporary restraining order argues that the denial of CFA's application was both content-based and viewpoint-based discrimination. Alliance Defense Fund issued a press release on the case last Thursday.

Indian State Implements Anti-Conversion Law

Saturday's Times of India reports that the Indian state of Gujarat has finally issued rules implementing its Freedom of Religion Act, 2003. The rules have been published in the Gujarat Government Gazette and came into effect on April 1. Clergy seeking to convert a person from another religion must first obtain permission from the district magistrate by filing a form setting out detailed personal information on the convert, including whether the person is a minor or a member of a Scheduled Caste. The form also calls for listing of the convert's marital status, occupation and monthly income. The convert must apply for permission 30 days in advance, setting out the time, place and reason for the conversion and length of affiliation with his or her present religion. Then within 10 days after conversion, the convert must furnish the name of the priest who performed the ceremony and the names of others who participated in it. Forced conversion is punishable by 3 years in jail.

Meanwhile, according to Zee News, near Mumbai on Sunday some 1,793 individuals underwent reconversion to Hinduism as part of a campaign by Narendra Maharaj who says he has reconverted over 42,000 people mainly in the tribal areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

9th Circuit Says School Can Require Relgious Clubs Be Open To All

In Truth v. Kent School District, (9th Cir., April 25, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Washington state school district did not violate either the federal Equal Access Act nor the First Amendment when it applied its non-discrimination policy to "Truth", a Bible study club seeking recognition as a student group. The school said the group must remove from its charter a requirement that limits membership to those who sign a fundamentalist Christian statement of faith. However the court remanded the case for a determination of whether Truth's rights were violated when it, unlike some other groups, was denied an exemption from the school district's non-discrimination policy. Truth alleged that at least two non-religious groups received exemptions from requirements of the school's non-discrimination policy that prohibits limiting membership on the basis of gender. Reuters reports on the court's decision.

Florida Commission Approves Constitutional Proposal For School Vouchers

After some apparently complicated bargaining, the Florida Taxation and Budget Commission on Friday reversed an earlier vote and agreed to place on Florida's November ballot a proposed state constitutional amendment that is designed to overrule a state supreme court decision striking down school vouchers. The proposal would amend Art. IX, Sec. 1 of the Constitution by adding that the state's duty to provide for the education of its children shall be "fulfilled at a minimum and not exclusively" by creating a uniform system of free public schools. Saturday's Miami Herald reported that, in order to make the proposal more attractive to voters, the ballot issue will also require schools to spend at least 65% of their budgets on classroom expenses.

Earlier this month, the voucher amendment fell one vote short of the 17 needed for its approval. However on Friday, 19 members of the Commission voted in favor of it, apparently in exchange for the Commission's also approving a proposed amendment that would lower property taxes by 25% and replace the lost revenue with other sources including an increased sales tax. Altogether, the Commission has approved seven constitutional amendments for the November ballot, including one that would repeal the state's "Blaine Amendment" ban on public financial aid to religious institutions. (See prior posting.)