Judge Ready To Rule Against Tangipahoa Parish In Graduation Prayer Case

The Advocate reports today that in a pending case against Tangipahoa Parish School Board challenging a teacher-led prayer at the 2007 PM High School graduation, a Louisiana federal district judge says he has a draft opinion that will rule in favor of the ACLU's challenge. However he is delaying issuing it in order to give the parties until June 27 to agree on a consent order and award of attorneys' fees. The school board has admitted that the prayer was an inadvertent violation of board policy and was unconstitutional. At the last minute the principal asked the teacher to deliver the invocation when the student who was scheduled to do so did not show up. The ACLU has sued Tangipahoa Parish seven times since 1994 over religion in school issues. (See prior related posting.)

Judge In FLDS Case Guarded; Joint State Efforts Discussed

The Deseret News reported yesterday that Texas police are guarding the home of Judge Barbara Walther, the trial court judge who recently ordered removal of over 450 children from the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas. They were especially on the lookout for 16 FLDS members who Utah police see as a threat. A website that supports FLDS members published Walther's home address and her home and work telephone numbers. Her address has now been removed at the request of FLDS leaders. The website also links to petitions to impeach Walther, impeach Governor Rick Perry and abolish Texas Child Protective Services.

In a related development, the Desert News reports today that top law enforcement officials from Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Texas recently met in Las Vegas to discuss cooperative efforts t prosecute crimes within polygamous sects.

9th Circuit Again Certifies Issues To California High Court In Boy Scout Case

The complex journey through the courts continues in a challenge to the City of San Diego's leasing, at nominal rentals, to the Boy Scouts city property on which the Scouts operate a campground and aquatic center. The challenge turns on the scout's exclusion of atheists, agnostics, and homosexuals as members or volunteers and its requirement that members affirm a belief in God. In December 2006, the 9th Circuit in the Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts of America certified three questions of California state constitutional law to the California Supreme Court. (See prior posting.) In response, the Boy Scouts filed a motion for a rehearing and en banc review. (See prior posting.) Yesterday, the 9th Circuit (full text) granted a panel rehearing, withdrew its 2006 certification order and issued a new certification order certifying the same questions. As before, the order is accompanied by an opinion, a concurrence and a dissent (full text).

South Carolina AG Says Bill On Display of Historical Documents Is Constitutional

The AP reported yesterday that South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has issued an opinion that H3159 awaiting the governor's signature is constitutional. The bill permits schools and local governments to post a Foundations of American Law and Government display comprised of 12 documents, including the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. (See prior posting.) The opinion says that the documents have an established place in teaching American constitutional history and civic virtue, and that their display would teach morality, ethics and integrity.

UPDATE: Late Wednesday, Gov. Mark Sanford signed the bill into law. (CBN News).

Gambian President Threatens Gays With Punishment Under Islamic Principles

In Gambia, according to a Human Rights Watch release issued Tuesday, President Yahya Jammeh has threatened to expel or kill any gays or lesbians who do not immediately leave the country, saying: "We are in a Muslim dominated country and I will not and shall never accept such individuals [homosexuals] in this country." In response yesterday, an Islamic cleric in the United States issued a fatwa criticizing some of the President's remarks. Yesterday's Pink News reports that Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Texas took issue with the President, saying: " Gambian president Jammeh deserves respect for his enthusiasm for Islam and virtue in his society. However, before iterating his threats, he needs to wait and make sure of the legal foundation of them...."

6th Circuit Says Church Autonomy Doctrine Does Not Bar Defamation Case

In Ogle v. Hocker, (6th Cir., May 29, 2008), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the church autonomy doctrine does not bar the court from adjudicating defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims brought by Troy Ogle, an ordained Church of God bishop, against Rick Hocker, also a COG bishop. In sermons and elsewhere Hocker referred to Ogle's alleged homosexual advances. The court said:

While we are solicitous of protecting religious services from interference, we do not believe it proper to simply label a sermon as "ecclesiastical" and bar suit. Rather, we ask whether the suit will require us to delve into protected matters of church doctrine, policy, and practice.... We are not asked to determine whether Ogle’s actions complied with church law, whether Hocker’s religious condemnation of Ogle comports with the religious tenants of the COG, or whether Hocker’s statements supported his doctrinal point.... The only issue is whether Hocker’s purported factual statements, made both during a sermon and in multiple other contexts, were falsehoods that harmed Ogle.

Finding that Hocker is not a public figure, the court remanded so the trial court could determine whether there had been a showing that the statements made were false and whether the alleged conduct was extreme and outrageous. (See prior related posting.)

Muslim Speaker In Maryland School Creates Concern

In Frederick County, Maryland, student members of the Urbana High School's Middle Eastern Studies Group have invited Imam Yahya Hendi to speak at a meeting of the organization today. Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University. He is also the imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick and is active in interfaith activities. The student group is a co-curricular club formed by students in the International Baccalaureate program. Today's Frederick News Post reports however that attorney Daniel Cox says the cleric's appearance creates legal problems because "It appears to have a cloak of advocacy and a cloak of specific endorsement, by the school, of the potential viewpoints that are going to be shared by the preacher." School officials however say that it is perfectly appropriate for a speaker to teach about religion's role in history so long as he does not advocate a religious viewpoint.

Recent Scholarly Articles and New Book of Interest

From SSRN:

• Richard W. Garnett, Do Churches Matter? Towards an Institutional Understanding of the Religion Clauses (May 9, 2008, Villanova Law Review, Forthcoming).

From SmartCILP:

• John M. Breen, John Paul II, the Structures of Sin and the Limits of Law, 52 St. Louis University Law Journal 317-373 (2008).

New Book:

• Frederick Lane, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme Court, (Beacon, June 2008).

Canadian Court Dismsses Employer's Appeal In Religious Discrimination Case

In Syncrude Canada Ltd. v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2008 ABCA 217 (June 10, 2008), the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by an employer in a religious discrimination case. Electrician Devinder Wadhwa, a Sikh, originally filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against Syncrude Canada after it insisted that Wadhwa shave his beard in order to be able to wear a standard protective mask. Syncrude however claimed that it was not Wadhwa's "employer" under the statute, but the Commission disagreed. The court decided that the Human Rights Commission's initial determination that Syncrude was Wadhwa's employer is not a final order that is appealable to the courts. Canwest News Service yesterday reported on the court's decision.

Are Drawings On Fence Religious Symbols or Graffiti?

A pagan couple in Des Moines, Iowa are appealing an order by the neighborhood inspections division that is demanding they remove graffiti from their fence. Homeowner Ryle MacPebbles however says the drawings are pagan religious symbols he placed on the fence to protect their home and ward off evil energy. He says the city is attacking his religion. Yesterday's Des Moines Register says that the city code defines as graffiti any "inscription, drawing, picture, letter, number, symbol or other written communication" on a surface not intended for such use.

French Court Denies Damages To Muslim Couple Who Barred Male Intern From Delivery Room

Al Arabiya reports today that a French appellate court in Lyon has ruled that a French Muslim couple are not entitled to damages from a hospital in their suit over neurological injuries suffered by their son during birth. The court said that the injuries are due to conduct of the child's father during the delivery. Radouane Ijjou, on religious grounds, physically barred a male intern from entering his wife's room for half an hour after a midwife asked for assistance with the labor.

Indonesia Stops Short of Dissolving Ahmadiyah Sect

On Monday, according to AFP, Indonesia's government issued a joint ministerial decree ordering the Ahmadiyah sect to "stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam" such as "the spreading of the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed." However the government did not dissolve the group as had been recommended in April by the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society. (See prior posting.) Islamists who have wanted the government to dissolve the sect are calling for "jihad" if he does not do so. Moderates, on the other had, fear that the government's order already is inconsistent with Indonesia's image as a democracy.

UPDATE: The June 16 Jakarta Post carries an interview with National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim who is critical of the government decree. He says it violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and gives the government too much power to interfere with religion.

Michigan Township Will Vote On Tax To Buy Property Surrounding Cross

Lost in the furor over Michigan's Presidential primary is the fact that the state has a primary for state and local offices scheduled for August 5. Voters in Cross Village Township will also be casting their ballots on an unusual tax measure. The Harbor Springs (MI) Harbor Light reported two weeks ago on the proposed .25 mill levy to permit the township to purchase the property after which the township is named. More information is in an editorial in today's Petoskey News-Review. The property, on which sits a large white cross first put up by a Jesuit missionary, is currently owned by Tom Graham. Graham is willing to sell the property overlooking Lake Michigan to the township for the below-market-price of $150,000. To try to avoid church-state concerns, he would also donate a 20 x 20 foot plot actually surrounding the cross to Little Traverse Conservancy, a private land trust. The News-Review's editorial argues: "There has been a cross standing in Cross Village in one form or another since the late 17th century. In our eyes the cross in Cross Village is a monument, less a religious symbol and more of a historic representation of white settler impact in the region."

9th Circuit Certifies Public Forum Question To Califonia Supreme Court

In a case that has been winding its way through federal courts for eleven years, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has assured no early final resolution by certifying a question of state law to the California Supreme Court. In International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, (9th Cir., June 9, 2008), the court asked the California Supreme Court to decide whether Los Angeles International Airport is a public forum under the Liberty of Speech Clause of the California Constitution. At issue is is a challenge by ISKCON to a Los Angeles ordinance that prohibits soliciting and immediately receiving funds at LAX. Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle reports on the decision.

Newark Schools Settle Case Agreeing Not To Hold Graduations In Church Buildings

Yesterday's Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger reports that the ACLU has settled a lawsuit it filed against the Newark Public Schools on behalf of a Muslim student who was unable to attend his own high school graduation. Honor student Bilal Shareef's religious beliefs precluded him from entering a building containing religious icons such as a cross. West Side High School's 2006 graduation was held in the sanctuary of New Hope Baptist Church. In addition, any student who attended a Baccalaureate ceremony at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church got two extra tickets to graduation. In the settlement, described in an ACLU press release, the school district apologized to Shareef and his father, agreed not to hold student events in places of worship, and not to hold them in other religious buildings unless religious images are covered. The district also agreed not to give students special benefits based on whether they attend a religious event.

Canadian Panel Orders Pastor To Stop Publishing Anti-Gay Remarks

Life Site News today reports that a panel of the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission has issued its Decision on Remedy in the case of pastor Stephen Boissoin who had previously been found by the Commission to have incited hatred against homosexuals through a letter of his that was published in the Red Deer Advocate. (See prior posting.) In Lund v. Boissoin, (Hum. Rts. Panel AB, May 30, 2008), the Commission awarded $5000 in damages and ordered that "Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. shall cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals" and that "Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. provide Dr. Lund with a written apology for the article in the Red Deer Advocate which was the subject of this complaint."

Obama Looks To Religious Voters For Support

The media are filled with stories on Barack Obama’s attempt to attract religious voters in the November election. CBN News reports that today Obama met with some 30 religious leaders in Chicago, including evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Catholics. Among those attending were mega-church Pastor TD Jakes and Prof. Doug Kmiec. In today’s Wall Street Journal, William McGurn writes a column suggesting that Obama is very different on religion than was John Kennedy. Obama believes that religion has a place in policy discussions in the public square. Meanwhile today’s New York Times reports that a new PAC, The Matthew 25 Network, is reaching out various religious communities—Catholics, moderate evangelicals, Hispanic Catholics and Protestants. Obama’s campaign already has staffers who focus primarily on Catholic and Jewish voters. He now plans to add a staffer to focus on evangelicals.

Israeli President Receives Fruits and Vegetables In Honor of Shavuot

Tonight is the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot-- both a harvest festival and a celebration of the receiving of the Ten Commandments. Today's Jerusalem Post reports that on Thursday a delegation from the Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association presented Israeli President Shimon Peres with four baskets of fruits and vegetables. Shavuot was the first day on which individuals could bring the first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem. (Background). The Jerusalem Post explains: "Since there is no longer a high priest and a Temple in Jerusalem to which farmers should bring their harvest offerings, the recipient of the first fruits of the harvest of the seven species is the head of state, namely the president."

Website Allows "Raptured" To E-Mail Their Friends

Today's Christian Post reports on a new website, YouveBeenLeftBehind.com. The site, designed for those who believe that the Rapture will physically lift them to heaven, allows subscribers to send pre-written e-mails to up to 62 people six days after the Rapture. The site sends the messages when least three of its five staff members fail to log in for six consecutive days. The site also allows the storage of encrypted financial documents that can be sent to up to 12 e-mail addresses and unencrypted documents that can be sent to up to 50 addresses. The website explains: "The unsaved will be 'left behind' on earth to go through the "tribulation period" after the "Rapture".... Imagine how taken back they will be by the millions of missing Christians and devastation at the rapture. They will know it was true and that they have blown it. There will be a small window of time where they might be reached for the Kingdom of God. We have made it possible for you to send them a letter of love and a plea to receive Christ one last time."

According to the Christian Post article, the service has a legal explanation for part of its service: "There won't be any bodies, so probate court will take seven years to clear your assets to your next of kin. Seven years, of course, is all the time that will be left. So, basically the Government of the Antichrist gets your stuff, unless you make it available in another way."

Bahrain Nominates Jewish Ambassador To U.S.

Reuters reports today that the Muslim country of Bahrain has nominated a Jewish woman to be its ambassador to the United States. Houda Nonoo is one of only about 35 Jews who live in Bahrain. She will be the first Jewish ambassador from a modern Arab nation. Some Shi'ite Muslims in Bahrain say the appointment is a public relations ploy intended to distract attention from discrimination against the majority Shi'ites by the ruling Sunnis. Most Jews in Bahrain-- a community once numbering 600 to 1000-- trace their roots to Iraq. Most Jews in Bahrain emigrated to Israel after anti-Jewish attacks in late 1947. (Background.)