Court Says Virginia's RFRA Only Applies In Suit Against Government

In the widely followed litigation between eleven break-away congregations and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, a state trial judge has ruled that Virginia's Religious Freedom Restoration Act is irrelevant to the case. In In Re: Multi-Circuit Episcopal Church Property Litigation, 2008 Va. Cir. LEXIS 49 (Cir. Ct., May 12, 2008), the court held that Va. Code Ann. § 57-2.02 only applies to lawsuits against governmental entities, not to a suit between two private parties. The holding came in a decision refusing to permit the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia to amend their previously filed answers in the lawsuit. The decision preceded an important May 28 hearing in the case on whether Virginia's post-Civil War "division statute" is constitutional. (See prior posting.)

Anti-Muslim Bias In Western Europe Explored

Writing in today's New York Times Magazine, Noah Feldman writes that in Western Europe, familiar arguments against immigrants "are mutating into an anti-Islamic bias that is becoming institutionalized in the continent’s otherwise ordinary politics." He suggests that:

[E]ven after 60 years of introspection about the anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust, Europeans are not convinced that culturally and religiously different immigrants should be treated as full members of their societies....

The U.S. had its own terrible legacy of legalized racism... [H]owever, we began slowly and agonizingly to come to terms with this past. Racial bias is still with us, but so is self-consciousness about our problems and how they must be overcome.

In Europe, by contrast, Hitler’s horrifying success at killing so many Jews meant that the burgeoning postwar societies of the continent never had to come to terms with difference, because it was to a great extent eradicated. Today, as the birthrate for European Muslims far outstrips that for their neighbors, it is as if Europe’s discomfort with difference is being encountered for the first time.

Ohio School Fires Controversial Science Teacher

On Friday, the Mount Vernon (OH) City School Board voted unanimously to fire controversial science teacher John Freshwater. (See prior posting.) AP reports that the vote came one day after a consulting firm released its report on Freshwater. The report (full text ) concludes that Freshwater taught creationism or intelligent design in class, told his class that anyone who is gay is a sinner, improperly used an electrostatic device to put a cross on the arm of a student, was excessively involved in the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was insubordinate in failing to remove religious materials when ordered to do so by his principal. [Thanks for leads to Scott Mange and Dispatches from the Culture Wars.]

Sheriff Tells Church Students That God Was Briefer Than the Ohio Revised Code

In Weston, Ohio, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn was invited to be guest speaker at the Church of Christ's Vacation Bible School. His talk, as reported by Friday's Bowling Green (OH) Sentinel-Tribune, raises interesting church-state questions. After talking to the children about safety, the sheriff (apparently in his official uniform) held up a paperback copy of the New Testament and a thick volume of the Ohio Revised Code, telling students that God had been able to do in 10 rules what the state code takes so many more pages to do. He said it would be much simpler if society just had God's 10 rules, so a deputy could pull a driver over and inform him or her which of the commandments he or she had broken. The sheriff gave each child a plastic badge and offered them a copy of the New Testament furnished by the church. [Thanks to Tom Klein for the lead.]

Religious Discrimination Charged In Firing of Apartment Managers

A federal lawsuit charging religious discrimination was filed in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday by a husband and wife who were fired from their jobs as on-site apartment managers at a government-subsidized facility in Lake City (FL). Announcing the lawsuit, a release from Liberty Counsel said that the regional manager of the company that owns the apartments fired the couple because of a large piece of stained-glass artwork hanging on their office wall. The glass-- which had been up for 8 years-- depicted flowers and the words: "Consider the Lilies…Matthew 6:28." The suit alleges that Hallmark Companies' regional manager Christina Saunders told Daniel and Sharon Dixon that they were "too religious". Today's Lake City Reporter also reports on the lawsuit.

Canadian Committee Investigates Pakistan and Indonesia's Persecution of Ahmadis

In Canada last Tuesday, the country's House of Commons Sub-Committee on International Human Rights held a hearing on persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan and Indonesia. According to a PRWeb story on Thursday, in both countries Muslim hard liners press for prosecution of Ahmadis on the ground that they wrongly refer to themselves as Muslims. The full text of testimony and other submissions to the sub-committee are available online. (See prior related posting.)

Danish Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Muslim Lawsuit Against Newspaper

Last Thursday, an appeals court in Denmark affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a defamation lawsuit that had been brought by seven Muslim groups against the newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten. (See prior posting.) The lawsuit was triggered by the paper's printing in 2005 of controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Jurist reports that "The Vestre Landsret agreed with the judgment of the City Court of Aarhus that while some Muslims may be offended by the cartoons, they were an exercise in free speech, and there was no reason to believe the editors intended to insult Muslims." Time also reported on the decision. [Thanks to Dispatches from the Culture Wars for the lead.]

In Romania, Priests Try To Unionize

In northeastern Romania, 20 Romanian Orthodox Church priests have formed a labor union to seek higher pay and the right to make decisions without diocesan approval. ENI reported yesterday that the priests have applied to a court in Iasi to register their organization, the Mother of God Protection union. The Bucharest patriarchate opposed the move saying the priests are required to take their grievances to church bodies. In a statement, it said: "The initiatives to set up clergy trade unions are taken by priests tempted by the spirit of rebellion and division, and moving away from church discipline and communion." Priests are paid in part by the Romanian government and in part by local contributions.

Suit Challenges South Carolina's "I Believe" License Plates

On behalf of three ministers, a rabbi and a Hindu organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State yesterday filed suit in federal court in South Carolina challenging the state's newly authorized "I Believe" specialty license plate. (AU press release.) The complaint (full text) alleges that the plate, featuring a cross superimposed on a stained-glass window along with the motto "I Believe", has the purpose and effect of endorsing the Christian religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. and South Carolina constitutions. It also alleges that the new plate amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in speech.

According to the complaint, after the legislature passed the bill authorizing the new plates, Gov. Mark Sanford allowed it to become law without his signature, indicating that he would have preferred that the plate have gone through the normal channels of approval by the Department of Motor Vehicles after a request by a private organization for its issuance. However Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer wants to see the plates produced immediately, and so has offered to put up the $4000 normally required as an alternative to 400 prepaid orders needed for a specialty plate. He expects the state will reimburse him once enough plates have been sold. SC Now yesterday reported on the lawsuit.

Pennsylvania Labor Bill Would Protect Lay Teachers In Religious Schools

In Pennsylvania last week, state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski introduced HB 2626 to extend coverage of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act to lay teachers and other lay employees in religious schools. The bill provides that in labor disputes involving a religious organization, the state Labor Relations Board may not define or interpret religious doctrine, but may determine whether religious doctrine is being used as a pretext. Yesterday's Philadelphia Bulletin reports that the bill has 55 co-sponsors. The introduction of the bill follows a controversy over the Diocese of Scranton's including teacher Michael Milz in those who were laid off this year Milz was leading a movement to unionize employees, though the Diocese said this had nothing to do with its decision. The Diocese of Scranton has issued a statement opposing passage of the bill.

Court Says Scheduling Contempt Hearing On Jewish Holiday Did Not Violate Rights

In Segelman v. City of Springfield, (D MA, June 11, 2008), a Massachusetts federal district court rejected Shalom Segelman's claim that the city of Springfield, Massachusetts violated his free exercise, equal protection and due process rights when it "insisted" that a contempt proceeding against him go forward in state Housing Court on a Jewish holiday. The court said that the decision on the hearing date was made by the judge, not the city, and that failure to accommodate Segelman's holiday observance did not rise to a constitutional violation. The Springfield (MA) Republican reported earlier this month that the case grew out of a long-running attempt by the city to get Segelman to pay for repairs and operational expenses at a condominium complex he managed. Eventually the city closed down the complex for code violations. Segelman's damage suit also claimed that the city violated his civil rights by insisting that he be jailed for contempt at a facility that did not serve kosher food. [Thanks to The Docket for the lead.]

Israel's Justice Minister Wants To Dismiss Rabbinical Judge Who Invalidated Conversions

The London Jewish Chronicle today reports on a new clash in Israel between government and the Orthodox Jewish religious establishment. Controversy has raged over a recent ruling by Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court that invalidated conversions carried out over the last nine years by the country's special conversion court. (See prior posting.) Now Israel's Minister of Justice, Daniel Friedmann, says he will follow the recommendation of the Judge’s Ombudsman, Tovah Strassberg-Cohen, and fire Rabbi Abraham Sherman, the rabbinical judge who wrote the controversial opinion. Sherman's removal however is likely to be difficult. It must be approved by the Dayanim Appointment Committee which, while co-chaired by Friedmann, has a majority of ultra-Orthodox members.

Large Number of San Diego Employees Opt Out of Performing Gay Marriages

When San Diego County Clerk Greg Smith told employees last month that he would accommodate those who had religious objections to performing gay marriages (see prior posting), he did not expect the response he received. According to yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune, at least 14 employees have raised religious objections. Smith says that keeping that many employees in their current jobs, but excusing them from performing gay marriages, would "unfairly burden other employees and would directly compromise the services we provide to the public." So Smith told objecting employees that they would have to seek reassignment to a different job in the county. This has led some of the employees to withdraw their objections.

CAIR Wants Indian Official Excluded Because of Religious Persecution

Section 604 of the International Religious Freedom Act (8 USC 1182(a)(2)(G) ) excludes from the U.S. "any alien who, while serving as a foreign government official, was responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom..." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced yesterday that it had sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking that Narendra Modi, chief minister of India's state of Gujarat, be denied a visa under this provision. Modi wants to attend the second World Gujarati Conference that will be held in Edison, N.J. in August. In 2002, anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat killed more than 1000. It was reported that Modi told officials to let the massacres run their course, calling them an "anticipated Hindu reaction." In 2005, Modi was denied a U.S. visa for a planned speech in Florida.

Blackwater Urges US Court To Apply Afghanistan's Shari'a In Plane Crash Lawsuit

Today's Raleigh News Observer reports on an interesting choice of law argument being raised in in a North Carolina federal district court case. The private military firm Blackwater is being sued by the widows of three American soldiers who died in a plane operate by the Blackwater affiliate, Presidential Airways. Blackwater argues that their claim should be decided using the law of Afghanistan since that is where the plane crash occurred. Afghanistan is governed by Islamic Shari'a law which, according to this report, does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed in the course of their employment.

Ohio Township Says Churches Can Use Park Amphitheater

Miami Township, Ohio trustees have adopted a policy making it clear that churches can use its park amphitheater on the same basis as other non-profit groups. Today's Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the township decided it need a clear policy after the Clermont County (OH) public library was sued for barring use of its meeting rooms for religious events. (See prior posting.) Milford Assembly of God will be the first church to use the amphitheater when its band performs contemporary Christian music at a July 20 service.

Claim That Pollution Infringes Free Exercise Summarily Dismissed

In West v. United States Secretary of Defense, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46565 (WD WA, June 13, 2008), a pro se plaintiff challenged various aspects of a dredging project and cargo yard improvements in Olympia, Washington. In the case, a Washington federal district judge summarily dismissed plaintiff's claim that the dredging work caused pollution that violated his "right to life" and therefore his First Amendment free exercise of religion.

Pakistan Court Imposes Death Sentence For Blasphemy, But Execution Unlikely

In Sialkot, Pakistan yesterday, according to the AP, a judge imposed the death sentence on a Muslim man, Shafeeq Latif, for making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. Separately Latif was sentenced to life in prison and a fine for desecrating pages of the Quran. Also reporting on the sentence, News.com.au says that while blasphemy convictions are fairly common in Pakistan, death sentences have never been carried out because convictions are usually overturned for lack of evidence. UPI says that after yesterday's verdict, banners and posters went up around Sialkot welcoming the death sentence.

Motion Seeks To Clear Names of Two Islamic Charities

In an unusual motion filed yesterday in federal district court in Texas, the ACLU of Texas is helping two mainstream Muslim charities clear their names. (ACLU press release). In its prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, the federal government in a pre-trial brief filed last May named the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) as unindicted co-conspirators. Yesterday's motion asks the court to declare the public naming of the charities as unindicted co-conspirators to be a violation of their Fifth Amendment rights and to order expungement of their names from any public document filed or issued by the government that identifies them in this way. Petitioners' Memorandum of Law In Support of Their Motion (full text ) says:

In discussions with petitioners’ counsel ... the government confirmed that it did not believe either ISNA or NAIT had engaged in wrongdoing.... The lead HLF prosecutor explained to petitioners’ counsel that "the government’s public designation of ISNA and NAIT was a legal tactic" intended to permit the introduction of hearsay evidence.

Group Asks Wisconsin Legislature To End Opening Prayers

According to yesterday's Green Bay Press Gazette, the Freedom from Religion Foundation has asked Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch to end the long-standing practice of opening sessions with prayers. Under current practice, members of the Assembly sign up to either personally lead a prayer or have a constituent do so. FFRF said its review of 16 prayers offered by legislators in the past year found that all but one were overtly Christian, and some were critical of other religions. For example, in one case, Rep. Eugene Hahn prayed: "Those who don’t love us, may God turn their hearts. And, if he doesn’t turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles, so we’ll know them by their limping."