Hungary's Constitutional Court Strikes Down Hate Speech Amendments

The Budapest Times reports that Hungary's Constitutional Court last week ruled two amendments added last year to Hungary's "hate speech" law unconstitutional. One amendment allowed suits to be brought against a speaker who directed inflammatory speech broadly against a person's religious or ethnic group. Previously plaintiffs had to show the speech was directed against them personally. The other amendment for the first time made hate speech a criminal offense, punishable by up to two years in prison. The court held that both of the amendments unduly restrict freedom of expression. It also held that only natural persons may have their human dignity protected. Broader communities or groups may not. Criticizing the decision, Socialist MP Gergely Bárándy said that it opens the door to verbal attacks on Jews and Gypsies.

Swiss Referendum on Banning Minaret Construction Will Be Held

The AP reported yesterday that in Switzerland, members of two right-wing parties have obtained enough signatures to force a nationwide referendum on banning construction of minarets. Members of the Swiss People's Party and the Federal Democratic Union say the minaret is a symbol of an Islamic political and religious claim to power. The Interior Ministry says it received a petition with 100,000 signatures supporting the proposal. Currently there are only two minarets in Switzerland, and neither is used for calls to prayer. Opponents say the construction ban would violate the religious freedom of Switzerland's 310,000 Muslims. The Swiss government will recommend that voters reject the proposed ban, fearing its impact on the country's international image and the potential reaction of Muslims if the ban is enacted.

Police Require Orthodox Jewish Woman To Remove Wig For Arrest Photo

In Ramapo, New York, members of the town's Hasidic Jewish community are protesting action of the police department in its arrest of an Orthodox Jewish woman, Sarah Cohen. The woman, charged with welfare fraud, was required to remove her wig for an arrest photograph. Many Orthodox Jewish women who are married keep their heads covered in public with a wig as a sign of modesty. However, law enforcement agencies generally require suspects to remove hats, turbans, wigs, glasses and toupees for booking photos. Sunday's Lower Hudson Journal News, reported, surprisingly, that police in New York towns like Ramapo, Spring Valley and Bedford, all of which have large Hasidic populations, have no written procedures on how to deal with religious or cultural concerns in booking suspects. After the incident, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence apologized and called the police officer involved insensitive. The matter is being investigated and a report will be presented to the Town Board tomorrow. Police Chief Peter Brower says he will review departmental policies on the issue.

Folk Religions Get Very Different Treatments Around the World

Reports this week from opposite sides of the world reflect the rather disparate views of folk religions by varying legal systems. Today's New York Times reports that in Tajikistan, a new law passed early this year outlaws traditional fortune telling. The "fate viewer"-- who also sometimes prescribes folk remedies-- is a centuries-old profession in the country. Practitioners have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity lately as the country suffers economically. Proponents of the new law say it was designed to protect the population from a drain on their finances, prohibit "un-Islamic" activity and reduce the number of people practicing medicine without a license.

Meanwhile Lifesite News yesterday reported on a case decided in May by a criminal court judge in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Judge Ricardo Augusto Schmitt ordered confiscation from bookstores of all copies of a book condemning witchcraft written by Catholic priest Jonas Abib. The book is titled "Yes, Yes! No, No! Reflections on Healing and Liberation." In obtaining the court order, the public prosecutor argued that Bahia's state constitution requires the state "to preserve and guarantee the integrity, respectability, and permanence of the values of Afro-Brazilian religion." He accused accused Abib of "making false and prejudiced statements" about spiritualist religions and inciting disrespect for their objects of worship.

Christian Group Runs Controversial Ad Against New Colorado Law

In May, Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter signed Colorado SB 200 which, among other things, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations. The new law defines "sexual orientation" to include transgender status. Seizing on this, the Christian group Focus on the Family is now running a controversial advertising campaign against the bill in Colorado newspapers. According to today's Pueblo Chieftan , the ads claim the new law has made all public restrooms unisex. The ad depicts an innocent little girl coming out of a bathroom stall with a man in boots waiting to use it.

Court Dismisses Free Exercise Challenge To Forest Service Permit Regulations

In Nenninger v. United States Forest Service, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51212 (WD AR, July 3, 2008), an Arkansas federal district court dismissed a challenge to U.S. Forest Service regulations requiring a special permit for large noncommercial gatherings on Forest System lands. The permit application must be signed by an agent for the group. (36 C.F.R. Part 251, Subparts B and C, and 36 C.F.R. Part 261, Subpart A.) The regulations were challenged by a member of the Rainbow Family, a group that regularly gathers in undeveloped sites in National Forests to pray for peace and discuss environmental and other issues. Its annual gatherings near July 4 usually attract 20,000 participants. The court rejected First Amendment overbreadth, free exercise and RFRA challenges to the regulations. It held that the permit requirements are facially neutral laws of general application and do not substantially burden the practice of plaintiff's religion. The court also rejected selective prosecution claims and a number of other bases for relief.

Ahmadis Zoning Denial Leads To Suit Against Maryland Town

In Baltimore, Maryland yesterday, developer David Moxley filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the decision of the Walkersville (MD) Board of Zoning Appeals to deny a special exception to land use restrictions sought by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. Moxley had planned to sell the Ahmadis 224 acres of land for $6 million for them to use to build a mosque and living quarters for its imam. Yesterday's Baltimore Sun reports that the zoning board's denial was based on a desire to preserve farm land and concern about the crowd of thousands that attends the group's annual, three-day national convention. The complaint alleges that the zoning board violated the Ahmadis free exercise and equal protection rights, violated RLUIPA, the federal Fair Housing Act and the Maryland Constitution's Declaration of Rights. The suit also alleges that the town's mayor and town commissioners conspired to block the mosque construction by adopting new land-use restrictions barring places of worship on land zoned for agriculture. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Roman Storzer for the lead.]

Israeli Court-Approved Compromise On Autopsies May Be Solution To Future Cases

Arutz Sheva today reports on an interesting compromise worked out in the courts last week that may act as precedent in dealing with religious objections to autopsies. After the wife of the rabbi of the Yemenite Jewish community is the city of Ashkelon was murdered, authorities insisted they needed an autopsy to determine the cause of death. A magistrate's court rejected the family's religious objections, but while an appeal was pending in the Supreme Court a compromise was proposed-- perform a non-invasive MRI autopsy. After a great deal of bureaucratic "buck-passing", everyone agreed and the procedure was performed at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. The Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the prosecution to follow the MRI with a traditional autopsy in order to check the accuracy of the MRI procedure.

Church Sues To Challenge Zoning Denial

The Danbury (CT) News-Times today reports that a Christian congregation, His Vineyard, Inc., has filed suit in state court-- apparently under RLUIPA-- challenging Danbury's denial of a request for a variance. The church wants to build in an area zoned industrial. The Zoning Board denied the request because it wants to keep industrial areas for economic development. However the church says it should be treated the same as hotels which are permitted in industrial areas, since both are places of public assembly.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Tyson v. Guisto, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49528 (D OR, June 27, 2008), an Oregon federal district court rejected claims by two Muslim prisoners that their rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were violated when authorities temporarily held Jum'ah prayers on Sunday instead of Friday, did not hire an Imam, and allowed non-Muslims to prepare Halal meals.

In Campbell v. Cornell Corrections of Rhode Island, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49191 (D RI, June 27, 2008), a Rastafarian prisoner sued because he was denied a vegetarian diet as required by his religious beliefs. The court held that at this stage of the litigation, there is such a lack of evidence on plaintiff's First Amendment claim that neither party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The court rejected plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim.

In Ransom v. Johnson, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49378 (ED CA, June 18, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge recommended that a Muslim prisoner's motion for summary judgment be denied on his First Amendment claim that he was not permitted to attend communal prayer while in "C-status"-- designed to limit the movements inmates who were unwilling to comply with prison rules.

In Contreraz v. Adams, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49150 (ED CA, June 11, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed, with leave to amend, a complaint filed by a Native American prisoner who was a member of the "Olin Pyramid" religion. Plaintiff claimed he had been denied religious dietary modifications and an exemption from the grooming standards. However his 323-page complaint violated pleading rules and failed to link any specific defendant with a specific constitutional violation.

EC Adopts Anti-Discrimination Directive

On July 2, the European Commission announced its adoption of a proposed anti-discrimination directive that broadly prohibits discrimination on various grounds, including religion. The EC announcement read in part:

the Commission adopted a proposal for a directive which provides for protection from discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief beyond the workplace. This new directive would ensure equal treatment in the areas of social protection, including social security and health care, education and access to and supply of goods and services which are commercially available to the public, including housing....

The law will prohibit direct and indirect discrimination as well as harassment and victimisation.... The directive will only apply to private persons in so far as they are performing their commercial activities or professional. Also, Member States will remain free to maintain measures ensuring the secular nature of the State or concerning the status and activities of religious organisations.

New Scholarly Articles and Books of Interest Abound

From SSRN:

• Ayelet Shachar, Privatizing Diversity: A Cautionary Tale from Religious Arbitration in Family Law, (June 25, 2008, Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 573-607, 2008).
• Katja Rost, Emil Inauen, Margit Osterloh & Bruno S. Frey, The Corporate Governance of Benedictine Abbeys: What Can Stock Corporations Learn from Monasteries?, (May 25, 2008).
• Frederick Mark Gedicks, Fundamentalism, Spirituality, and Church-State Relations in the United States. Chapter in Multiculturalisms: Different Meanings and Perspectives of Multiculturalism in a Global World (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, Barbara Pozzo ed. forthcoming 2008).
• John M. Bickers, Of Non-Horses, Quantum Mechanics, and the Establishment Clause" (forthcoming 57 Kansas Law Review (2009)).
• Vincent Phillip Munoz, The Original Meaning of the Free Exercise Clause: The Evidence from the First Congress" Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 1083-1120 (2008).

From SmartCILP:

• Lisa Shaw Roy, History, Transparency, and the Establishment Clause: A Proposal for Reform, 112 Penn State Law Review 683-729 (2008).
• John Witte, Jr., "Fairer Still the Woodlands" --Mapping the Free Exercise Forest, (Reviewing Kent Greenawalt, Religion and the Constitution: Free Exercise and Fairness.) 24 Constitutional Commentary 551-565 (2007).
• The Wren Cross Controversy: Religion and the Public University. Essays by Erwin Chemerinsky and Gerard V. Bradley. 49 William & Mary Law Review 2193-2263 (2008): Chemerinsky, Why Church and State Should Be Separate; Bradley, Religion at a Public University.
• Frank S. Ravitch, Intelligent Design in Public University Science Departments: Academic Freedom or Establishment of Religion, 16 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 1061-1090 (2008).
• Thomas L. Shaffer, Business Lawyers, Baseball Players, and the Hebrew Prophets, 42 Valparaiso University Law Review 1063-1080 (2008).
• Nicholas A. Schuneman, One Nation, Under ...The Watchmaker?: Intelligent Design and the Establishment Clause, 22 BYU Journal of Public Law 179-227 (2007).
• Jeffrey Shulman, What Yoder Wrought: Religious Disparagement, Parental Alienation and the Best Interests of the Child, 53 Villanova Law Review 173-208 (2008).
• William Joseph Wagner, To the Age of Social Revolution: As Papal Rejoiner, "The Apocalypse Is Not Now", 53 Villanova Law Review 209-271 (2008).

New books:

• The Center for American Progress has published in full online a collection of essays titled Debating the Divine: Religion in 21st Century American Democracy. Links to individual essays are on the Center's web page devoted to the book. [Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.]
• Mark Silk & Andrew Walsh, One Nation, Divisible: How Regional Religious Differences Shape American Politics, (Rowman & Littlefield, June 2008). [Thanks to Spiritual Politics for the lead.]

Bush, Fukuda Will Both Attend Olympics Opening Despite Human Rights Concerns

In a joint press conference today (full text) with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, President George W. Bush defended his decision to attend the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics next month. As reported by CNN, Bush took the position in the face of decisions by some European leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies to protest human rights violations in China. At the press conference, Prime Minister Fukuda for the first time confirmed that he too would be attending the opening ceremonies. Here is a portion of the Q&A:

Q ... I was wondering if you could ... explain ... your decision to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics next month. And more generally, I'm wondering what you would say to ... your friends and allies in the United States who are very concerned about religious freedom and human rights in China....

PRESIDENT BUSH: I view the Olympics as a opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes.... [E]very time I have visited with [the Chinese] ... I have talked about religious freedom and human rights. And so ... I don't need the Olympics to express my concerns. I've been doing so.... [N]ot going to the opening games would be ... an affront to the Chinese people, which may make it more difficult to ... speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.... I think it would be good for these athletes who have worked hard to see their President waving that flag....

... I have been very clear in my view that, for example, a whole society is one that honors religion, and that people shouldn't fear religious people.... China benefits from people being able to worship freely. It looks like there's some progress, at least in the talks with the Dalai Lama....

PRIME MINISTER FUKUDA: ... [H]ere for the first time, I will announce that I -- announce officially that I will attend the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.... I don't think you really have to link Olympics to politics.... In the past ... the U.S. and others criticized Japan for certain behaviors.... So we really have to ... have humility in asking ourselves, do we have the right to make those points to China and others.... We are neighbors, after all, and it will good for Japan if our neighbors are in a sound state, as well. So with that in mind, as well, I shall attend the Opening Ceremony.

Historian Says Links Between Democrats and Evangelicals Have Deep Roots

Historian Ted Widmer writes a piece in today's New York Times Magazine titled Redemption Politics in which he makes the case that Barack Obama's outreach to evangelicals has deep roots in American history. He writes in part:

Maybe the distance between liberals and evangelicals, each eternal optimists in their way, is much smaller than we realized. In our week of national reflection, it’s worth recognizing that religious enthusiasm in America has as often as not had a reformist or even revolutionary cast to it....

We often forget how close the revolutionaries were to the Great Awakening of the 1730s and ’40s, when revival meetings were held across the colonies and apocalyptic expectation hung heavy in the air....

For most of American history, evangelicals were Democrats or their equivalents, profoundly uncomfortable near the temple of the moneychangers. Jefferson attracted huge numbers of voters simply because his running mate, Aaron Burr, was the grandson of the great evangelist Jonathan Edwards.

Canadian Human Rights Commission Dismisses Charges Against Catholic Magazine

Catholic Insight reports that the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has dismissed a complaint brought against it by Rob Wells, a member of the Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Pride Center of Edmonton. (See prior posting.) Wells claimed violations of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act because of some 108 articles and reports on Catholic Insight's website. Catholic Insight says that the postings merely "communicated the theological reasoning of the Catholic Church which opposes the homosexual way of life as contrary to the will of God the Creator, and, therefore, sinful." In its letter to Catholic Insight the CHRC said: "After examining this information, the Commission decided, pursuant to paragraph 44(3)(b) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, to dismiss the complaint because the material is not likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt based on sexual orientation."

Civil-Religious Courts Clash Again In Indonesia

In Malaysia, the ongoing tension between jurisdiction of civil and religious courts has come to the fore in the case of an ethnic Indian, Elangeswaran Benedict, who committed suicide. Indo Asian News Service reported yesterday that when Benedict's family sought to claim his body from the Parit Buntar Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, they were told that they could not take the body for Hindu cremation rites because Benedict was a Muslim convert. The family brought suit in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur seeking a declaration that he was Hindu. A hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon. However, on Friday morning, religious authorities quickly obtained an order from a Syariah Court ordering Benedict's burial as a Muslim. Benedict's wife, named as a respondent in the case, was not present in the religious court for the hearing. Benedict's family are now back in the High Court seeking an injunction to prevent religious authorities from claiming the body.

UPDATE: On July 7, High Court judge Datuk Balia Yusuf Wahi rejected the family's request for an injunction and Elangesvaran's body was buried according to Muslim tradition by the Parit Buntar state religious council. Nevertheless, according to the New Straits Times, the family has filed a notice of appeal in the case.

Court Upholds Restraining Order Against Autistic Teen At Services

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last week on a decision issued June 27 by a Todd County, Minnesota state District Court. Siding with the Church of St. Joseph in Bertha (MN), the court upheld a May 13 restraining order barring 13-year old Adam Race from attending church. The teenager is autistic, and the church says his conduct disrupts services. As previously reported, at issue was whether Adam's conduct violated the state's harassment statute under which the restraining order was issued. The court concluded that while Adam "did not specifically intend to harass anyone," his conduct at church services was "objectively unreasonable." It included "repeated, disruptive or distracting acts, sounds, and gestures." Under the statute, harassment is defined as including "repeated incidents of intrusive or unwanted acts, words, or gestures that have a substantial adverse effect ... on the safety, security, or privacy of another." [Thanks to Joel Sogol via Religionlaw listserv for the lead.]

Alaska Court Upholds Tax Exemption For Church-Owned Teacher Housing

In 2006, the Alaska legislature passed HB 334 which, among other things, extended local property tax exemptions to "the residence of an educator in a private religious or parochial school." Today's Anchorage Times reports that in a decision handed down on Thursday, an Alaska Superior Court judge upheld the constitutionality of the law. At issue was the exempt status of Anchorage Baptist Temple's housing for teachers. The court said that the exemption, as written, does not discriminate in favor of religion, because under the law both religious and non-profit secular schools can obtain exemptions by proving the same facts. The court left open the possibility of a further challenge if the law is administered in a way that favors religious organizations. (See prior related posting.)

Press Groups Support En Banc Reivew In Eagle Case

Defendant Winslow Friday is asking the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc review of a decision that upheld his prosecution under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act for killing of an eagle to use in a tribal sun dance. (See prior posting.) In his review request, Friday has found unusual allies. The Wyoming Press Association and the Colorado Press Association have both filed motions to intervene to support the call for en banc review. The press groups object to the extensive review of "constitutional facts" undertaken by the Court of Appeals in its panel decision. Yesterday's Casper (WY) Star-Tribune reports that newspaper publishers fear the holding means they may have to defend defamation cases a second time on appeal, after they win at trial, instead of having the appellate court give deference to the findings of fact at trial.

Town Tries To Stop Catholic Radio Station After It Ends Ecumenical Programs

In Burlington, Connecticut, the town's planning and zoning commission has voted to issue a cease-and-desist order to prevent the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford from continuing to use a radio tower on Johnnycake Mountain to transmit programming on its radio station, WJMJ-FM. Yesterday's Hartford Courant reports that the city contends the archdiocese is violating a 1987 agreement that ended lengthy zoning litigation. Under that arrangement, the archdiocese could operate the tower so long as the station was nonprofit and its programming multi-denominational. Now however the archdiocese has ended its 14 hours of ecumenical Sunday programming, called "Festival of Faith," and has replaced it with Catholic features.

Rev. John Gatzak, spokesman for the archdiocese, says that the Festival of Faith programming was not of high quality, and that the archdiocese has a responsibility to use its station for Catholic evangelizing. However, Gatzak has met with Protestant and Orthodox producers from "Festival of Faith" and agreed to discuss alternative ecumenical programs. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]