11th Circuit Denies En Banc Review In Pledge Recital Case

On Monday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, over one dissent, refused to grant en banc review in Frazier v. Alexandre, (11th Cir., Jan. 26, 2009). In the case, a 3-judge panel upheld the constitutionality of a Florida statute requiring schools to excuse a student from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance upon written request of the student's parent, regardless of the student's desires. The panel held that the legislature can act to enforce a parent's right to control the upbringing of his or her children. (See prior posting.) Dissenting from the refusal to reconsider the decision, Judge Barkette argued: "holding that the State of Florida can compel students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in violation of their personal beliefs directly contravenes precedent that has been firmly entrenched for over 65 years ... [T]he State ... lacks the capacity to delegate to parents the power to compel this speech." Yesterday's Fulton County (GA) Daily Report discusses the court's denial of review.

Orthodox Jewish Group's Public Policy Staffer Has Obama Connections

A JTA article yesterday profiles Nathan Diament, Director of the Institute for Public Affairs of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and Diament's connections to President Barack Obama. Diament was a Harvard Law School classmate of Obama, and they regularly played basketball together as law students. During the Presidential campaign, Diament advised all the candidates, including Obama, on outreach to the Jewish community. A supporter of Presisdent Bush's faith-based initiative and frequent visitor to the Bush White House, Diament seems equally welcome by the Obama administration. He was one of a small number to attend Obama's private prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church the morning of Inauguration Day.

Good News Club Sues Georgia School District For Equal Access

Liberty Counsel announced yesterday that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Good News Clubs against the Cobb County, Georgia School District. The lawsuit charges that the school district has engaged in illegal viewpoint discrimination by imposing higher fees for the organization to use school facilities after school than is charged to secular groups. The lawsuit also claims discrimination in access times. Secular groups are permitted to meet immediately after school, while the Good News Club cannot meet until 5:45 p.m. This significantly reduces student attendance.

Rubashkin Released On Bail

Yesterday's Des Moines (IA) Register reports that federal Chief District Judge Linda Reade has ruled that Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking executive Sholom Rubashkin may be released on $500,000 bail. She held that reasonable precautions are available to assure that Rubashkin will appear for trial in September. Prosecutors have until Thursday to decide whether to appeal the ruling. In an earlier controversial decision, a federal magistrate judge had denied bail, in part alluding to the risk that Rubashkin would flee to Israel under the Law of Return. That decision led to protests by those who read it as suggesting that all Jews are greater flight risks. (See prior posting). Rubashkin is charged with bank fraud and harboring illegal workers. [Thanks to Jack Levey for the lead.]

Indonesian Clerics Issue Rulings On Elections

In Indonesia last weekend, the Indonesian Council of Ulema issued two controversial fatwas on political participation. The first was aimed at reversing low voter turnout in previous elections, according to an article in the Jakarta Globe. It held that it violates Islamic law for Muslims to abstain from voting in political elections-- so long as there is a qualified Muslim candidate for whom they can cast their ballot. The ruling went on to state that Muslims may not vote for non-Muslim candidates. The second ruling, reported yesterday by AKI, said that only a Muslim can be President of Indonesia. A Presidential election in Indonesia is scheduled for July. All the candidates are Muslims. Indonesia's constitution, however, does not restrict the presidency to members of any particular religious group. Fatwas have no binding legal force in Indonesia, but they are influential for religious Muslims.

Today Is UN's Holocaust Commemoration; Jewish Leaders Had Threatened Walk-Out [Updated]

Today is the date that the United Nations has designated as International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. A number of events are scheduled by the U.N. around the commemoration. (UN press release.) A U.N. ceremony in New York this morning had originally been scheduled to include remarks by U.N. General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann. d'Escoto is a Nicaraguan politician and Catholic priest who has been known in the past for making sharp attacks on the state of Israel. Today's Haaretz reported that several Jewish groups in the U.S. tried unsuccessfully to exclude d'Escoto from speaking at the ceremony today. American Jewish leaders planned to stage a walk out from the ceremony this morning if d'Escoto used the podium to again attack Israel. Haaretz in the updated version of its article reports that d'Escoto ultimately decided not to attend and instead sent remarks decrying all genocides, delivered via the Rwandan envoy.

Court Refuses Preliminary Injunction In Shoshone's Bid To Stop Gold Mine

AP reports that yesterday a Nevada federal district court judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent Barrick Gold Corp. from beginning to dig a 2,000-foot deep open pit mine on Nevada's Mount Tenabo. Apparently delivering his opinion in South Fork Band Council of Western Shoshone of Nevada v. U.S Department of Interior (D NV, Docket No. 3:08-cv-00616-LRH-RAM) orally from the bench, Judge Larry Hicks said that at least so far plaintiffs had not shown a violation of the Western Shoshone's religious freedom or violation of federal environmental laws. He said in part: "The effect of the proposed mining project is on the plaintiffs' subjective, emotional experience. It is offensive to their sensibilities and in the mind of some will desecrate a sacred mountain. Nevertheless, the diminishment of that spirituality — as serious as it may be — under the Supreme Court's holdings, it is not a substantial burden on religious freedom." (See prior related posting.)

Elections Conflict With Pilgrimage For Iraqi Shi'ites

Reuters reports today on the choice bwetween voting and religious observance facing many Shi'ite Muslims in southern Iraq. Elections for local provincial councils will be held on January 31. This is in the midst of the traditional pilgrimage to the holy city of Kerbala that marks Arbain, or 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein. The pilgrimage culminates in mid-February. Pilgrims who come from Basra and beyond walk for 250 miles. Some have decided to return home to vote without completing a full pilgrimage. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani says that Iraqis should wait and vote before starting out on the pilgrimage.

Election Under Way For New Russian Orthodox Patriarch

Voice of America reported yesterday on the selection process that is underway for a new Patriarch for the Russian Orthodox Church after the death in December of Patriarch Alexei II. (See prior posting.) On Sunday, Church leaders selected three candidates. Now a second round of voting to select one of these finalists takes place in which clergy and various laypersons will participate. It is expected that this round will be completed by Thursday. The leading candidate is Interim Patriarch (and Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad) Kirill, a modernizer who has been a key figure in bringing together the Russian Orthodox Church with Orthodox churches outside the borders of Russia. (See prior related posting.) One-third of the ballots in the second round have been allocated to bishops and laypersons in Ukraine.

UPDATE: AFP reported on Tuesday that, as expected, in the second round of voting, Metropolitan Kirill has been elected the new Orthodox Patriarch. He received 508 of the nearly 700 votes cast in a secret ballot. One of the two other finalists dropped out just before balloting began.

Proposed Nigerian Law Would Criminalize Clergy Performing Same-Sex Marriages

A press release yesterday from Amnesty International on behalf of several human rights groups expresses strong opposition to proposed legislation in Nigeria that would impose criminal penalties-- up to 3 years in prison-- on same-sex couples who marry. Existing Nigerian law already imposes up to 14 years in prison for consensual same-sex sexual activity. The proposed Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2008 would also impose a fine of US$14 and up to five years in prison on any person who "witnesses, abet and aids the solemnization of a same gender marriage." This would threaten with criminal sanctions a member of the clergy who conducts a same-sex marriage ceremony in Nigeria. Amnesty says this violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Nigeria has signed. The bill would additionally impose a fine of up to US$340 on anyone who witnesses or aids and abets a same-sex marriage. This provision is apparently aimed at LGBT organizations and events.

Suit Challenging Yuba Community College's Speech Rules Settled

Alliance Defense Fund yesterday announced a the filing of a consent order (full text) in Dozier v. Members of the Board of Governors, Yuba College District, (ED CA, Jan. 26, 2009). In the case, a college student challenged campus rules and permit requirements that limited his ability to preach and hand out gospel tracts in outdoor areas of the campus of California's Yuba Community College. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement, the college has implemented revised procedures and has agreed not to enforce prior rules that limited free speech activities on campus to specific days and hours, designated the campus as a nonpublic forum, and required a permit and registration of materials prior to distribution. The school also eliminated its former harassment policy.

Taliban Enforce Rigid Islamic Law In Pakistan's Swat Valley

A column in yesterday's Middle East Times criticizes recent moves by Taliban to enforce rigid Wahhabi Islamic rule in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Apparently the power of the Pakistani government now extends only to a small area of Swat, while the Taliban has created its own administration, judicial system and charitable fund in most of the area. The Taliban prevent girls from attending school, warn barbers against shaving beards and burn schools and video shops. The Swat Valley's once vital tourist industry is declining, with many hotels and restaurants now closed. Over 200 people have been killed by the Taliban, and some two-thirds of Swat's population has migrated to other areas of the country. Sunday's New York Times also carried a long article exploring the Taliban's control of Swat, maintained in large part through use of radio to intimidate the populace.

Irish Government Negotiating With Catholic Church Over Sex Abuse Reporting

Ireland's Independent reports today that the government is in talks with the country's Catholic bishops to create a legal framework that will permit the country's Health Service Executive to learn the full extent of child sexual abuse by priests. A government commission is already investigating the extent of abuse in the diocese of Dublin, and earlier this month a full inquiry was ordered into the situation in the diocese of Cloyne (in Cork). The government wants bishops to report even unsubstantiated rumors and "soft information" about clergy child sexual abuse. Negotiations between the government and the Church turn on how to protect the Church from defamation actions by wrongly accused priests if this is done.

New Chair of US Helsinki Commission Appointed; OSCE Envoy Criticizes Kyrgyz Religion Law

U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) has been appointed Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) for the next two years. Cardin has been a member of the Commission since 1993. A press release from Sen. Cardin's office expresses appreciation to Majority Leader Harry Reid for selecting him. It is expected that outgoing Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), will be appointed Commission Co-Chairman for 2009-11 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Helsinki Commission is charged with monitoring compliance by OSCE members with the Helsinki Final Act that commits its 56 signatories to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. A portion of that document protects freedom of conscience and religion in the signatory states.

Meanwhile, last Thursday Kyle Scott, charge d'affairs at the U.S. mission to the OSCE, issued statements from the new Obama administration on human rights issues in five countries of the former Soviet Union. According to America.gov, one of the statements criticized the new Kyrgyzstan Religion Law, saying: "the law as promulgated could result in diminished religious freedom and tolerance in the Kyrgyz Republic...." (See prior related posting.)

Recent Articles of Interest and New Book

From SSRN:

• Thom Brooks, The Problem with Polygamy , (January 22, 2009).


• Christopher Serkin & Nelson Tebbe, Condemning Religion: The Political Economy of RLUIPA, (Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 127, Jan. 16, 2009).


• Daniel R. Suhr, Lessons for Law School Deans Regarding Catholics in Political Life, (December 31, 2008).

New Book:

• Douglas A. Hicks, With God on All Sides: Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America, (Oxford Univ. Press, Jan. 2009).

New Bolivian Constitution Approved By Voters; Catholicism Disestablished

According to the New York Times, by a 56.8% majority yesterday voters in Bolivia approved the country's new Constitution. Unlike the old Constitution that gave special recognition to the Roman Catholic Church, Catholicism is not specifically mentioned in the new document. AP says that the new Constitution honors both the Christian God and the Andean earth deity, Pachamama who continues to be worshipped by many Bolivian Catholics. (BBC News Background). The new Constitution also guarantees freedom of religion and separation of church and state. (See prior related posting.)

5 Christians Charged With Blasphemy Are Released By Pakistan Court

Bos News Life reported yesterday that the release of five Christians charged with insulting Islam has been negotiated in Pakistan. Under the arrangement, a Punjab court ordered the five released, and Islamic clergy will issue a fatwa declaring them innocent of blasphemy. The charges against the five grew out of communal violence that was triggered after an argument between a 12-year old Christian boy and a Muslim acquaintance. Their argument resulted in a sticker containing the name of Allah ending up on the ground. Meanwhile Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, says he favors repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Pope Revokes 4 Excommunications-- Including A Holocaust Denier

In a controversial move yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI revoked the 1988 excommunication of four right-wing bishops who had been appointed to their positions in consecrations that were not approved by the Vatican. Today's New York Times reports on the move that attempts to normalize the Vatican's relationship with the Society of St. Pius X. The Society was founded in 1970 by French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre as a protest against the modernizing reforms of Vatican II.

Most controversial of the four reinstated clergy is Richard Williamson who has denied the Holocaust and has charged that the U.S. government staged the 9-11 attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan. In an interview last year, Williamson said that "historical evidence" disputes the conclusion that millions of Jews were "deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler." The London Telegraph quotes a Williamson interview given this week in which he said: "I believe there were no gas chambers ... I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers." Catholic-Jewish relations, as well as Vatican discussions with Israel over a planned Papal visit, are likely to be complicated by the Pope's move.

UPDATE: Monday's National Catholic Reporter carries an article titled: Lefebvre movement: long, troubled history with Judaism which says: "The historical association between some strains of traditionalist Catholicism and anti-Semitism run deep, intertwined with royalist reaction to the French Revolution in the 18th century and, later, the Boulanger and Dreyfus Affairs in France (1886-1889 and 1894-1899)."

UPDATE2: According to Tuesday's New York Times, Bishop Bernard Fellay, director of the St. Pius X Society, wrote the Pope on Tuesday rejecting Williamson’s statements, saying they "do not reflect the position of the society." He expressed regret over the problems that the statements had caused.

UPDATE3: Bloomberg reports that on Thursday, another Catholic priest, this time from the northern Italian town of Treviso, entered the arena of Holocaust denial. He told a local newspaper: "I know that gas chambers existed to disinfect. But I can’t tell you if they killed anyone or not." [Thanks to PewSitter for the lead.] UPDATE: Haaretz reported on Feb. 7 that this Italian priest has been expelled from the Italian branch of the Society of St. Pius X.

Good Friday Time Off At Wisconsin Tech Colleges Challenged

The Freedom From Religion Foundation charges that Wisconsin's Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC)-- and all but one of the other state technical colleges-- is violating a 1996 court order that found a state law mandating public facilities observe Good Friday to be unconstitutional. Today's Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter says that MPTC is traditionally closed on Good Friday and its collective bargaining agreement lists Good Friday as a holiday. School officials say they were unaware of the court decision until FFRF filed a complaint with them. MPTC Vice President of Human Resources Kathy Broske said that the holiday was bargained for with unions for a secular purpose, but that the school would confer with legal counsel and would change their policy if they are not in compliance with law. Officials at two other technical colleges also say they will take steps to comply with the law now that they know of the 1996 ruling.

Vatican Launches Its Own YouTube Channel

UPI reports that the Vatican has launched its own YouTube channel. Pope Benedict XVI announced the new channel on Friday, which was World Communications Day. The channel will carry film clips of the Pope's speeches and activities. The clips will be in Italian, with translations into English, German and Spanish.