9th Circuit: School May Cut Off Proselytizing Graduation Speech

In McComb v. Crehan, (9th Cir., March 20, 2009), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the action of Clark County, Nevada school officials in cutting off the microphone at high school graduation ceremonies when the class valedictorian departed from her approved speech and began reading from a version that contained religious and Biblical references. The incident took place in 2006. (See prior posting.) In yesterday's decision, Judge Kozinski's brief opinion for the court said in part:

Defendants did not violate McComb’s free speech and free exercise rights by preventing her from making a proselytizing graduation speech. Cole v. Oroville Union High School District, 228 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2000); Lassonde v. Pleasanton Unified School District, 320 F.3d 979, 983 (9th Cir. 2003). Nor did they violate McComb’s right to equal protection; they did not allow other graduation speakers to proselytize.

[Thanks to Rob Luther for the lead.]

Australian Officials Deny Major Retailers Permission To Open On Easter

In the Australian state of New South Wales, the Shop Trading Act 2008 requires retail stores to be closed on Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, Boxing Day and until 1:00 p.m. on Anzac Day. The Act exempts small shops, shops offering various sorts of food and entertainment as well as hotels. It also provides that the Department of commerce can grant exemptions to other stores. NineMSN reported yesterday that a number of major retailers have been refused an exemption that would allow them to be open on Easter Sunday this year.

Court Says AA Meetings Are Not "Exercise of Religion" Under RLUIPA

In Glenside Center, Inc. v. Abington Township Zoning Hearing Board, (PA Commn. Ct., March 17, 2009), a Pennsylvania appellate court held that use of a building for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (and for meetings by other 12-step groups) is not an "exercise of religion" as that term is used in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In rejecting plaintiff's argument that Abington Township must meet the burden imposed by RLUIPA to deny its request for a zoning variance, the court said:

Glenside failed to prove that any of the meetings are administered by a religious leader, i.e., a minister, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader. Glenside does not hold any religious services or have any religious affiliations. Its Articles of Incorporation state nothing about being incorporated for a religious purpose, but only to assist people in recovering from addiction. Similarly, Glenside’s printed materials state that Glenside is not a religious organization and do not require that members possess any religious belief to participate. While Glenside argues that members have found a connection with God at its meetings, clearly, the primary purpose of the group meetings, whether they be for AA, NA or DA, is to support individuals who are recovering from alcohol, drug, gambling and debtor addictions, not to advance religion.

USCIRF Holds Hearing On Religious Extremism In Pakistan

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom held a public hearaing on the threat that religious extremism in Pakistan poses to religious freedom and human rights. (Event Advisory.) A transcript of the event and copies of prepared testimony are all available from the USCIRF website. This was the third in a series of hearings on the relation of religious extremism to security and human rights. Last year, USCIRF held similar hearings on Sudan (transcript) and Bangladesh (transcript).

Civil Marriage Is Issue In Constructing Israel's Coalition Government

In Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu continues in complex negotiations to build a coalition government. One piece of the complexity comes from competing demands from the Yisrael Beiteinu party and religious parties on the issue of civil marriage. Many immigrants from the former Soviet Union who considered themselves Jewish there, do not meet the halachic (Jewish religious law) requirements to be classified as Jewish in Israel. To be considered Jewish by Israel's Chief Rabbinate, the individual must either have been born of a Jewish mother, or have converted under strict Orthodox standards. If both parties to a marriage do not belong to the same recognized religious community-- Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Druze-- they cannot be married by religious authorities within the country who have a monopoly on dealing with family status issues. (Background.) Instead they have to travel abroad to marry, and then the marriage is recognized in Israel.

Yisrael Beiteinu has strong support from Russian immigrants, and its platform has called for the addition of civil marriage-- as an alternative to marriage through the Chief Rabbinate-- within Israel. Traditionally religious parties have opposed civil marriage. Yesterday, Arutz Sheva and the Jerusalem Post however both reported that leading Orthodox rabbis have agreed to a compromise that may permit Netanyahu's coalition to include both Yisrael Beiteinu and smaller religious parties such as United Torah Judaism. Civil marriage would be permitted, but only if husband and wife both affirm their status as non-Jews before a rabbinical court. This solution, though, will not solve the problem for the large number of affected couples, where one is halachically Jewish and the other is a Russian immigrant whose mother was not Jewish.

City of Modesto Settles Suit By Evangelist

Last November, a California federal district court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the city of Modesto to give evangelist Kevin Borden equal access to the city's pedestrian Tenth Street Plaza to preach and proselytize. (See prior posting.) On Wednesday, the court issued a Consent Order in Borden v. Modesto, (ED CA, March 18, 2009), under which the parties agree that they will permanently comply with the terms of the Preliminary Injunction. The city was also required to pay $35,000 in attorneys' fees and costs to Borden's lawyers, and $1 nominal damages to Borden. Alliance Defense Fund announced the settlement.

Belgian Teacher of Islam Charged With Holocaust Denial

Belgium's law against Holocaust denial has led to a complaint being filed against a Muslim religious teacher in one of Brussels' schools, according to an AFP report on Tuesday. After a Nazi concentration camp survivor made a presentation at the school, the teacher told him that his account was greatly exaggerated. Belgian education minister in the French Community Government, Christian Dupont, expressing shock at the "totally unacceptable" comments, filed a legal complaint against the teacher.

Egypt's Al-Azhar University Defies Court Order Requiring Admissin of Transsexual

The International Herald Tribune reported earlier this week on the continuing refusal by Egypt's prestigious Islamic Al-Azhar University to obey a civil court order to readmit Sally Mursi to its medical school. In 1985, Mursi was a third-year medical student at the University-- at that time Mursi was a man. Mursi then went through a sex-change operation and the government issued Mursi new identification documents listing Mursi as female. The University, however, refused to allow Mursi to re-enroll, and its top religious official issued a decree banning her. Medical school classes are segregated by sex. The University says Mursi cannot attend men's classes because she is impersonating a woman, and cannot attend women's classes because she is actually a man.

All of this led to nine years of civil litigation that culminated in 2007 with an order to admit Mursi. The University has appealed the order, and a hearing is set for May 6. University attorneys say it follows Islamic law, not civil law. Islam does not recognize transsexuality as a medical condition. Instead it considers it an expression of homosexuality.

U.S. Backs UN Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In a statement issued yesterday reversing a policy of the Bush administration, the State Department said that the United States now supports the United Nations Statement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity. The Washington Post and CBN report that the French-sponsored statement, endorsed last December by 66 nations, urges countries to make certain that "sexual orientation or gender identity" can "not be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention." Homosexuality is a criminal offense in some 70 countries, many of them Muslim. It is punishable by death in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. The U.S. was the only Western country not to endorse the U.N. statement last year. However 57 countries, including members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, opposed it.

According to Voice of America, the Bush administration in refusing support argued that the statement might commit the U.S. federal government to override state laws on issues such as discrimination by landlords or employers. Acting State Department Spokesman Robert Wood now says that an interagency review by the Obama administration concluded that the U.N. declaration will not impose legal obligations on the U.S. federal government.

Court Upholds Religious Exemption For Importation and Use of Daime Tea

In Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey, (D OR, March 18, 2009), an Oregon federal district court held that Religious Freedom Restoration Act entitles plaintifffs, who are followers of the Brazilian Santo Daime religion, to an exemption from the federal Controlled Substances Act for their importation and sacramental consumption of Daime tea. The court relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 O'Centro decision. Reality Based Community reports on the decision. [Thanks to Daily Kos for the lead.]

New Report Urges Changes In U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy

Last week, Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs along with the Center on Faith & International Affairs jointly issued a 65-page report titled The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for the Obama Administration. The report begins with a critique of past policy:

• U.S. IRF policy to date has focused more on rhetorical denunciations of persecutors and releasing religious prisoners than on facilitating the political and cultural institutions necessary to religious freedom. Accordingly, U.S. policy has had minimal effect on global levels of persecution and even less on the institutions of religious freedom.
• U.S. IRF policy is often viewed abroad as an attack on majority religious communities, as cultural imperialism, and as a front for American missionaries. However inaccurate, these perceptions have dramatically curtailed the policy’s impact.
• U.S. IRF policy has not been integrated into U.S. democracy programs, public diplomacy, counterterrorism, or multilateral diplomacy and international law.

The report then sets out a number of recommendations for the future, under six broad headings: (1) Set a clear policy course; (2) Retool American diplomacy; (3)Reenergize democracy promotion; (4) Make public diplomacy more effective; (5) Employ religious freedom as an element of counterterrorism strategy; and (6) Engage multilateral institutions and international law. Authors of the report are Thomas Farr and Dennis R. Hoover.

Home School Order In Custody Case Draws National Attention

As reported by ABP, a custody order entered earlier this week in a divorce action in North Carolina has generated a wave of protest among conservative groups and home school advocates. The court sided with the father's request that the three children no longer be home schooled by the mother, but instead be returned to public school. Stories, such as one in the Raleigh News & Observer, quote the mother, Vanessa Mills, who said that the home school issue was being used to distract attention from her husband, Robert Mills', adultery. Now the written opinion in Mills v. Mills, (NC Gen. Ct. Jus., March 17, 2009) has become available and paints a different picture.

In extensive Findings of Fact, the judge concluded that both parents were very religious and until 2005 the family attended a local church together. The Mills' marriage broke down, however, because Vanessa joined, and came under the influence of, the Sound Doctrine Church, described by a number of witnesses as a cult. Vanessa then began to home school the children though Robert was reluctant and only approved this as a temporary measure. The court found that a portion of the home schooling involved communication by phone and web cam with Sound Doctrine members in Washington state. The court concluded that it is in the best interest of the children to expose them "to more than just the experiences that Vanessa Mills desires." The court added that this "will not infringe upon either party's right to practice their own religion and expose their children to the same."

Hospice Chaplain Protests Request For Secular Remarks At Staff Meetings

The non-profit Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton, Florida, finds itself in the midst of a controversy after its CEO issued what she thought was a minor administrative directive. Paula Alderson wanted chaplains to close staff meetings with an inspirational thought that is secular in tone. She asked them not to use terms such as "God" or "Holy Father" in their remarks, in order to assure that the hospice's diverse staff was comfortable. (March 18 statement on Hospice website.) However, according to Wednesday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Christian chaplain Rev. Mirta Signorelli has resigned in protest, saying: "I can't do chaplain's work if I can't say 'God' — if I'm scripted." She says the policy-- which she describes as a directive to cease and desist from using God in prayers-- has a chilling effect that goes beyond staff meetings. None of the hospice's other six chaplains have raised objections. [Thanks to both Jefferson Gray and Joel Katz (Relig. & State In Israel) for leads.]

Amish Landowner Sentenced To Jail For Refusing To Comply With Sanitary Code

AP reported on Tuesday that a trial court in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania sentenced Andy Swartzentruber, a member of a conservative Amish sect, to 90 days in jail for refusing to comply with sewage code requirements in connection with two outhouses on property he owns. He was also fined $1000 for contempt. An Amish school, attended by 18 students, is located on Swartaentruber's property. The court also ordered it and the outhouses padlocked. In the long-running case, Swartzentruber had previously been fined $500 and ordered to stop dumping untreated sewage onto the ground by installing a holding tank and using a certified sewage hauler. (See prior posting.) Attempts at compromise have not been successful. While the Amish community is willing to pay for a permit, Swartzentruber has religious objections to permitting inspectors to take soil samples.

Reporting on the trial, the Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat said that the judge's ruling seemed to stun members of the Amish community in attendance.The order to close the Amish school now poses the issue of how the Amish community will comply with the state's compulsory education requirements. After sentencing, Swartzentruber told the judge that he wants no TV or electricity in his cell. However the jail's warden said that Swartzentruber will be placed in a standard cell with electric lights.

Companies Lose Attempt To Force Autopsy Over Religious Objections

The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Honeywell International and Chrysler Motor Corp. have lost their bid to further delay the burial of Harold St. John who had sued the companies and others for damages, alleging that his mesothelioma was caused by exposure to their products used in an auto-repair shop in which he worked. St. John died on Feb. 28, two days before his trial was to begin. A New Jersey appellate court ordered his burial delayed while it heard arguments over religious and moral objections to an autopsy raised by St. John's family. That order was served on the funeral director on March 4, just moments before the funeral. Now, in St. John v. Affinia Group, Inc., (NJ App. Div., March 18, 2009), the New Jersey appellate court concluded that the companies had not shown that lung tissue from the requested limited autopsy would likely lead to evidence that would be significant at trial. Therefore, it concluded, an autopsy should not be ordered over the objections of St. John's family and St. John's burial should proceed.

Kazakhstan President Agrees With Invalidation of Religion Law Changes

Forum 18 reported Tuesday that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev will not challenge last month's decision by the Constitutional Council ruling that recently enacted amendments to the country's religion laws are unconstitutional. (See prior posting.) The President had referred the amendments to the Council instead of signing them after Parliament approved them. He now says he agrees with the Constitutional Council's ruling and the Prime Minister's office says it has no plans to introduce a new religion law. It appears that the now-rejected law was never the product of the Prime Minister's office, but instead came from members of Parliament who circulated it to the Justice Ministry's Religious Affairs Committee for comment. Parliamentary supporters of the new law are not sure whether they will attempt to enact other sorts of restrictions. One supporter, Berik Bekzhanov, says that he is still concerned with groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Teen Challenge Sues Over Zoning Denial By North Carolina City

Monday's Elizabeth City, North Carolina Daily Advance reports that a lawsuit was filed in a North Carolina federal district court last week challenging Elizabeth City's refusal to permit Albemarle Teen Challenge to operate a residential addiction treatment center for women in an historic district in the city. Teen Challenge offers a "Christian faith-based solution to life-controlling drug and alcohol problems." The lawsuit claims that the city's rejection of a rezoning request and the Board of Zoning Adjustment's classification of the proposed facility as a "boarding house" for zoning purposes, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and RLUIPA.

Obama Picks Author of Indiana Legislative Prayer Decision For 7th Circuit Vacancy

In his first judicial nomination, President Barack Obama yesterday selected Indiana federal district judge David Hamilton for a seat on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. (White House press release.) Hamilton was the author of two related 2005 opinions holding that the Indiana House of Representatives, in opening its sessions with sectarian prayer, violated the Establishment Clause. (See prior postings 1, 2.) Ultimately the 7th Circuit dismissed the case on standing grounds. (See prior posting.) Judge Hamilton, whose nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, was supported by both Indiana senators, Democrat Evan Bayh and Republican Richard Lugar. Reporting on the nomination, the AP says that the American Bar Association has resumed its historical role in evaluating judicial nominees-- giving Hamilton a "well qualified" rating. The Bush administration did not consult the ABA on its judicial picks.

9th Circuit Upholds Law School's Non-Discrimination Rules For Student Groups

Just one week after oral argument (see prior posting), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-paragraph decision in Christian Legal Society v. Kane, (9th Cir., March 17, 2009), upholding the right of Hastings College of Law to impose its policy against discrimination on the basis of religion and sexual orientation on a student religious group seeking formal recognition. Citing its decision last year in In Truth v. Kent School District, the court said:

The parties stipulate that Hastings imposes an open membership rule on all student groups—all groups must accept all comers as voting members even if those individuals disagree with the mission of the group. The conditions on recognition are therefore viewpoint neutral and reasonable.

Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle reports on the decision.

Obama and Catholic Bishops' Head Meet At White House

Yesterday, President Barack Obama met at the White House with Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cardinal George is also Archbishop of Chicago. Both the White House and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued short and cryptic press releases about the 30 minute meeting. The releases indicate that the meeting discussed the relationship of the Church in the U.S. to the Administration and opportunities for continued cooperation in solving the nation's problems.

Last November, shortly after Obama's election victory, Cardinal George issued a statement welcoming the opportunity of working with the new administration and Congress, but stating: "If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve." (See prior posting.) In their respective releases on yesterday's meeting, the White House said: "The President thanked Cardinal George for his leadership and for the contributions of the Catholic Church in America and around the world." The USCCB said: "Cardinal George expressed his gratitude for the meeting and his hopes that it will foster fruitful dialogue for the sake of the common good."