Suit Challenges Religious Lyrics Planned For School Assembly

Today's St. Augustine (FL) Record reports on a lawsuit filed last week in federal district court in Florida complaining about an attempt by teachers to include the Diamond Rio band's song "In God We Still Trust" in a public school's third-grade end-of-year assembly. Initially teachers told students that if they objected to practicing the song, they could be excused, but they would be excluded from the entire performance. However after a complaint from a parent, the district quickly removed the song completely from the program. The song (full lyrics reprinted in article) includes the following:

And when we pledge allegiance; There's no doubt where we stand;
There's no separation; We're one nation under him....
Now there are those among us; Who want to push him out
And erase his name from everything; This country's all about....
Now it's time for all believers; To make our voices heard...

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, the district said: "It is never our intention to offend anyone, and, like any other complaint, we responded quickly and appropriately.... This is obviously someone again using the school system (as well as taxpayers' money to defend the lawsuit) for their own personal agenda. Unfortunately, this is not unusual and distracts us from our mission." Meanwhile, in a court filing opposing plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, the district argued that "unlike school sponsored or endorsed prayer, school sponsored religious songs are not de facto violations of the First Amendment." [Thanks to Larry Mundinger for the lead.]

Religious Divide Growing In Israel's Army

Today's New York Times carries an article titled A Religious War In Israel's Army. It focuses on the growing influence of religious nationalists, many from the settler movement, in an Army that has traditionally been dominated by secular kibbutzniks. Many officers in the elite Golani Brigade are graduates of right-wing military preparatory academies. One soldier says that during the Gaza operation, the rabbinate distributed literature suggesting that the Army was engaged in a religious war against non-Jews for the holy land. Presently the military's chief rabbi, Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki, is a West Bank settler. Philosophy professor Moshe Halbertal, a member of the religious left and co-author of the military code of ethics, says that the debate in Israel is not just between religious and secular Jews, but also among religious Jews. It centers on the sanctity of land versus life; the relationship between messianism and Zionism; and the place of non-Jews in a sovereign Jewish state. (See prior related posting.)

Free Exercise Challenge To Marijuana Control Rejected

In Gover v. United States, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22331 (WD AK, March 19, 2009), a pro se plaintiff sued then-President, George W. Bush, as well as the United States, making broad allegations of unjust policies and directives. In particular plaintiff sought to have marijuana removed from coverage under the Controlled Substances Act. The court found plaintiff lacks standing to assert most of his claims. The only claim of particularized injury was a freedom of religion assertion. Here, however, plaintiff failed to allege a substantial burden on his religious exercise. Plaintiff's complaint asserted merely that he is prevented from experiencing the "inadvertent" spiritual side effects of medicinal use of marijuana.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Grimes v. Tilton, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20183 (SD CA, March 12, 2009), a prisoner alleged that the denial of his religiously-motivated request for vegetarian diet violated his rights under RLUIPA and the equal protection clause. A California federal district court, while dismissing certain of plaintiff's claims, allowed him to move ahead on his claims for damages against various of the defendants.

In Blake v. Rubenstein, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22073 (SD WV, March 17, 2009), a West Virginia federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations and refused to issue a preliminary injunction requiring plaintiffs' meals to be prepared in prison by fellow members of the Hare Krishna faith. The court said: "any ongoing burden on their religious freedom is not pressing, especially in light of the multitude of significant modifications that would be necessitated by the grant of an injunction, such as changes in the manner by which the kitchen is staffed and meals are prepared."

5th Circuit Upholds Christian School's Exclusion From Public School League

In Cornerstone Christian Schools v. University Interscholasitc League, (5th Cir., March 20, 2009), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit by a high schooler and his parents who claim that their free exercise, equal protection, and due process rights were infringed when UIL denied Cornerstone Christian Schools an opportunity to apply for league membership. (The court held that the school itself lacks standing to pursue the claims.) UIL is an association of Texas public and charter schools that organizes interscholastic athletic and academic competitions.

The court said: "Although clothed in free exercise and due process claims, this lawsuit is fundamentally about J.F.'s right to participate in interscholastic competition." Quoting an earlier decision, it said that courts are "not super referees over high school athletic programs." It found that the rule at issue does not unduly burden free exercise rights or the parents' due process right to control the education of their children. Finally the court held that UIL's rule "does not violate equal protection of the laws based either on its distinction between public and nonpublic schools or its purported distinction between nonpublic schools of differing sizes." Yesterday's El Paso Times reported on the decision. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]

Settlement Terms Disclosed In "Universal Love and Music" RLUIPA Suit

The terms of a previously confidential settlement agreement in a RLUIPA lawsuit have now become public with the filing of the 12-page settlement in a Pennsylvania federal court. The suit also raised 1st Amendment claims. The Church of Universal Love and Music sued Fayette County, Pennsylvania which had denied it zoning permission to continue to use property in an agricultural area for religious concerts. The county zoning board claimed that Church founder William Pritts was operating a music business, not a church. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that under the settlement, the Church will host no more than 6 weekend events and 6 Saturday-only events each year, with a maximum crowd size of 1,500 at each event. Programs may not start before noon and must end by 11 p.m. Pritts also agreed to various requirements for security, parking, camping and bathroom facilities, and a ban on any public nudity. The county will also pay Pritts $75,000 in damages.

County Creates Unusual Policy On Opening Prayers

The Accomack County (VA) Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 on Wednesday to change its policy on the type of prayer that would open their meetings. The Salisbury (MD) Times explained the unusual arrangement that the Supervisors agreed upon as a way to hopefully insulate themselves from a costly lawsuit. Up until 2006, the Board's parliamentarian Rev. Donald Broad was its informal chaplain, opening each meeting with a prayer. Once he retired, the Board began to open meetings with a prayer said by one or another of its members. Apparently many of these were sectarian in nature, and this led some members to ask attorney Mark Taylor for advice. Taylor suggested several options, including having a prayer by a Board of Supervisors chaplain. Adapting that advice, the Supervisors voted that from now on, sessions would be opened by reading one of the prayers that had been offered previously by parliamentarian-chaplain Broad. One citizen attending the meeting complained about the decision, saying that the way to pray is from the heart, not off of a piece of paper.

Malaysian Bar Group Threatened With Suit Over Use of Word "Allah"

The Malaysian Bar, the organization that represents some 12,000 lawyers in Malaysia, recently posted a poll on its website asking lawyers to vote on whether the use of the word "Allah" is restricted to a particular group in Malaysia and whether non-Muslim religious publications should be allowed to use the term to refer to God. The poll came in the wake of a dispute between the government and a newspaper, the Catholic Herald, that used the term in its Malay language edition. (See prior posting.) Channel News Asia reported yesterday that the Islamic religious council in the state of Selangor has now threatened to sue the bar association for misuse of the word "Allah" on its website. Religious council head Mohamad Adzib Mohamad Isa said: "The issue raised in the polls can threaten the sensitivity of Muslims."

Texas Bill Would Exempt Creation Institue Among Others From State Licensing

Fox News reported earlier this week that a Texas state legislator has introduced HB 2800 that would exempt private, non-profit educational institutions that do not accept state funding from the authority of the Texas' Higher Education Coordinating Board. Currently Texas Education Code, Sec. 61.304, requires all private post-secondary educational institutions to obtain a certificate of authority form the Board before they can award degrees. The proposed bill was introduced by State Rep. Leo Berman after The Institute for Creation Research (ICR )was denied a certificate of authority to grant Master of Science degrees. ICR focuses on Biblical creationism. Berman says that creationism is as scientific as evolution and should be given equal treatment in the educational community. A spokesman for the Higher Education Coordinating Board said that the proposal would "open the doors of Texas to predatory institutions." [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

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.