Irish Justice Minister Proposes Blasphemy Law

Irish Times reports today that the country's Minister of Justice plans to introduce an amendment to a pending Defamation Bill to create a new crime of blasphemous libel. The proposed legislation would prohibit publishing or uttering matter "that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion; and he or she intends, by the publication of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage." Currently Ireland has no statute on blasphemy, even though the Irish Constitution (Art. 40, Sec. 6.1) provides: "The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent material is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law." Last year the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution recommended amending the Constitution to remove references to sedition and blasphemy.

Court Finds Land Used By Religious Order Is Entitled To Tax Exemption

In Matter of Legion of Christ, Inc. v Town of Mount Pleasant, (NY Sup. Ct., March 25, 2009), a New York trial court ordered the town of Mount Pleasant to grant a tax exemption to Legion of Christ, Inc. for a parcel of real estate it owned. The town argued that Legion of Christ was not using the real estate exclusively for carrying out its own religious purposes but, instead, was leasing the land to several other groups. The court held that the various organizations, all set up by the Roman Catholic religious order Legionaries of Christ, should essentially be treated as a single organization, i.e. Legion of Christ was carrying out its own religious purposes through a closely related group of organizations. The court held, alternatively, even if the various corporations involved are not seen as a single organization, another exemption provision applies because the land was still being used for religious purposes and the rents received by Legion of Christ did not exceed its carrying, maintenance and depreciation charges for the property. [Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]

White House Religious Liaison Appointed

The Adventist News Network today reports on the appointment of Paul Monteiro to serve as religious liaison in the White House Office of Public Liaison. Monteiro's duties include scheduling events and meetings with representatives from various organizations and denominations. Their concerns are then transmitted on to the appropriate office or agency. Monteiro, who also serves as youth liaison in the Office of Public Liaison, is a Howard Law School graduate who had served on Barack Obama's Senate staff. Monteiro recently became a member of the Adventist Church.

Wyoming High Court Finds Free Exercise Claim Improperly Raised In Workers Comp Proceeding

In re Workers Compensation Claim for Howard W. Williams, (WY Sup. Ct., April 21, 2009), involved a claim for workers' compensation death benefits by the wife of a an employee who had refused for religious reasons to allow blood products to be used in treating his injuries from a work-related auto accident. The court held that the constitutional question of whether denial of benefits violated the Jehovah's Witnesses [corrected] husband's free exercise rights was not properly before the court. A constitutional challenge to the statute involved needs to be raised in a separate declaratory judgment action, and cannot be raised in an administrative proceeding which is the source of the ruling being appealed in this case. However, the court reversed the denial of benefits on other grounds. It found that the state failed to show that the husband's refusal of blood products contributed to his death. Chief Justice Voigt dissented on this point, finding sufficient evidence that blood product treatment and immediate surgery were reasonably essential for the husband's recovery.

Alaska High Court Rules On Constitutionality of Required TB Test

In Huffman v. State of Alaska, (AK Sup. Ct., April 3, 2009), the Alaska Supreme Court rejected a claim by parents of elementary school children that their religious liberty rights were violated by the state requirement that their children receive a PPD skin test for tuberculosis in order to enroll in school. The court held that the state requirement survived plaintiffs' 1st Amendment challenge as a neutral law of general application. Analyzing the claim under the free exercise clause of the Alaska Constitution (Art. I, Sec. 4), the court held that the parents had not shown that their objections were based on religious beliefs:

The Huffmans do not profess to subscribe to any organized religion. They rely solely on their affidavits as evidence of their nontraditional religious beliefs. Their statements use the terms "religion" and "religious beliefs," but they discuss only an opposition to putting harmful substances into the body. The record provides no indication that the Huffmans’ feelings are connected to a comprehensive belief system, set of practices, or connection to ideas about fundamental matters.

The court however remanded the case to the lower court for it to consider further plaintiffs' alternative claim that the required TB test violates their privacy interest in making decisions about their children's medical treatments, protected by Article I, sections 1 and 22 of the Alaska Constitution. It instructed the trial court to consider whether alternative tests for TB which do not involve injecting substances into the body could be used effectively to achieve the state's goals.

Mary Ann Glendon Turns Down Notre Dame's Laetare Medal

Harvard Law Professor (and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican) Mary Ann Glendon has told Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins that she has decided to turn down the prestigious Laetare Medal that she was to have been awarded at the upcoming graduation at which President Barack Obama will speak. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Boston Globe reprinted Glendon's letter to Jenkins which said she was dismayed when she learned that Notre Dame would also award Obama, who supports abortion rights, an honorary degree. She said that decision by the University was in violation of a policy of the U.S. Conference of Bishops that "those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles ... should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." Apparently, according to Glendon's letter, the final straw was "talking points" issued by Notre Dame that suggested Glendon's acceptance speech would be a balance to Obama's remarks.

Florida City Pays Chabad Damges and Attorneys Fees After Losing Zoning Case

Last August, a federal jury awarded Chabad of Nova $325,750 in damages on its RLUIPA claim after a federal district court ruled in favor of Chabad on most of its challenges to a Cooper City (FL)'s zoning restrictions imposed on houses of worship. (See prior posting.) The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported yesterday that Cooper City's insurer has now agreed to pay the award, plus interest, to Chabad and to also pay $470,000 for Chabad's attorneys fees. Chabad Rabbi Shmuel Posner was forced to move to a shopping center in Davie (FL) after Cooper City prevented his Outreach Center from opening as he had originally-planned. Now Rabbi Posner says he hopes to return to Cooper City when space becomes available. [Thanks to both Steven H. Sholk and Joel Katz [Relg. & State In Israel] for the lead.]

Navajos Plan Meeting With Obama Administration On Pending Snowbowl Case

The Gallup (NM) Independent reported yesterday that the Navajo Nation Council has approved its attorneys meeting with the Obama administration to try to work out a settlement in Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service. The Navajo Nation hopes that the meeting can be held before My 8 when the Solicitor General's brief in opposition to granting certiorari is due to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. (See prior posting.) In an 8-3 en banc decision in the case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not bar the Forest Service from approving the use of recycled waste water to make artificial snow at Arizona's Snowbowl ski resort, which operates on federal land that the tribes consider sacred. (See prior posting.) Some delegates to the Navajo Council say the organization may have to appeal to international bodies under principles of international law to obtain relief. They point especially to the United Nations 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Organization of American States' American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.

National Mock Trial Championship Refuses Religious Accommodation For Jewish School

According to a posting yesterday on the blog Teaneck Progress , the National High School Mock Trial Championship is refusing to accommodate Maimonides High School of Brookline Massachusetts by rescheduling the school's rounds so they do not take place on the Jewish Sabbath. Maimonides, as winner of the Massachusetts Bar Association's statewide competition, is entitled to move to the national competition. This year the nationals are being hosted by the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia on May 6-10, with the schedule calling for actual competition rounds on Friday and Saturday. Accommodation apparently would have required moving two of the rounds from Saturday to Friday. Reportedly both the attorney general of Georgia and the Anti Defamation League have expressed concern over the competition's refusal to grant the requested schedule change.

In 2005, accommodation was made for a New Jersey Jewish day school, but competition organizers voted to refuse accommodation in future years. Following the 2005 incident, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers created an alternative American Mock Trial Invitational to permit state high school champions with weekend religious obligations to still enter a national competition. Also in 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution urging the NHSMTC to accommodate religious beliefs of students. (See prior posting.)

UPDATE: Here (via Blog of the Legal Times) is the full text of a letter from counsel for some of the Maimonides students and their parents to the U.S. Justice Department asking it to investigate and take action to remedy the accommodation denial.

Controversial Religious Themed License Plates Being Considered In Florida

Saturday's St. Petersburg Times reports on the controversial debate and vote in Florida's legislature over adding two specialty plates with religious themes to the more than 100 license plates already available in the state. According to a report by the ADL, on Friday the Florida Senate added amendments providing for:

The "I Believe" plate which prominently displays a cross over a stained glass window, and directs annual license fees to Faith In Teach[ing], Inc., a religious organization, and

The "Trinity" plate which prominently displays a picture of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns with arms spread.

Fees from the Trinity plate will support the Toomey Foundation for the Natural Sciences. (Trinity plate amendment). The final Senate vote on SB 642 may come as early as today. Opposition by the ADL and ACLU has apparently led to withdrawal of similar proposals for a Trinity plate in the pending House version of the bill. [Thanks to both Scott Mange and Steve Sheinberg for leads.]

CAIR Calls For Florida GOP Leader To Step Down Over Sponsorship of Anti-Islam Event

The Florida Security Council, a private group dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of radical Islam, is sponsoring a "Free Speech Summit" tonight featuring controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders and his anti-Islamic video Fitna. (See prior posting.) State Rep. Adam Hasner, Republican majority leader in the Florida House of Representatives, is listed as one of 24 "coalition partners" with the Council. Yesterday the Council on American Islamic Relations called on GOP leaders in Florida to demand that Hasner step down from his state leadership position because of his connection with "a gathering at which the faith of millions of Americans is denigrated and their rights denied." The Summit, originally scheduled for the Delray Beach Marriott, has been relocated. The new location is available only by e-mailing the Florida Security Council.

Berlin Rejects Referendum For Optional Religion Classes In Schools

In Germany's capital of Berlin, voters yesterday rejected a referendum that would have given school children an option to take a religion course in place of the mandatory ethics classes that are now offered. Supporters hoped such classes would prevent the rise of Muslim radicalism. AFP reported yesterday that 51.3% of those voting opposed the measure. However, turnout was so low-- 14.2% of all voters-- that even a higher percentage of those voting would not have passed the measure. The current ethics course was introduced after a 2005 "honor killing" in Berlin's Muslim community. Supporters hoped it would foster common values and integration of children from different backgrounds. Most other German cities however permit an option of religion classes with children of different faiths taught separately. The referendum would have imposed that option in Berlin as well.

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

From SSRN:

• Seth Barrett Tillman, Blushing Our Way Past Historical Fact And Fiction: A Response to Professor Geoffrey R. Stone's Melville B. Nimmer Memorial Lecture and Essay, (Jan. 27, 2009).
• Paolo G. Carozza & Daniel Philpott, The Catholic Church, Human Rights and Democracy: Convergence and Conflict with the Modern State, (in The Cross, the Crescent and the Ballot Box: Catholic and Islamic Dialogue on the Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion, Peter Schraeder, ed., Forthcoming; Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 09-15).
• Cynthia Koploy, Free Exorcise Clause? Whether Exorcism Can Survive America's "New Neutrality", (Northwestern University Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Kenneth W. Starr, Our Libertarian Court: Bong Hits and the Enduring Hamiltonian-Jeffersonian Colloquy, (Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2008).
• Linda C. McClain, Red Versus Blue (and Purple) States and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate: From Values Polarization to Common Ground?, (University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review, Vol. 77, p. 416, 2008).
• Melissa E. Murray, Marriage Rights and Parental Rights: Parents, the State, and Proposition 8, (Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Forthcoming).
• Cosmin Dariescu & Nadia Cerasela Dariescu, Rabbinical Chancery in Romania - An Alternative to the State Organized Courts in Solving Family Litigations?, (International Society of Family Law: Regional Conference in Israel, June 7-9, 2009).
• Ann Laquer Estin, Unofficial Family Law, (February 1, 2009).

From Bepress:

• Abeer Ghazi Jarrar, Combating a Religious Radical Ideology v. Suppressing Islamic Opposition: Jordan’s Approach to Counterterrorism, (Cornell Law School Graduate Student Papers Series, April 14, 2009).
• Sigit Ardianto, From Secularism into Modified Pluralism: Comprehensive Application of John Rawls’s Justice as Fairness Theory in Defining State and Religion Relationship, (Cornell Law School Graduate Student Papers Series, April 14, 2009).

From SmartCILP:

• Geoffrey C. Hazard, Not the City of God: The Multiplicity of Wrongs and Rules, 42 Akron Law Review 1-11 (2009).

Recent Books:

• Jon A. Shields, The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right, (Princeton University Press, 2009), reviewed by the New York Times.
• ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses, Zoning and the Courts, (Michael S. Giaimo & Lora A. Lucero, eds.) (April 2009).

San Diego Settles RLUIPA Lawsuit Brought By Church

Yesterday's North County Times reports that a settlement has been reached in a RLUIPA lawsuit brought in 2007 against the city of San Diego (CA) by Grace Church of North County, a non-denominational congregation. The Church had applied for a 10-year conditional use permit to occupy space in a Rancho Bernardo industrial park. The Rancho Bernardo Planning Board refused the request as inconsistent with the community plan for the site. On appeal, the San Diego Planning Commission granted a 5-year permit. Grace Church sued, arguing that the industrial park already has another church and a synagogue in it. Under the settlement, the Church will receive $950,000 in damages and a permit to occupy its space for another 10 years.

Church Sues To Obtain Use of Park For Bible Group Picnics

On Thursday, a Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida sued city officials to challenge their exclusion from a downtown park of a weekly picnic held by a Bible study group from the Church. The Church members share their food with anyone who happens to be in the park, and then go to the Church nearby for formal Bible study. Originally the Church was told that the park was designated a "non-event park," and subsequently the Church was told use of the park required a permit and payment of a fee under regulations supposedly designed to protect the park's grass. The federal court complaint in St. Faustina Old Catholic Church v. City of Pensacola, (ND FL, filed 4/23/2009) (full text), alleges that the city's policy violates the Church's speech, association, free exercise , due process and equal protection rights protected by the U.S. Constitution as well as Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Alliance Defense Fund announced the filing of the lawsuit.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Seymore v. Joslyn, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32545 (ND NY, April 14, 2009), a New York federal district judge rejected a prisoner's claim that a corrections officer retaliated against him for being a Muslim by suggesting that plaintiff fantasizes about having a homosexual relationship with a male corrections employee.

In Eagle v. Gilbert, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32976 (ED MI, April 17, 2009), a Michigan federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendation that an inmate's lawsuit alleging he was prevented from attending Sunday religious services in prison be dismissed. The magistrate's conclusion was based on plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies in complaining that he was assigned to a Sunday morning work detail that interfered with Protestant services.

In Wakefield v. Indermill, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32909 (ED CA, April 6, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed, with leave to file an amended complaint, a lawsuit brought by a Seventh Day Adventist inmate against a Protestant prison chaplain. The court said plaintiff had not adequately alleged that defendant's refusal to provide him with weekly holy communion and foot washing deprived him of a reasonable opportunity to practice his faith or substantially burdened his free exercise.

In Mello v. Martinez, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32878 (ED CA, April 6, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge permitted an inmate to proceed with his free exercise and RLUIPA claims. Plaintiff alleged that two corrections officers destroyed his religious artifacts that are essential to most of his Native American religious ceremonies.

In Zargary v. City of New York, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33240 (SD NY, April 20, 2009), a New York federal district court rejected a free exercise claim by an Orthodox Jewish woman who objected to being required to briefly remove her headscarf, worn for religious reasons, while her identification photo was taken upon admission to a state correctional facility.

In Kuperman v. Comm'r, New Hampshire Dept. of Corrections, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33701(D NH, April 20, 2009), a New Hampshire federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendation (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33702 (April 7, 2009)) to permit an Orthodox Jewish inmate to proceed with his free exercise, RLUIPA and equal protection claims. At issue was the decision of prison authorities to deny plaintiff a waiver to grow his beard for religious reasons longer than one-quarter inch. However claims against certain of the defendants were dismissed.

In Nyholm v. Pryce, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34223 (D NJ, April 20, 2009), a New Jersey federal district court permitted an inmate to move ahead with his claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when he was prohibited from attending religious services during his confinement in administrative segregation.

In Scott v. Tilton, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34533 (ED CA, April 7, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed with leave to file an amended complaint an inmate's claim that prison authorities destroyed or donated four religious cassettes that were sent to him, instead of allowing him to retrieve them.

School Board Grants Uniform Exemption On Religious Grounds For 2nd Grader

The Irving, Texas school board this week, by a vote of 6-1, reversed the decision of an elementary school principal and granted a mother's request that her 7-year old daughter be allowed to wear her shirt untucked for religious reasons. Thursday's Dallas Morning News reported that Dyker Neyland says her second grader needs to wear her shirt tail out to comply with the Biblical requirement for modest dress found in 1 Timothy 2:9. The school's rule is part of its dress requirement for students. Before the vote, Neyland told the Board that she thought she was "being persecuted for being a Christian." [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Attempt Is Being Made To Re-Create Aryan Nations Headquarters In Idaho

Today's Salt Lake Tribune reports that two men in Cour d'Alene, Idaho are attempting to re-create a headquarters for the white separatist, anti-Semitic group, Aryan Nations, there. Apparently the election of Barack Obama is the catalyst for the new try which so far seems to have little support. The first Aryan Nations group that had been headquartered in Cour d'Alene was put out of business after the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2000 obtained a $6.3 million judgment against it on behalf of two residents who were shot by the group's security guards. Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler was forced to declare bankruptcy. Later the group's compound was leveled and turned into a peace park. Aryan Nations was an outgrowth of the Christian Identity movement, and the Idaho group still calls itself "Church of Jesus Christ Christian" on its website.

DC Circuit Again Says GITMO Detainees Not Covered By RFRA

In Rasul v. Myers, (DC Cir., April 24, 2009), the DC Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its earlier holding that Guantanamo detainees cannot bring an action under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to challenge alleged religious harassment at GITMO. The detainees alleged abuses such as denial of a Qu'ran and prayer mats, throwing a copy of the Qur'an into a toilet and forced shaving of their beards. The U.S. Supreme Court had remanded the case to the 9th Circuit for reconsideration in light of intervening Supreme Court precedent. (See prior posting.) Now, in a 2-1 decision, the DC Circuit concludes that non-resident aliens are not protected "persons" under RFRA. Judge Brown, writing a concurring opinion, took a different approach. She concludes that a literal application of RFRA's language would cover plaintiffs, but that this was clearly inconsistent with Congress' broader intent in enacting RFRA. She rejected the narrow definition of "person" put forward by the majority, but wrote:

Accepting plaintiffs' argument that RFRA imports the entire Free Exercise Clause edifice into the military detention context would revolutionize the treatment of captured combatants in a way Congress did not contemplate. In drafting RFRA, Congress was not focused on how to accommodate the important values of religious toleration in the military detention setting. If Congress had focused specifically on this challenge, it would undoubtedly have struck a different balance: somewhere between making government officials' wallets available to every detainee not afforded the full panoply of free exercise rights and declaring those in our custody are not "persons." It would not have created a RFRA-like damage remedy, but it likely would have prohibited, subject to appropriate exceptions, unnecessarily degrading acts of religious humiliation. It would have sought to deter such acts not by compensating the victims, but by punishing the perpetrators or through other administrative measures….

In 2000, when Congress amended RFRA, jihad was not a prominent part of our vocabulary and prolonged military detentions of alleged enemy combatants were not part of our consciousness. They are now. Congress should revisit RFRA with these circumstances in mind.

CNN yesterday reported on the decision.

Islamic Parties Lose Support In Indonesian Parliamentary Election

According to a front-page article in today's New York Times, in Indonesian parliamentary elections held earlier this month, Islamic parties that focused on religious issues suffered a drop in support. They received 26% of the vote, compared to 38% in 2004. Though official results are not yet out, polling and partial results show backing for secular parties, even as the historically moderate Muslims in Indonesia are growing more attached to Islam in their private lives.