Azerbaijan Places New Limits On Choice of Muslim Religious Leaders

Forum 18 reports that Azerbaijan's Parliament (the Milli Mejlis) yesterday adopted two new amendments to the country's Religion Law. The new provisions impact only the Muslim community. An amendment to Article 8 provides that all religious functionaries who lead Islamic places of prayer must be appointed by the Caucasian Muslim Board with approval of the government's executive officials. An amendment to Article 21 requires that: "The performance of religious rituals of the Islamic faith can be carried out only by citizens of Azerbaijan who have received their education in Azerbaijan." The bill now goes to the country's President who has 56 days to sign it or return it to Parliament. Presidential approval is expected quickly.

Pastor Will Lead Prayer In Pennsylvania Senate After Rejecting House's Rules

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives invites clergy to offer an opening prayer, but requires the prayer to be submitted in advance. When Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos was invited and submitted his invocation, a staff member in the Speaker's office requested that he remove a reference to Jesus in the closing. The House has recently adopted this policy to avoid litigation. Rev. Stoltzfoos, however, objected and decided not to accept the invitation to lead the House in prayer, saying: "I just feel like if you want me to pray, then I have to pray to the one thing I know." Now, according to yesterday's York Daily Record, Pennsylvania state Sen. Rich Alloway, who was "shocked" by the House policy, has invited Stoltzfoos to open the state Senate with a prayer-- where no similar editorial policy is in effect. Alloway, commenting on the House policy, said: "This government should not be antagonistic toward any religion."

DC Court Agrees With Election Board: No Referendum On Gay Marriages

In Jackson v. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics, (DC Super. Ct., June 30, 2009), the D.C. Superior Court refused to grant a preliminary injunction to stay the effective date of new legislation in D.C. that would recognize the validity of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The court upheld the finding by the Board of Elections that the law is not subject to a referendum because the referendum would violate D.C.'s Human Rights Act. (See prior posting.) In the lawsuit brought by seven D.C. residents led by Bishop Harry R. Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville (MD), the court said: "A citizen’s disagreement with constitutionally sound legislation, whether based on political, religious or moral views, does not rise to the level of an actionable harm." Today's Washington Times reports on the decision.

Leonard Leo Elected USCIRF Chairman

Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and a commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has been named chairman of USCIRF for a year-long term beginning July 1, according to a USCIRF press release yesterday. Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Elizabeth H. Prodromou, professor of International Relations at Boston University, were re-elected as vice-chairs. Leo ws appointed to USCIRF by President George W. Bush in 2007. Under the International Religious Freedom Act, the chair is elected each year by members of the Commission.

Activist Wants Illinois Governor To Veto Appropriations To Religious Institutions

Social activist Rob Sherman has written a top aide to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn urging him to exercise his line item veto to eliminate all grants in the state's recently passed appropriations bill (HB 313) that are directed to churches, parochial schools and other religious organizations. On his blog, Sherman focuses on a grant for infrastructure at St. Martin de Porres Church, a capital improvements grant to St. Malachy School and a grant for construction of a cabin at the Camp Chi. Sherman says the appropriations violate ban in the Illinois constitution on state-mandatessupport for any place of worship., and the ban on spending state funds on parochial schools

Court Refuses To Dismiss RLUIPA Challenge To "Shabbos House"

In Bikur Cholim v. Suffern, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54187 (SDNY, June 25, 2009), a New York federal district court refused to dismiss claims under RLUIPA and freedom of association claims challenging the denial of a zoning variance for a Suffern (NY) "Shabbos House." The facility provides overnight accommodations for Jews unable to travel on the Sabbath who wish to visit patients at Suffern's Good Samaritan Hospital. Complaints had been filed by private plaintiffs and also by the federal government alleging RLUIPA and other violations. The court concluded that: "Rabbi [Simon] Lauber's administration of the Shabbos House and private plaintiffs' utilizing the Shabbos House constitute 'religious exercise' under RLUIPA. As to all other elements of the RLUIPA claims, these remain for the factfinder." The court dismissed plaintiffs' equal protection claim.

Appeal Filed With 5th Circuit In Elementary School Hair Style Limits

Fort Bend Now reported yesterday that the Needville, Texas Independent School District has filed an appeal with the U.S. 5th Circuit in A.A. v. Needville Independent School District. In the case, a Texas federal district court granted a permanent injunction preventing an elementary school from enforcing the school district's hair style policy against a 5-year old whose family taught him to wear his hair in two long braids in the tradition of Native American religions. (See prior posting.)

Paper Complains That Mandated Free Day At Holy Land Experience Too Narrowly Advertised

In 2006, the Florida legislature passed a law assuring a property tax exemption for Holy Land Experience religious theme park-- assuring it a tax savings of about $300,000 per year. In order to keep the exemption, Holy Land was required by the law to offer one free-admission day per year. Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel complained that Holy Land only advertises the date of the free-day on the local Trinity Broadcasting Network channel-- WTGL--TV58. The date varies widely each year. Holy Land says that it has a capacity of only 1700, and wider advertising could overwhelm the park.

Israel's High Court Orders Kashrut Certificate For Bakery Owned By Messianic Jew

Israel's High Court of Justice yesterday ordered the Rabbinate in the city of Ashdod to grant a kashrut certificate (kosher certification) to a bakery owned by a Messianic Jew. Haaretz reports that the Chief Rabbinate Council had required bakery owner Pnina Comporati to have enhanced supervision because her beliefs, they felt, meant she could not be trusted to keep her bakery kosher. A 3-judge panel of the High Court ruled, however, that so long as an applicant's beliefs do not themselves affect the kashrut of the food, the Rabbinate has no authority to impose discriminatory requirements based on beliefs.

Cert. Denied In High School Bible Club, Missouri Funeral Picketing, Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied certiorari in two companion cases, Truth v. Kent School District, (Docket No. 08-1130) and Kent School District v. Truth, (Docket No. 08-1268) (Order List). In the case, the 9th Circuit upheld the application of a Seattle, Washington school's rules against religious discrimination to Truth, a Bible study club. The organization was denied recognition as a student group because its charter limits membership to those who sign a statement of fundamentalist Christian faith. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Seattle Times reported on the decision.

Separately yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Nixon v. Phelps-Roper, (Docket No. 08-1244) (Order List). In the case, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals had granted members of the Westboro Baptist Church a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Missouri's anti-funeral picketing law. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Christian Science Monitor reported on the decision.

LAPD Appoints First Muslim Chaplain

The Los Angeles Police Department has appointed its first Muslim chaplain-- Shiek Qazi Asad. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times reports that Asad applied for the volunteer position of reserve chaplain as part of his long-standing efforts to improve relations between Muslims and Los Angeles law enforcement. Fewer than 1% of LAPD officers ar Muslim.

Ave Maria Law School Claims Ministerial Exception

AveWatch earlier this month reported on the unusual defense mounted by Ave Maria University in a lawsuit against it by a law professor Stephen Safranek whose tenure and employment were terminated. In a motion to dismiss (full text) filed June 1, Ave Maria claims that it is a religious institution and that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine precludes civil court jurisdiction in the case. The motion argues that Ave Maria faculty were ministerial employees as a matter of law because the Law School's Faculty Handbook required them to integrate the moral and social teachings of the Catholic Church Plaintiff's response to the motion calls it "so untenable it is difficult to absorb on one reading."

[UPDATED] Obama Picks Camp David Church As His Home Congregation; White House Denies Story

After a 5-month search, President Barack Obama has decided to make Evergreen Chapel, the non-denominational church at Camp David, his primary place of worship. Time today reports that the unexpected move was motivated in large part by a desire to worship without being on display, as would be the case if he joined a Washington, DC congregation. Evergreen Chapel is open to the families of the 400 military personnel at Camp David. Navy chaplain Lieut. Carey Cash currently leads services at Evergreen Chapel. The Navy rotates chaplains through this assignment every three years. In picking Evergreen Chapel, Obama followed the choice of Pres. George W. Bush. Lieut. Cash is not likely to be Obama's primary spiritual advisor. Instead he seems to be relying on a small group of pastors with whom he keeps in touch.

UPDATE: At Monday's press briefing (full text), White House press secretary Robert Gibbs denied most of the Time story, saying:

There have been no formal decisions about joining a church. I think I've mentioned in here in the past couple of weeks that when he goes to Camp David he has attended services at the chapel there, he enjoys the pastor there. They're not formally joining that church and there have been no formal decisions on joining a church in this area.

I will say I think one aspect of the article that is true, as I mentioned here in that same discussion, was the concern that the President continues to have about the disruptive nature of his presence on any particular Sunday in some churches around the area. I think that was discussed in the article. And I know he is -- I think obviously he shares the strong belief that there's a very personal nature to one's spirituality. And for it to be -- for his presence to be disruptive, I think he believes that takes away from the experience that others might get and he certainly doesn't want to do that....

I think they will continue to look for a formal church home. I think when he's at Camp David, he'll continue to go to the chapel there. He has told us that he greatly enjoys that.

[Thanks to commenter on this posting for the lead.]

Report Says Many Muslim Marriages In Britain Are Unregistered

A report issued today by the British think tank Civitas says that some two-thirds of Muslim marriages in Britain are not being registered as required under the Marriages Act. These marriages are performed in smaller informal sharia courts outside the formal group of Muslim arbitration tribunals operating in four British cities. According to UTV News, the Civitas report says that an imam who conducts an unregistered marriage and then advises on disputes within that marriage is in breach of the law. Civitas has also issued a release on its new report.

Relatives Challenge Will Leaving Woman's Assets to Catholic Order

Yesterday's Hartford Courant reports that relatives of Gabrielle Mee are challenging her will that left all her property to the Connecticut-based to the Legionaries of Christ. Relatives discovered that Mee, who died last year at age 96, already had turned over some $7.5 million in cash and property to the Legionaries. Relatives say that Mee would never have left her assets to the order if she had known the truth about a sex scandal involving its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, who was accused of molesting at least nine boys in seminaries in Spain and Italy in the 1950s and '60s. They say the Legionaries is a cult that kept the deeply religious Mee isolated.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Mohammad Fadel, Political Liberalism, Islamic Family Law and Family Law Pluralism: Lessons from New York on Family Law Arbitration, (in Marriage and Divorce in a Multicultural Context: Reconsidering the Boundaries of Civil Law and Religion, Joel A. Nichols, ed., Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming 2010).
• Marc R. Poirier, Name Calling: Identifying Stigma and the 'Civil Union'/'Marriage' Distinction,(Connecticut Law Review, Vol. 41, 2009).

From SmartCILP:

• Yehiel S. Kaplan, A Father's Consent to the Marriage of His Minor Daughter: Feminism and Multiculturalism in Jewish Law, 18 Southern California Review of Law & Social Justice 393-460 (2009).
• Liaquat Ali Khan, Jurodynamics of Islamic Law, 61 Rutgers Law Review 231-293 (2009).
• Mark Strasser, The Coercion Test: On Prayer, Offense, and Doctrinal Inculcation, 53 St. Louis University Law Journal 417-483 (2009).

Indian Court Says Church May Not Be Required To Obtain Permit To Hold Worship Services

Zee News yesterday reported on a decision by the Madras High Court in India holding that district officials could not require a church to obtain a permit before conducting prayers inside its own building. The court ordered the Kanyakumari Revenue Divisional Officer not to interfere with prayers inside church premises, but told the church it should seek permission if it planned to take a procession outside of its building.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Chavis v. Goord, (2d Cir., June 25, 2009), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an inmate's claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when he was required to work on Sundays. The court found both a lack of exhaustion of administrative remedies and failure to allege any specific burden on religious beliefs.

In Rowe v. Bell, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52516 (ND IN, June 19, 2009), an Indiana federal district court refused to dismiss an inmate’s claim that practices which prevent him from attending or from viewing (on television) religious services, from fellowship with other inmates, and from regularly reading religious books violate RLUIPA.

In Bonnell v. Burnett, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27586 (ED MI, March 31, 2009), a Michigan federal district court concluded that a triable question of fact existed as to whether an inmate's professed need for a kosher diet was based on a sincerely held religious belief.

Russia Tells Court It Lacks Jurisdiction Over Chabad's Claim Against It

Last year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the parent organization for the Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement can pursue its claims against the Russian government to recover two historic collections of Jewish religious books and manuscripts that were seized in violation of international law. (See prior posting.) In January, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. ordered Russia to preserve the documents after Chabad feared they were not being properly cared for and might be sold on the black market. AP reports that in a filing on Friday, the Russian government told the court that in order to protect its sovereignty, it will not participate in the U.S. proceedings. Russia says that the U.S. should use diplomatic channels to deal with any dispute, arguing that U.S. courts lack authority to enter orders with respect to property owned by the Russian government.

Canadian Supreme Court Says Law Imposing Medical Treatment Over Minor's Objection Is Constitutional

In a 6-1 decision Thursday, Canada’s Supreme Court upheld Manitoba’s law that allows a court to order medical treatment for a child under 16 that it considers to be in the child’s best interest, despite the child’s religious objections. In A.C. v. Director of Child and Family Services, (Can. Sup. Ct., June 26, 2009), a case involving a 14-year old Jehovah's Witness who objected to a blood transfusion, Justice LeBel’s opinion for 4 justices concluded that the statute creates a proper constitutional balance between autonomy and the government's interest in protecting a vulnerable child from harm. The opinion held that the "best interest" standard mandated by the law involves a sliding scale of scrutiny, with the child's views becoming more important as the child becomes more mature. A child's religious heritage is one of the factors the court must examine in determining the child's best interest.

A concurring opinion by Chief Justice McLachlin and Justice Rothstein concluded that while legislative authorization of treatment over a minor's sincere religious objections amounts to an infringement of religious freedom under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is a justifiable infringement. "[T]he objective of ensuring the health and safety and of preserving the lives of vulnerable young people children is pressing and substantial, and the means chosen — giving discretion to the court to order treatment after a consideration of all relevant circumstances — is a proportionate limit on the right."

A dissent by Justice Binnie argued that in the case of a mature minor under 16, as here, rights of autonomy and religious freedom are violated by an irrebuttable presumption that a person under 16 lacks the capacity to make treatment decisions. Reuters on Friday reported on the decision.