Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Japan's Catholic Bishops Says Clergy Should Not Serve As Citizen Judges
Author Criticizes Religious Views of Nominee For Head of NIH
At Washington Meeting With Chinese, Obama Raises Religious Freedom Issue
The White House has posted a press release and video of the President's remarks.[T]he United States respects the progress that China has made by lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Just as we respect China's ancient and remarkable culture, its remarkable achievements, we also strongly believe that the religion and culture of all peoples must be respected and protected, and that all people should be free to speak their minds. And that includes ethnic and religious minorities in China, as surely as it includes minorities within the United States.
Support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. Our nation is made up of immigrants from every part of the world. We have protected our unity and struggled to perfect our union by extending basic rights to all our people. And those rights include the freedom to speak your mind, to worship your God, and to choose your leaders. These are not things that we seek to impose -- this is who we are. It guides our openness to one another and to the world.
Nigerian Rebels Demanding Sharia Expand Attacks On Security Forces
Monday, July 27, 2009
India's Defense Minister OK's Beards In Military For Muslim Men
Texas County May Contract With Chaplain Service For Employees
Recent Articles of Interest
- Elliott Visconsi, The Invention of Criminal Blasphemy: Rex v. Taylor (1676), (Representations, Vol. 103, pp. 30-52, Summer 2008).
- Lea Bishop Shaver, The Inter-American Human Rights System: An Effective Institution for Regional Rights Protection?, (July 22, 2009).
- Francis Joseph Mootz, Faith and Politics in the Post-Secular Age: The Promise of President Obama, (July 13, 2009).
- Erin J. Cox, Freeing Exercise at Expression's Expense: When RFRA Privileges the Religiously Motivated Speaker, (UCLA Law Review, Vol. 56, p. 169, 2008).
- Prakash Shah, The Indian Dimension of An-Na'im's Islam and the Secular State, (Islam and Europe: Crises Are Challenges, Marie-Claire Foblets & Jean-Yves Carlier, eds., Leuven University Press, 2009).
- MarĂa Fraile Ortiz, The Islamic Headscarf: Does Context Matter?, (InDret, Vol. 3, 2008).
- Andrew F. March, Are Secularism and Neutrality Attractive to Religious Minorities? Islamic Discussions of Western Secularism in the 'Jurisprudence of Muslim Minorities' (Fiqh Al-Aqalliyyat) Discourse, (Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 2821-2854, 2009).
From SmartCILP and elsewhere:
- Symposium on the Environment, 23 Notre Dame Journal of Law Ethics & Public Policy 429-697 (2009).
- Jeffrey Shulman, Making Sense of the Establishment Clause, Engage, Vol. 10, Issue 2, p. 4 (2009).
- George W. Dent, Jr., The Growing Clash Between Religious Freedom and the Gay Movement, Engage, Vol. 10, Issue 2, p. 7 (2009).
Sunday, July 26, 2009
"Flying Imams" Can Proceed Against Airport Security Officers For Search and Arrest
In Shqeirat v. U.S. Airways Group, Inc., (D MN, July 24, 2009), the court wrote, in part:
The court however did dismiss plaintiffs' claims against US Airways holding that it was not a state actor and that law enforcement officers did not substitute the airline's judgment for their own. the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on the decision yesterday. (See prior related posting.)MAC Defendants suggest that the attacks of September 11, 2001—perpetrated by men of Middle Eastern descent who espoused a radical version of Islam—justifies a massive curtailment of liberty whenever terrorism, and in this case, the suspicion of Islamic terrorism, is concerned. Unquestionably the events of 9/11 changed the calculus in the balance American society chooses to make, especially in airport settings, between liberty and security. Ultimately, the proper balance will be achieved, in large part, because we have the most capable and diligent law enforcement and intelligence communities in the world. But when a law enforcement officer exercises the power of the Sovereign over its citizens, she or he has a responsibility to operate within the bounds of the Constitution and cannot raise the specter of 9/11 as an absolute exception to that responsibility.
On the record before the Court, no reasonable officer could have believed they could arrest Plaintiffs without probable cause. The right that was violated is clearly established, and, thus, the MAC Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. Accordingly, summary judgment is denied on the unreasonable seizure claim.
USAID Inspector General Raises Questions About Religious Nature of Some Grants
This audit surveyed 31 USAID regional legal advisors, as well as 9 of the 10 faith-based organizations that receive the most USAID funding, concerning the use of USAID funds for religious activities. From these responses, audit staff found that some USAID-awarded funds were used for religious activities in four contracts that amounted to more than $325,000. These funds were used for the rehabilitation of mosques and adjoining community centers in Iraq. USAID also funded, within a program to combat HIV/AIDS, lesson plans that contained Biblical applications and discussions.Both the Washington Post and BeliefNet News reported last week on the IG's audit.
However, USAID officials were unsure whether such uses of Agency funding violated Agency regulations or the Establishment Clause .... In their view, the relevant legal precedent relating to the separation of church and state, and its application overseas—especially in light of foreign policy objectives—complicated the decision-making process about what activities should or should not be funded. USAID requested legal clarification on this issue from the Department of Justice in 2007 but has not received final guidance...
Georgia Judicial Council Permits Religious Head Coverings In Courtrooms
Head coverings are prohibited from the courtroom except in cases where the covering is worn for medical or religious reasons. To the extent security requires a search of a person wearing a head covering for medical or religious reasons, the individual has the option of having the inspection performed by a same-sex officer in a private area. The individual is allowed to put his or her own head covering back on after the inspection is complete.
Canada's High Court Rejects Hutterite Challenge To License Photo Requirement
The Province's evidence demonstrates that the existence of an exemption from the photo requirement would materially increase the vulnerability of the licensing system and the risk of identity‑related fraud. Second, the universal photo requirement for all licensed drivers minimally impairs the s. 2(a) right. The impugned measure is reasonably tailored to address the problem of identity theft associated with driver’s licences. The evidence discloses no alternative measures which would substantially satisfy the government’s objective while allowing the claimants to avoid being photographed.The majority also rejected a claim that the universal photo requirement infringes the equal protection guarantee of Sec. 15 of the Charter.
Justices Abella, LeBel and Fish each wrote a dissent. They stressed both the significant impact of the universal photo requirement on the Hutterite's religious beliefs and argued that the regulation is not a proportionate response to the problem of identity theft. Yesterday's Calgary Herald, reporting on the decision, says that the Hutterites are considering the possibility of leaving the province for a location that would be friendlier to them. Today's Lethbridge (AB) Herald also reports on the decision after interviewing the lawyer who represented the losing Hutterite colony.
Islamic Restictions Increasingly Being Enforced In Gaza
Analysis Says European Fears Regarding Muslim Communities Appear Unfounded
Recent Prisoner and Institutionalized Persons Free Exercise Cases
In Ayotte v. McPeek, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62163 (D CO, June 5, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge allowed an inmate to move ahead with his claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when his requests to replace his defective hearing aids were denied.Plaintiff alleged, along with other claims, that he has been prevented from fully understanding the religious programs that he attends in prison.
In Modlenaar v. Liberatore, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62842 (WD NY, July 21, 2009), a New York federal district judge allowed a former Attica inmate to move ahead against a corrections officer in a suit challenging a denial of kosher food for six days while he was on a medically restricted diet.
In Pratt v. Hogan, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63086 (ND NY, July 6, 2009), a civilly committed patient claimed that his required sex offender treatment program violated his free exercise rights. He alleged that he was an atheist, and the Good Lives Model and Boundaries Program compels one to believe in "spirituality" and includes relaxation programs that are partly based on eastern Zen practices. A New York federal district court concluded that defendants are entitled to qualified immunity because it was objectively reasonable for them to perceive no constitutional violations in implementing the program.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Suit Against Children Services Officials By Muslim Mother Is Mostly Dismissed
Plaintiffs fail to cite a single precedent establishing that, even when viewed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs, Defendants acts--placement in a Christian foster home, refusal to place them in a Muslim foster home, refusal to provide them with a list of Muslim leader's phone numbers, or falsely reporting in FCCS' administrative file that they did not want to practice Islam--interfered with their right to free exercise. Accordingly, they have waived their free exercise claim by failing to support or develop it.Plaintiffs were permitted to move ahead with claims under Section 1983 that the social worker interfered with protected rights of familial association and that she retaliated for plaintiff's engaging in protected speech. Plaintiffs were also permitted to proceed with a state law claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The social worker was charged with falsifying facts in her administrative file on the children.
Evangelist Tony Alamo Convicted On Mann Act Charges
3rd Circuit Says RLUIPA Zoning Challenge Is Not Ripe
Friday, July 24, 2009
4th Circuit Says Warden Has Qualified Immunity In Demotion of Rastafarian Officer
Saskatchewan Court Says Marriage Commissioner May Not Refuse To Perform Gay Weddings
M.J. and other members of the public do not have to depend upon encountering a marriage commissioner who has no moral or religious objection to performing a same sex marriage in order to gain access to an entitlement to be married without discrimination. Regardless of the religious basis of Mr. Nichols’ views, his acting on them in this manner constitutes discrimination in the provision of a public service on the basis of sexual orientation. Any accommodation of Mr. Nichols’ religious views, if the duty to accommodate exists, is not the responsibility of those who seek the services that he is legally empowered to provide. If any accommodation is due to Mr. Nichols for his religious views, it must be accomplished without risking what occurred here – where the complainant sought a service and was expressly denied it on the basis of his sexual orientation....Reporting on the decision, the Regina (SK) Leader-Post says that provincial officials will still move ahead with plans to obtain a Court of Appeal ruling on the constitutionality of a proposed law that would exempt marriage commissioners from performing same-sex marriages if they object to doing so for religious reasons. (See prior related posting.)
I am sympathetic to the argument that a public official acting as government is at the same time an individual whose religious views demand respect. However, a public official has a far greater duty to ensure that s/he respects the law and the rule of law. A marriage commissioner is, to the public, a representative of the state. She or he is expected by the public to enforce, observe and honour the laws binding his or her actions. If a marriage commissioner cannot do that, she or he cannot hold that position.
Religious Objections To USDA's Animal Tagging Program Rejected
All but one of the plaintiffs live in Michigan and the lawsuit focused on Michigan's adoption of NAIS as a means of combating tuberculosis in cattle. The court dismissed claims against the U.S. Department of Agriculture because plaintiffs' alleged injuries stemmed from the independent decision of the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) to adopt the program, and not from action by the USDA. It dismissed claims under RFRA and NEPA against the MDA, because neither of those federal statutes apply to states. It dismissed claims that MDA failed to comply with state law on 11th Amendment grounds, and rejected supplemental jurisdiction over three state law claims. AP reported on the decision. (See prior related posting.)