Minister Sentenced On Tax and Bank Fraud Charges

The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced yesterday that former pastor Otis Ray Hope was sentenced to 37 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on criminal tax charges and for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was also ordered to pay over $2.4 million in restitution. Hope was hired in 1996 as the senior pastor for Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Maryland where he supervised the Montrose Christian School and the parish's "English as a Second Language" Program. Hope formed his own company to take over the ESL program, and diverted over $950,000 of student tuition payments to his own and his family's personal use. He also failed to pay taxes on those amounts. Separately he filed a false application for exemption from federal taxes for Shiloh Ministries, and fraudulently obtained a $1.75 million bank loan for a Conference and Retreat Center for Shiloh Ministries.

Pro-Life Group Gets Non-Profit Status After IRS Questions

A press release issued yesterday by the Thomas More Society reports that the Internal Revenue Service has issued a Determination Letter granting Section 501(c)(3) tax exempt status to the newly formed Coalition for Life of Iowa. Earlier the IRS questioned the "educational" nature of the Coalition's materials, prayer meetings, talks and other Pro-Life activities. Apparently the IRS also suggested that in order to receive 501(c)(3) status, the Coalition had to agree to limit its "picketing" and "protesting" of Planned Parenthood. (See prior posting.) (Full text of IRS correspondence.) A legal memorandum on behalf or the Coalition argued that the IRS requests "come perilously close to violating the First Amendment constitutional rights of the Coalition's supporters...."

En Banc Rehearing Sought In Washinton State Pharmacy Board Conscience Case

Last week, a Washington state pharmacy filed a petition and an accompanying legal memorandum (full text) with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking an en banc rehearing in Stormans Inc. v. Selecky. Last month, a 3-judge panel in the case refused to preliminarily enjoin enforcement of Washington State Pharmacy Board regulations that require pharmacists to fill all prescriptions (including Plan B, the "morning after" contraceptive) even if doing so violates their religious beliefs. (See prior posting.) A press release from Becket Fund reports on the filing.

IRS Proposes Rules To Clarify Who May Authorize Church Audit

BNA Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] reports that the Internal Revenue Service, in proposed regulations that will be published in tomorrow's Federal Register, is attempting to clarify which high level Treasury official has authority to make a determination under IRC Sec. 7611 that there are reasonable grounds to begin a church tax inquiry. [Full text of REG-112756-09 via BNA (subscription required)]. The Code section, in an attempt to obtain an objective appraisal of the need for this type of delicate examination, requires that a "reasonable belief" determination be made by an official whose "rank is no lower than that of a principal Internal Revenue officer for an internal revenue region." A 1998 IRS reorganization created confusion over who that official should be. In February, a Minnesota federal district court held that the Director of Exempt Organization Examinations was not a high enough official to satisfy the statutory requirement. (See prior posting.) The new regulations propose giving the authority to the Director of Exempt Organizations. BNA's Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] reports that there are likely to be many comments from the non-profit sector on the proposal.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the proposal from the Aug. 5 Federal Register.

Virginia Saudi Academy Gets Zoning Exemption

Yesterday, by a vote of 6-4, the Fairfax County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors agreed to grant the Islamic Saudi Academy a zoning exemption so it can expand its second campus. The Washington Post reports that this will allow the school to eventually enroll 500 more students. Currently around 1000 attend, 80% of whom are U.S. citizens. The Academy is the only Saudi-government funded school in the U.S. It has revised its curriculum several times in recent years after high-profile criticism of references in textbooks to intolerance and violence. (See prior posting.) However the curriculum is still guided by Wahhabist ideas. (See prior related posting.)

Rabbi Pleads Guilty In Charitable Tax Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced yesterday that a Brooklyn, New York rabbi has pled guilty to conspiring to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service by soliciting charitable donations with secret promises to refund up to 95% of the funds to the donors. Naftali Tzi Weisz, the Grand Rabbi in Boro Park of the Spinka Hasidic dynasty, along with several associates and five charitable organizations, were indicted in 2007 in the scheme under which donors falsely claimed the entire amount of their "donations" as tax deductions. Spinka realized over $744,000 from the scheme. Three of the donors have already pled guilty to tax evasion, and Weisz’s assistant, Gabbai Moshe E. Zigelman, has already been sentenced to 2 years in prison for his part in the conspiracy. Four California men who were part of the money laundering scheme were also scheduled to plead guilty yesterday.

Federal Magistrate Rejects Free Exercise Challenge To Marijuana Laws

In Hutchinson v. State of Maine, (D ME, July 20, 2009), a Maine federal magistrate judge recommended rejecting a free exercise challenge to Maine's prohibition on the cultivation of marijuana. Plaintiff James Hutchinson, who had been convicted on marijuana charges, brought a civil suit challenging the law. He claimed to be a member of The Religion of Jesus Church which has as a sacrament the use of cannabis. The court concluded that prior precedent precludes relying on the First Amendment or on the Maine Constitution's free exercise protections to invalidate marijuana laws. Today's Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal reports on the decision.

Israeli Gays Say Orthodox Created Culture That Led To Shooting Last Week

Time reported yesterday that in Israel, police are conducting a manhunt throughout Tel Aviv seeking the masked gunman who killed two and wounded 15 at a gay youth organization's headquarters on Saturday night. Haaretz said that the gunman stormed into a basement room in the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association building and opened fire on teenagers attending a weekly support group meeting. The gay community charges that anti-gay incitement by Orthodox Jewish rabbis and politicians created an atmosphere conducive to the shooting. Tel Aviv is a favorite vacation spot for gay tourists, and the Israel Ministry of Tourism has a marketing campaign specifically directed to the gay community. However Tel Aviv is just west of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak. While Israel's chief rabbis, and the Orthodox Shas Party, have all strongly condemned the shootings, there has been an ongoing culture war between gays and the Orthodox. Last year, a former Shas Party Health Minister blamed a series of small earthquakes on the rise in homosexual activity.

Jewish School's Appeal Will Be One of the First In Britain's New Supreme Court

In Britain beginning Oct. 1, a new Supreme Court will take over the appellate jurisdiction that has traditionally been exercised by the House of Lords. The change was authorized by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. (Background.) One of the first case that will be heard by the new court is an appeal by London's Jewish Free School of a controversial decision striking down its admissions policy. In June, the Court of Appeal held that the school's admissions criterion that favors only children considered Jewish by the Office of the Chief Rabbi amounts to racial, rather than religious, discrimination. Faith schools receiving public funding are exempted from legal prohibitions on religious discrimination, but not racial discrimination. At issue is whether the school can use the traditional Orthodox Jewish definition of who is Jewish that requires either the individual be born of a Jewish mother, or else that the person has been converted in accordance with Orthodox Jewish law. (See prior posting.) The Jerusalem Post reports that the House of Lords on Monday agreed to allow an appeal by the school. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

New Iqbal Pleading Standard Leads To Dismissal of Part of School-Music Lawsuit

In S.D. v. St. Johns County School District, (MD FL, July 29, 2009), a Florida federal district court applied the Supreme Court's new pleading standards announced in Ashcroft v. Iqbal to dismiss a portion of a lawsuit claiming that a school's music program violated free exercise and establishment clause constraints. The suit alleged that three Florida public school music teachers chose songs that were religious in nature for students to perform. (See prior posting.) The lawsuit was brought against the school district. It was also brought against the school principal and three teachers in their individual, as well as their official, capacities. (Full text of amended complaint.) The court held that the claims against defendants in the individual capacities did not meet the Iqbal test and so dismissed them as defendants. However the court refused to dismiss claims against the school district. Yesterday's Jacksonville (FL) News reported on the decision.

Russian Supreme Court Bans Radical Islamic Group

Interfax reported yesterday that the Appeal Board of the Russian Supreme Court has banned all activities in Russia of the Islamic group, Tablighi Jamaat. Upholding a finding by the Prosecutor General's Office that Tablighi Jamaat is an extremist group, the Court found that the group's advocacy of a Global Caliphate "threaten[s] interethnic and inter-religious stability in Russian society and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation."

USCIRF Writes Clinton Urging Her To Raise Religious Freedom Issues In Africa

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will begin a ten-day trip to seven African countries beginning August 4. (State Department briefing.) The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has written Clinton asking her to raise religious freedom issues when she visits Nigeria, and when she meets with Somalian officials at the AGOA Forum in Kenya. The letter (full text) points to sectarian violence in Nigeria and the introduction of Sharia law in some Nigerian states. In Somalia, USCIRF is concerned about infringements of religious freedom and issues relating to the implementation of Sharia law.

Italy Approves Use of RU-486 Amidst Threats of Excommunications

CathNews today reports that the Italian Pharmaceuticals Agency (AIFA) on Thursday approved the use of the abortion drug Mifepristone, also known as RU-486. AIFA required that it be administered only in a hospital setting. Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, Pope Benedict XVI's top expert on bioethical issues, said that the Church would excommunicate any doctor who prescribes the drug and any woman who takes it.

Drug Raid On Church of Universal Love and Music Leads to 22 Arrests

In Fayette County, Pennsylvania on Saturday, the County Drug Taskforce arrested 22 people in a raid on the Church of Universal Love and Music. Yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the raid took place during a 3-day music festival attended by around 800 people. Earlier this year, the church entered a settlement in a suit brought by it under RLUIPA challenging the county's denial of zoning permission for it to use property in an agricultural area for religious concerts. Under the settlement the Church may host up to 12 event per year, with a maximum crowd of 1,500 at each. The county claimed that the organization was actually operating as a music business rather than as a church. (See prior posting.)

UPDATE: Monday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a more detailed story, indicating that 23 people were arraigned overnight Saturday as a result of the raid. It reports that the raid "resulted in ... the seizure of enough marijuana, hash brownies, hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD, laughing gas and drug paraphernalia to pack two storage trailers with a capacity of about 3,000 pounds."

Court Says Atheists Challenging School Program May Not Proceed Anonymously

In Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Creek, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65818 (D CO, July 22, 2009), a Colorado federal magistrate judge denied plaintiffs' request that they be allowed to proceed using pseudonyms. Plaintiffs were atheists who were challenging as a violation of the Establishment Clause a Colorado school district's adoption of a program known as "40 Developmental Assets." Plaintiffs cited public views toward atheists and the fact that their children were parties to the case. The court held that a mere unsubstantiated potential for adverse public reaction does not justify proceeding anonymously. In particular, the court concluded that the children were not necessary parties to the litigation and criticized plaintiffs for bringing them in unnecessarily to justify the parents' proceeding under pseudonyms. The amended complaint in the case was filed after an earlier complaint challenging the same program was dismissed. (See prior posting.)

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Anthony Bessette, Regulating and Punishing Adultery in Korea and East Asia, (July 27, 2009).
• Nomi Maya Stolzenberg, Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet: A Religious Group's Quest for its Own Public School, (Law and Religion: Cases In Context, Gregory Alexander & Eduardo Penalver, eds., Aspen, 2010).
• Andrew M.M. Koppelman, Religious Establishment and Autonomy, (Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 25, 2009).
• Frederick Mark Gedicks, American Civil Religion: An Idea Whose Time Is Past, (March 2009).
• Zhong Zewei, Racial and Religious Hate Speech in Singapore: Reclaiming the Victim's Perspective, (Singapore Law Review, 2009).

From SmartCILP and elsewhere:

• Karima Bennoune, Toward a More "Courageous Politics" At the 60th Anniversary of the UDHR: Talking About Muslim Fundamentalism in the West, 24 Maryland Journal of International Law 125-134 (2009).
• Ayelet Blecher-Prigat & Benjamin Shmueli, The Interplay Between Tort Law and Religious Family Law: The Israeli Case, 26 Arizona Journal of International & Comparative Law 279-301 (2009).
• Daniel J. H. Greenwood, Faith Based Investing: Are Shares Entitled to the Residual?, 24 Research in Law & Economics 91-130 (2009).
• Ken Matheny, Catholic Social Teaching on Labor and Capital: Some Implications for Labor Law, 24 St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary 1-52 (2009).
• Mark Tushnet, Heller and the Critique of Judgment, 2008 Supreme Court Review 61-87.
• Symposium: Establishment and Fairness, 25 Constitutional Commentary 241-320 (2008).

India's High Court Prospectively Bars Shrines On Public Land

Merinews and the Calcutta Telegraph report on a decision handed down Friday by a 2-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India regarding the building of religious shrines. The decision involved an appeal by the Central government of an order against the government of Gujarat requiring it to remove all religious shrines that encroach on public land. The Apex Court ruled that existing shrines need not be relocated, but ordered the Solicitor General to draft guidelines to prevent future construction of shrines that encroach on public land.

Suit Threatened Against British Photographer Who Used Church For Photo Shoot

In Cornwall, England, attorneys for the vicar of the 13th century Anglican church in St. Michael Penkivel have threatened photographer Andy Craddock with legal action. Yesterday's London Daily Mail reports that Craddock and his girlfriend walked into the open church building with two models who posed for an erotic photo shoot, using the the church interior as a backdrop. Rev. Andrew Yates's solicitor says that the photos, published on Craddock's website, are blasphemous and has threatened to sue Craddock for trespass. He says public access to the church is only for worship or related church activities and that Craddock did not have permission for the photography session. In 2005, the church was used to film Rowan Atkinson's comedy about a serial killer, Keeping Mum. Craddock said: "How is it worse having someone naked in the church than having a film set there about murder and death? If the parishioners are upset by the naked girls on their altar, why are they not as upset about murders set around the church and the village?"

Establishment Clause Challenge To Homeless Shelter Lease and Sale Moves Ahead

In Community House, Inc. v. City of Boise, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65958 (D ID, July 29, 2009), an Idaho federal district court refused to grant defendants summary judgment and allowed plaintiffs to move ahead on their Establishment Clause challenge to the city of Boise's lease and eventual sale of a homeless shelter to Boise Rescue Mission. The court also permitted a challenge under Idaho's constitution to move ahead. Among other violations alleged in the lawsuit was religious discrimination in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. However the court concluded that nothing had been presented by plaintiff to support the allegation. The decision dealt with a number of other discrimination claims as well growing out of the lease and sale. A preliminary injunction had already been granted during the lease and before the sale involved in the case. (See prior related posting.)

Religious Discrimination Challenges To Placement On No-Fly List Dismissed

In Ibrahim v. Department of Homeland Security, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64619 (ND CA, July 27, 2009), Rahinah Ibrahim, a Muslim woman who is a citizen of Malaysia and was a graduate student at Stanford University in 2005, challenged the placement of her name on the Transportation Security Administration's no-fly list and her treatment at the San Francisco airport. This decision involves Ibrahim's amended complaint after a decision on various issues in the case by the 9th Circuit. Ibrahim claimed that placing her name on the no-fly list violated her right to freely exercise her religion, her right to freely associate with other Muslims and Malaysians, her right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and her rights to equal protection and procedural due process. The court, however, held that since Ibrahim had now returned to Malaysia, she cannot maintain her action for future relief because the Constitution does not apply extraterritorially to protect non-resident aliens outside the country.

As to Ibrahim's claim for damages on the basis of her past treatment at the San Francisco airport, under the Supreme Court's recent decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal her allegations were not strong enough to create a plausible case of religious and national origin discrimination. This claim was dismissed with leave to amend after discovery in other aspects of her case. Her claim that her hijab was temporarily removed by a police officer searching her was not sufficient to state a claim for violation of religious expression. Ibrahim was permitted to proceed against airport, police and city officials on claims of false imprisonment and interference with civil rights, and against all defendants on Fourth Amendment and emotional distress claims.