Condo Residents Get Shabbat Elevator, Ending Discrimination Complaints

Today's Baltimore Jewish Times reports that efforts by Orthodox Jewish residents of the Strathmore Tower condominium in Baltimore (MD) to obtain a "Shabbat elevator" have finally been successful. The 6-3 vote by the condominium board to start work on the changes resolves a two-year dispute in which the Maryland Commission on Human Relations issued a report finding probable cause for charges of religious discrimination. The condominium builder will cover the $3000 cost of modifying the elevator so it can be set to automatically stop at every floor on Saturdays. The Human Relations Commission is monitoring the situation and also wants the condo's bylaws changed to assure religious accommodation and a ban on religious discrimination. (See prior related posting.)

Utah and Arizona Issue Updated Guide On Polygamous Communities

The Utah and Arizona Attorneys General have released a revised edition of The Primer, a guide designed to assist law enforcement and human services agencies that provide assistance to fundamentalist Mormon families. It provides basic information on more than a dozen polygamous communities, using description mostly prepared by the groups themselves. Yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune says that this version of the guide has a neutral tone that no longer suggests that fundamentalist Mormons are "victims" of groups that experience more domestic violence or abuse than others. The Primer also describes the Safety Net Committee that was formed in 2003 by Utah and Arizona to bring together government agencies and nonprofits that are working to give people from polygamous communities equal access to justice, safety and services.

2nd Circuit Narrows Remedy Against Postal Unit Operating On Church Premises

In Cooper v. U.S. Postal Service, (2d Cir., Aug. 20, 2009), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that religious displays by the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church in the Contract Postal Unit it operates along side its ministry and outreach efforts in a store front facility in Manchester, Connecticut violate the Establishment Clause. Holding that plaintiff had standing to raise the Establishment Clause challenge, the court concluded however that the Establishment Clause breach "is limited to the area of the CPU performing the public function; all other areas of the CPU remain the province of the private entity." Therefore, the only remedy the court required was removal of religious material from the postal counter and related areas, along with installation of "visual cues [that] distinguish the space operating as a postal facility from the space functioning as the private property of the Church." The court said this could be a low railing or stanchions with hanging ropes of the sort that are found in a theater. The lower court had issued a broader injunction. (See prior posting.)

The court also attempted to limit its decision to the facts of the case, saying that plaitiff's complaint was that he became an unwilling participant in religious activity when he entered the postal facility. It went on: "Ordinarily, when CPUs are housed in churches or synagogues or monasteries or mosques, customers are alerted to the facility’s religious status by cues such as ecclesiastical architecture, schedules of religious services, and religious iconography or statuary." Here however a customer might become confused because the store front "gives no visual cues to alert its customers to its function as a Christian outreach facility." AP yesterday reported on the decision.

Driver Refuses To Operate Bus Carrying Atheist Ad

Now that the Des Moines, Iowa Area Regional Transit Authority has finally decided to allow an atheist group to run its ads on twenty local buses (see prior posting), transit officials face a different issue. Bus driver Angela Shiel refuses to drive a bus which carries the ad. Yesterday's Des Moines Register reports that DART has suspended the driver for violating its rule that drivers may not refuse to operate a working bus assigned to them. Some attorneys suggest that DART may have an obligation to accommodate Shiel's religious beliefs if it can do so easily. Apparently some passengers are also boycotting buses featuring the "Don't believe in God? You are not alone" ads.

Muslim Charity's Rights Violated In Freezing of Assets

On Tuesday, an Ohio federal district court in a 100-page opinion in KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner, (ND OH, Aug. 18, 2009) held that the federal Office of Foreign Assets Control violated the due process rights of a Muslim charity when in 2006 it froze its assets without providing notice of the reasons or an opportunity for a hearing. In a long discussion of Fourth Amendment law, the court also concluded that OFAC should have obtained a warrant before freezing the group's assets.

The court also concluded that OFAC acted arbitrarily in blocking access by the charity to use of its own funds to pay its attorneys. The government is investigating whether the charity should be classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist" organization because of alleged contribution of funds to Hamas. The court concluded that OFAC's provisional determination to classify the group as an SDGT is not final and thus not subject to review. Yesterday's New York Times reported on the decision. The Council on American-Islamic relations issued a press release calling the decision "a victory for all Americans who value the constitutional rights to due process and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure."

Louisiana Parish School Board Expands Invocation Invitee List

Apparently in a move to strengthen its hand in a pending lawsuit, the Tangipahoa (LA) Parish School Board made a change in its invocation policy. The Advocate reports that at Tuesday's Board meeting, members unanimously agreed that the list of clergy who will be invited to offer prayers can be expanded to include ministers, imams and rabbis from houses of worship outside Tangipahoa Parish attended by Tangipahoa residents. (See prior related posting.)

Advocacy Groups Caution Illinois On Grants To Religious Organizations

Americans United and the Anti Defamation League in a joint letter (full text) to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity cautions the state about proceeding with $40 million in grants to 97 religious institutions without instituting proper safeguards. The letter warns that state agencies need to put in place effective safeguards to assure that the funds are used only for secular, neutral and non-ideological purposes. It also says that cash payments should not be made to pervasively sectarian institution. Yesterday's Chicago Tribune reports that the grants are part of a $31 billion infrastructure improvement bill signed last month by the Governor. (See prior related posting.)

Settlement Reached In New Haven Street Preacher Case

A consent judgment (full text) was entered Monday in Connecticut federal district court in Morrell v. City of New Haven, (D CT, Aug. 17, 2009). Under terms of the order, New Haven, Connecticut police agree not to apply Connecticut's disorderly conduct statute (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 53a-182) to preaching on public sidewalks by Jesse Morrell, unless Morrell's "predominant intent" is to annoy, alarm or cause unreasonable noise. The city also agreed to pay $25,000 to cover damages, attorneys fees and litigation costs. A release by Alliance Defense Fund says that in 2004 New Haven police stopped Morrell from preaching at four different locations.

Obama On Conference Calls With Faith Groups On Health Care

President Obama yesterday participated in two faith-based conference calls urging support for health care reform. The Washington Post reports that first Obama spoke with Jewish leaders on a call organized by the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism. The RAC has also launched a website, Jews for Health Care Reform. Then in the afternoon President Obama spoke for ten minutes as part of a call sponsored by a broad array of faith groups organized through Faith In Public Life. An audio recording of the call is archived on the Faith for Health website, which estimates 140,000 listened to the call in real time. Obama told listeners that some critics are "bearing false witness" in their opposition to health care reform.

New Venezuela Education Law Eliminates Religious Education In Schools

Last week Venezuela's National Assembly passed a controversial new Education Law that impacts the teaching of religion in schools. According to a Catholic News Service report yesterday: "One clause of the new law, which covers all levels of education and both public and private institutions, requires education to have a 'lay character … in all circumstances' and leaves religious education to families." According to a report Saturday in the Miami Herald, the new law "gives a major role in education to the so-called 'communal councils,' which are community assemblies mostly dominated by the ruling Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela." Opponents who say the new law gives Hugo Chavez's central government too much control over schools say they will seek a referendum to overturn the law.

Oklahoma Court's Ruling Apparently Invalidates Medical Providers Conscience Provisions

In 2008, the Oklahoma legislature enacted the Freedom of Conscience Act, SB 1878 (full text Word doc). The bill not only contains very broad conscience protections for medical personnel who object to participating in a variety of procedures, but it also requires medical providers, before performing an abortion, to conduct an ultrasound and describe and display in detail the ultrasound image to the woman seeking the abortion. The ultrasound provisions were challenged in a state court lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, as were certain provisions on wrongful birth actions and the administration of RU-486 to cause an abortion. (Background.)

AP reports that yesterday an Oklahoma County District Court struck down the law without getting to the primary constitutional issues. The court instead held that the statute violates the requirement in Sec. V-57 of the Oklahoma Constitution that any state statute deal only with a single subject. The effect of that holding, while opening the way to re-enactment of all the law's provisions in separate bills, also would seem to invalidate until re-enactment the freedom of conscience provisions that apparently had not been challenged by plaintiff.

UPDATE: Wednesdy's New York Times reports that the state will appeal the decusion to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Egypt's Mubarak Visits White House; Advocates Want Obama To Raise Human Rights Issues

Yesterday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited the White House. Ahead of the visit, groups such as U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (text of letter) and the Institute on Religion and Public Policy (text of letter) urged the President to raise questions of religious freedom with Mubarak. At a Washington press conference yesterday called by Coptic Christian groups to protest the human rights situation in Egypt, arguments broke out between speakers and Muslims attending the press conference over the role of sharia law in Egypt. (Christian Post).

At the White House press briefing yesterday, press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked whether Obama raised human rights issues with Mubarak:

Q: Back to Mubarak. Can you say how the President raised the issue of human rights and political reform in Egypt during the talks?

MR. GIBBS: Let me get a specific read. I did not talk to Denis and those guys before I -- about the other topics that were talked about.

Q: Well, generally, do you think it's fair that there's a perception among some dissidents and human rights groups that this administration has downplayed that side of the relationship in pursuit of broader issues?

MR. GIBBS: I would not -- I would not agree with the premise that we have somehow swept under the rug, in either this relationship or in relationships with other countries, the notion of human rights or greater democracy in the world. Obviously those are important foreign policy goals that are in the national interest of this country. And we will continue to pursue those, as well as issues relating to comprehensive Middle East peace.

Sex Offender Challenging NC Law Barring Church Attendance Near Child-Care

Yesterday's Charlotte (NC) Observer reports that James Nichols, a sex offender who has completed his prison sentence, has enlisted the ACLU to help him challenge a North Carolina law barring registered sex offenders from being within 300 feet of a school, playground, day care or children's museum. The law took effect last December. Nichols was arrested by a Chatham County sheriff's deputy in March for attending Moncure Baptist Church, where he had disclosed his past to the pastor. The church has a child-care facility on premises.

Nichols also faces a second charge because he was staying with a friend who later took a 14-year old girl into her home. Nichols has now moved to Sanford where police officials allow him to attend Try Jesus Ministries, even though the church has children's programs.

A coalition of psychologists and social workers are supporting a bill in the North Carolina legislature that would allow sex offenders to attend adult programs at churches if they have written permission from church leaders. Many think churches can play an important role in rehabilitating sex offenders. However Sen. David Hoyle who sponsored the existing sex offender law says: "As far as I'm concerned, they've lost all their rights -- to go to church ... to go to McDonald's to get a cheeseburger if they've got the slides."

Group Opens San Francisco Office, Calling Area Hostile To Religious Liberty

The Pacific Justice Institute has opened a new office in Oakland, California to serve the San Francisco Bay area. Yesterday's San Franciso Business Times interviewed Kevin Snider who will head the office. Snider said: "The San Francisco region is without a doubt one of the most hostile places in the country toward religious liberties and values." PJI's website says it focuses on religious freedom issues such as "curtailments to evangelism by the government, ... students and teachers rights to share their faith at public schools [, and] ... the rights of parents ... to homeschool, review and have notice of public school curriculum and presentations, and opt out their children from objectionable material...."

2010 Census Again Will Not Count Overseas Mormon Missionaries

Sunday's Salt Lake (UT) Tribune reported that, as in past years, the 2010 census will not count the estimated 11,000 Mormon missionaries living overseas. The only individuals not in the U.S. who are counted by the census are federal civilian and military personnel and those on merchant vessels. A test in 2004 to determine the feasibility of counting other Americans overseas was unsuccessful. The issue is of great concern to the state of Utah. In the 2000 census, it would have been entitled to an additional seat in the House of Representatives if it had 857 more people. Instead that seat went to North Carolina, home of many military bases. Utah's court challenges to census procedures have failed. Utah v. Evans (Sup. Ct. 2002). Only Congressional legislation can change the Census Bureau's decision, and that is unlikely in time for next year's census. An alternative approach was part of the proposal earlier this year to give the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House of Representatives. The bill (S. 160) would also have awarded an additional seat to Utah. That bill, however, stalled in the House over attempts by some in Congress to use the bill to also invalidate most of D.C.'s firearms regulations. (Background.)

US Catholic Bishiops Unveil Health Care Reform Website; Oppose Abortion Coverage

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has created a new website on Health Care Reform. Zenit yesterday reported that the site includes letters from bishops to Congress, videos, statistics, FAQ's , and links to legislators. While the bishops view health care as a basic right, they raise concerns that it not become a vehicle for promoting abortion rights or reversing the present ban on federal funding of abortions. A letter on the website from Philadelphia's Cardinal Justin Rigali raises questions regarding the House bill, arguing that its provisions for individuals to pay an additional premium for plans that cover abortions has merely created a "legal fiction."

Sri Lanka Proposes Ban On Religious-Themed Political Parties

In Sri Lanka, in the wake of the government's victory in May in its 25-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has proposed changes in the country's Parliamentary Elections Act. Aiming at small and regional political parties, he has proposed a ban on political parties whose names signify an ethnic or religious group. The Island today reports that the proposal calling for the Election Commissioner to deny legal recognition to such parties is an attempt to create a national identity in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious country.

Salvation Army Drug Treatment Employee Is Not State Actor

In Cain v. Caruso, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70009 (ED MI, Aug. 11, 2009), a Michigan federal district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge in lawsuit filed by a parolee who failed to complete his drug treatment program that was a condition of his parole. The magistrate judge, at 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71692 (July 23, 2009), recommended that defendant Margaret Tursak be found not to be a "state actor" in her position with a faith-based drug treatment program operated by the Salvation Army. Defendant Tursak separately raised the defense of qualified immunity. The magistrate judge rejected that defense, finding that the policies underlying qualified immunity do not extend to staff employed by a private drug treatment center.

Tensions Increase This Summer In Catskills Between Hasidim and Locals

Last week the Forward carried an article detailing tensions in Sullivan County, in New York's Catskill Mountains, between local residents and the Skver Hasidim, a Orthodox Jewish sect currently based in New Square, New York. In 2006, the Skvers bought the 450-acre former Homowack property which they initially operated as a summer resort for their members and operated this summer as a girls' camp. In 2007 the Skvers announced plans to invest tens of millions of dollars to turn the property into a new town, Kiryas Skver, as "a twin community to the current shtetl" of New Square which the group is outgrowing. The Skvers' purposely isolate themselves from outside culture to devote themselves to "traditional Torah values." This summer, however, the girls' camp that the Skvers were operating on the Homowack site was cited for numerous safety violations and ordered closed down by the Department of Health. The camp closed on Aug. 9. The Skvers were also charged by the Department of Environmental Conservation over an oil spill, and have a large back tax bill for failing to pay hotel occupany taxes in 2007 and 2008. All of this has increased tensions between the largely non-Jewish year-round residents of Sullivan County and the tens of thousands of Hasidim who visit the area each summer.

Pagan Group's Right To Use Park For Ceremony Is Questioned

KERO News yesterday reported on a confrontation of sorts that occurred in a Bakersfield, California park last week when a group of pagans chose the park to use for their harvest ritual. Ravens Folk Kindred, a group of Odinists, apparently frightened neighbors as they raised their tattooed arms into the air. Some of the onlookers thought they were white supremacists giving the Nazi salute. A park ranger and two sheriff's deputies arrived to investigate and initially told the group that they were breaking no laws. But later the ranger with 5 deputies returned to Standard Park and ordered the group to leave.