Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Prosecutors Seek To Offer Unusual Religious Analysis In Competency Trial
Amicus Brief Raises Opposition To UN Convention
High School Cheerleaders Cannot Carry Religious Banners On Field
An attorney for the Christian Law Association has been advising those upset with the school's ruling on at least two alternative routes, according to Chattanoogan.com. Barbara J. Weller says that while the students may not continue to put Bible verses on the banners they have been making officially for the games, they can make other banners with Bible verses on them, as long as they make the banners at home and bring them to the games on their own, without the school's approval, permission or participation. She also says that the school should not be able to prohibit banners that merely used the words, "Power, Love, Self Discipline" without reference to the Bible verse that includes them.
UPDATE: At an Oct. 13 meeting, the Catoosa County School Board upheld the superintendent's ruling. (ABP).
Supporters of Sectarian Prayer Threaten Billboards Exposing Council Votes
Court Rejects Copyright Suit Claiming Infringement In Use of Judas Iscariot Trial
The trials depicted in the two works are dramatically different in substance, setting, plot, theme, language, and the overall thrust and feel of the works. Stripped of unprotectible elements—such as the biblical characters and biblical story—the works are not substantially similar.Courthouse News Service reported on the decision yesterday.
German Court Says School Must Provide Prayer Space For Muslim Student
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
New York Appellate Court Voids Church Election of New Pastor and Trustees
Plaintiffs, who objected to Williams as pastor, sued challenging the validity of the 2006 meeting. The appellate court agreed with their challenge, finding that defendants failed to prove who were church members entitled to vote at the meeting. The court declared that the two remaining original trustees were the only valid trustees. It went on to enjoin Williams and his supporters from exercising any authority or control over church property. [Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]
Court Rejects Interlocutory Appeal In Minnesota Charter School Case
British Jewish Schools Implement New Admissions Criteria Ordered By Court
Monday, September 28, 2009
Christian Group Creates "Adopt a Liberal" Initiative
Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy....
Please pray daily for the liberal(s) of your choice, so each can become a good influence on our Nation's culture. Prayer is powerful! It allows God to change the minds of those for whom we are praying. In fact, we fully expect that many of our adoptees will "graduate" from this prayer program with vivid testimonies of God having changed their lives and worldviews!
Woman's Caning Sentence Upheld On Appeal In Malaysia
Victoria Government Agrees To Broad Religious Exemptions In Discrimination Law
2010 National Religious Moot Court Announced
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Recent Articles and Books of Interest
- Jeffrey M. Lipshaw, Can There Be a Religion of Reason? A Response to Leiter's Circular Conception of Religious Belief, (Suffolk University Law School Research Paper Series, Sept. 27, 2009).
- Mostapha Benhenda, Liberal Democracy and Political Islam: The Search for Common Ground, Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Forthcoming).
- Umar Aimhanosi Oseni, Towards the Effective Legal Regulation of Waqf in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects, (September 25, 2009).
From SmartCILP:
- Stephen M. Johnson, Is Religion the Environment's Last Best Hope? Targeting Change in Individual Behavior Through Personal Norm Activation, 24 Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation 119-164 (2009).
- Chad G. Marzen, The Role of Custom in Canon, Jewish, and Islamic Law: Supplemented, Superseded, or Supplanted by Written Law?, 35 Ohio Northern University Law Review 813-827 (2009).
- Anne Orford, Jurisdiction Without Territory: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Responsibility to Protect, 30 Michigan Journal of International Law 981-1015 (2009).
- Nicholas C. Rigano, Fraudulent Conveyance Law: Destroying Free Exercise Rights at a Church Near You, 17 American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review 165-187 (2009).
Recent Books:
- Anne Marie Lofaso, Religion in the Public Schools: A Road Map for Avoiding Lawsuits and Respecting Parents' Legal Rights (Americans United for Separation of Church & State, 2009), reviewed on AU's website. [Link is to full text of book.]
- David Nash (ed.), Blasphemy in Britain and America 1800-1930, (4 vols.) (Pickering & Chatto Publishers, forthcoming April 2010).
China Issues New Report on Its Ethnic Policy-- Claims Religious Freedom
Freedom of religious belief in China means that every citizen has the freedom to believe or not to believe in any religion," said the white paper issued by the Information office of the State Council.... [A]ll normal religious activities, including those of ethnic minorities, are protected by law.... Venues for religious activities are found all over China, basically satisfying the needs of religious believers.... [T]he Chinese government also helps religious groups build seminaries to train clergymen of ethnic minorities, subsidizes the repairs of some religious venues in minority areas, and gives allowances to poor religious believers of ethnic minorities, according to the white paper.The White Paper comes in the wake of a letter earlier this month (full text) from two members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Jon Huntsman, the new U.S. ambassador to China, raising concerns about reported plans by China to take new steps against "house churches" leading up to the Oct. 1 marking of the 60th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China. (Christian Post, Sept. 10.)
Illinois Supreme Court Says Limitiations Extension Cannot Be Applied Retroactively
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Davis v. Hightower, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85505 (ND FL, July 13, 2009), a federal magistrate judge recommended rejection of a Wiccan inmate's claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when authorities confiscated 9 "religious healing stones" from his property which he used to help heal his peptic ulcer.
Mauwee v. Donat, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86148 (D NV, Sept. 18, 2009), involved claims that prison officials desecrated the prison's sweat lodge area by allowing non-Indians to use it. A Nevada federal district court concluded that damage claims are not permitted under RLUIPA and that plaintiffs' claim for equitable relief was precluded by qualified immunity. It also concluded that objections to changes in sweat lodge procedures were now moot since those changes had been rescinded. The magistrate's recommended findings in the case are at 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86141 (May 28, 2009).
In Kinney v. Curtin, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86225 (WD MI, July 29, 2009), and in Thomas v. Bergh, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86893 (WD MI, Aug. 21, 2009), a Michigan federal magistrate judge recommended that the court uphold decisions to deny plaintiffs participation in their prison's kosher food program because plaintiff had not shown that his beliefs were sincerely held.
In Parks v. Smith, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87147 (ND NY, Sept. 23, 2009), a New York federal district court accepted most of the magistrate's recommendations (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87210, Aug. 17, 2009) allowing a Jehovah's Witness inmate to move ahead with his claim that authorities violated his free exercise rights and his rights under RLUIPA when they disciplined him for attempting to mail a photograph of himself in a meditation pose to a company for use in a personal ad. Prison authorities claim that the pose is in fact a gang signal. The court rejected the magistrate's holding that plaintiff's free exercise and retaliation claims were duplicative. He might be able to show retaliation based on religion even if he did not succeed in his claim that his rights were infringed when authorities classified his meditation pose as a gang signal.
In Strope v. McKune, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86886 (D KS, Sept. 22, 2009) and Strope v. Cummings, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86885 (D KS, Sept. 22, 2009), a Kansas federal district court rejected claims that Assembly of Yahweh inmates were not given adequate time for worship. It also rejected claims that certain foods served to those on the kosher diet were routinely spoiled, and that other foods were not included. UPDATE: The 10th Circuit affirmed (June 11, 2010).
In Shepard v. Peryam, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87189 (SD FL, Aug. 20, 2009), a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that the court reject claims by a Muslim pre-trial detainee that he was denied religious services, prayer beads, a prayer rug, a Kufi (prayer cap), and a Kosher diet.
In Floyd v. Leslie, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87758 (ND IN, Sept. 23, 2009), and Indiana federal district court allowed an inmate to move ahead with his complaint that a prison officer denied him access to Satanist religious material that belonged to him, but the court dismissed plaintiff's claim against the prison's chaplain.
In Jenkins v. Vail, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87730 (ED WA, Aug. 31, 2009), a federal district court (rejecting a magistrate's recommendations, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87769, July 22, 2009) refused to grant a preliminary injunction to a Muslim inmate who would not participate in work or educational programming on the ground that his sincerely held religious beliefs prevent him from supporting a non-Islamic government.