House Passes Health Care Bill With Anti-Abortion Funding Amendment

In an historic vote tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act by a vote of 220-215. (New York Times.) Paving the way for the favorable vote was the passage of the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment (full text) by a vote of 240-194. (Christian Science Monitor background.) That amendment assures that federal funds will not be used to pay for abortions (except in cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother). Abortion coverage will be available through non-subsidized private health plans. Supplemental policies may be purchased with an individual's own funds or with state or local funds other than state or local matching Medicaid funds. Any private company offering an unsubsidized plan through the insurance Exchange that covers abortion must also offer an identical plan that excludes abortion coverage. In letters to members of Congress today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly supported the amendment. [Updated.]

New Book Suggests British Catholic Royals Would Have Place to Pray

According to Friday's London Telegraph, a forthcoming book has created a stir in Britain by arguing that Queen's Chapel, built between 1623 and 1625 as part of St. James Palace, is still legally available for use as a Catholic church by any member of the Royal Family that should desire to do so, despite the 1701 Act of Settlement that bars a British monarch from being a member of the Catholic Church or marrying a Catholic. Author David Baldwin argues in his book, Royal Prayer, that the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1661 is still in force. Negotiated in anticipation of the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza , the treaty provides: "Her Majesty and whole Family shall enjoy the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, and to that purpose shall have a Chapel, or some other place, set apart for the exercise thereof."

Christian Group Lacks Standing To Vacate Florida School's Consent Decree

A Florida federal district judge has largely rejected an attempt by the Christian Educators Association International to challenge the high profile and contentious consent decree entered into in March by the Santa Rosa County Florida school board to settle litigation brought by the ACLU challenging religious practices in the county's schools. (See prior posting.) In Minor Doe I v. School Board for Santa Rosa County, Florida, (ND FL, Oct 30, 2009), the court held that Christian Educators lacks standing to seek to totally vacate the consent decree because neither the organization nor its members suffered a legal injury that would be remedied by permitting the schools to again violate the Establishment Clause. The court postponed for a hearing next month the question of whether the organization could show it has standing to seek a modification of the consent decree on the ground that it impacts the free speech or free exercise rights of teachers or employees. Today's Pensacola News-Journal reports on the court's decision.

Pennsylvania County Plans To Tax Closed Church Builidings

Today's Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader reports that Luzerne (PA) County officials are likely to follow the lead of several other Pennsylvania counties and remove the property tax exemption from closed churches and religious schools. Pennsylvania's tax code allows exemptions only for "actual places of regularly stated religious worship." (72 P.S. § 5453.202 [LEXIS link]). The new policy will primarily impact the Catholic Diocese of Scranton which is closing 45 churches plus some schools in the county. The move will likely lead to disagreements over the value of the closed buildings. After Northampton and Carbon counties took similar steps, the Diocese of Allentown filed suit claiming that the buildings remain exempt under a provision exempting owned by institutions of public charity.

Teacher Sues Arguing Fingerprint Requirement Violates Her Free Exercise Rights

A kindergarten teacher in Dallardsville, Texas, has filed suit challenging a provision added to the Texas Education Code in 2007 (S.B. 9) requiring school teachers to submit their fingerprint so that a criminal background check can be run on them. The complaint (full text) in McLaurin v. Texas Education Agency, (ED TX, filed 10/30/2009), alleges that teacher Pam McLaurin, who has been teaching for over 20 years, is a devout Christian and believes that submitting a fingerprint is barred by verses in the Book of Revelations that caution against receiving the mark of the beast. Plaintiff claims that the requirement is unconstitutional under the free exercise and due process clauses, and violates the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Courthouse News reports on the case. [Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]

UPDATE: The Nov. 17 Lufkin Daily News reported that the court issued a temporary injunction restoring Pam McLaurin's teaching credentials pending the court's decision on the merits of the case. A hearing on the merits is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2010.

Required Immunization of School Children Does Not Infringe Free Exercise

In Workman v. Mingo County Schools, (SD WV, Nov. 3, 2009), a West Virginia federal district court upheld West Virginia's compulsory vaccination program for school children. In the case, a mother of two school-age children asserted free exercise, equal protection and due process challenges. The court concluded that the free exercise clause does not require states to provide a religious exemption form the immunization requirements.

After Ft. Hood Massacre, Shooter's Religious Background Explored

Today's Washington Post reports that Army psychiatrist Major Nidal M. Hasan, who opened fire yesterday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 30 was a devout Muslim. (Details of shootings.) The Washington Post also reports on the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, where Hasan prayed regularly when he was stationed in Washington, DC. The mosque's chairman, Arshad Qureshi, fielded many phone calls, emphasizing that the Center stands for peace. It has been active in offering community services, such as an extensive medical clinic for the uninsured operated by volunteers. The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement yesterday condemning the Ft. Hood shootings.

First Conviction From Raid on FLDS Texas Ranch Is Handed Down

Yesterday, a jury in a state court in Texas convicted FLDS Church leader Raymond Jessop of sexually assaulting a 16-year old who he had taken as one of his nine wives. The New York Times and Salt Lake Tribune report on the conviction, the first resulting from the raid by Texas authorities of the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch. During the trial, the defense argued that the raid on the FLDS compound which produced documents crucial to Jessop's conviction were illegally seized. The raid was triggered by a phone call that later was found to be a hoax. Jessop will be sentenced after a hearing before the jury on Monday. He faces up to 20 years in prison. (See prior related posting.)

9th Circuit Will Rehear Catholic League's Suit Againt San Francisco En Banc

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday granted an en banc rehearing in Catholic League for Religious and Civil and Rights v. City and County of San Francisco (full text of order). In June, a 3-judge panel handed down an opinion in the case rejecting an Establishment Clause challenge to a strongly worded resolution passed by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. The resolution criticized a directive from Catholic Cardinal William Levada instructing Catholic social service agencies to not place children in need of adoption with same-sex couples. (See prior posting.) The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the 9th Circuit's action.

Jersey City Parking Lot Ends Discounts For Jehovah's Witnesses

In Jersey City, New Jersey, the privately owned Square Parking parking garage has ended its practice of giving discounts to Jehovah's Witnesses, who worship in a nearby theater. A press release issued Tuesday by FFRF and a report yesterday in the Jersey Journal indicate that the discount was stopped after the city followed up on a letter sent to the parking lot by FFRF. FFRF contended that the discount violates federal, state and local non-discrimination laws. Apparently other parking lots in the area are still offering discounts to Jehovah's Witnesses.

Senate Committee Holds Hearing On ENDA; Religious Exemption Discussed

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on S. 1584, the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Sec. 6 of the Act would exempt the same religious institutions that are exempt from the religious discrimination provisions of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. After opening remarks by committee chairman Tom Harkin, seven witnesses testified. The Committee has posted the full text of their statements.

Craig L. Parshall, Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the National Religious Broadcasters argued that the bill threatens the constitutional rights of religious employers. (Full text of testimony.) He claimed that the exemption in Sec. 6 is inadequate. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (full text of testimony) reported that under the Illinois Human Rights Act that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, only a handful of sexual orientation claims have been filed against religious institutions. Bay Windows reports on the hearing.

Chechnya Will Pay For Hajj Trips For 400 Residents

In Russia's Chechnya region, Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered the government to pay for 400 residents to go to Mecca on this year's Hajj. Reuters reported yesterday that trips will be financed for those who cannot afford to go, for the single and the young, out of a fund Kadyrov has created to honor father who was assassinated in a bomb blast in 2004. Kadyrov has previously awarded prizes for newborns named after the Prophet Muhammad, has banned alcohol and required women to wear headscarves in government offices in this predominately Muslim region of Russia. He is now planning to build "the world's most beautiful mosque." Recently suicide bombs and armed attacks on Chechen police have shattered a few years of calm.

Sanctions Imposed On Attorney In Client's Suit Against Jews For Jesus

Rapp v. Jews for Jesus, Inc. is a long running case in the state courts of Florida filed by Edith Rapp who claimed that Jews for Jesus published a false report from her missionary stepson that she had joined the organization. (See prior posting.) The courts determined that Rapp may have a cause of action for defamation by implication, and in a short decision issued last February, the state court of appeals remanded the case to the trial court, ordering Edith Rapp to "succinctly replead her claims, without excessive editorialization." Now, in an Order issued on Oct. 29 (full text), the trial court ordered Edith Rapp's attorney to pay for attorney's fees and costs incurred by defendant in arguing that the latest pleadings still contain excessive editorialization. The court concluded that the pleadings which continued to include redundant, immaterial and scandalous content that the court had previously ordered stricken involved bad faith litigation conduct on the part of plaintiff's attorney, Barry M. Silver, and not misconduct by plaintiff herself. Liberty Counsel, which is defending Jews for Jesus, yesterday issued a release on the decision.

CAIR Gets TRO Forcing Return of Purloined Documents

In Council on American-Islamic Relations v. Gaubatz, (D DC, Nov. 3, 2009), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order to CAIR to prevent the use by defendants of various documents and e-mails that were surreptitously taken from CAIR's offices. Defendant Paul Gabautz publishes a blog devoted to "exposing Islamic terrorist operations in America." A number of postings on the blog accuse CAIR, a Muslim advocacy group, of being a front for the Muslim Brotherhood and of supporting Al Qaeda. Paul Gabautz implemented a plan to get his son, Chris, hired as an intern at CAIR under an assumed name. Chris copied or removed various documents and recorded various meetings and conversations at CAIR. Many of the materials were either posted on Paul's blog, or included in a book co-authored by Paul that was published last month titled Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America. Among the blog postings were lists of CAIR employees and donors (with personal contact information). The TRO, along with its broader bans, specifically ordered removal of these and return of the lists to CAIR. Here is an account of the decision and background on it from World Net Daily that published Gaubautz's book and is defending the Gaubautz's in the lawsuit.

Missouri Taxes Yoga; Some Claim Religious Exemption Should Apply

Missouri's sales tax statute (MRS 144.020) imposes a 4% tax on admission or fees paid to "any place of amusement, entertainment or recreation, games and athletic events." According to reports today from AP and Columbia's Missourian, state Department of Revenue officials have notified yoga and Pilates centers that beginning Nov. 1 they have to collect the tax. Yoga instructors, however, say that they should be exempt. Some argue that it would be unconstitutional to tax yoga because it is a spiritual practice with roots in ancient Indian meditation. MRS 144.030(2)(19) exempts sales by religious institutions from sales tax. A Missouri Revenue Department spokesman said it will consider religious exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

Challenge To "In God We Trust" On Currency Is Rejected

In a brief opinion in Kidd v. Obama, (D DC, Oct. 30, 2009), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to use of "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, brought by a plaintiff who described himself as an atheist. The suit against the President and the Federal Reserve Board Chairman sought to have all currently circulating currency replaced with bills carrying no religious inscriptions. The court quoted a 9th Circuit opinion stating that use of the motto on currency: "is of a patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."

Arkansas Superintendent Pondering Complaint Over Gideons In Classrooms

Today's Arkansas Times reports that the Superintendent of the Benton, Arkansas schools is "trying to figure out what to do" about a parent's complaint over religious activity at Ringgold Elementary School. For at least six years, school principal Ann Kerr has gone into 5th grade classrooms with members of Gideons International. The Gideons speak about their evangelical work and leave copies of the New Testament (plus Psalms and Proverbs) behind that students can pick up. The principal apparently believed that the practice was legal so long as Bibles were not actually handed to students.

All-Christian Private Prison Planned For Oklahoma

The Tulsa (OK) World reported Monday on plans by a non-profit prisons ministry, Corrections Concepts Inc., to build a private all-Christian prison in Wakita, Oklahoma. The 600-bed facility will be for men near the end of their sentences who volunteer to be housed there and agree to participate in its program. Unlike faith-based or Christian units in state prisons, this one plans to employ only Christians as administrators and staff. Oklahoma or other states will pay $42.80 per day for inmates to be housed in the facility. Inmates will be required to participate in Christ-centered literacy and life-skills classes, though attendance at religious services and Bible study will be voluntary. Bill Robinson, founder of the Dallas-based Corrections Concepts, says he has legal opinions indicating that as a religious organization the ministry can limit hiring to Christians. Robinson says the born-again staff will see this as a mission. [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

British Court Says Catholic Diocese Is Responsible for Abuse At Community Home

Today's London Times reports that a High Court judge in Leeds has ruled that the Middlesbrough Catholic Diocese, rather than the De La Salle Order of lay brothers, is responsible for damages to 142 people who allege physical and sexual abuse at the St. Williams Community Home in Market Weighton. The home's former headmaster, Brother James Carragher, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for abusing boys at St. Williams that housed boys between 10 and 16 years old who had behavioral and emotional problems. The systematic abuse of children at the home in the English county of East Yorkshire took place from 1960 until 1992. The court said that the Diocese had management responsibility for the home. However the court granted the Diocese leave to appeal. The Diocese claims that the De La Salle Order is responsible for what could be damages of up to £8 million.

Road Protection Law Would Infringe Mennonites' Religious Beliefs

Howard County, Iowa is considering a road protection ordinance that would ban steel-wheel vehicles on hard surfaced roads. According to Rochester, Minnesota's AgriNews, at a hearing on Monday an Elizabethtown College sociologist testified that the ban would create problems for members of the Old Order Groffdale Mennonite Conference. When the Groffdale Conference accepted the use of tractors for farm work, it required they have steel wheels or steel cleats. The Conference was concerned that use of rubber tires would lead to use of the tractors for transportation, and eventually to the use of automobiles, which would break up the Mennonites' close-knit communities. The requirement to use steel cleats or wheels is part of the Conference's Ordnung, and anyone who violates the rule could face excommunication.