South African President Takes 3rd Wife In Zulu Ceremony

South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday married his third wife in a traditional Zulu ceremony, according to the London Guardian. The Zulu tribe practices polygamy by tradition, and it is recognized under South African law. South Africa's Constitution (Sec.31) protects the cultural practices of Zulus and other groups. Zuma's new wife is Tobeka Madiba, described as a socialite from Durban. Zuma apparently has fathered three children with Madiba. The 67-year old Zuma is also planning to add yet another wife before long. Gloria Bongi Ngema, who now works for IBM in Johannesburg and who has a child by Zuma, presented umbondo (gifts) to the Zuma family last week, customarily a precursor to marriage. The Johannesburg Times yesterday reported that Christian Democratic Party leader Rev. Theunis Botha strongly criticized Zuma, saying that Zuma's "alarming return to ancestral worship is a giant step back into the dark ages."

Recent Articles and Book of Interest

From SmartCILP:

• Steven F. Friedell, Some Observations About Jewish Law in Israel's Supreme Court, 8 Washington University Global Studies Law Review 659-700 (2009).


• Jose Gabilondo, Institutional Pluralism from the Standpoint of Its Victims: Calling the Question on Indiscriminate (In)tolerance [Abstract], 21 Law & Literature 387-401 (2009).


• Michael P. Moreland, Universalism and Particularism in Bioethics: Lessons from Theological Ethics [Abstract], 21 Law & Literature 415-430 (2009).


• Johannes Reich, Switzerland: Freedom of Creed and Conscience, Immigration, and Public Schools in the Postsecular State--Compulsory Coeducational Swimming Instruction Revisited, 7 I.Con: International Journal of Constitutional Law 754-767 (2009).


• Nicholas Wolterstorff, Donald A. Giannella Memorial Lecture: Can Human Rights Survive Secularization?, 54 Villanova Law Review 411-420 (2009).


• Constitutional Law Symposium: Global Perspectives on Religion, the State, and Constitutionalism. Articles by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Thomas F. Farr, Frank S. Ravitch, Richard W. Garnett, Laura Dudley Jenkins and T. Jeremy Gunn. 57 Drake Law Review 829-984 (2009).


• The Federalist Society Religious Freedom Panel. Religious Liberties: The International Religious Freedom Act. William L. Saunders, moderator; Thomas F. Farr, Richard W. Garnett, IV and T. Jeremy Gunn, panelists. 31 Houston Journal of International Law 469-514 (2009).

The Journal of Church & State, Vol 51, No. 2, Spring 2009 has recently been issued.

Recent Book:

• Jytte Klausen, The Cartoons that Shook the World, (Yale Univ. Press., Sept. 2009).

Virgina Muslim Prison Chaplains Want More State Support

Virginia is one of the few states that does not have its own staff of professional chaplains. Instead it contracts with the Chaplain Service of the Churches of Virginia, a Protestant group, to provide religious programs for inmates of all faiths. The chaplain group receives $780,000 per year from the prison commissary fund to help subsidize its activities. Today's Lynchburg (VA) News & Advance reports that the all-volunteer Muslim Chaplain Service, which for the first time was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the state, wants more state funding so it can hire more imams to serve prisoners. The Protestant Chaplain Service agrees that more Muslim chaplains are needed to serve the 1,700 to 2,500 Muslims in Virginia prisons and to prevent radicalization through "jailhouse Islam."

Report Says Egypt Court Upholds Ban of Niqab In University Exam Rooms

Reuters and UAE's The National report that yesterday an administrative court in Cairo, Egypt upheld the decision by higher education minister Hany Helal and heads of three universities to bar women from wearing the niqab (full face veil) while taking university exams. The government said that the ban was imposed in part because students (male and female) were taking exams disguised as others by wearing the face veil. Some three weeks ago, ANSAmed reported that a Cairo administrative tribunal had invalidated the ban on the niqab in exam rooms and university areas. (See prior posting.) It is not clear what the relationship is between the two decisions.

A Survey of Law & Religion Casebooks For Law Schools

As the new semester is about to begin, here is a listing of casebooks and teaching materials on law and religion designed for law schools and law students available from major law book publishers (listed alphabetically by author):

• Ariens & Destro, Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society, 2d ed., (Carolina Academic Press, 2002).
• Belsky & Bessler-Northcutt, Law and Theology, (Carolina Academic Press, 2005).
• Berg's The State and Religion in a Nutshell, 2d (West Pub., 2004).
• Brownstein and Jacobs's Global Issues in Freedom of Speech and Religion: Cases and Materials (West Pub., 2008).
• Gey, Fonvielle & Hinkle, Religion and the State, 2d ed, (Matthew Bender, 2006).
• Griffin's Law and Religion, Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 2006) with 2009 Supplement.
• Loewy's Religion and the Constitution: Cases and Materials (West Pub., 1998) with 2002 Supplement.
• McConnell, Harvey & Berg, Religion and the Constitution, 2d ed., (Aspen Publishers, 2006).
• Noonan and Gaffney's Religious Freedom: History, Cases and Other Materials on the Interaction of Religion and Government, 2d ed. (Foundation Press, 2010) (available 4/2010, earlier edition currently available).
• Ravitch's Law and Religion, A Reader: Concepts, Cases and Theory, 2d ed. (West Pub., 2004).
• Volokh's The Religion Clauses and Related Statutes: Problems, Cases and Policy Arguments (Foundation Press, 2005).
  
• UPDATE: Conkle's Constitutional Law - The Religion Clauses, 2d edition (Turning Point Series), (Foundation Press 2009).

Proposed Monument To Secular Government Raises Opposition

Yesterday's Cumberland (MD) Times-News reports on a battle over monuments on public property that has a new twist. Edward W. Taylor Jr., of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization, is objecting to the decision by the Allegany County(MD) Board of Commissioners to allow a monument honoring the U.S. Constitution to be placed on the county court house lawn. It would join a statue of George Washington and a Ten Commandments monument already there. The problem, however, according to opponents is that the new monument will contain an engraving that it was donated by Citizens for a Secular Government. Taylor says that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and that the word "secular" should not be included on a monument on public property. He says that backers should place the monument on provate property if they want to put it up. The person behind the new monument to the Constitution is Dr. Jeffrey Davis who, in 2004, led an unsuccessful effort to have the Ten Commandments monument removed from the court house lawn.

British Clergy Want Health & Safety Law Protection

In Britain, clergy are seeking to get legislation to protect their safety in the work place. Today's London Telegraph reports that the Church of England succeeded in 2005 in preventing clergy from being covered by the health and safety laws that protect other employees. Clergy are treated as "office holders" rather than employees. However Unite, the union that represents priests, says that things such as faulty wiring, toppled gravestones and tiles falling off roofs are placing clergy in harms way, as is a lack of security at many vicarages. The government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is looking into whether health and safety legislation should be expanded to include clergy.

Hamas Hands Out Islamic Robes To Young Women In Gaza

In Gaza, Hamas in cooperation with the Association of Young Muslim Women is beginning a project to hand out free Islamic robes and veils to young women in secondary schools. Xinhua today reports that the distribution began in two neighborhoods in east Gaza City where 600 robes were distributed. Another 600 will be distributed next week in a central Gaza City neighborhood. A spokesperson for the Association says: "the goal of this project is to disseminate the Islamic dress code and effectively eliminate the wanton behavior." However apparently some of the girls are primarily interested in getting new clothing to replace their worn out clothes that they cannot afford to replace on their own. Hamas' official position is that it is not trying to implement Islamic law in Gaza, but officials in the Hamas government have supported various Islamic virtue campaigns. (See prior

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Peyton v. Felker, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120287 (ED CA, Dec. 7, 2009), a California federal district court dismissed, with leave to amend, an inmate's claim that two prison officials retaliated against him after he exercised his First Amendment right to practice his religion.

In Riva v. Secretary of Public Safety, 2009 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1348 (App. Ct. MA, Dec. 24, 2009), a Massachusetts state appeals court, without reaching the merits, dismissed a claim by a Muslim prisoner who wanted removal of a Nation of Islam chaplain who had been appointed on an interim basis to lead services for Orthodox Muslims. He sought to have a traditional Muslim chaplain appointed, or Muslim inmates lead Friday Jumu'ah services. The court held the wrong parties had been named and that sovereign immunity existed as to a RLUIPA damage claim.

In Howard v. Epps, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120182 (SD MS, Dec. 23, 2009), a Mississippi federal district court adopted recommendations of a federal magistrate judge (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120204, Oct. 30, 2009) and dismissed a complaint by a Rastafarian prisoner that he was not permitted to grow his hair in dreadlocks in accordance with his religious beliefs.

Atheist Group Challenges Ireland's New Blasphemy Law

Ireland's new blasphemy law came into force yesterday. It prohibits intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of any religion by publishing or uttering grossly abusive insults to matters held sacred by the religion. Yesterday's London Guardian reported that to challenge the law, a group known as Atheist Ireland published "25 Blasphemous Quotations" on its website. The quotes were from famous figures ranging from Jesus to Mark Twain to Frank Zappa. Atheist Ireland's leader says the group will challenge the blasphemy law through the courts if they are charged under it. Yesterday also was International Blasphemy Day, and Atheist Ireland used the occasion to announce that it was launching a broad-based campaign to both obtain repeal of the blasphemy law and attain a secular Irish Constitution. [Thanks to Scott Mange for a lead on this.]

Danish Cartoonist Who Drew Muhammad Caricature Is Attacked In His Home

In Aaarhus, Denmark yesterday, a 28-year old Somali man broke into the house of cartoonist Kurt Westegaard armed with an axe and a knife, shouting that he wanted to kill the 74-year old Westegaard. Westegaard drew the now-famous caricature of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban that was published along with 11 other cartoons in 2005 by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The cartoons set off a series of violent demonstrations around the world. (See prior posting.) Today BBC News reports that Westegaard, who was at home with his 5-year old granddaughter, locked himself into a safe room and pressed a special panic button alerting police to the attacker. The suspect, who could not be named under Danish law, tried but failed to break into the safe room and then attacked police with his axe when they arrived. Police shot the suspect outside Westegaard's home. The head of Denmark's intelligence agency says that the attack was "terror related." Apparently the suspect is connected to the radical al-Shabab group in Somalia.

Happy 2010 To Religion Clause Readers!

Dear Religion Clause Readers:

Happy New Year! As we enter 2010, I want to again thank all of you who read Religion Clause-- both long time followers and those who have joined us more recently. With the advent of the Obama administration last January, some readers asked me whether there would continue to be sufficient church-state and religious liberty developments to sustain the blog. I think the past year has shown that this should not have been a concern.

It has been a good year for Religion Clause blog. The site meter shows that the blog has attracted over 672,000 visits since it began in 2005. Approximately 241,700 of these visits were registered in 2009-- a 17% increase over 2008. I continue to seek out additional ways for readers to access Religion Clause. This year I added a feed on Twitter (@ReligionClause). So in addition to the standard method of reading Religion Clause at its URL, you can subscribe to RSS feeds on your favorite RSS reader, subscribe by e-mail, find postings on Lexis through Newstex, log onto Twitter or purchase a subscription to read on your Kindle. Scroll to the bottom of the Religion Clause sidebar to click on various subscription options. One warning however: many of these alternative methods of access do not pick up an item a second time when an Update has been added.

Religion Clause's established format of strict neutrality, broad coverage and links to extensive primary source material has made it a widely-recognized authoritative source for keeping up on church-state and religious liberty developments around the world. I am pleased that my regular readers span the political and religious spectrum. So, while the blog represents a rather substantial investment of time on my part, so long as it continues to serve this unique role, I hope to continue it.

This year, moderating comments has become a more difficult issue. First, I have had a significant increase in robo-generated spam comments. Second, while I attempt to allow a very broad spectrum of views and approaches, I have had to delete some comments that are defamatory, repetitive, hostile, irrelevant or which otherwise impair the blog's usefulness as a neutral resource on legal issues and policy developments. Often I am able to moderate comments several times a day, but sometimes there may be a delay of as much as one or two days in my getting to them.

Finally, I want to thank all of you who send me leads to new developments, or who alert me to needed corrections. These help me assure that coverage is complete and accurate. I read all of your e-mails and appreciate receiving them, even though I cannot always acknowledge them. Normally when I blog on a story sent to me by a reader, I mention the sender. If you do not want me to mention you, I will be happy to honor that request if you let me know when sending me information.

Best wishes for 2010!

Howard M. Friedman

Jordan Seeks Dead Sea Scrolls From Canada Under UN Convention

Invoking the the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the government of Jordan has asked Canada to seize the portion of the 2000-year old Dead Sea Scrolls that are on display until January 3 from Israel at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. Canada, Jordan and Israel have all signed the Convention and its First Protocol. (Signers of Convention, Protocol.) The Convention is aimed at assuring that cultural property is not damaged during armed conflict. Yesterday's Toronto Globe and Mail reports that while the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in caves near the Dead Sea in 1947 by Bedouin Arabs and found their way to Israel, the majority of the Scrolls were found in the next seven years in operations supervised by Jordan on land it occupied west of the Jordan River. The thousands of fragments found were taken to the Palestine Archeological Museum in East Jerusalem. When Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, the Israel Antiquities Authority took possession of the Scrolls to conserve and exhibit them at the Israel Museum.

The First Protocol (Art. I, Sec. 2) to the Hague Convention, which has been signed by Canada, Jordan and Israel, is designed to prevent exportation of cultural property during an armed conflict. It requires each signatory:

to take into its custody cultural property imported into its territory either directly or indirectly from any occupied territory. This shall either be effected automatically upon the importation of the property or, failing this, at the request of the authorities of that territory.

Canada's Cultural Property Export and Import Act Sec. 36.1(4), implementing the Convention, provides:

If the government of a State Party submits a request in writing to the Minister for the recovery and return of any cultural property that has been exported from an occupied territory of that State Party and that is in Canada in the possession of or under the control of any person, institution or public authority, the Attorney-General of Canada may institute an action in the Federal Court or in a superior court of a province for the recovery of the property by the State Party.

Israel argues that the temporary loan of the Scrolls for display in Canada does not amount to "exportation" under the Hague Convention, and that the Scrolls, which it says it is merely holding as custodian, are part of the Jewish heritage. Palestinians argue that the Scrolls are also part of their heritage. [Thanks to Vos Iz Neias? for the lead.]

Ex-Indonesian President, Moderate Religious Reformer, Dies

Voice of America reports that former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid (know as Gus Dur) died on Wednesday at the age of 69. In a release issued yesterday, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom chair Leonard Leo paid tribute to Dur's interfaith initiatives. He said:

Gus Dur was a renowned religious reformer, a voice of moderation when his country needed it most, and a bridge between Muslims and people of other faiths. His unique voice and perspective will be missed.... His life's mission was to increase religious understanding and reduce religious extremism worldwide. Though the world produces few men of his talents, the mission he lived for should be everyone's goal.

Claims Against Jewish Newspaper Dismissed To Avoid Religious Entanglement

In Abdelhak v. Jewish Press, Inc., (NJ App. Div., Dec. 31, 2009), a New Jersey appellate court dismissed a complaint alleging defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the ground that the claims could not be decided without excessively entangling the court in matters of religious doctrine and practice. At issue was a lawsuit by an Orthodox Jewish doctor who was falsely listed by a Jewish newspaper in its "Seruv Listing," a list of men who had been formally held in contempt by a Jewish religious court for refusing to comply with an order to give their wives a Get (Jewish divorce document). (Background.) Plaintiff argued that there cannot be excessive entanglement in violation of the Establishment Clause when the cause of action is secular and the defendants are not religious figures. The court, however, rejected this contention and applied the abstention doctrine, reasoning that:

to evaluate whether plaintiff's reputation suffered any injury, a jury would, of necessity, be required to determine how a Seruv Listing is viewed within the Orthodox Jewish community and whether an Orthodox Jew would be offended by another's refusal to provide a Get. To make that determination, a jury would be obliged to consider the intricacies of Jewish doctrine. Such consideration would require a jury to delve deeply into the importance of giving a Get and the disdain heaped on a man who refuses one.

[Thanks to Bridget Englard for the lead.]

Connecticut School Will Move Graduation Away From Cathedral

The South Windsor, Connecticut, Board of Education has voted to move South Windsor High School's 2010 graduation from the First Cathedral in Bloomfield to the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The move came after Americans United and the ACLU threatened to sue the Enfield school system which also uses the Cathedral, and made preliminary inquiries of South Windsor. (See prior posting.) Wednesday's Hartford Courant reports that the Cathedral has charged fees of $7400 to $8000 for schools to use its facilities. The Enfield school board will consider whether to move its schools' graduations as well when it meets in January.

UPDATE: ACLU announced on Feb. 9 that the Windsor (CT) Board of Education has voted to move its graduation away from The First Cathedral. With this decision, all 5 districts that had been using the church have now decided to hold their ceremonies elsewhere.

Malaysian Court Says Catholic Paper Can Use Term "Allah"

A High Court judge in Malaysia has vindicated the free exercise rights of a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, in an oral opinion handed down today. Bernama and the Wall Street Journal report on the decision that upholds the right of the paper to use the word "Allah" in its Malay-language edition to refer to God. The Home Ministry had banned the paper from using the term, and the paper filed suit to challenge the restriction. (See prior posting.) Judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan held that while Sec. 11(4) of the Malaysian Constitution permits a ban on the use of the term by non-Muslims who are attempting to proselytize Muslims, the Constitutional protections of free expression (Sec. 10) and free exercise of religion (Secs. 11 and 12) permit the paper to use the term in material directed at other Christians. The government had argued that The Herald's online edition can be accessed by Muslims, but the court said that it is enough of a safeguard that the paper is in fact read mainly by Christians. Its main audience is indigenous tribes who converted to Christianity decades ago. The Mandarin, English and Tamil editions do not use the term. The court's decision can be appealed. (See prior related posting.)

UPDATE: The Malay (1/2) reports that the Prime Minister's Department in cooperation with the Home Ministry will appeal the High Court's decision.

UPDATE2: On Jan. 6, the High Court granted the Home Ministry a stay of its order while an appeal is taken to the Court of Appeal. (Outlook India; AP.)

7th Circuit Decides Two RLUIPA Zoning Cases

In World Outreach Conference Center v. City of Chicago, (7th Cir., Dec. 30, 2009), the 7th Circuit issued an opinion in two consolidated appeals involving claims that zoning decisions violated RLUIPA. After concluding that RLUIPA is constitutional, the court initially focused on the City of Chicago's rezoning of a former YMCA building in a way that prevented World Outreach, a religious organization dedicated to providing living facilities to the homeless, from operating it as a community center. The court concluded that World Outreach had not shown religious discrimination, but instead did show that the city discriminated against it in favor of a developer who was a financial supporter of a city alderman. Allegations that the city harassed World Outreach through filing frivolous legal claims states a RLUIPA claim for imposing a substantial burden on the group's free exercise of religion.

In the second case, the court upheld the city of Peoria's classifying as a landmark an apartment building next door to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. This designation prevented the church from tearing down the building in order to build a family life center. The court rejected the Church's RLUIPA claim, holding that the burden on its free exercise is only modest. It can sell the building and use the proceeds to construct a family life center elsewhere in the city. Today's Chicago Tribune reports on the Chicago portion of the opinion.

Remains of 500 Animals From Santeria Rituals Found In Philadelphia House

In Philadelphia on Wednesday, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals enforcement officers, executing a search warrant, found the remains of more than 500 animals in a home whose most recent occupant was last seen five days ago. CNN reports that officials believe the animals were sacrificed as part of Santeria rituals. Most of the remains were from chickens, but also included dozens of sheep and goats and the remains of two primates-- possibly small monkeys. Also an altar with candles was found in the house. SPCA law enforcement director, George Bengal, said it was not clear if any laws had been violated. It will likely depend on whether the animals were sacrificed inhumanely.

Federal Court Orders New York Kosher Poultry Plant To Shut Down

A New York federal district judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting further slaughtering at New Square Meats in the village of New Square-- home of the Skver Hasidic sect. The court agreed with the U.S. Attorney's Office that the plant failed to comply with the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. Various sanitary violations were found at the plant. The poultry slaughterhouse slaughtered more than 355,000 birds in 2008. Almost all of its product is sold through a New Square grocery, Oneg Poultry. Both The Forward and the Lower Hudson Journal-News yesterday report on the court's order, as well as on several other recent controversies involving the Skver sect. (See prior posting.) The Forward quotes Queens College sociology professor Samuel Heilman:

The fundamental question, of course, is what is it about these people that makes it possible for them to, on the one hand, claim to be more religious and pious, and on the other hand, break rules that are non-halachic rules.

He answered that the Skvers, along with other fundamentalist groups, tend to divide the world into "us and them", and feel they can be less concerned in portions of their lives that involve outsiders.