British Proposal Would Permit Religious Same-Sex Commitment Ceremonies

Ekklesia reported yesterday on a proposal to create more options in Britain for same-sex commitment ceremonies. The proposal is now before the House of Lords. Currently under Britain's Civil Partnership Act 2004, same-sex commitment ceremonies can only be conducted by civil registrars. The proposed amendment to the pending Equality Bill would also give legal recognition to same-sex commitment ceremonies performed by churches or religious organizations if they wish to be able to do so.

UPDATE: The House of Lords passed the amendment by a vote of 95-21 on March 2. London Times.

Cert. Denied In Kindergarten Bible Reading Ban

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Busch v. Marple Union School District, (Docket No. 09-315, 1/19/2010). (Order List.) In the case, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld a Pennsylvania elementary school's restriction that barred a kindergartner's mother from reading aloud from the Bible as part of a "show and tell" activity in her son's classroom. (See prior posting.) The Christian Science Monitor reports on the Supreme Court's refusal to grant review. The school involved is in suburban Philadelphia.

NY Prison Chaplain Administrator Charges Discrimination

Askew v. New York State, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3297 (ND NY, Jan. 15, 2010), involves discrimination charges by a Protestant Ministerial Program Coordinator (MPC) employed by the New York Department of Correctional Services. Glorya Askew is the only female and only African-American Protestant MPC. She claims her supervisors, particularly Mark Leonard, discriminated against her in favor of the Catholic MPC in assigning duties, offering job opportunities and speaking appearances and in relocating her from New York City to Albany. She also alleges Leonard told her that "[she] should never have gotten [the MPC] position because [she is] black and a woman." Leonard asked the inspector general's office to investigate Askew, and its report charges that Askew misrepresented outside employment and submitted false travel and time records. Askew says the charges are false. The court refused defendants' motions to dismiss many of Askew's Title VII, equal protection and free exercise of religion claims.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Robert C. Blitt, Should New Bills of Rights Address Emerging International Human Rights Norms? The Challenge of 'Defamation of Religion', (January 18, 2010).
• Bruce Garen Peabody, Analogize This: Partial Constitutional Text, Religion, and Maintaining Our Political Order, (Cardozo Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Steven Paul Goldberg, Neuroscience and the Free Exercise of Religion, (Law and Neuroscience: Current Legal Issues, M. Freeman, ed., Oxford University Press, 2010).

Other Articles:

• Michael W. Schwartz, Wahhabism and the First Amendment , (Commentary, 2010).
• The January 2010 Issue of Church & State (from Americans United) has recently appeared.

Military Contractor Secretly Placing Biblical References On Rifle Sights

In an investigative report yesterday, ABC News revealed one of the more unusual examples of religion intruding in the military. A Michigan company, Trijicon, has a $660 million contract to supply up to 800,000 high-powered rifle sights to the Marine Corps, and additional sights to the Army. It urns out that the company has been added coded references to New Testament verses at the end of the serial number on each rifle sight. For example, serial numbers end with "2COR4:6" (Second Corinthians 4:6) or "JN8:12" (John 8:12). The company says it has been adding the references for years. The practice was begun by the company's founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa. The company's website makes reference to the goodness of Americans based on Biblical standards. The military was unaware of the company's practice. The Biblical references were in the same type size and font as the rest of the serial number on the sight.

Tom Munson, Trijicon's director of sales and marketing said there is nothing wrong with the inscriptions and that the issue was raised by a group that is "not Christian." Apparently the practice was called to the military' attention by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. MMRF's founder, Mikey Weinstein, says members of his group that currently serve in the military have complained about the inscriptions, saying that commanders have referred to the weapons with these sights as "spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ." Interfaith Alliance issued a statement calling on the Defense Department to conduct an immediate investigation and to take appropriate action if Trijicon broke any laws.

India's Supreme Court Refuses To Order Constitution Amended To Clarify Status of Sikhs

India's Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit asking it to order the government to amend India's Constitution to eliminate a provision in Explanation II to Article 25 that says the reference in the Constitution to the power to legislate regarding Hindu religious institutions should be construed to also include Sikh, Jain and Buddhist institutions. Sikhs want it made clear that Sikhism is a separate religion. Calcutta's Telegraph reports that the court held it lacks the power to direct Parliament to amend the provision. Eight years ago a Constitution review committee recommended the change, but Parliament has never acted on it. Sikhs say that because their marriages are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, they face problems when the migrate abroad. They declare their religion as Sikh, but foreign authorities are confused because they present Hindu marriage certificates.

Ohio High Schoolers Fight Removal of God From School Mission Statement

In Uniontown, Ohio, the school board last month voted to change the school's mission statement to temporarily remove "belief in God" from the school district's mission statement after a complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation. (See prior posting.) Fox 8 News Cleveland yesterday reported on efforts of two high school students, Mackenzie Muchalk and Alex Looney, who are fighting the school board's move. They are selling T-shirts that read: "We value a belief in God" on the front and, on the back, "They can take his name out of our mission statement but they can NEVER take Him out of our hearts." They want the audience at next month's school board meeting to attend wearing the T-shirts. Muchalk says: "We just want to stand up to who we think of as bullies." FFRF retorts that it is the Christians in the community who are the "bullies."

Lawsuit Asks Court To Uphold Removal of Church Directors

In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court last week, the pastor of a local church filed suit asking the court to uphold a vote last November by the church's board of directors removing two elders. Today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Pastor Roy Aiken Jr. asked the court to uphold a 3-2 board vote to expel Frank Ring and William Grassel from the Christian Fellowship Center of Greensburg's board of directors. The lawsuit says both men violated the church's bylaws by being combative and quarrelsome, contentious and argumentative, and failing to regularly attend church functions. The lawsuit also charges that Grassel did not speak in tongues, a requirement for board membership under the church's bylaws. Both men continued to attend board meetings, and last week, they enlisted the support of one other board member to expel Lewis Gainfort from the board. Gainfort had been one of the votes in November in favor of expelling Ring and Grassel. At last week's meeting, the same three also voted to issue an $18,450 check to Ring's construction company.

Obama Speaks At D.C. Church About Dr. King's Legacy

Yesterday, President Barack Obama spoke at Washington, D.C.'s Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in remarks that the White House Blog captioned "Martin Luther King and the Challenges of a New Age." (Full text; Excerpts and video of full remarks.) The Church, founded by freed slaves after the Civil War was the site of a 1956 speech by Dr. King titled "The Challenges of a New Age." As part of his extensive remarks in advance of Martin Luther King Day, President Obama talked about religious faith:

Even as Dr. King stood in this church, a victory in the past and uncertainty in the future, he trusted God. He trusted that God would make a way. A way for prayers to be answered. A way for our union to be perfected. A way for the arc of the moral universe, no matter how long, to slowly bend towards truth and bend towards freedom, to bend towards justice. He had faith that God would make a way out of no way....

There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught, and change is so painfully slow in coming, and I have to confront my own doubts. But let me tell you -- during those times it's faith that keeps me calm. ... It's faith that gives me peace. The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts. The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he's been rejected a hundred times. The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she's teaching she can't reach, that that 10th one she's going to be able to reach. The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake's wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community. A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand. A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.

So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age.... Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment. Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we're going to welcome the spring. Through God all things are possible.

NY Appeals Court Says Breakaway Church Property Belongs to Prebyterian Church USA

In Presbytery of Hudson River of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) v Trustees of First Presbyterian Church & Congregation of Ridgeberry, (NY App. Div., Jan. 12, 2010), a New York state appellate court, reversing the trial court, held that property of a break-away congregation is held in trust by the Presbytery for the Presbyterian Church (USA). It said in part:

the Book Of Order, a component of the constitution of PCUSA, contains language specifying that all property held by a particular church is held in trust for the national denomination. The neutral principles approach requires the courts to "look to the constitution of the general church concerning the ownership and control of church property" .... [D]efendants, in opposition to the plaintiffs' motion, failed to demonstrate that PCUSA is not hierarchical, or that cases involving hierarchical religious organizations do not apply here.

[Thanks to Joseph Landau for the lead.]

Pope's Visit To Rome Synagogue Focuses Debate On Pius XII's Actions In WW II

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday visited Rome's Great Synagogue amidst continuing controversy over whether Pope Pius XII did enough during World War II to save Italian Jews. (London Times.) Reuters reports that Riccardo Pacifici, president of Rome’s Jewish community and grandson of Genoa's Chief Rabbi who died in Auschwitz, directly confronted the Pope on the issue. After expressing gratitude to the convent that sheltered his father and uncle, Pacifici said:

In Italy and other parts of Europe, many religious people risked their lives to save thousands of Jews from certain death, without asking anything in return. This is why the silence of Pius XII before the Shoah still hurts because something should have been done. Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity towards those brothers of ours transported to the ovens of Auschwitz.

In his address at the Rome Synagogue yesterday (full text) the Pope set out the Vatican's view of its record:

The extermination of the people of the Covenant of Moses, at first announced, then systematically programmed and put into practice in Europe under the Nazi regime, on that day tragically reached as far as Rome. Unfortunately, many remained indifferent, but many, including Italian Catholics, sustained by their faith and by Christian teaching, reacted with courage, often at risk of their lives, opening their arms to assist the Jewish fugitives who were being hunted down, and earning perennial gratitude. The Apostolic See itself provided assistance, often in a hidden and discreet way.

Last December, Pope Benedict issued a decree moving Pius XII closer to beatification, a move that sparked anger among some Jewish groups. (AP, 12/23/2009). Israel on Sunday asked Pope Benedict to open the Vatican archives to researchers to clarify Pope Pius XII's actions. (Reuters).

RLDS Church Wins Trademark Infringement Claims

In Community of Christ Copyright Corp. v. Devon Park Restoration Branch of Jesus Christ's Church, (WD MO, Jan. 14, 2010), a Missouri federal district court issued a permanent injunction protecting a church, now commonly known as Community of Christ, from various trademark violations. The church has registered several trademark and service mark variations of the name it previously used more widely, "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." The court concluded defendants had infringed the protected marks and enjoined defendants from using the name in various forms and from committing any acts likely to cause the public to believe they are connected to plaintiffs. The court had previously issued a preliminary injunction in the case. (See prior posting.)

Pope Seeks Civil Recognition of Catholic Church In Turkey

Ekklesia yesterday reported on Pope Benedict XVI's remarks (full text) earlier this month on receiving Turkey's new ambassador to the Holy See. The Pope urged Turkey to grant "civil juridical recognition" to the Church in Turkey in order to help it enjoy full religious freedom.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Lopez v. White, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2701 (ND WV, Jan. 14, 2009), a West Virginia federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123205, June 29, 2009) and rejected free exercise complaints by an inmate who claimed that he was segregated before All Saints' Day communion based on false disciplinary charges and that he was not allowed to participate in readings during Catholic chapel services.

In Blackwell v. Madison Parish Correctional Center, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2515 (Jan. 13, 2009), a federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123042, Dec. 4, 2009) and dismissed as frivolous free exercise and RLUIPA charges by an inmate who complained that the correctional facility did not offer Jehovah's Witness religious services.

DoD Report on Ft. Hood Shooting Includes Recommendations on Religion In Military

The Department of Defense yesterday released an 86-page report Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood. The study was ordered by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates after the November killing of 13 and wounding of 43 at Ft. Hood by Army Major Nidal Hasan. Among the Report's numerous Findings (supplemented by Discussion and Recommendations) are three that impact religion in the military:

Finding 2.3: DoD standards for denying requests for recognition as an ecclesiastical endorser of chaplains may be inadequate.... This limited authority to deny requests for designation as ecclesiastical endorsers could allow undue improper influence by individuals with a propensity toward violence.....

Finding 2.7: DoD policy regarding religious accommodation lacks the clarity necessary to help commanders distinguish appropriate religious practices from those that might indicate a potential for self-radicalization....

Finding 4.9: The lack of published guidance for religious support in mass casualty incidents hampers integration of religious support to installation emergency management plans.

Today's Wall Street Journal discusses the report.

President Proclaims Today "Religious Freedom Day"

Today is Religious Freedom Day marking the anniversary of Virginia’s 1786 Statute for Religious Freedom. Yesterday President Obama issued a Proclamation (full text) officially designating the observance. It said in part:

The Virginia Statute was more than a law. It was a statement of principle, declaring freedom of religion as the natural right of all humanity -- not a privilege for any government to give or take away. Penned by Thomas Jefferson and championed in the Virginia legislature by James Madison, it barred compulsory support of any church and ensured the freedom of all people to profess their faith openly, without fear of persecution. Five years later, the First Amendment of our Bill of Rights followed the Virginia Statute's model, stating, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .".

Supreme Court Will Review Release of Names of Referendum Petition Signers

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in John Doe #1 v. Reed (Docket No. 09-599, cert. granted 1/15/2010) (Order List.) In the case, the 9th Circuit allowed release under Washington state's Public Records Law of the names of those who signed petitions seeking a referendum on the state's domestic partnership law. The court concluded that release does not violate the signers' 1st Amendment right to anonymous political speech. (See prior posting.)SCOTUS Blog here discusses the case, and here has links to the opinion below and the petitions supporting and opposing a grant of cert. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

6th Circuit Upholds Courthouse Display Including 10 Commandments

In ACLU of Kentucky v. Grayson County, Kentucky, (6th Cir., Jan. 14, 2010), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a "Foundations of American Law and Government" display in a county courthouse. The display consisted of nine historical documents, including the Ten Commandments, along with a document explaining the historical importance of each component. The court concluded that the challengers failed to show the county Fiscal Court had a primarily religious purpose in approving the display; nor would an objective observer see the display as a state endorsement of religion. The Court focused on a prior 6th Circuit decision, Mercer County v. ACLU, (see prior posting) that upheld an identical display in another Kentucky county.

Judge Moore, dissenting, said: "The County's asserted purpose here—that the Display was posted for educational or historical reasons—is a sham and should be rejected." She also concluded that the display sent an unmistakable message of endorsing religion.

Liberty Counsel, (which represented Grayson County) urged in its press release on the decision: "Pray that the Lord continues to bless Liberty Counsel as we continue to battle the ACLU in other cases." The Lexington Herald-Leader, reporting on the decision, said that plaintiffs in the case are reviewing the decision to decide whether to file an appeal.

UPDATE: The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that on Jan. 18, just days after the decision, the Ten Commandments were reposted on the Grayson County Courthouse walls. Rev. Charles Shartzer and 200 others joined county officials for the ceremony, at which Shartzer said: "We have Christian leadership. We have leadership that is not ashamed to stand up for God, not ashamed to have this display in our courthouse."

Scientology Sues Atlanta Suburb Over Zoning Denial

The Church of Scientology yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against Sandy Springs, Georgia, challenging zoning limits the city has imposed on the Church. According to AP, Scientology wanted to add a fourth floor to an office building in the Atlanta suburb, and move the Georgia state headquarters there. Sandy Springs City Council voted to allow the Church to move into the building, but rejected the request that it be able to add an additional floor.

Appeals Court Upholds Religious Objection To Autopsy On Executed Prisoner

In Johnson v. Levy, (TN Ct. App., Jan., 14, 2010), the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the state Chancery Court (see prior posting) and rejected the request of the county Medical Examiner to conduct an autopsy on executed murderer Cecil Johnson. Johnson's wife objected to the procedure, arguing that it would violate her husband's religious beliefs.

The court held that under Tennessee's law on preservation of religious freedom (TN Code Ann. Sec. 4-1-407), the Medical Examiner is required to establish by clear and convincing evidence under the specific facts of the case that performing an autopsy is essential to further a compelling governmental interest. While there is a compelling interest to conduct some kind of investigation as to every inmate who is executed in order to assure against cruel and unusual punishment, where a religious objection is raised to an autopsy, that may be part of the investigation only if the compelling interest standard is met. Religious objections might be overruled when the execution was not without incident, the prisoner did not react to the drugs as expected, and there is a need to understand why. Even then, the autopsy needs to be limited to the procedures necessary to understand what happened. UPI reported on the decision yesterday.