I'm not a religious person. I was brought up in the Baptist Church but during my adult life I've, you know, found a different path. I'm of course a great respecter of religious beliefs, but they're not my beliefs. I am not going to pretend a faith I don't feel. And for people of faith the greatest compliment I could pay to them is to respect their genuinely held beliefs and not to engage in some pretence about mine. I think it's not the right thing....
For, you know, people of faith what I would say to them is I grew up in a Christian Church, a Christian background, a Baptist Church, I won prizes for catechism for being able to remember Bible verses. I am steeped in that tradition but I've made decisions in my adult life about my own views.... What I can say to Australians broadly of course is that I believe you can be a person of strong principle and values from a variety of perspectives. And I've outlined mine to you.
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
New Australian Prime Minister Says She Will Not Pretend Religious Beliefs For Votes
Advocacy Groups React To CLS v. Martinez
- ACLU
- Alliance Defense Fund
- American Center for Law & Justice
- American Jewish Committee
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Baptist Joint Committee
- Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
- Christian Legal Society
- Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
- Hastings College of Law
- Interfaith Alliance
- Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Citizens Link suggests that the decision may have limited impact because few if any other schools have an "all-comers" rule for student groups. Most have a rule that bars discrimination on specified grounds, such as race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. The majority avoided passing on the constitutionality of this sort of rule. The Chronicle of Higher Education also reviews reactions to the decision.
Report Released on Canadian Zoning Laws and Religious Freedom
Cert. Denied In Abuse Suit Against Vatican
Monday, June 28, 2010
Supreme Court Upholds Hastings Law School's All-Comers Policy for Registered Student Organizations
In Christian Legal Society Chapter of the University of California, Hastings College of Law v. Martinez, (Sup. Ct., June 28, 2010), CLS argued that all-comers rule violates its rights to free speech, expressive association and free exercise of religion. The majority ruled only on the "all comers" rule that the parties specified applied in their stipulation of facts. It refused to pass on the question of whether the narrower non-discrimination policy as written that prohibits discrimination only on specified bases, including religion and sexual orientation, is unconstitutional because it targets beliefs based on religion or having to do with particular kinds of sexual behavior.
The majority in an opinion written by Justice Ginsburg, held that Hastings' policy is a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to a limited public forum for registered student organizations. She summarized:
The First Amendment shields CLS against state prohibition of the organization's expressive activity, however exclusionary that activity may be. But CLS enjoys no constitutional right to state subvention of its selectivity.
Responding to concerns about a takeover of a group by opponents who wish to sabotage it, Justice Ginsburg wrote that membership or leadership positions can be conditioned on "requirements designed to ensure that students join because of their commitment to a group’s vitality, not its demise."
Justices Stevens and Kennedy filed separate concurring opinions. Justice Stevens argued that even as written, the non-discrimination policy is constitutional. Justice Kennedy emphasized the informal learning that is furthered through student interaction by the all-comers policy.
Justice Alito wrote a dissent, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia and Thomas. The dissent argued that the Court should focus on the non-discrimination policy as written, since that was the policy originally invoked to deny CLS registration. That policy, the dissent argues, amounts to viewpoint discrimination since only religious groups are required to admit students who do not share their views. Political groups or groups formed around other causes can limit membership. The dissent goes on to argue that even limiting the analysis to the broader all-comers rule, the policy is unconstitutional. It was adopted as a pretext to suppress a particular viewpoint and it is not reasonable in light of the purposes of the student organization policy which is promoting diversity among student organizations.
Pakistan Monitoring Major Websites For Sacrilegious Content
Recent Articles of Interest
- Brian Michael McCall, Consulting the Architect when Problems Arise – The Divine Law, (June 24, 2010).
- Eugene Volokh, Freedom of Speech and the Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Tort. Cardozo Law Review, UCLA School of Law Research Paper No. 10-14 (2010).
From SmartCILP:
- Kyle Persaud, A Permit to Practice Religion for Some But Not for Others: How the Federal Government Violates Religious Freedom When It Grants Eagle Feathers Only to Indian Tribe Members, 36 Ohio Northern University Law Review 115-138 (2010).
Belgian Police Search of Cathedral and Church Offices Condemned
The police arrived at 10:30 Thursday morning to the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Malines-Brussels, where the bishops of Belgium were meeting for their monthly meeting. The authorities detained the bishops at the headquarters for nine hours as they searched the offices and the Cathedral of Malines.
At that time they drilled holes in the two graves of cardinals Jozef Ernest Van Roey and Leon Joseph Suenens, deceased archbishops of Malines-Brussels, located in the crypt of the cathedral, and then sent cameras down in search of hidden documents.
In addition to the headquarters of the archbishopric of Brussels, the authorities seized some 500 confidential files In Leuven, Belgium, from the office of Peter Adriaensses, president of the commission for the treatment of sexual abuses. The home of former archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, was also searched.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Compromise Lets Israel's High Court Release School Parents From Jail
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Jackson v. Raemisch, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61130 (WD WI, June 21, 2010), a Wisconsin federal district court dismissed a suit by a Muslim inmate formerly employed in the prison's food service area where inmates were not permitted to pray. The court held that plaintiff's RLUIPA claim for injunctive relief to allow prayer was mooted because he no longer works for food services. Defendants were granted qualified immunity as to plaintiff's claim for damages under the First Amendment. Plaintiff's equal protection claim was dismissed for lack of evidence. However he was permitted to pursue a claim for retaliation.
In Jones v. McFadden, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61559 (ED CA, May 27, 2010), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed a complaint by a Muslim inmate that breakfast pastries served to inmates during a lock down contained pork products. The court held that mere negligence in checking the ingredients before serving them to Muslim inmates did not support a free exercise claim. A conscious or intentional act is required.
In Smith v. Marshall, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61323 (CD CA, June 21, 2010), a California federal district court adopted the recommendations of a federal magistrate (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61371, May 11, 2010) and dismissed a complaint by a Muslim prisoner that he was denied prayer oil purchased for him by a third party because he had met his limit for receiving packages, and in buying prayer oil himself (which was allowed) he was required to pay use tax.
In Allen v. Weimer, 2010 Kan. App. Unpub. LEXIS 458, (KS Ct. App., June 18, 2010), a Kansas appellate court held that an inmate who was dismissed from his prison job with a private employer could not validly claim violation of his religious rights when he untruthfully represented that he could work 8-hour days, even though he knew his religious call out was during that 8-hour period.
In Johnson v. Delaunay, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62038 (SD NY, June 18, 2010), a New York federal district court upheld a Department of Corrections policy that permits an inmate to participate in a religion's programs only if the individual is registered in the Department of Corrections database as belonging to that religion. It also rejected damage claims on sovereign immunity grounds.
In Cooper v. Evans, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61998 (SD IL, May 28, 2010), an Illinois federal magistrate judge refused to dismiss an inmate's claims that he was denied a lacto-ovo diet required by his Buddhist religious beliefs. The court rejected defendants' claims that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.
In Raheem v. Miller, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62230 (WD OK, June 23, 2010), an Oklahoma federal district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62148, May 14, 2010) and permitted an inmate to proceed with some of his RLUIPA claims based on denial of a kosher/halal diet. However the court dismissed his claim seeking damages for emotional distress.
In Amaker v. Goord, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62350 (WD NY, June 23, 2010), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62349, March 25, 2010) and found that the New York Department of Corrections violated RLUIPA when it allowed Rastafarians to wear dreadlocks, but did not permit them to be worn by members of other religious groups. Prison officials argued that wearing of dreadlocks by plaintiffs who were members of Nation of Islam was not required by their religious faith. The court concluded however that officials may not impose restrictions based on governmental assessments of the validity to a religious denomination of a particular practice.
Religious Limits On Arbitrators Invalidated By British Appellate Court
Britain To Appoint Its First Catholic Woman As Ambassador to the Vatican
DC Circuit: Researchers Have Standing To Challenge Change In Stem Cell Grant Policy
$1.15M Settlement Reached In Church Zoning Case
In April, the parties submitted a proposed settlement, but nearby landowners intervened to object to the settlement. The court ordered the town's Board of Selectmen to confer with town zoning bodies on the matter. Now, apparently after such consultation, a settlement has been reached. In addition to payment of damages and attorneys fees, the town has agreed to a separate settlement that makes completion of the Church and school building possible.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Pagan Group Is Suing To Obtain Property Tax Exemption
Friday, June 25, 2010
Concerns of Britain's Office for Judicial Complaints Over Judge's Comments Are Disclosed
Court Says Hawaii Church's Challenge To Cannabis Laws Is Not Ripe
Secularists Begin Billboard Campaign Objecting To "Under God" in Pledge
New Focus On Elena Kagan's Religious Liberty and Church-State Views
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has written to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee raising concerns about Kagan's "views on the critical relationship between religious liberty claims and civil rights laws" and about "her position on core Establishment Clause values, such as the principle that the government may not fund 'pervasively sectarian' organizations." (Press release, full text of letter).
Several Jewish groups have weighed in on the Kagan nomination. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations wrote to to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee saying that "Kagan has demonstrated a reassuring appreciation for the rights guaranteed by the Free-Exercise clause and a growing respect for a balanced approach to the Establishment Clause which allows for appropriate government support for the work of religious organizations." (Press release, full text of letter). The Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism wrote members of the Judiciary Committee recommending a number of questions that should be asked of Kagan. They cover not just church-state matters, but also issues such as the death penalty, corporate election contributions, abortion, gay marriage, environmental laws and Presidential powers. (Full text of letter). The Rabbinical Alliance of America (representing 850 right wing Orthodox rabbis) issued a strong statement denouncing the Kagan nomination, releasing it through Christian Newswire.
The Secular Coalition for America issued a statement opposing the Kagan nomination "until she makes her support for church-state separation much more clear and emphatic." It also sent a letter to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee with suggested questions for Kagan.
Meanwhile, US News & World Report says that one of the key issues that Republican Judiciary Committee members will raise with Kagan is her praise in 2006 for activist Israeli Supreme Court Judge Aharon Barak. In presenting Barak with an award at Harvard Law School, Kagan called him "my judicial hero."
The Judiciary Committee hearings begin on Monday, June 28. The Committee has extensive materials on the nomination posted on its website. The hearings will also be webcast through the Committees website.
Hindu American Leader Writes On Political Candidates From Dharma Faiths
Jindal and Haley, as brilliant and dynamic trailblazers, have thrown open the doors to political office, laying waste to minefields of ethnic slurs and perverse allegations that naysayers put in their way. Race is not an impediment to high office, and that is something to celebrate, no doubt. But in their public remonstrations of their parent's faiths, Jindal and Haley tell well over three million Hindu and Sikh Americans that their time has not yet come as people of faith. And in their absolute denial of their religious heritage, they deny something far greater: a society that privileges pluralism, that no one religion has the monopoly on Truth, and that Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Pagans, agnostics and atheists may invest differently towards the afterlife, but can live in this life with all of the humanity, generosity and yes, frailty of any of those that presume to lead our states or nation today.