Religion Clause

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Suit Charges Discrimination In Illinois State Police Revoking Appointment of Muslim Chaplain

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that the Council on American Islamic Relations has filed a federal civil rights discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a Chicago imam whose appointment as the first Muslim state police chaplain was rescinded after critics complained that he had ties to Hamas. The imam, Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, had solicited funds on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the country's largest Muslim charity until its leaders were indicted on charges of funneling money to Hamas. (See prior posting.) Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism said that Mustapha was one of some 300 unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case. Mustapha's lawyer said the imam believed the funds were being used for Muslim causes in the United States. In a release announcing the filing of the lawsuit, CAIR-Chicago said the state police action was reminiscent of the Red Scare of the 1950's. (See prior related posting.)

EEOC Sues Nebraska Meat Packing Plant Over Religious Accommodation of Muslim Employees

According to an AP report, the EEOC yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against JBS Swift & Co. charging that the company failed to make reasonable accommodation for religious observance by some 80 Somali Muslims who were fired from company's Grand Island, Nebraska meat packing plant. The long-running problems at the plant began in 2007 when a number of East Africans were hired to fill spots that became vacant after an immigration raid found a number of illegal Hispanic immigrants working there. During Ramadan in 2008, hundreds of Muslim workers protested that they wanted time to pray and break their fast at sunset. When management tried to accommodate them, the company faced counter protests by non-Muslim workers who said the accommodation would burden them. Eventually the company fired 86 Muslims for walking off the job, and later hired back around a dozen of them. (See prior related posting.)

Monday, August 30, 2010

Suit Charges RLUIPA and FOIA Violations In Church Zoning Dispute

The Power of Praise Worship Center has filed a RLUIPA lawsuit against the village of Dixmoor, Illinois. The suit claims that even though village trustees had approved its use of a building it leased, the village's code enforcement officer ordered it to vacate the building, saying that churches are allowed only in areas zoned residential. The complaint (full text) in Power of Praise Worship Center Church v. Village of Dixmoor, Illinois, (ND IL, filed 8/27/2010), also alleges that the village has prevented the church's attorneys from obtaining a full copy of the village's zoning code. In addition to its RLUIPA claim, the complaint also alleges violations of the Free Exercise Clause and the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The law firm of Mauck & Baker issued a press release on the case.

UPDATE: WGN News reports that on Aug. 31, a federal judge issued an emergency order allowing the church to reopen while it negotiates a settlement with the city.

Court Rejects Quaker's Challenge To Use Of His Tax Payments For Military

In Moore- Backman v. United States, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88547 (D AZ, Aug. 24, 2010), an Arizona federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88548, June 28, 2010) and dismissed a complaint by a Quaker that the use of his federal income tax payments for military spending substantially burdens his religious exercise in violation of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. Plaintiff sought return of a portion of a refund that was not paid to him but was instead applied by the government to offset prior taxes he did not pay because he objected to their use. He also sought an order requiring the government to apply his tax payments solely to non-military uses.

The court held that the action for a refund should be dismissed because plaintiff never first filed an administrative claim for a refund. Plaintiff's request for an order directing the United States to apply his taxes to non-military purposes is not barred by the Declaratory Judgment Act or the Anti-Injunction Act because it is not a challenge to the collection or assessment of taxes. However, the court concluded that there was no free exercise or RFRA violation because under relevant case law the Government is not required to conduct its own internal affairs in a way that comports with an individual's religious beliefs.

Utah High Court Says FLDS Challenge To Trust Reformation Barred By Laches and Ripeness Doctrines

The Utah Supreme Court on Friday rejected an attempt by members of the FLDS Church to challenge a Utah trial court's long-running efforts (see prior posting) to reform the United Effort Plan Trust that holds property on which FLDS members lived in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. In Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Lindberg, (UT Sup. Ct., Aug. 27, 2010), the Court held that by delaying its objections for three years, the FLDS had waited too long to bring most of its challenges. They are barred by the doctrine of laches. The association of FLDS members that brought suit claimed that the reformation of the trust violated state law and members' constitutional rights, and that the trial court's ongoing administration of the trust also violated their constitutional rights. The only claim that was not barred by laches was a claim that "the district court endorsed a religious test that would give former FLDS members outright deeds to Trust property but would relegate current and practicing FLDS members to receiving spendthrift trusts based on the concern that they might deed their property back to FLDS Church leaders." The Court concluded that this free exercise challenge is not ripe since so far neither the trial court nor the special fiduciary administering the trust has used religion as a factor in determining how to allocate property. The Idaho State Journal reports on the decision.

For those who are following the lengthy developments in Utah's attempt to reform the UEP Trust, the opinion includes an excellent chronology of events.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Palecek v. Zavaras, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85513 (D CO, Aug. 18, 2010), a Colorado federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86027, July 1, 2010), and permitted a Jewish inmate who objected to the manner in which his kosher food was being prepared to proceed with a claim for injunctive relief against defendants in their official capacities. However other claims, including ones for monetary damages, were dismissed on various grounds.

In Tran v. Gores, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86519 (SD CA, Aug. 23, 2010), a California federal district court dismissed an inmate's free exercise claim based merely on allegations that an unnamed Deputy Sheriff took a "religious cross artifact" from him.

In Odneal v. Pierce, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86089 (SD TX, Aug. 20, 2010), a Texas federal magistrate judge, in a case on remand from the 5th Circuit (see prior posting), ruled that Texas prison grooming rules impose a substantial burden on free exercise rights of a Native American inmate who wants to grow and wear a kouplock. However, the court concluded, a question of fact remains as to whether the grooming policy serves a compelling interest and is the least restrictive means to satisfy that interest.

In Ciempa v. Jones, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86796 (ND OK, Aug. 23, 2010), an Oklahoma federal district court upheld a prison's decision to ban a particular issue of The Five Percenter (a publication of the Nations of Gods and Earth) and found no evidence that an inmate's religious correspondence was interdicted. It also rejected his complaint regarding denial of a Halal diet and his attempt to get the prison canteen to buy pork-free hygiene products from an NGE vendor. However the court permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his claim that his rights under RLUIPA were violated when he was denied copies of two books, The Soldier's Guide and Stoic Warriors, and when he was denied chapel time for NGE study circles.

In Woods v. Harris, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86628 (ED AR, Aug. 20, 2010), and Arkansas federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86616, Aug. 4, 2010) and dismissed an inmate's complaint that when participating in the Therapeutic Community Program group sessions he was required to use the term "Higher Power" and was not permitted to use the term "God" or "Jesus Christ."

In Bukhari v. Piedmont Regional Jail Authority, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87169 (ED VA, Aug. 20, 2010), a Virginia federal district court held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not apply to non-resident aliens denied admission to the country who are being held in custody while removal proceedings are initiated. Plaintiff, a Pakistani national, complained that while in custody he was denied meals that meet Muslim dietary requirements.

In James v. Hayden, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88097 (SD NY, Aug. 23, 2010), a New York federal magistrate judge concluded that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether requiring a Rastafarian prisoner to participate in a group strip search is the least restrictive means by which officials could inspect him for concealed contraband and whether conducting strip searches in a gymnasium rather than a bathroom was reasonably related to a legitimate penological interest. Therefore the court refused to grant summary judgment to defendant on the RLUIPA or Free Exercise claims brought by plaintiff.

In Arnez v. Florida Department of Corrections, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88398 (SD FL, Aug. 25, 2010), a Florida federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88401, Aug. 4, 2010) and refused to dismiss the personal capacity claims by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner against prison officials for refusing to provide him with a kosher diet, and instead providing only a vegan diet despite a 2002 settlement in a prior lawsuit under which the state agreed to provide plaintiff with kosher food.

Court Rejects Free Exercise and Establishment Clause Challenges To Domestic Violence Laws

In Currie v. Michigan, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85804 (ED MI, Aug. 20, 2010), a Michigan federal district court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's domestic violence laws on free exercise grounds. In a complaint described by the court as "nearly unintelligible," plaintiff contended that he was "convicted ... of a crime he didn't commit as corporal punishment and many other forms of disciplinary measures are demanded by the Christian God in the rearing of a child." The court also rejected an establishment clause challenge to mandatory domestic violence counseling sessions. Plaintiff claimed that the counselling sessions were "devised to reshape, alter, reform and prohibit the Plaintiff's religious beliefs."

Christian Icon In Gate of Kremlin Is Restored

In a ceremony in Moscow yesterday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill unvieled a restored icon of Jesus that had been a part of the main gates in the Kremlin (the official residence of Russia's President), but had been bricked over by Soviet authorities in the 1930's. Yesterday's Kyiv Post reports that the icon was originally placed in the gate in the 16th century, and was rediscovered when the Spasskaya Tower gates were being renovated. In yesterday's ceremony, held on the day of the Assumption in the Orthodox calendar, President Medvedev said: "Now that we've got the icon back, our country secures an additional defense."

Kentucky High Court Says Christian Medi-Share Program Is Insurance Contract Subject To State Regulation

In Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold, (KY Sup. Ct., Aug. 26, 2010), the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the Medi-Share Program operated by the American Evangelistic Association and the Christian Share Ministry is subject to regulation by the Kentucky Department of Insurance. Medi-Share bills itself as a "sharing ministry" which people voluntarily join to help pay medical bills of other members. In return, members are eligible to receive donations to cover their own medical expenses. Members make commitments to live by Biblical standards, and also agree to make a monthly "share" payment directly to Medi-Share in an amount based on actuarial standards. The member is assessed an "extra blessing gifts" penalty if the monthly payment is late. Members are removed if they do not make their payments within a specified time. The court concluded that this is a contract of insurance under Kentucky law and is not entitled to the "religious publication" exemption under Kentucky's insurance law. That exemption is available only to religious arrangements in which medical expenses payments are made directly from one member to another. AP reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

National Archives Gets Nuremberg Laws For Its Collection

In a ceremony last Wednesday, the National Archives received Germany's original 1935 Nuremberg Laws, signed by Adolph Hitler, for its extensive collection of World War II documents. The laws were Germany's blueprint for its anti-Semitic racial policies. A National Archives press release reports that the documents came from California's Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens which had received them from Gen. George S. Patton. At the transfer ceremony, Huntington's president recounted:

These documents should have been part of the National Archives, had Gen. Patton followed instructions from his commander-in-chief in Europe, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower directed that all documents related to the persecution of the Jews should be sent to a common collection point in Germany that was preparing for the Nuremberg War Crime Trials. These materials eventually were deposited at the National Archives.

The Archives also released a video on the documents and their background,

Tensions Grow Between Archbishop and Mayor of Mexico City

BBC News yesterday reported that in Mexico the tension between the Catholic Church and the mayor of Mexico City has gotten rather ugly as the Archbishop of Guadalajara, Juan Sandoval Iniguez, accused the mayor of bribery. Reacting to a Mexico Supreme Court ruling earlier this month upholding legislation in Mexico City granting various rights, including adoption rights, to same-sex couples (AP), the Archbishop remarked at a recent news conference: "Would any of you want to be adopted by a couple of lesbians or queers." He then accused Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of bribing Supreme Court justices to rule the way they did. In response, the mayor has filed a defamation suit against the Archbishop, and the Supreme Court has issued an unusual condemnation of the Archbishop's allegations. A Church spokesman has urged Catholics to vote against the mayor's PRD party at the next election. Mexico's Constitution, Sec. 130, bars clergy from attacking political candidates or parties or publicly attacking the country's laws. A spokesman for the Mexico City Archdiocese argues that Sec. 130 should be changed because it now infringes the freedom of expression of Church leaders.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Ft. Wayne Ends Released Time Classes In Favor of After-School Program

Today's Ft. Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette reports that a lawsuit filed this summer challenging the released-time religious education program in a Ft. Wayne school (see prior posting) has now apparently become moot. The challenged Weekday Religious Education program had been operating in Ft. Wayne schools for 60 years and for 20 years in East Allen County schools. But now the program --that offered 30-minute per week classes to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in trailers on or near school grounds-- has ended as a result of both the lawsuit and a concern that too much time was being taken from academic subjects that are on standardized tests. In place of the released time classes, Associated Churches starting in fall 2011 will offer a once-per-week 2-hour after-school program of religious studies and character building. The group will also help schools offer character-building and values-based assemblies in the schools.

Fired Ohio Employees Settle Their Religoius Discrimination Suit

A settlement was filed with the Ohio Court of Claims yesterday in a suit against the state by three former employees who made up the entire staff of the Ohio Workers' Compensation Council. The former employees-- two staff attorneys and an executive assistant-- accused the Council's director Virginia McInerney of religious discrimination, wrongful discharge, harassment and retaliation. They claimed that McInerney, who believed she had been placed in her director's position by God, led the staff in prayer and asked an employee to listen to and take notes on God at Work CDs. McInerney also complained that a Senate resolution seeking to privatize the Bureau of Workers' Compensation was "another of Satan's efforts to stall or impede the council's progress." According to the Columbus Dispatch, two of the employees will receive over $20,000 each in the settlement and the third will receive over $12,000. The state will also pay their $15,000 in attorneys' fees. (See prior related posting.)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Muslim Woman Settles In Suit Claiming "Outrage" Over Treatment During Search of Her Apartment

Yesterday's Seattle Times reports that federal officials have settled a lawsuit brought by a Somali Muslim woman over conduct of DEA and police officials in searching her Seattle (WA) apartment in a raid seeking evidence of khat distribution. In May, a federal district court in Jama v. United States ruled that the woman could move ahead with her claim based on the common law tort of outrage. Plaintiff Habibo Jama claimed that during the raid, federal agents handcuffed her and made her wait for several hours in her nightclothes in front of unrelated men in violation of her Muslim religious beliefs. (See prior posting.) Jama settled the suit for $40,000.

Glenn Beck Hosts Conservative Rally; Some Evangelicals Object To Participiation Because of Beck's Mormon Beliefs

Radio and television commentator Glenn Beck is hosting an event tonight at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. titled "America's Divine Destiny." Beck's website describes the event as follows:

Guided by uplifting music, nationally-known religious figures from all faiths will unite to deliver messages reminiscent to those given during the struggles of America's earliest days. The event will leave you with a renewed determination to look past the partisan differences and petty problems that fill our airwaves and instead focus our shared values, principles and strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country.

CNN reports that this event precedes a rally to be held over the week end at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. The main speaker will be Sarah Palin. However some Christian conservatives have criticized the decision of evangelicals to take part in the Friday event because of Beck's Mormon beliefs. Brannon Howse writes: "The Apostle Paul warns Christians against uniting with unbelievers in spiritual endeavors.... While I applaud and agree with many of Glenn Beck's conservative and constitutional views, that does not give me or any other Bible-believing Christian justification to compromise Biblical truth by spiritually joining Beck." However evangelical activist David Barton defends participation, saying: "Christians concerned about Glenn's faith should judge the tree by its fruits, not its labels."

Staten Island Hosts Its First Official Iftar

SI Live reports on the first ever Iftar to be held at Staten Island (NY)'s Borough Hall. The Ramadan event was attended by Borough President James P. Molinaro, even though he is an outspoken critic of plans to build a Muslim community center and mosque in lower Manhattan. Some 50 people from Staten Island's five mosques attended the event. Staten Island has some 25,000 Muslim residents. The sundown meal was preceded by a recitation from the Quran and remarks on the significance of Ramadan. Staten Island is the last of the five boroughs of New York City to have an official Iftar event.

O Centro Case Finally Dismissed By Federal District Court

In 2006, in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot block a New Mexico church from using a hallucinogenic tea for religious purposes, and remanded the case for further proceedings. (See prior posting.) Today's Albuquerque Journal reports that the case last week was finally been dismissed by a New Mexico federal district court after the parties entered a 21-page settlement agreement. According to the paper, the agreement specifies procedures for importing hoasca, and for registering, record keeping, inspection, storage and security, as well as agreement on payment of O Centro's attorneys fees.

U.S. Report To U.N. On Human Rights Record Lauds Free Exercise Rights

In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly established the Universal Perioidic Review process through which the human rights records of U.N. member states are assessed every four years. The State Department announced this week that on Aug. 20 the United States submitted its report (full text) to the U.N. Human Rights Council, reviewing the U.S. human rights record. Here is what the report had to say about relgious freedom in the U.S.:

19. The desire for freedom from religious persecution has brought millions to our shores. Today, freedom of religion protects each individual’s ability to participate in and share the traditions of his or her chosen faith, to change his or her religion, or to choose not to believe or participate in religious practice.

20. Citizens continue to avail themselves of freedom of religion protections in the Constitution and in state and federal law. For example, in a case this year, a Native American primary school student’s right to wear his hair in a braid, in accordance with his family’s religious beliefs, was upheld pursuant to a Texas religious freedom law.

21. The constitutional prohibition on the establishment of a religion by the government, along with robust protections for freedom of speech and association, have helped to create a multi-religious society in which the freedom to choose and practice one’s faith, or to have no faith at all, is secure.

The ACLU issued a press release this week calling the report: "an important step toward turning the Obama administration's stated commitment to protecting human rights into tangible policies." It said however that "the report omits many issues that need significant improvement and doesn't present a full picture of the state of human rights in the U.S." The conservative Christian group Liberty Counsel issued a press release yesterday complaining that: "the report says that it welcomes 'observations and recommendations' from concerned members of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which includes countries such as North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Libya.... The presidency of Barack Obama will be remembered as one that sought to humiliate America by prostrating it before some of the worst human rights violators in the world."

Thursday, August 26, 2010

US Bishop Laments "Post-Christian" World

In a strongly worded address delivered to the Canon Law Association of Slovakia on Tuesday (full text), Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput argued that events in both the United States and Europe "suggest an emerging, systematic discrimination against the Church that now seems inevitable." Here are a few excerpts:

In general, Catholics have thrived in the United States. The reason is simple. America has always had a broadly Christian and religion-friendly moral foundation, and our public institutions were established as non-sectarian, not antireligious.

At the heart of the American experience is an instinctive “biblical realism.” From our Protestant inheritance we have always – at least until now -- understood that sin is real, and men and women can be corrupted by power and prosperity. Americans have often been tempted to see our nation as uniquely destined, or specially anointed by God. But in the habits of daily life, we have always known that the “city of God” is something very distinct from the “city of man.” And we are wary of confusing the two.....

Today, in an era of global interconnection, the challenges that confront Catholics in America are much the same as in Europe: We face an aggressively secular political vision and a consumerist economic model that result – in practice, if not in explicit intent -- in a new kind of state encouraged atheism.....

This vision presumes a frankly "post-Christian" world ruled by rationality, technology and good social engineering. Religion has a place in this worldview, but only as an individual lifestyle accessory

LifeSite News yesterday reported on the speech.