USPS Issues Postage Stamp Honoring Mother Teresa

On Sunday, the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Mother Teresa.  Announcing the stamp last week, USPS said:

The U.S. Postal Service will pay tribute to Mother Teresa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years.

According to a press release on Sunday, the stamp was issued during a special ceremony at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.  Postmaster General John Potter spoke at the ceremony. He was joined by a number of Catholic clergy, including Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. [Thanks to Pew Sitter for the lead.]

American Muslims Distressed Over Hostile Attitudes

Today's New York Times carries a front page article titled American Muslims Ask, Will We Even Belong?.  It focuses on Muslim distress over the hostile reactions triggered by the proposed Muslim cultural center near Ground Zero. Many Muslims interviewed are frightened  "to learn that the suspicion and even hatred of Muslims is so widespread."  According to reporter Laurie Goodstein, American Muslims:

liken their situation to that of other scapegoats in American history: Irish Roman Catholics before the nativist riots in the 1800s, the Japanese before they were put in internment camps during World War II. Muslims sit in their living rooms, aghast as pundits assert over and over that Islam is not a religion at all but a political cult, that Muslims cannot be good Americans and that mosques are fronts for extremist jihadis.

Eboo Patel, founder of Chicago's Interfaith Youth Core, says:

After Sept. 11, we had a Republican president who had the confidence and trust of red America, who went to a mosque and said, "Islam means peace," and who said "Muslims are our neighbors and friends," and who distinguished between terrorism and Islam. Now, unlike Mr. Bush then, the politicians with sway in red state America are the ones whipping up fear and hatred of Muslims. There is simply the desire to paint an entire religion as the enemy.

Israeli Politicians Debate Traditional Switch Off Daylight Savings Time For Yom Kippur

In Israel, members of the Knesset this week were engaged in debates over whether to continue the traditional practice in Israel of moving off daylight savings time beginning during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The motivation for the practice is to obtain an earlier sundown and thus end the Yom Kippur fast at an earlier hour-- though the move does not shorten the total number of hours in the day-long fast which would also begin earlier with the change. This year the Jewish High Holidays come particularly early. Yom Kippur falls on Sept. 18.  Business leaders say an early move to Standard Time costs the economy NIS 10M ($2.6M U.S.) and increases road accidents because of increased driving time in the dark. Israel is on Daylight Savings Time each year several weeks less than are the U.S. and Europe. Last week, some 100,000 Israelis signed an online petition urging the public to ignore the switch back to Standard Time. Interior Minister Eli Yishai suggested a compromise-- switch to Standard Time for Yom Kippur, and then go back to Daylight Savings Time the next week.

Department of Labor Blog Honors Ties Between Religion and Labor Movement

Today is Labor Day in the United States. On the official blog of the U.S. Department of Labor, Phil Tom, Director for DOL's Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships, recently posted his thoughts on Labor Day in a piece titled Keeping Faith In Labor. He writes in part:

Labor Day weekend is a time when faith communities and the labor movement celebrate their common bonds of equality, justice, dignity, and fair treatment for all workers. In fact, in 1909, the American Federation of Labor adopted the Sunday before Labor Day as "Labor Sunday" to honor the spirituality of the labor movement.

USA Today's Faith and Reason blog has more on Labor and religion.

Border Guard Survives Dismissal Motion In His Religious Discrimination Suit

In Israel v. Napolitano, (ND NY, Aug. 24, 2010), a New York federal district court refused to grant summary judgment to the Department of Homeland Security in a religious discrimination suit brought against it by a Jewish Customs and Border Protection Guard. Plaintiff Brian Israel alleged that over the course of his employment he was subjected to repeated anti-Semitic harassment by co-workers and supervisors, including swastikas being placed on his work locker. In 2007, Israel was fired, purportedly for his conduct following three separate altercations with the public.The court concluded, however, that "there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable fact finder could conclude that Israel's removal resulted from religious discrimination." [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Patrick Parkinson, Kim Oates & Amanda Jayakody, Breaking the Long Silence: Reports of Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church of Australia, (Ecclesiology, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 183-200, 2010).
• Robert A. Kahn, Tragedy, Farce or Legal Mobilization? The Danish Cartoons in Court in France and Canada, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-21, 2010).
• Peter G. Danchin, Islam in the Secular Nomos of the European Court of Human Rights, University of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-41, Sept. 1, 2010).
• Geoffrey P. Miller, Sovereignty and Conquest in the Hebrew Bible, NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-61, Sept. 3, 2010).
• Wilbren Van der Burg, Legislation on Human Embryos: From Status Theories to Value Theories, (Erasmus Working Paper Series on Jurisprudence and Socio-legal Studies No. 10-03, Aug. 30, 2010).
• Joshua Kleinfeld, The Concept of Evil in American and German Criminal Punishment, (August 25, 2010).

From SmartCILP:

• Melissa Lewis, The Regulation of Kosher Slaughter in the United States: How to Supplement Religious Law So As to Ensure the Humane Treatment of Animals, 16 Animal Law Review 259-285 (2010).
• Alexandra Lang Susman, Strings Attached: An Analysis of the Eruv Under the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 9 University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class 93-134 (2009).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Fairwell v. Cates, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88856 (ED CA, Aug. 2, 2010), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed an inmate's free exercise and RLUIPA complaint with leave to amend and refile. Plaintiff set out numerous allegations of interference with his practice of Asatru/ Odinism, as well as an allegation of retaliation. However the complaint failed to adequately link particular defendants to specific alleged violations.

In Johnson v. Schoen, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90053 (SD IL, Aug. 31, 2010), an Illinois federal district court held that a prisoner's allegation that a correctional officer refused to give him a Bible during his visit with his mother was insufficient to support a free exercise claim.

In Williams v. Beard, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89492 (MD PA, Aug. 30, 2010), a Pennsylvania federal district court rejected a Muslim inmate's free exercise and RLUIPA challenges to disciplinary action that led to a loss of his kitchen job for offering prayers in an unauthorized area and failing to obey staff orders to stop.


In Walden v. Smith, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90084 (ND IA, Aug. 30, 2010), an Iowa federal district court dismissed on qualified immunity grounds a Muslim prisoner's complaint that his free exercise rights were violated when, because of his security status, he was not permitted to participate in communal daily prayers during much of Ramadan in 2007. During those times, he was restricted to one communal prayer service per week and thus attended the Friday Jum'ah prayers.


In Kuperman v. Wrenn, (D NH, Aug. 27, 2010), a New Hampshire federal district court rejected challenges by an Orthodox Jewish prisoner to rules that limited the length of beards that can be grown for religious reasons to 1/4 inch. The court found that plaintiff had not sustained his free exercise, equal protection or RLUIPA claims.

In Grayson v. Schuler, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89239 (SD IL, Aug. 30, 2010), an Illinois federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89240, July 20, 2010) and granted summary judgment for defendant on qualified immunity grounds in connection with a claim by an inmate who was a member of the African Hebrew Israelite faith. Plaintiff argued that the prison's grooming policy violated his free exercise rights because he had taken the Nazarite vow that required him to grow his hair long.


In Shelton v. El Paso County, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91248 (WD TX, Sept. 1, 2010), a Texas federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing an inmate's complaint that a county jail refused to allow him access to his hard cover Qur'an, failed to supply him with a soft cover version, denied him a prayer rug, did not give him access to a Muslim representative and denied him a pork-free diet. Plaintiff asserted free exercise, RLUIPA, establishment Clause and equal protection claims.

In Ortiz v. Baker, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91430 (D NV, July 27, 2010), a Nevada federal court judge dismissed, with leave to refile an amended complaint, a suit by a Jewish prisoner that merely alleged, without elaboration that defendants refused to permit him to practice Judaism and receive a kosher diet in violation of his First Amendment rights.

In Montague v. Corrections Corporation of America, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91616 (MD TN, Sept. 2, 2010), a Tennessee federal magistrate judge recommended denying a Muslim inmate's request for a temporary restraining order to permit Muslim inmates to pool funds to purchase requested food for Eid ul-Fitr and Eid Adha banquets.

In Soria v. Skolnik, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91543 (D NV, Aug. 10, 2010), a Nevada federal district court permitted an inmate to proceed with his claim that his rights under the free exercise clause, RLUIPA and the equal protection clause were violated by a prison policy requiring that for an inmate to receive a kosher diet, he must be recognized as a practicing Jew by the Aleph Institute or other recognized Jewish organization.

Maryland High Court Hears Arguments On Refusal To Reschedule Trial To Accommodate Religious Holiday

Last week, Maryland's Court of Appeals-- the state's highest court-- heard oral arguments in Neustadter v. Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Inc., posing the question of whether the religious freedom rights of a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case were infringed when the trial court refused to reschedule the trial in the case.  (Video of full oral argument). According to Saturday's Baltimore Sun, plaintiff, an Orthodox Jew, was denied a postponement or a two-day suspension of the trial for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Plaintiff did not attend those two days of trial and ordered his attorney not to work on his behalf on those days either. This led to crucial testimony by defendants' witnesses going unchallenged.

In Australia, Challenge Planned To School Chaplaincy Program

WA Today reports that in Australia, Queensland parent Ron Williams is planning to file suit to challenge the constitutionality of the country's school chaplaincy program.  Politicians have pledged to find $220 million to fund another 1000 chaplains in the schools. Meanwhile the Australian Psychological Society says the program is dangerous to children's mental health because many children are seeking out chaplains rather than psychologists to deal with mental health problems. At least one school even replaced its psychologist with a chaplain to save money. Program rules bar school chaplains from proselytizing.

Israeli Labor Court Says Private Catholic School Can Ban Muslim Teacher From Wearing Hijab

In Israel, the Jerusalem District Labor Court upheld the dress code requirements of a private Catholic school that barred a Muslim teacher from wearing a hijab (headscarf).  Today's Jerusalem Post reports that teacher Nada Nimri, who taught Arabic and Islam at the 120-year old Schmidt School for Girls, operated by the Mary Ward Sisters and owned by the Diocese of Cologne, decided after 27 years of teaching without wearing a hijab that she wanted to begin wearing one.  The school, which has both Catholic and Muslim students, enforces its dress code "in order to create uniformity between the students and teachers from Muslim and Christian backgrounds." Nimri argued that the requirement violated the Equal Opportunity in Work Law and the Equal Rights for Women Law (legislative background). The Labor Court held that because the school was a private school operated by a religious order, its pedagogical and educational concerns outweighed the burden on Nimri's religious beliefs.

Suit Against Scientology Creates Conflict Between State and Federal Judges

Saturday's St. Petersburg (FL) Times reports on an unusual clash between a state and a federal court judge in a case involving the Church of Scientology. Six years ago, attorney and vocal critic of Scientology, Ken Dandar, settled a state court wrongful death suit he brought against the Church of Scientology on behalf of the family of Lisa McPherson. She died in 1995 after being under the care of Scientology members for 17 days. As part of the settlement, Dandar agreed never to take another case against the Church of Scientology. However last year, Dandar filed a suit in federal court against Scientology's Flag Service Organization and the twin sister of Scientology's world leader, David Miscavige. Church attorneys claimed this violated the earlier settlement agreement, and state court Circuit Judge Robert Beach agreed. He ordered Dandar to withdraw from the federal case.

In response, Dandar filed a motion to withdraw, but attached an affidavit from his client asking that Dandar stay on because no other attorney will take the case. Federal district judge Steven Merryday decided that Dandar had not violated the settlement agreement and refused to allow him to withdraw. In response, state court judge Beach held Dandar in contempt and imposed a judgment of $130,000 to be paid to the Church of Scientology. Scientology's attorney said that Dandar could have gotten off the federal case by filing an affidavit claiming a conflict of interest. This angered federal Judge Merryday who saw it as an attempt to deceive the court. So he got Scientology's attorney and Dandar to agree to stop all proceedings in state court, including attempts to collect the judgement, until both sides can present full arguments in federal court. State court judge Beach says he does not think that a federal district court has jurisdiction to overturn his contempt finding.

Court OKs Menorah Display, But Not Use of City Personnel and Equipment To Light It

In Chabad of Mid-Hudson Valley v. City of Poughkeepsie, (NY App. Div., Aug. 31, 2010), a New York state appellate court held that the display of an 18-foot high menorah on public property in downtown Poughkeepsie (NY) did not violate the Establishment Clause because:

in the immediate vicinity of the menorah, as well as throughout the downtown area, are garlands, wreaths, and white lights, which ... "typify the secular celebration of Christmas".... These nearby secular decorations serve to emphasize the cultural message of Chanukah as represented by the menorah.... The relevant context also includes the symbols in the public lot ... 250 east [or the menorah display] ... which ... included not only a Christmas tree but a display of the Muslim faith in the form of a star and crescent. Therefore while the menorah does not lose its its religious symbolism, its surroundings negate any appearance of government endorsement....

The court concluded however that the Establishment Clause was violated in "allowing the plaintiffs to use municipal funds, labor, and equipment for the nightly menorah lighting, even if the plaintiffs repaid the City for such labor and equipment" because this "would foster the perception of an unconstitutional excessive governmental entanglement with religion."

White House Press Secretary: President Is a Committed Mainstream Christian

The Christian Science Monitor reported last week that Fox News commentator Glenn Beck is accusing President Obama of not being a true Christian, but instead of believing in Marxist-based "Liberation Theology". The issue was raised by reporters at yesterday's White House press briefing (full text) in this exchange with press secretary Robert Gibbs:

Q    Robert, for the last four days, Glenn Beck has criticized the President for believing in liberation theology, which he calls a Marxist form of Christianity.  I’ve got two questions.  One, does the President, to your knowledge, even know what liberation theology is?

MR. GIBBS:  I don’t know the answer to that.  I will say this, Bill, a crude paraphrasing of an old quote, and that is people are entitled to their own opinion, as ill-informed as it may be, but they’re not entitled to their own facts.  The President is a committed mainstream Christian.  I don’t -- I have no evidence that would guide me as to what Glenn Beck would have any genuine knowledge as to what the President does or does not believe.

Q    When is he going back to church?

Q    So this Marxist form of Christianity --

MR. GIBBS:  Again, I can only imagine where Mr. Beck conjured that from.

Mormon Church Talks With China Will Likely Lead To Regualarizing LDS Operations In China

In Salt Lake City (UT) this week, the Mormon Church announced that recent meetings with an official of the People's Republic of China are expected to lead to regularizing of the Church's operations in China. However the Church will not be sending missionaries to China. Instead the initiative means that the way in which the Church can legally proceed with daily activities in China will be clarified.

Abercrombie Sued For Second Time Over Clash Between Its "Look Policy" and Wearing Hijab

For the second time in a year, the EEOC has brought a lawsuit against clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch over the conflict between its "Look Policy" for its personnel and the need of Muslim women to wear a headscarf (hijab). The EEOC announced on Wednesday that it had filed suit in a California federal district court on behalf of an 18-year old whose application for a job stocking merchandise at an Abercrombie Kids store in Milpitas, California was rejected. According to the complaint, the applicant wore a headscarf to the job interview. The Abercrombie manager asked her if she was a Muslim and required to wear a headscarf. When she replied she was, the manager marked "not Abercrombie look" on her application. In September 2009, the EEOC sued Abercrombie in an Oklahoma federal district court for rejecting a prospective employee because she wore a hijab. (See prior posting.) Also in February 2010, a complaint was filed with the EEOC on behalf of a Muslim stockroom worker who was fired from Hollister (an Abercrombie subsidiary) in San Mateo, California, because she insisted on wearing her hijab. (See prior posting.)

California Trial Court Affirms Religious Court's Decision On Ownership of Torah Scrolls

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that on Tuesday a Los Angeles trial court confirmed a ruling by a Jewish religious tribunal in a dispute over ownership of four Torah scrolls. The court agreed with the bet din (Jewish religious court) that the scrolls belong to the widow of Rabbi Norman Pauker, and that they were merely on loan to Pauker's former assistant, Rabbi Samuel Ohana. (See prior related posting.) That conclusion was based on a handwritten loan agreement seen as authentic by the bet din.  Ohana is using the scrolls at his Sherman Oaks, California synagogue. Pauker's widow wants her nephews, who are rabbis, to have the scrolls for their synagogues instead.  The challenge to the ruling of the bet din was based on the fact that the religious tribunal ordered the scrolls returned not to Pauker's widow personally, but to Pauker's orgainzation, Valley Mishkan Israel Congregation. Ohana claimed the religious panel had no authority to do that since the widow personally, not the Congregation, was the party to the action. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Court Refuses To Mandamus California Governor and AG To Defend Prop 8

The Recorder reports that the Pacific Justice Institute on Tuesday filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in California's Third District Court of Appeal, seeking to force California's governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8-- the state's ban on same sex marriage-- in court. Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have said publicly that they do not intend to defend the constitutionality of the voter-approved state constitutional amendment. Brown is the Democratic candidate for governor this fall. Apex News Network reports that on Wednesday the court refused to grant the mandamus petition. The court gave no reasons for its decision.

Army Accommodates Third Sikh Recruit

According to a release yesterday by the Sikh Coalition, the U.S. Army, for the third time in less than a year, has agreed that a Sikh recruit may enlist and continue to wear his religiously-mandated turban along with unshorn hear and a beard. Simran Preet Singh Lamba was brought into the army in 2009 through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program-- designed to recruit non-citizens who have needed language skills.  Lamba, a native of India, speaks Punjabi and Hindi. The Army's ruling (full text) granting Lamba religious accommodation said the exemption from the Army's hair and grooming policy is granted for basic training and military occupational school, and emphasizes that accommodation requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Fraud Claim Against Diocese For Nondisclosure of Priest's Past Sex Abuse Is Dismissed

In Doe v. Diocese of New Ulm, (MN Ct. App., Aug. 31, 2010), the Minnesota Court of Appeals dismissed claims against a Catholic diocese by several women who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by a priest, Father David Rooney. The court held that while plaintiffs' fraud claims were not barred by the statute of limitations, the claims stemmed from the diocese's failure to disclose Father Rooney's history of sexual abuse.  Nondisclosure amounts to fraud only if the diocese had a duty to disclose, and plaintiffs did not allege or establish any such duty.  The court rejected plaintiffs' theory that the diocese engaged in an implied affirmative misrepresentation that it was safe for Father Rooney to be around children when the diocese permitted him to serve as a pastor and have unsupervised access to minor children.

7th Circuit Says University of Wisconsin Must Make Student Activity Fees Available To Religious Worship

In a 2-1 decision yesterday in Badger Catholic, Inc. v. Walsh, (7th Cir., Sept. 1, 2010), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a University of Wisconsin policy that withheld student activity fee funding for worship, proselytizing  or religious instruction by recognized student groups. The majority opinion, written by Judge Easterbrook, concluded that the University acted improperly in refusing to fund certain programs of a Catholic student group. The group, Badger Catholic, was formerly known as the Roman Catholic Foundation. The majority held that funding religious programs on the same basis as programs of other student groups does not violate the Establishment Clause, and that the University must fund  the Catholic group's programs if similar programs that espouse a secular perspective receive money. The majority held however that an award of damages is not available to plaintiffs. They may obtain only a declaratory judgment or injunction as relief.

Judge Williams, dissenting, argued that while it is not required to do so, the University may create a limited forum and exclude worship from it because the practice of religion does not serve the purpose of the limited forum. She argued that the majority's treatment of purely religious activities as being merely a species of dialog, discussion or debate "degrades religion and the practice of religion." She asks:

If religion, and the practice of one’s religion, can be described as merely dialog or debate from a religious perspective, what work does the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment do?

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the decision.