Restaurant's Christmas Promotion Leads To Police Investigation In Maldives

Only Muslims may become citizens of the Maldives. However apparently some number of Christian expatriates live in the country. So the Jade Bistro cafe-- a restaurant that appeals to various nationalities-- was decorated for Christmas and offered a "festive" luncheon over the Christmas period. According to yesterday's Minivan News, this led Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, head of the Adhaalath Party, to file a complaint with the police who briefly arrested one person at the cafe to obtain more information. Sheikh Hussein says that it is unlawful to celebrate Christmas in the Maldives. Management of the Jade Bistro issued an apology, saying they had not intended to upset anyone. They were merely offering a traditional meal with friends for those who were away from home.

Indian Court Interprets Reach of Hindu Marriage Act

In India, the Delhi high court has issued a ruling clarifying the scope of the Hindu Marriage Act.  According to DNA, Justice Kailash Gambhir held that in order for the Act to be applicable to a divorce action, both husband and wife must have been Hindus at the time of the marriage. It is not enough that the marriage was solemnized in a Hindu ceremony if one of the spouses was of a different religion.

Group Challenges Sheriff's Donation of Jail Basketball Hoops To Churches

A letter sent Tuesday by Atheists of Florida is challenging as an Establishment Clause violation the decision of Polk County (FL) sheriff Grady Judd to remove basketball hoops, backboards and poles that are at the county jail and donate them to eight local churches. According to Fox News, Judd said it gave the wrong impression to people driving to see inmates playing basketball. Inmates will still have three hours a week recreation time, but will now be limited to activities such as jogging and push-ups. The Examiner reports that it is unclear whether secular charities were considered to receive the basketball equipment and why the equipment was not sold as surplus property.

5 Arrested Planning Terror Attack On Danish Paper That Published Muhammad Cartoons

Four men were arrested in Denmark and one in Sweden today, suspected of plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that in 2005 published the now-famous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. (See prior posting.) The New York Times reports that the four arrested in Denmark had entered the country from Sweden and were planning within a few days to break into the newspaper and kill as many people as possible.

New Controversy In Israel Over Government Subsidies For Religious Students

The New York Times reported yesterday on the growing debate within Israel over government subsidies for thousands of strictly Orthodox (haredi) students who study full time at religious seminaries.  Rabbi Chaim Amsellem, a member of the Knesset from the religious Shas Party, created a furor last month when urged that full-time state-financed religious study should be reserved for students who are particularly well qualified scholars and likely to become rabbis or religious court judges. He says the others should join the work force. In reaction his own party expelled him and attacks in a Shas newspaper describing him as "Amalek" led to his being assigned a bodyguard. A number of efforts are underway to bring haredim into the workforce. 56% of haredim currently live below the poverty line.

Atheist Will Deliver Invocation At City Council Session In Colorado

In 2008, Grand Junction City, Colorado city council adopted a resolution creating a more inclusive process for choosing those who may offer the invocation at council meetings. Any spiritual organization in the community may place its name in a lottery for selection. According to Denver Westward Blogs, for the first time in the city's history an atheist will deliver the invocation.  For the January 3 meeting, the Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers was chosen in the lottery and Joe Alaimo, representing the Church of Spiritual Humanism will open council's session. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

DC Mayor's Inauguration Prayer Service Rejects Request for Participation By Humanist Practitioner

The schedule for the January 2 inauguration of Washington D.C.'s mayor-elect Vince Gray begins with an interfaith prayer service. According to a press release yesterday from the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), their request that a Humanist Celebrant be included as part of the service has been turned down on the ground that the prayer service is already set. SCA says that while the Mayor's transition team said they wished SCA had contacted them sooner, SCA made its request for participation within hours after the "One City ... Praying Together" event was publicly announced.

Britain's House of Commons Will Create Multi-Faith Chaplaincy

The Speaker of Britain's House of Commons is backing a proposal by the current Chaplain of the House of Commons to create a team of non-salaried multi-faith chaplains for Parliament's lower house.  Sunday's London Telegraph reported that the new chaplains will represent the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Janist, Bah'ai and Zoroastrian faiths. They could take part in Parliamentary ceremonies, but constitutional reform will be required for a non-Anglican cleric to read the daily prayers.  Apparently their primary role will be a pastoral one for members of the House of Commons and their staffs.

Pakistan's Islamic Parties Call For New Year's Eve General Strike To Protest Blasphemy Repeal Efforts

Pakistan's Express Tribune today reports that a group of Islamic political parties in Pakistan have called for a general strike on December 31 to protest proposals to repeal the country's blasphemy laws.  The political parties also plan a mass demonstration in Karachi on January 9.

Religious Discrimination Suit On Behalf of Fired Santeria Employee Settled

According to today's Fayetteville (NC) Observer, the manufacturer GKN Dirveline North America has settled a religious discrimination lawsuit filed against it by the EEOC just a week before the suit was to go to trial. The company had been charged with failing to accommodate the religious beliefs of a Santeria employee who refused to submit a saliva sample for drug testing, but offered to undergo an alternative form of testing. Dismissed employee Dwayne Butler believes he can only provide saliva for a religious purpose. The company will pay $36,432 in damages, provide training on religious discrimination and post a notice concerning employee rights.

Senate Confirms 4 EEOC Recess Appointees

The U.S. Senate last week (Dec. 22) confirmed four of President Obama's long-pending nominations to positions at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. An EEOC press release announces the confirmation of Jacqueline A. Berrien to be EEOC Chair; Chai R. Feldblum and Victoria A. Lipnic to be Commissioners; and P. David Lopez as General Counsel. In March the President had given recess appointments to these four (see prior posting).  Christian conservatives had objected particularly to Feldblum's nomination as the first openly gay or lesbian person to be nominated to the EEOC. (See prior posting.) The EEOC enforces federal laws barring discrimination in employment, including the ban on religious discrimination.

En Banc Rehearing Granted In Suit Over Student Distribution of Religious Themed Materials

Earlier this month, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order granting an en banc rehearing in Morgan v. Swanson.  A 3-judge panel in the case refused to grant qualified immunity to two Plano, Texas elementary school principals who were sued for refusing to allow elementary school students to hand out religious-themed items during school parties and at other non-curricular times. Though the panel (in an amended opinion) added that the trial court might find immunity if the facts show that the students' activities were disruptive. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Don Byrd for the lead.]

Top Ten 2010 Religious Liberty/ Church-State Developments

Here are my nominations for the 2010 Top Ten Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments. The choices are based on the long-range implications of the developments on legal doctrines and on relations between government and religion. Most of these top ten were reflected in a number of Religion Clause postings over the year. I have linked to representative postings on each issue.

• (1) Ground Zero Mosque becomes national political issue while opponents of Tennessee mosque argue that Islam is not entitled to protection as a religion.
  
• (2) California federal district court invalidates Proposition 8, the California initiative that bars same-sex marriage.
  
• (3) Oklahoma voters approve anti-Shariah state constitutional amendment; court enjoins certification of results.
  
• (4) France bans wearing of burqa in public.
  
• (5) Leaders of women's Catholic religious orders split with bishops over health care reform proposals.
  
• (6)  Florida church creates international furor by proposing "Burn a Qur'an Day" for 9-11 anniversary. Eventually event is cancelled.
  
• (7) Military chaplains oppose repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
  
• (8) Supreme Court upholds Hastings College of Law policy of requiring student religious groups to accept anyone as member in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez.
  
• (9) Federal district court declares that federal statute designating National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
  
• (10) 9th Circuit upholds pledge of allegiance, and "in God We Trust" on coins and currency, against Establishment Clause challenges.

Religion Newswriters Association and Huffington Post have their own Top Ten lists of religion stories.

Australian Anti-Discrimination Law Exempts Religious Foster Care Agency

In OW and OV v Members of the Board of the Wesley Mission Council, (NSWADT, Dec. 10, 2010), the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of the Australian state of New South Wales held that the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act does not require a religiously-sponsored social service organization to approve same-sex couples as foster care providers. Section 56 of the Act exempts any act or practice of a religious body "that conforms to the doctrines of that religion or is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of the adherents of that religion." Here, Wesley Mission believed that a monogamous heterosexual partnership in marriage should be the role model for children for whom it provides foster care. Sydney's Daily Telegraph today reports on the decision.

South Korean Parliament Fails To Act On Tax Benefits For Sukuk At Urging of Christian Groups

Arab News reports today that the South Korean National Assembly failed to approve a bill introduced by the Ministry of Finance that would have given tax neutrality to Shariah-compliant financial instruments. It would have given sukuk (Islamic bonds) the same tax treatment as conventional bonds.  According to this report, some members of the National Assembly have been heavily lobbied by Christian evangelical groups, some of which have close ties to groups in the United States. The Korean Association of Church Communication is among the groups that have generated concern that approval would facilitate the flow of funds to terrorist groups.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Reid Krell, And the Spirit of the Lord Spake within Them: Biblical References by State Supreme Courts, 1900-1999, (December 20, 2010).
• Charles Hillel Baron, Blood Transfusions, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the American Patients’ Rights Movement, (Alternatives to Blood Transfusion in Transfusion Medicine, Alice Maniatis, Phillipe Van der Linden, Jean-François Hardy, eds., Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
• Allen Mendenhall, The Oft-Ignored Mr. Turton: The Role of District Collector in a Passage to India, (Libertarian Papers, Vol. 2, No. 44, 2010).
• Robert C. Blitt, The Bottom Up Journey of 'Defamation of Religion' from Muslim States to the United Nations: A Case Study of the Migration of Anti-Constitutional Ideas,  (December 22, 2010).
• Micah Schwartzman, The Ethics of Reasoning from Conjecture, (Journal of Moral Philosophy, Forthcoming).
• Seth Barrett Tillman, The Originalist Who Came In From The Cold: A “New” View of the Incompatibility Clause, the Removal and Disqualification Clause, and the Religious Test Clause–A Response to Professor Josh Chafetz’s Impeachment and Assassination, (2010).
• Susan Haack, Belief in Naturalism: An Epistemologist's Philosophy of Mind, (Logos Episteme, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 67-83, 2010).
• Arthur J. Jacobson, Prophecy as Expertise, (Hebraic Political Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 329-336, Fall 2009).

European Project On Religious Diversity and Secular Models Launches Website

RELIGARE, a project funded by the European Commission that brings together 13 European universities and research centers, has launched a website.  The project's longer descriptive title is Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe-- Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy. The website includes publications, documents, case summaries and more. A link now appears on the Religion Clause sidebar under Resources. [Thanks to Prof. Rafael Palomino for the lead.]

Teacher Loses Challenge To School's Demand She Apologize For Her Class On Evolution

In Hensley v. Johnston County Board of Education, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135926 (ED NC, Dec. 23, 2010), a North Carolina federal district court dismissed free speech, equal protection and religious discrimination claims by an 8th grade science teacher who refused to apologize to parents over her method of teaching evolution and dealing with religious objections to evolutionary theory.  After a parent complained that teacher Pamela Hensley was antagonistic to "true Christian" students, the school presented Hensley with a letter to sign to go out to parents apologizing for the manner in which she conducted the class discussion about God, religion and evolution. Ultimately she refused to sign the letter and was transfered to a different school. The court concluded:

her decision not to send the letter requested by her employer, in her capacity as a teacher, is not protected by the First Amendment. Because Hensley was asked to speak in her official capacity as a public employee, her refusal to speak does not give rise to a claim for violation of her First Amendment rights....

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In McKinnon v. Watson, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133550 (WD VA, Dec. 17, 2010), a Virginia federal district court granted summary judgment to prison officials who had been sued by a Nation of Islam prisoner for delay in approving his religious diet request. The court held that defendants had qualified immunity.

In Norman v. Small, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133507 (SD CA, Dec. 14, 2010), an inmate alleged among other claims that his free exercise rights were violated because prison policy allowed him to be searched in front of female officers in violation of his Islamic religious beliefs. A federal magistrate judge recommended (2010  U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133557, July 29, 2010) that this claim be dismissed both for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and for failure to state a claim. The district court adopted the recommendation to dismiss on exhaustion grounds, but said it would therefore not address whether the claims should also be dismissed on the merits.

In Wilder v. Sutton, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134677 (SD IL, Dec. 21, 2010), an Illinois federal district court permitted a Wiccan prisoner to go to trial on claims that his rights  under the 1st and 14th Amendments were violated when his requests for materials that would permit him to practice his religion were ignored and he was told he could not practice his religion in prison.  However the court held that damages are not available in either individual or official capacity claims under RLUIPA (which he also invoked) and that his claim for an injunction is moot because he had been transfered to a different facility.

In Cullen v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134882 (WD PA, Dec. 21, 2010), a Pennsylvania federal district court rejected that an inmate's complaint that his free exercise rights were infringed when his refusal to take part in a Therapeutic Community program was used against him in considering his parole. Plaintiff failed to allege his religious beliefs or how they were impinged. He alleged primarily that program required that inmates inform on one another's behaviors and prohibited the use of the words "God" or "Higher Power" in program sessions.

In Young v. Ericksen, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134606 (ED WI, Dec. 20, 2010), a Wisconsin federal district court permitted a Muslim inmate who was held in protective custody and denied the right to attend group Jum'ah services, as well as being denied a visit by a volunteer imam, to proceed with his free exercise and RLUIPA claims.

Proposals In Pakistan To Temper Blasphemy Law Meet With Street Protests

CNN reported yesterday that Pakistan's federal minister for minority affairs has announced the formation of a committee of scholars to review the country's blasphemy laws to prevent them from targeting innocent people. The move comes in the wake of a controversial death sentence for blasphemy imposed on a Christian woman, Asia Bibi. Pakistan's President says he would pardon Bibi, but a court has ruled that the president cannot grant a pardon while the case is still working its way through the courts. (See prior posting.) Press TV reports that thousands of Pakistani Muslims demonstrated in major cities around the country protesting a bill that has been introduced into Parliament that would remove the death penalty for blasphemy.