British Government Spends Large Amounts Studying Anti-Discrimination Compliance

Last year, the British Parliament passed the Equality Act 2010, replacing nine separate anti-discrimination laws that previously existed. The London Mail yesterday reported that government departments and other public bodies have spent large amounts on studies to promote and assure compliance with the new law. Among the studies highlighted by the paper's report is an impact assessment to ensure that minority groups are able to take full part in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations next summer; a government study of the impact of India's traditional caste system on discrimination in the UK; and a report on how changes in programs to help the disabled find jobs will impact issues such as religion and gender reassignment.

U.S. Catholic Bishops Support Amendment, Not Repeal, of Health Care Law; Release Other Policy Priorities

In a press release last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that it will not support total repeal of last year's health care reform bill. Instead, according to a letter it sent to members of the House of Representatives, it will seek action by Congress to amend the law to ensure access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all; to retain requirements that effectively protect conscience rights and that prohibit use of federal funds for elective abortion or for insurance plans that include them. Finally it will seek to protect immigrants' access to health care and to remove current barriers to access.  Last year while the health care bill was pending, the bishops urged defeat of it because of their belief that limits on abortion funding did not go far enough. (See prior posting.)

In a long letter to all members of Congress (text included in press release), the bishops also outlined their other legislative priorities for the new Congress. These include protecting the unborn; supporting traditional marriage; seeking budget, tax and entitlement policies that protect the poor and vulnerable; funding for private schools; empowering faith-based groups; assuring equal access to the Internet; immigration reform; and various international initiatives to end conflicts, protect religious freedom and provide aid.

Episcopal Church Awarded Fort Worth Diocese Property

The Episcopal Church (TEC) has successfully asserted a claim to the property of a Texas diocese that broke away to affiliate with the more conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.  In The Episcopal Church v. Salazar, (TX Dist. Ct., Jan. 20, 2011), a Texas state trial court held that property of the Diocese of Fort Worth belongs to the individuals who remain loyal to the hierarchical church body. It ordered defendants to turn the property over to TEC within 60 days, along with an accounting of all Diocesan assets. The court also ordered defendants to stop holding themselves out as leaders of the Diocese, and called for the parties to submit a more detailed declaratory order within ten days. (The order issued last week, apparently drafted by plaintiffs, includes paragraphs crossed out by the court before it was signed.)  The break-away group under the leadership Bishop Jack Iker issued a statement announcing it will appeal the ruling. Episcopal News Service and the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram report on the court's decision. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to John Chilton for the lead.]

Shi'ite Congregation Sues Georgia Town Over Zoning Refusal

Yesterday's Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on a lawsuit filed by the Dar-E-Abbas Shi'ite Muslim congregation against the city of Lilburn, Georgia in a zoning dispute.  Plaintiffs want the city to rezone four acres adjacent to its current site so it can build a 20,000 square foot mosque and a 200-car parking lot. City council has refused citing traffic and drainage problems. This follows a refusal in 2009 of a more extensive plan that included a cemetery. Plaintiffs claim they are being treated more harshly than requests from other religious groups would be.

San Antonio Archdiocese Settles Sexual Assault Claim

The Archdiocese of San Antonio (TX) announced on Friday that it has settled a lawsuit involving charges of sexual assault by a priest, Father John M. Fiala.  The case was settled for $946,000, paid by the Archdiocese's insurers. According to a report on the settlement by the San Antonio Express-News, Fiala was indicted on six counts of sexually assaulting the teen at gun point, and subsequently arrested on a charge of attempting to hire a hit man to kill him.  The lawsuit also named Fiala's religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity; the Diocese of Corpus Christi; and the Archdiocese of Omaha. The Archdiocese of San Antonio apparently received a false letter Fiala's religious order indicating no sex abuse claims when it hired Fiala. A trial involving these remaining defendants is scheduled for August.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Mauwee v. Donat, (9th Cir., Dec. 22, 2010), the 9th Circuit held that monetary damages are not available under RLUIPA against the Nevada Department of Corrections or officials acting in their official capacity. It also held that an inmate's free exercise claims are moot.

In Hatzfeld v. Eagen, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3914 (ND NY, Jan. 14, 2010), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139758, Dec. 10, 2010) and dismissed an atheist inmate's claim that he was denied treatment for hepatitis when he refused to participate in a religious-based substance abuse treatment program. The court found that a secular treatment program was available to plaintiff.

In Porter v. Beard, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3966 (WD PA, Jan. 14, 2011), a Pennsylvania federal district court refused to grant a Native American inmate a preliminary injunction. Plaintiff claimed he has not been provided replacement materials for a religious medicine bag that was thrown away by a corrections officer. But the court concluded he had been but had refused it because it was being delivered by a chaplain who was not a Native American.  The magistrate's recommendations in the case are at 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139770, Aug. 12, 2010.

In Davis v. Flores, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4417 (ED CA, Jan. 14, 2011), a California federal district court dismissed free exercise and RLUIPA challenges by a Muslim inmate who objected to a prison rule that limited use of prayer oils to the chapel and did not permit possession of them in cells.

In Rincon v. Wells, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5199 (SD GA, Jan. 20, 2011), a Muslim inmate filed a habeas petition challenging loss of good conduct time imposed because he participated in a group boycott of religious meals. A Georgia federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of plaintiff's free exercise, equal protection and related claims because they cannot be raised by way of habeas corpus, for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and because of lack of support on the merits for his equal protection claim.

In Walton v. Hixson, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4944 (ED CA, Jan. 19, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a Muslim inmate's complaint that his free exercise rights and rights under RLUIPA were violated when a corrections officer on one occasion interrupted his prayers and another time caused him to miss his morning prayers.

In Kalwasinski v. Maxymillian, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5226  (ND NY, Jan. 20, 2011), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate' recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140064, Dec. 22, 2010) relating to various claims of a Muslim inmate at a psychiatric center. The court dismissed plaintiff's objections to the bowls and utensils used and his objections to the serving of fish on Fridays. Plaintiff was allowed to proceed on claims regarding the lack of Al Jumu'ah services and a Halal menu; requirements that he attend classes on Fridays and denial of sacred foods on holidays.

In Criswell v. Salisbury, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5031 (D RI, Jan. 18, 2011), a Rhode Island federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140102, Dec. 14, 2010) and dismissed a Muslim inmate's claim that his mail was denied or delayed because of its religious content.

In Birdwell v. Martel, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4932 (ED CA, Jan. 18, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge recommended rejecting an Asatru/Odinist inmate's habeas corpus petition, concluding that a state court had not acted unreasonably in rejecting his claim that his parole was denied because of his refusal to participate in a religious based 12-step program.

Court Rejects Establishment Clause Challenge To Forest Service's Access Plan

Fortune v. Thompson, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5343 (D MT, Jan. 20, 2011), involves a challenge to the U.S. Forest Service's adoption of a plan that limits motorized access on a portion of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. In upholding the plan, a Montana federal district court rejected an Establishment Clause claim by opponents of the plan who argued that the purpose of the plan was to favor Native American religion. The court said:

Even if the Forest Service's consideration and decision were enacted in part to mitigate interference with the Blackfeet's religious practices, this objective alone does not signify a constitutional violation.

The court also rejected the argument that the effect of the plan was to create "a cathedral for the Blackfeet religion."

Church Loses Challenge To County Zoning Ordinances

In McGuire v. Clackamas County Counsel, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5521 (D OR, Jan. 19, 2011), an Oregon federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140026, Nov. 10, 2010), and dismissed a free exercise challenge to the zoning laws of Clackamas County, Oregon. The county insisted that the provision of services to the homeless, such as car and home repair assistance, and allowing the homeless to split wood and sell it, qualified the Assembly Church as a business so that the Church needed to obtain a permit and comply with a zoning ordinances. Plaintiffs argued unsuccessfully that they formed the Church as a "closed church" with the intent that they would receive no benefits from the government and, in turn, would not be contacted by, or be subject to the control of, the government.

Plan For School District To Absorb Religious Special Education School Is Controversial

In Rockland County, New York, controversy surrounds a proposal for the East Ramapo Central School District to take over the now private religious Rockland Institute for Special Education ("RISE") that educates 70 bi-lingual Yiddish or Hebrew speaking special education students. Earlier this week, both The Forward and Yeshiva World News reported on the situation in the district where controversy has brewed for months over other issues  in which proponents of public schools claim that the district school board, a majority of whose members are Orthodox Jews, has favored Jewish private schools in the area. The director of RISE has written her staff saying: "The district is trying to protect the program and the staff from the anti-Semites and those who will try to prove this merger is unconstitutional. The district people assure me, they have checked everything with lawyers and it is 100% legal. But there are those who will probably fight it."  Apparently no religious subjects will be taught during the regular school day, but privately-financed religious programs before and after school are planned.Opponents say the proposal is merely a bail-out of a failed religious institution and will segregate students.  A vote originally scheduled for earlier this week has now been postponed until the Feb. 2 school board meeting.

Virginia County's Schools Restore 10 Commandments Displays

In Giles County, Virginia, the Giles County School Board voted unanimously on Thursday to re-hang 4-foot tall copies of the Ten Commandments in the district's 5 schools and its technology center. AP reports that last December the Ten Commandments, which had hung in the schools next to a copy of the Constitution for at least ten years, were replaced by a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The move came after a complaint by the Freedom from Religion Foundation and an opinion by the school board's attorney that the Ten Commandments displays were unconstitutional. The school board's change of heart came after eight parents and pastors, supported by a large number of others, told the board that schools had a moral obligation to reinforce God's teachings. The Ten Commandments were back in the schools yesterday.

UPDATE: Delmarva Now reports that on Feb. 22 the Giles school board held a special meeting and voted to again remove the Ten Commandments from the schools.

Oregon Works To Acculturate Immigrant Groups In Light of Their Religious Beliefs

Today's Wall Street Journal reports at length on the efforts of Oregon authorities to deal with the religious beliefs of some 150,000 evangelical Christians from the former Soviet Union who live in the state. In 2009, Slavic Christians Oleksandr and Lyudmila Kozlov were arrested, and their seven children placed in foster care, after the oldest children called 911 to complain about physical beatings from their parents.  The parents said they were disciplining their children according to Biblical law, and that the government was trying to destroy the family because of its religious beliefs. The court eventually sentenced the parents to over seven years in prison for criminal mistreatment. Oregon's Department of Human Services has now begun to hold forums with different immigrant groups and the agencies in charge of resettling them to discuss American law as well as standards for disciplining children and spousal treatment.

Georgia School Board Votes To Keep Graduation At Church

Despite objections from Americans United for Separation of Church and State (see prior posting), a metropolitan Atlanta school board has voted unanimously to continue to hold graduation ceremonies in a local mega-church. The church charges only $2000 for use of its facilites, while secular venues would cost up to $40,000 to rent.MyFoxAtlanta and CBSAtlanta report that the Cherokee County (GA) school board voted unanimously on Thursday to keep the ceremony at First Baptist Church of Woodstock.Students particularly favored the decision, wanting to receive their diplomas at the same location their siblings had. Some parents and community members have started collecting funds to cover future legal challenges to the decision.

Utility Companies Sue Hamptons Villages Over Eruv

Following on a suit filed last week by the East End Eruv Association (EEEA) challenging as religious discrimination decisions by three municipalities in The Hamptons (NY) to prevent use of utility poles to create an eruv (see prior posting), this week two utility companies filed a federal lawsuit challenging the towns' interference with the utilities' agreement to permit EEEA to install the eruv.  An eruv permits observant Jews under religious law to carry items on the Sabbath that would otherwise be impermissible. The complaint (full text) in Verizon New York Inc. v. Village of Westhampton Beach, (ED NY, filed 1/18, 2011), alleges that the utilities are contractually obligated to permit installation of lechis (plastic or wooden strips) on utility poles to create an eruv, so long as the installation conforms to valid local laws. Plaintiffs seek a declaration that local laws being invoked to block the eruv are unenforceable. Courthouse News Service reported on the filing of the lawsuit. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Challenge To DOMA's Impact on Tax Treatment of Long Term Care Policies Moves Ahead

In Dragovich v. U.S. Department of Treasury, (ND CA, Jan 18, 2011), a California federal district court allowed three California public employees and their same-sex spouses to proceed with a lawsuit challenging Sec. 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Sec. 7702B(f) of the Internal Revenue Code which interfere with plaintiffs' ability to participate in a state-maintained long term care insurance program.  Taken together, the challenged provisions deny favorable federal tax treatment to state employee long-term care plans that cover same-sex spouses. Finding that plaintiffs have standing to challenge the provisions, the court refused to dismiss plaintiffs' equal protection and substantive due process claims, holding:

Section three of the DOMA ...  impairs the states’ authority to define marriage, by robbing states of the power to allow same-sex civil marriages that will be recognized under federal law.... Plaintiffs have sufficiently stated a claim that section three of the DOMA bears no rational relationship to a legitimate governmental interest. The section does not preserve the status quo of the states’ authority to define marriage because it instead impairs their customary and historic authority in the realm of domestic relations.

The Silicon Valley Mercury News yesterday reported on the decision. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

9th Circuit: Ignorance of Religious Doctrine Does Not Support Adverse Credibility Finding In Asylum Application

In Li v. Holder, (9th Cir., Jan. 19, 2011), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an immigration judge's denial of an asylum application by Lei Li, a citizen of China who claimed he is a Christian and that he had been persecuted and had a well-founded fear of future persecution if he returned to China.  The immigration judge's denial was based on his finding that Li failed to demonstrate credible evidence that he is a Christian.  That adverse credibility finding was based primarily on Li's answer to two questions about Christianity. First, Li thought Thanksgiving was a Christian holiday.  Second, when asked about the difference between the Old and New Testaments, Li could only respond that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek.  The 9th Circuit held that "an IJ's perception of a petitioner’s ignorance of religious doctrine is not a proper basis for an adverse credibility finding." Judge Zouhary (sitting by designation) dissented, arguing that instead of reversing the adverse credibility finding, the court should remand for clarification and, if necessary, a supplemental hearing. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Groups Protest Air Force Academy's Scheduled Prayer Luncheon Speaker

Yesterday the Military Religious Freedom Foundation released a letter (full text) it has sent to the Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy objecting to the Academy's scheduling of former Marine Lt. Clebe McClary as the speaker for the Academy's National Prayer Luncheon next month. McClary, a professional motivational speaker, is described by Truthout as "a retired Marine, who was wounded in Vietnam and now serves the 'Lord's Army,' and believes that USMC (US Marine Corps) will always stand for 'US Marines for Christ.'" The MMRF letter said in part:

Indeed, it is precisely that incontrovertibly explicit and prestigious institutional approval of former Lt. McClary's non-inclusive religious "message" of fundamentalist Christian triumphalism, exceptionalism and supremacy which is the gravamen of the truly disgraceful decision by the Academy to honor him as the featured speaker at its National Prayer Luncheon event.

Several other groups have sent letters to the Academy supporting the MMRF's call for rescinding the invitation to McClary.

Court In India Hears Challenge To Hindu Ceremony Starting Courthouse Construction

In India yesterday, a two-judge panel of the Gujarat High Court heard arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of a Hindu ceremony in which the Gujarat governor, the chief justice of the High Court and other judges had all taken part last year.  Articles last week in DNA and today in The Hindu explain the controversy.  The Gujarat government had acquired land on which to build advanced infrastructure for the court.  Before construction began, the traditional Hindu foundation-laying ceremony, known as bhoomi pujan, was held, apparently also as part of the court's Golden Jubilee celebration. In the arguments yesterday, petitioner's counsel asserted that since India is a secular state, no part of the government can sponsor a religious ceremony.

UDATE: According to an April 14 article in the Milli Gazette, the court dismissed plaintiff's challenge to the ceremony and "also fined the petitioner Rs 20000, doubting his bona fides."

Court Holds Exhaustion Not Required In RLUIPA Zoning Cases

In United States v. City of Walnut, California, (CD CA, Jan. 13, 2011), a California federal district court held that RLUIPA does not require plaintiffs in land use cases to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit to challenge a zoning decision. The case involves a suit by the United States challenging the City of Walnut's refusal to grant a conditional zoning permit to a Zen Buddhist Center. The city's Planning Commission denied the permit and the city advised the Zen Center that an appeal would be pointless because of an upcoming municipal election. Nevertheless the Center sent the city a letter explaining its objections to the Planning Commission decision. While broadly rejecting an exhaustion requirement, the court went on to observe that even if private plaintiffs were required to exhaust their administrative remedies, the United States would not be bound by the Zen Center's failure to exhaust. Yesterday's San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports on the decision.

California High Court Denies Review In Release of Clergy Abuse Files

According to the Washington Post, yesterday the California Supreme Court denied review in Doe 1 v. Franciscan Friars of California, Inc. In the case, a California appellate court held that pursuant to a settlement in a clergy sex abuse case, various confidential files of nine alleged perpetrators, six of whom are still alive, can be released to the public. (See prior posting.) An attorney representing the clergy said that release of the files will have a chilling effect in the future on clergy being willing to be honest with therapists about child molestation incidents.

Britain's Home Office Bans Visit By Controversial Florida Pastor

Britain's Home Office has barred controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones from entering the United Kingdom.  BBC News reports that the pastor, who provoked international protests last year when his Dove World Outreach Center scheduled a "Burn a Koran Day" (see prior posting), had been invited to Britain by the group England Is Ours. He was scheduled to speak at a series of demonstrations against the expansion of Islam in the UK. A Home Office representative said: "Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right and we are not willing to allow entry to those whose presence is not conducive to the public good." [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]