Dalai Lama Emphasizes Church-State Separation Explaining His New Role To Congress

On Wednesday, the Dalai Lama began a two week visit to the United States that includes 11-days of participation in Kalachakra initiations in Washington D.C. Phayul details his schedule. Yesterday the Dalai Lama met with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. According to CNN, he used the occasion to explain his recent decision to step down as the political head of his Tibetan government in exile, saying it reflected his belief in separation of church and state:

The religious institution, the leader of the religious, and the political leadership, should be separate. I myself combine! So my statement, my explanation, become like hypocrisy. Saying something, doing something different. Religious institutions, political institutions, must be separate - the last several decades I emphasized that.

Suit Challenges Ballot Summary For Missouri Religious Freedom Amendment

As previously reported, Missourians will vote next year on a proposed state constitutional amendment (full text) that, if passed, will expand the language of the religious freedom protections in the current Art. I, Sec. 5 of the Missouri Constitution. Now, according to an AP report yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a state court action challenging the wording of the summary of the measure that will appear on the ballot.  The suit alleges that the summary fails to indicate the effect of language in the amendment that provides: "no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs."  The suit also argues that the ballot summary fails to mention that prisoners might lose some religious protections they now have under the state constitution. The amendment provides: "this section shall not be construed to expand the rights of prisoners in state or local custody beyond those afforded by the laws of the United States."

Small North Carolina School's Grads Choose Preacher, Get Sermon, At Commencement

Wednesday's Smoky Mountain News carries an article about last month's graduation ceremony for the nine graduating seniors at Nanthala School, a K-12 school in Macon County, North Carolina.  The school gave the students a choice of who they wanted as their graduation speaker. They chose Rev. Daniel "Cowboy" Stewart, pastor of a small Baptist church in Robbinsville (NC).  Here is report on Stewart's speech:

Stewart gave a rousing sermon, in which he brought a volunteer on stage, bound them in numerous ropes until they couldn’t move and then placed a bag over their head. It was an object lesson illustrating the prowess of the devil at prowling like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. “The devil is out to destroy you, to tie you up. These people who took drugs, overdosed and died didn’t mean to. They got tied up,” said Stewart... The roaring lion bit was a reference to the Biblical book of 1 Peter....

Macon County superintendent Dan Brigman said he saw no 1st Amendment problem since the students chose the speaker.

Vatican Signs Agreement With Azerbaijan Securing Legal Status of Church

CNA reports that on Wednesday, the Vatican signed an historic treaty with Azerbaijan securing the legal status of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, and protecting freedom of religion. The agreement is seen as a possible model for treaties with other Muslim-majority nations.  Azerbaijan is 99% Muslim, and only about 400 Catholics reside in the country.

ECHR Grand Chamber: European Convention Protects Military Conscientious Objectors

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Right yesterday, in a 16-1 decision, overruled prior precedent as well as a Chamber judgment in the case, and held that Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects military conscientious objectors.  In Bayatyan v. Armenia, (ECHR, July 7, 2011), the court awarded damages to a Jehovah's Witness who had been imprisoned for refusing to serve in the Armenian military.  The Court said:

opposition to military service, where it is motivated by a serious and insurmountable conflict between the obligation to serve in the army and a person’s conscience or his deeply and genuinely held religious or other beliefs, constitutes a conviction or belief of sufficient cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance to attract the guarantees of Article 9.

In reaching this conclusion, the Court said:

the Convention is a living instrument which must be interpreted in the light of present-day conditions and of the ideas prevailing in democratic States today....

Subsequent to the conviction at issue in this case, Armenia changed its law to provide for conscientious objection. Yesterday, in light of the ECHR decision, Amnesty International issued a joint statement with four other groups calling on Turkey and Azerbaijan-- the only two European Convention adherents without conscience laws-- to enact legislation to protect conscientious objectors. It also called on Armenia to make its Alternative Service law more meaningful.  Forum18 has more background on the situation.

Pakistan's Supreme Court Keeps This Year's Hajj Quota Allocations; Orders Changes For 2012

In Pakistan, private tour operators have been challenging the manner in which Hajj quotas were allocated this year to Pakistan's private tour operators. Thirteen tour operators sued the Federal Government and several government ministries claiming that the Ministry of Religious Affairs had allocated quotas on the basis of personal favoritism and political influence. The suit also challenged the Ministry's decision to deny a quota for new tour operators. (See prior posting.) In early June, the Lahore High Court declared the 2011 policy illegal and directed that quotas for this November's pilgrimage be reallocated in a transparent manner.  The Nation reports that today, Pakistan's Supreme Court set aside the Lahore High Court's order. The Supreme Court held that this year's quotas will not be changed given the loss it would cause to tour operators and the inconvenience that would be created for the 90,000 pilgrims involved. However the Court ordered that a coordinated policy, which will include new tour operators, is to be implemented for 2012.

Court Dismisses Failure To Supervise Claims Against Archdiocese In Sexual Abuse Case

In Doe v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, (MO App. July 5, 2011), a Missouri appellate court rejected plaintiff's claim against the Archdiocese of St. Louis for intentional failure to supervise one of its priests who sexually abused plaintiff as a teenager.  The court held that under Missouri law, a duty to supervise arises only as to activity that takes place on Church premises or that occurs while the priest was using a chattle (non-real property) belonging to the church. The fact that the Archdiocese permitted the priest to take children off premises, knowing he had previously engaged in sexual abuse of minors, was not enough to create liability.  The court also dismissed plaintiff's negligence claims, concluded that the First Amendment bars assertion of tort claims for negligence in supervising, retaining or hiring sexually abusive clergy.

Muslim Religious Services In Canadian School Angers Hindus, Raises Legal Issues

Canada's National Post reported Tuesday on questions raised by the practice in a Toronto public school that has a predominately Muslim student body of permitting an imam to conduct a 30-minute prayer service for students in the school cafeteria on Friday afternoons. Valley Park Middle School is 80% to 90% Muslim, and some 400 students each week choose to attend the service.  While there is a mosque down the street, parents are concerned about safety and the students' failing to promptly return to school that is involved if students are merely excused to attend services there. School officials see the in-school alternative as an accommodation of students' religious practices, and not the kind of imposition of religion in the classroom that the Ontario Court of Appeals found unconstitutional in the 1988 case of Zylberberg v. Sudbury Board of Education. That case involved opening of class with a scripture reading and the Lord's Prayer.  In a National Post interview, a Canadian Civil Liberties spokesperson said:

If you looked at what happened with the Lord’s Prayer — even though you had an opt-out for students who didn’t want to say the prayer — the concern was they would be subject to a lot of peer pressure that could make life difficult. Given the size of the Muslim population in this school, it may raise similar concerns of pressure on non-Muslims to participate.

Meanwhile, Hindu groups are complaining about the potential for inflammatory preaching against Hinduism, and the fragmentation of the student body that this involves.  Canada's South Asian Focus reports that the group Canadian Hindu Advocacy says that the Muslim services in the school are unacceptable.  SAF spokesman Ron Banerjee said that his group is also opposed to the serving of halal meat in the public schools.  He added: "Our organisation is determined to ensure all Hindu students are provided non-halal meat alternatives."

9th Circuit Lifts Stay On Injunction Against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Yesterday in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, (9th Cir., July 6, 2011), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay it had previously granted in the appeal of a challenge to the constitutionality of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  Last October, a California federal district court found the policy unconstituitonal and permanently enjoined its enforcement.  (See prior posting.)  In November, the 9th Circuit issued an order staying the injunction pending appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to vacate the stay.  Then in December, Congress passed and the President signed a law repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", but providing that the policy will not end until 60 days after the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that implementation is consistent with military effectiveness and readiness, unit cohesion and recruiting and retention. (See prior posting.)  In yesterday's decision lifting the stay, the court said:

Appellants ... state that the process of repealing [DADT] is well underway, and the preponderance of the armed forces are expected to have been trained by mid-summer. The circumstances and balance of hardships have changed, and appellants ... can no longer satisfy the demanding standard for issuance of a stay.

CNN, reporting on yesterday's decision, quotes a Pentagon spokesman as saying that the statutory certification was just weeks away anyway. He added that the military "will of course comply with orders of the court, and are taking immediately steps to inform the field of this order."

Georgian Parliament Permits Minority Religions To Register As Legal Entities

According to Civil.ge, the parliament of the nation of Georgia yesterday passed amendments to the civil code that will allow minority religious groups to register as legal entities. 83.9% of Georgia's population are followers of Orthodox Christianity-- primarily the Georgian Orthodox Church. (Wikipedia.) The final version of the law allows religious groups having "close historic ties" with Georgia, as well as religious groups recognized by Council of Europe member states, to choose to become either a private law entities or public law entities.

A senior cleric of the Georgian Orthodox Church suggests that the rapid passage of the new legislation is a victory for the Armenian Apostolic Church which has been unable to reach an agreement directly with the Georgian Orthodox Church over disputed ownership of several church buildings in Georgia. Lawmakers failed to include in the final bill a provision requiring the government to negotiate with foreign countries over the status of Georgian Orthodox churches in those nations.

A second report by Civil.ge today indicates that a number of opposition parties, supporting the Georgian Orthodox Church, are urging President Saakashvili to veto the law, or to at least declare Orthodox Christianity as the official state religion.

Charges Against Santero Dropped As Prosecutors Examine Free Exercise Issues

Utah prosecutors have dropped, at least temporarily, two charges of desecration of a human body that had been brought against a Santeria clergyman (santero). According to yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune, last week prosecutors asked a state court judge to dismiss the case without prejudice while they investigated further the constitutional free exercise of religion issues involved.  In March, a Narcotics Strike Force, insted of finding drugs, found hundreds of pounds of animal remains as well as two human skulls at the Clearfield (UT) home of Roberto Casillas-Corrales.  Apparently the two human skulls were purchased by the santero for $3500.

Australian State Government Backs Bill To Require Removal of Burqa In Police Stops

In the Australian state of New South Wales, the cabinet of Premier Barry O'Farrell has approved for introduction into Parliament later this year a law that will allow police to require motorists or others to remove face coverings, such as a burqa or niqab, if police have reasonable ground to believe that a violation of law or breach of security may have occurred. The Australian reported yesterday that the move comes after a highly publicized incident in which a conviction for filing a false police report was overturned because it could not be shown that the defendant was the burqa-wearing woman who filed the report. The report falsely accused police of trying to tear off the woman's burqa when she was stopped for a random traffic breath test. (See prior posting.) Under the proposed new law, refusal to remove a face covering could lead to a sentence of up to 12 months in jail.

Mexican Electoral Tribunal Orders Sanctions Against Catholic Archdiocese

According to yesterday's National Catholic Reporter, Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal issued a ruling on July 1ordering the country's Interior Ministry to sanction the Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City for critical comments made by the Archdiocese's spokesman last August.  The Tribunal found that comments urging Catholics vote against political parties that support more liberal abortion laws and same-sex marriage violated  Mexico's electoral code. The Electoral Tribunal pointed to the need to keep church and state separate.  Mexico's Interior Ministry is responsible for regulating religious associations, but it is unclear whether the Electoral Tribunal has jurisdiction to order the Interior Ministry to take action.  The Archdiocese plans to appeal.

Contradicting Earlier Report, News Story Says Iran's High Court Overturned Apostasy Death Sentence

Contradicting an AKI report on Friday that was noted on Religion Clause, Christian News Today reported yesterday that Iran's Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for apostasy imposed by a lower court on Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani.  Nadarkhani converted from Islam to Christianity at age 19 and became the pastor of the small evangelical Church of Iran, part of a house church network. The case has been remanded to the lower court in the town of Rasht, and Nadarkhani has been asked to repent and renounce his conversion.  Also contradicting the earlier report, Christian News Today says that Nadarkhani was arrested after protesting a government decision to teach Islam to Christian students in schools.

Meanwhile, Nadarkhani's lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah says he has been sentenced to 9 years in jail and a ten year ban on practicing law or teaching at a university for "actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime." He has 20 days to appeal.

Houston Military Cemetery Charged With Barring Religious Speech At Funerals

As previously reported, just before Memorial Day, a Texas federal district court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Veterans Affairs from regulating the content of the invocation and benediction that were to be delivered at a Memorial Day ceremony in Houston's National Cemetery. A month after that order was issued, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint expanding their allegations. The new charges have been widely reported on the Internet after a June 28 press release from Liberty Institute was headlined: "VA Bans Mention of God at Funerals for Vets!".  Click2Houston reported that yesterday yesterday 200 protesters showed up at the cemetery chanting "God bless America", accusing cemetery director Arleen Ocasio of banning the names of God and Jesus from funeral services.

The amended complaint (full text) in Rainey v. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, (SD TX, filed 6/27/2011), focuses on four separate allegations: (1) VFW and American Legion burial rituals which can be requested by families can no longer include a prayer unless the family first submits the prayer in writing for approval by the cemetery director; (2) A private funeral home was told that it could not inform military families of their option to have the VFW chaplain deliver a prayer by submitting the prayer first for approval; (3) The National Memorial Ladies were told that condolence cards they hand out to families at military funerals cannot contain a religious message, nor should a religious message be spoken to the family when delivering the card; and (4) The cemetery chapel has been closed and turned into a meeting facility. Here are the cemetery's written guidelines for military funerals.

Indian Politicians Arguing Over What To Do With Temple's Newly Discovered Wealth

In India, unexpected treasure estimated to be worth $11 billion found in underground vaults of a temple in Kerala state is leading to a growing political controversy. Various aspects of the story are reported in recent days by the Global Post, the Khaleej Times, and Live Mint. The present situation began with a dispute in 2007 over who had the right to manage the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. The temple was built in the 16th century by the royal family of the kingdom of Travancore. After Indian independence in 1947, Travancore eventually became part of Kerala. In January of this year, the Kerala High Court held that the state government should take over administration of the temple from the royal trust that had been managing it.  An appeal to India's Supreme Court led to an order for an audit of the temple's assets-- including opening of vaults that have been closed for many decades.  Politicians from parties representing lower caste Hindus are urging that the wealth now found through that audit be applied for public welfare projects. However other parties oppose that idea.  The United Democratic Front that holds a 2-seat majority in Kerala's 140-member parliament is considering introducing legislation to preserve the right of the royal family to maintain its control of the temple and its assets.

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L.A. Freeway Project Creates Challenge For Maintaining Eruv

Today's Los Angeles Times reports on the cooperation between highway construction personnel and the Los Angeles Jewish community in dealing with the unusual problems posed by the widening of the 405 Freeway.  The western boundary of the large eruv in Los Angeles is this freeway. (Map of eruv.) An eruv is a symbolic enclosure of an area that permits observant Jews within it to carry items on the Sabbath.  Much of the eruv consists of freeway fences or the freeway itself. However freeway widening has resulted in numerous breaches in fences and freeway walls-- all of which volunteers who maintain the eruv must keep track of and replace by, for example, stringing fishing line on 15-foot poles.

More Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Hall v. Ekpe, (2d Cir., July 1, 2011), the Second Circuit dismissed RLUIPA claims by a Muslim prisoner who who was excluded from Ramadan activities because the prison chaplain did not identify him as an observant Muslim.  The court held that damage claims in plaintiff's official capacity lawsuit were precluded by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, and damages in his individual capacity claims were precluded by defendants' qualified immunity.

In Taylor v. Louisiana Correctional Service, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69389 (WD LA, June 28, 2011), a Louisiana federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist LEXIS 69400, May 17, 2011), rejecting a claim that the lack of a Muslim chaplain in a prison violated plaintiff's free exercise rights and his rights under RLUIPA.

In Hampton v. Ayers, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69792 (CD CA, June 28, 2011), a California federal district court accepted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69742, June 2, 2011) and dismissed an inmate's claims that various correctional officials burdened the practice of his religion by allowing Muslim inmates to hold religious services only if they are supervised and then failing to provide supervision. He also objected to an instance in which officers interfered with a religious service in progress.

In Carter v. Lappin, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70300 (D AR, June 1, 2011), an Arkansas federal magistrate judge dismissed claims brought against the director of prisons claiming that on one occasion lower ranking  prison officials had served sausage containing pork to inmates without identifying it as such.  Mistakenly eating this violated plaintiff's religious beliefs.

In Blakely v. Wards, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70280 (D SC, May 20, 2011), a South Carolina federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a Muslim inmate's claims that prison chaplains have discriminated against Muslims by giving Christian inmates more access to the prison chapel. He also alleged disparities between the Christian and Muslim inmates as to food, religious books, goods, and money.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Sarah Beresford, Seeking Secularism: Resisting Religiosity in Marriage and Divorce- A Comparative Study of England and America, (Web JCLI, Vol. 3, 2011).
• Girjesh Shukla, Law, Religion and State: Constitutional Discourse and Judicial Interpretation, (2011).
• Howard Kislowicz, Richard Haigh and Adrienne Ng, Calculations of Conscience: The Costs and Benefits of Religious and Conscientious Freedom, (Alberta Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 3, 2011).
• David Bilchitz, Should Religious Associations Be Entitled to Discriminate?, (South African Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 2, 2011).
• Mariana Ardila Trujillo, Hacia La Resolución De Los Conflictos Entre La Protección De La Diversidad Cultural Y El Reconocimiento De Los Derechos De Las Mujeres (Toward the Conflict’s Resolution between the Protection of the Cultural Diversity and the Recognition of the Women´s Rights), (Revista Derecho del Estado, No. 26, 2011).
• Alejandro Rosas Martinez, Algunas Implicaciones Jurídicas Del Matrimonio Entre Personas Del Mismo Sexo En La Ciudad De México (Some Juridical Implications of the Same Sex Persons Marriage at México City), (Revista Derecho del Estado, No. 26, 2011).
• Sara Weinrib, An Exemption for Sincere Believers: The Challenge of Alberta versus Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony, (McGill Law Journal, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 719-750, 2011).
• Mark Strasser, Same-Sex Marriage and the Right to Privacy, (Journal of Law and Family Studies, Vol. 13, pp. 117-150, 2011).
• Wladimyr Mattos Albano, The Constitutional Immunity to Temples of Any Cult in the Municipalities and Their Interpretation, (Revista Brasileira de Direito Tributário e Finanças Públicas, Vol. 4, No. 22, p. 25, 2010).

From bepress:

• Anke I. Bouzenita, The Principle of Neutrality and “Islamic International Law” (Siyar), Global Jurist: Vol. 11: Iss. 1 (Advances), Article 4 (2011).

From SmartCILP:

• Barbara Oomen, Between Rights Talk and Bible Speak: The Implementation of Equal Treatment Legislation in Orthodox Reformed Communities in the Netherlands, [Abstract], 33 Human Rights Quarterly 175-200 (2011).
• Frederick V. Perry, The Corporate Governance of Islamic Banks: A Better Way of Doing Business?, 19 Michigan State Journal of International Law 251-277 (2011).