Turkey Restores Seized Property To Non-Muslim Religious Groups

The New York Times reports that on Saturday, Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree returning to minority religious groups hundreds of properties that have been seized since 1936. According to AP, the decree also provides that groups will be compensated for confiscated property that has been sold to others. Erdogan announced the decree yesterday to guests at an Iftar dinner he hosted in Istanbul which was attended by representatives of over 150 Christian and Jewish trusts. The European Union-- which Turkey hopes to join-- has been pressing the country to eliminate discriminatory policies against non-Muslim religious groups, but nationalist groups in Parliament have opposed return of the seized property.  The Executive Decree bypasses Parliament. Today's Zaman has more details on the history of the property expropriations.

Report Traces "Roots of the Islamophobia Network In America"

Last week, the Center for American Progress issued a 130-page report titled Fear, Inc.-- The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America. Here is an excerpt from the "Introduction and Summary":

[A] core group of deeply intertwined individuals and organizations manufacture and exaggerate threats of “creeping Sharia,” Islamic domination of the West, and purported obligatory calls to violence against all non-Muslims by the Quran. 

This network of hate is not a new presence in the United States. Indeed, its ability to organize, coordinate, and disseminate its ideology through grassroots organizations increased dramatically over the past 10 years. Furthermore, its ability to influence politicians’ talking points and wedge issues for the upcoming 2012 elections has mainstreamed what was once considered fringe, extremist rhetoric.

... A small group of foundations and wealthy donors are the lifeblood of the Islamophobia network in America, providing critical funding to a clutch of right-wing think tanks that peddle hate and fear of Muslims and Islam—in the form of books, reports, websites, blogs, and carefully crafted talking points that anti-Islam grassroots organizations and some right-wing religious groups use as propaganda for their constituency. ....

Altogether, ... seven charitable groups provided $42.6 million to Islamophobia think tanks between 2001 and 2009....

The report identifies "five experts [who] generate the false facts and materials used by political leaders, grassroots groups, and the media."  One of those leaders, Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, yesterday  posted a strongly worded rebuttal.

India Embarking on Caste Census

India, for the first time in 80 years, is conducting a caste census according to Saturday's Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald. India's Constitution (Art. 15(2)) bars discrimination on the basis of caste, and abolishes "untouchability" (Art. 17). However, informally the caste system is still important, and the government has created set-asides in university admissions, government jobs and seats in Parliament for "backward castes."  Members of Parliament from backward castes have pressed for the census, arguing that the set-aside programs require the government to know how many people of each caste there are.

Recent Articles and Book of Interest

From SSRN:

• Tamar Hostovsky Brandes, Between Vowels and Values: Education in Religious Communities, (Journal of Law, Religion and State, 2012).
• Peter T. Leeson, Oracles, (August 22, 2011).
• Nelson Tebbe, Nonbelievers, (Virginia Law Review, Vol. 97, 2011).
• Gregory C. Sisk and Michael Heise, Muslims and Religious Liberty in the Era of 9/11: Empirical Evidence from the Federal Courts, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-23, 2011).

From SmartCILP:

• Susan C. Hascall, Shari'ah and Choice: What the United States Should Learn From Islamic Law About the Role of Victims' Families in Death Penalty Cases, [Abstract], 44 John Marshall Law Review 1-67 (2010).

Recent Book:

• Louisa Thomas, Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family--a Test of Will and Faith in World War I,  (Penguin, June 2011), author interview at Religion Dispatches.

Religious Health Institute Violated California Law By Excluding Blind Participant

In Stevens v. Optimum Health Institute, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95372 (SD CA, Aug. 24, 2011), a California federal district court held that Optimum Health Institute (OHI), a holistic health institute operated by the Free Sacred Trinity Church, violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and its Disabled Persons Act when it refused to allow plaintiff, who is blind, to attend its program alone with a cane, and instead insisted that she attend with a sighted companion. The court found issues of material fact remain as to whether OHI violated these statutes in refusing to allow plaintiff to attend with a service animal. In reaching its conclusion, the court held that OHI is a "business establishment" under the Unruh Act and a "public accommodation" under the Disabled Persons Act. The court rejected claims that applying these laws to OHI violates it rights to freedom of expression or the free exercise of religion.  It found that "California's goal to ensure that all business establishments and places of public accommodation are accessible to people with disabilities is a compelling State interest."

Suit Challenges Village Newsletter's Promotion of Church-Sponsored Activities

Chicago area activist Rob Sherman announced that this week he filed a state court lawsuit against his home Village of Buffalo Grove (IL) challenging its use of its bi-monthly Village News and its weekly Village E-News to promote activities sponsored by religious organizations.  The most recent example which triggered the lawsuit was an E-News posting promoting an upcoming Pig and Corn Roast sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church in nearby Long Grove.  The complaint (full text) in Sherman v. Village of Buffalo Grove, (Cook Co. Cir. Ct., filed 8/24/2011), contends that the village is violating the First Amendment, as well as Art. VIII, Sec. 1(a) and Art. X, Sec. 3 of the Illinois Constitution that require public funds to be used only for public purposes and prohibit forcing taxpayer support of any religious institution. Buffalo Grove Patch reports on the filing of the lawsuit.

Painting of Jesus As Mickey Mouse Declared "Extremist" By Russian Court

The Huffington Post and RIA Novosti report on a decision handed down earlier this month by a court in the Kaluga Region of Russia finding that a painting (shown in the Huffington Post article) of Jesus with the head of Mickey Mouse is "extremist".  The ruling means that the painting will be banned from exhibitions, newspapers, magazines and television under the provisions Art. 13 of of Russia's Federal Law No. 114 FZ on Counteraction of Extremist Activities (2002). The painting by Alexander Savko, titled Sermon on the Mount, was part of a display titled Mickey Mouse's Travels Through Art History and was first shown a a controversial 2007 display of Forbidden Art. The organizers of that show were convicted of inciting national and religious hatred and were fined. (See prior posting.)

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Coley v. Smith, (11th Cir., Aug. 23, 2011), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s grant of qualified immunity to defendants in a case in which prison authorities failed to procure all the food items that Nation of Islam inmates requested for the Eid-ul-Fitr feast in time for it celebration.

In Maddox v. Love, (7th Cir., Aug. 24, 2011), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a substantial part of a district court’s decision and refused to dismiss at the pleading stage an inmate’s claim that his free exercise and equal protection rights were infringed when prison authorities allocated a disproportionately small amount of its budget to African Hebrew Israelite services and singled out African Hebrew Israelite religious services for cancellation due to budget cuts. It also held that plaintiff had not failed to exhaust administrative remedies merely because his grievance did not list the names of the defendants.

In Patten v. Brown, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92985 (ND CA, Aug. 4, 2011), a California federal district court dismissed an inmate’s complaint that he was denied access to religious services and denied time in a chapel for meditation. Plaintiff failed to identify his religion or indicate whether access to a quiet sanctuary burdened his religious beliefs.

In Navarro v. Herndon, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94606 (ED CA, Aug. 23, 2011), a California federal magistrate judge recommended that an inmate be permitted to proceed with his claim that his free exercise and equal protection rights were violated when he was denied access to Native American religious services, or even a visit from a spiritual advisor after the death of family members, when he was placed for his own protection in administrative segregation.

In Harke v. Ada County Sheriffs, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94439 (D ID, Aug. 22, 2011), an Idaho federal magistrate judge held that the confiscation of a former jail inmate's Bible involved only de minimus harm, and that defendants had qualified immunity in a suit challenging the confiscation.  The Bible was taken because plaintiff violated jail rules when he shared it with other inmates.

In Epps v. Grannis, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94765 (SD CA, Aug. 23, 2011), a California federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94762, Aug. 1, 2011), and denied a preliminary injunction to a Muslim inmate who wanted into the kosher diet program, wanted to attend worship services and receive religious packages and artifacts. The court concluded that plaintiff's allegations were vague.

Czech Government Commission and Churches Agree On Settlement For Confiscated Property

The Prague Daily Monitor and Czech Position both report on the agreement reached on Aug. 24 between a Czech government commission and church representatives on compensating churches for property seized by the former Communist regime of Czechoslovakia. The agreement, which must now be approved by the Czech parliament, caps some 20 years of negotiations. Opposition parties have come out against the agreement, and the smallest party in the government coalition has expressed reservations about it. Under the agreement, the government will return 56% of the property to the churches, and will compensate them the equivalent of $(US)3.49 billion over 30 years for the remainder of the property. The final piece of the agreement, reached Thursday, calls for the government to continue for a 17-year transition period to pay clergy salaries and modest amounts for the upkeep of churches. The Catholic Church will receive 80% of the land and compensation, with the remainder divided among a number of other religious communities (Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish). (See prior related posting.)

Texas Appeals Court Upholds 2008 Search Of FLDS Yearning For Zion Ranch

A Texas appeals court has rejected claims that a 2008 search of the FLDS Church's Yearning for Zion Ranch violated the constitutional rights of defendants who were convicted of sexual assault on the basis of evidence discovered in the search.  The initial search warrant in the case was based on telephone calls to a crisis hotline which were later determined to be hoax calls. In Emack v. State of Texas, (TX App., Aug. 26, 2011), defendant who plead no contest and was convicted on a charge of sexual assault of a child appealed the trial court's refusal to suppress evidence from the search. The court held that defendant lacks standing to challenge the legality of the interviews of juveniles at the ranch.  It rejected other challenges to the affidavits presented to obtain search warrants and to the issuance of the warrants.  Finally, it concluded that the searches did not violate defendant's free exercise of religion. Defendant did not show "that the searches conducted at the YFZ Ranch curtailed his ability to express adherence to his faith through a particular religiously motivated act or that the searches otherwise pressured him to modify his religious conduct." The Texas Attorney General yesterday issued a press release reporting on the decision.

Ending High School Football Game Prayer Remains Controversial

In at least two school districts around the country, prayer at high school football games continues to generate controversy.  Bell County, Kentucky school officials last week ended the tradition of having a minister lead a prayer over the public address system before games.  The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader reports that the step was taken after after the Freedom from Religion Foundation complained about the practice. (Full text of FFRF letter). According to FFRF, Bell County school superintendent George Thompson said: "We've always taken a position that we’ve going to do it until someone makes us stop." However, Republican David Williams, who is running for Governor against incumbent Steve Beshear this November, urged the governor "to denounce this attack on prayer at public functions and lead the efforts of state government to defend our citizens' right to voluntarily pray anywhere they choose." (Lexington Herald-Leader).

Meanwhile, in DeSoto County, Mississippi, again after an FFRF letter of complaint, officials ended prayers over the loud speaker system before high school football games and other school functions, saying that it is enforcing an existing policy against the practice. (Fox News). In response, according to God Discussion, at yesterday's football game, after the national anthem, parents wearing "DeSoto County for Prayer" T-shirts stood up and chanted the Lord's Prayer and students clustered into groups to pray.

Justice Department and Georgia City Agree To Settle Mosque Zoning Dispute

Earlier this month, the city of Lilburn, Georgia approved a controversial rezoning request of a Muslim congregation to build a new worship center, and the Dar-E-Abbas Shia Islamic Center indicated it would drop its federal discrimination lawsuit against the city. (See prior posting.) However the Justice Department continued to examine whether it should bring a RLUIPA lawsuit against the city.  A Department of Justice press release yesterday that it has been involved in pre-suit negotiations with the city and that a settlement has been reached.  Pursuant to that agreement, the government yesterday filed a lawsuit along with a proposed consent decree. Under the decree, the city agrees not to impose different zoning or building requirements on any religious group. It agreed that various city leaders and employees will attend training sessions on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the city will clarify its complaint process, and will report periodically to the Justice Department.

Boston Archdiocese Expands Disclosure of Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday announced a change in its policy regarding disclosure of names of priests accused of sexually abusing minors. Since 2002, the Archdiocese has had a policy of notifying law enforcent authorities of all allegations of sexual abuse of children. However, the names of priests were publicly disclosed only after either a criminal conviction or defrocking by the Church. Under the new policy, names will now also be disclosed where (1) an accused priest is voluntarily laicized; (2) a priest has been publicly accused and is on administrative leave, but Church proceedings have not been completed; (3) priests who had been laicized and subsequently were publicly accused of sexual abuse; and (4) priests who were publicly accused after they had died or who died before or during proceedings against them. The Archdiocese published  the names of 159 priests, of whom 25  had been publicly accused but the accusations against them were found to be unsubstantiated. Another 91 names of accused priests were not posted.  These were mostly cases where accusations had never been made public and either could not be substantiated, or had not been substantiated when the priest died. CNN, reporting on the policy change, quoted the director of SNAP, an advocacy group for victims, who called the disclosures "belated," "begrudging" and "incomplete".

Battle Over Control of New Orleans Catholic School

Last month, a Catholic religious order, the Josephites, filed a federal lawsuit against six members of the board of directors of St. Augustine High School, a Catholic boys school in New Orleans. As summarized by the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

The Josephites, the religious order that runs the Catholic boys' school, is suing six renegade members of St. Augustine's 12-member board of directors. The suit says the men usurped their power and staged "an attempted coup" last month by replacing the school's bylaws and by adding 14 members from the St. Augustine community to the seven-member Board of Trustees, an organization heretofore made up only of Josephites that wields power over the board of directors....

The suit represents the latest act in the escalating battle between St. Augustine faculty, parents and alumni and the Baltimore-based order. It started over the school's history of discipline through paddling, but it has morphed into a fight over who will control the 60-year-old school, which has turned out many community leaders.

The complaint (full text) in St. Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart, Inc. v. Henry, (ED LA, filed 7/11/2011), asks the court to declare that a June by-law amendment was invalid. Last Monday, the Times-Picayune reported that a mediator who was appointed in the case was making good progress.

Now, according to yesterday's New Orleans Times-Picayune, defendants are seeking to have federal district judge Jay Zainey recuse himself in the case because of "biased" and "insulting" remarks in court and because a Catholic non-profit home for adults with developmental disabilities with which the judge has close ties is connected to the Archdiocese of New Orleans that supports the Josephites. Defendants were planning to file a formal resucal motion with the 5th Circuit yesterday.

Meanwhile, Josephites are trying to deliver an "important letter" to school president Rev. John Raphael who was removed by the Josephites, but who continues to serve as president and is contesting his removal both in a state court breach of contract lawsuit and through Church channels.

Indictment Handed Down In Arson Attack on Mosque

An FBI press release yesterday announced that a Eugene, Oregon federal grand jury has indicted a 24-year old man on federal hate crime and arson charges for setting fire to an Islamic Center in 2010. Cody Crawford is charged with intentionally setting fire to the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis (OR) less than two days after authorities arrested a Somali-born Muslim in a sting operation in connection with a plot to bomb a Portland (OR) Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. The charges against Cody carry a prison term of 10 to 30 years.

Fiji Military Government Cancels Methodist Church's Conference and Imposes Other Sanctions

In the South Pacific island nation of Fiji, the military government-- for the third consecutive year-- has cancelled the annual conference of Fiji's Methodist Church. Some 36% of Fijians are Methodists. (Statistics).  According to a report yesterday from ENI News, the government wanted Methodist church President Ame Tugauwe and General Secretary Tuikilakila Waqairatu to resign from their positions before the start of this year's annual conference.  The two are charged with breaching emergency laws in 2009. The Methodist church supported the former government that was overthrown in a bloodless coup in 2006. In addition to cancelling the annual conference, Fiji's Land Force Commander Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga has barred all Methodist Church clergy from leaving the country and banned the issuance of permits for any official Methodist Church meetings.

Teacher Reinstated After Anti-Gay Marriage Facebook Posting Now Charged With Improper Religious Statements

In Lake County, Florida on Wednesday, school Superintendent Susan Moxley ruled that Mount Dora High School social studies teacher Jerry Buell did not violate the district's code of ethics when he he posted an anti-gay marriage message on his personal Facebook page. The posting said that same-sex unions are a "cesspool" that make him want to throw up. WFTV News reports that the former Teacher of the Year was reinstated when school officials concluded that his posting did not "disrupt the orderly processes of the district." Yesterday, however, the Orlando Sentinel reported that officials have placed a "written directive" in Buell's personnel file because of religious postings on his school webpage and in his class syllabus.  On the webpage, Buell wrote that he tries to "teach and lead my students as if Lake Co. Schools had hired Jesus Christ himself."  On his syllabus, he tells students: "I teach God's truth, I make very few compromises. If you believe you may have a problem with that, get your schedule changed, 'cause I ain't changing!" The webpage has been removed and Buell has been instructed to delete some parts of his syllabus.

Meanwhile, at a rally yesterday, Liberty Counsel featured Buell "along with others who have received similar persecution for their Christian beliefs."

"Underwear Bomber" Files Unusual Motions Seeking Relief on Religious Grounds

Yesterday, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in federal prison in Michigan accused of attempting to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 using a bomb hidden in his underwear, filed two unusual handwritten letters with the Michigan federal district court yesterday.  The first (full text), captioned Motion for Detention Hearing, (brackets in original) reads:

The Defendant Abdulmutallab, is a Muslim who believes in Allah and His messenger Muhammad [Peace be Upon Him], and believes that all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran.

The Defendant is being unjustly detained, in the United States of America, and subjected to the Rule of Man.

The Defendant Abdulmutallab moves the Court to order his release, and that the Defendant only be judged and ruled by the law of the Quran.

The second (full text), captioned Motion for No Use of Excessive Force on Defendant Abdulmutallab, (brackets in original) reads:

On the 24th of August 2011, between the hours of 5:00 am to 10: am, in the Holy month of Ramadan, Defendant Abdulmutallab, in Defense of Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him], [the Messenger of Allah to Mankind who is being defamed and abused by the United States of America] assaulted several officers from his cell.

As a result, Excessive Force was used to restrain Defendant Abdulmutallab who was already in a closed cell on his own.

The Defendant moves the court to order that no Excessive Force be used on Defendant Abdulmutallah in justly defending Muhammad (PBUH) and his Religion.

[The United States legally allows the defamation of Muhammad (PBUH), and by allowing so it is defaming and Abusing Him] PBUH 

Abdulmutallah's trial is set to begin October 4.  He dismissed his legal team last year, but has court-appointed back-up counsel.  The Detroit News reports on the filings.

Critics Assail Absence of Religious Leaders From Planned 9-11 Ground Zero Ceremony

This year's 9-11 memorial service at Ground Zero threatens to become mired in controversy as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office determines who will participate in the special tenth anniversary ceremony. Last week, first responders expressed outrage that they were not to be part of the ceremony. (CNN, 8/16).  Now New York's former deputy mayor Rudy Washington is complaining bitterly that no religious leaders are included in the ceremony, saying: "This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me. I feel like America has lost its way." The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that many religious leaders are urging the mayor to reverse their exclusion. City officials, however, say that religious leaders did not participate in past years' memorial ceremonies, and the city wants this year's ceremony to have the same flavor as those of the past, with a focus on 9-11 families. Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said he understands the problems of deciding which groups should be included once religious leaders are invited.  An interfaith event recognizing first responders is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Delta Airlines Will Not Facilitate Saudi Policy Requiring Travelers To Disclose Religion

According to a press release this week from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Delta Airlines has now give assurances that, even though Saudi Arabian Airlines will join the Sky Team global airline alliance in 2012, Delta does not currently and will not in the future request on behalf of any airline that passengers disclose their religious affiliation. The assurances came in a letter (full text) from Delta after concerns were raised by Jewish, Christian and Hindu groups that Delta might facilitate the Saudi government's requirement that travelers to the country disclose their religion.