Israeli Court Says Rabin Assassin Can Attend Torah Study Sessions In Prison

In Israel, Jerusalem's Central District Court yesterday ruled that Yigal Amir, who is serving a life sentence for the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, may attend twice-weekly religious study sessions with a fellow prisoner next month. However officials are to monitor the sessions for any unusual conduct. Today's Jerusalem Post reports that this is a first step in considering easing of Amir's conditions of imprisonment. He has been in solitary confinement for 15 years. After the Israeli Supreme Court suggested in December that the state consider permitting Amir to spend some time with fellow prisoners, officials began considering the possibility of offering Amir a twice-a-week Torah study partner. They have only recently identified a possible suitable partner.  Prison officials do not want Amir integrated with certain groups of prisoner. The court will make a final decision regarding Amir's solitary confinement next month.

Judge Refuses To Reconsider Murfreesboro Mosque Ruling

The Tennessean and the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal report that a Tennessee state chancery court judge this week denied a motion to reconsider his decision handed down in May dismissing challenges (other than an open-meeting law challenge) to the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission's approval of building plans for a controversial mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  (See prior posting). Chancellor Robert Corlew III wrote in part:

The allegations presented at the initial hearing include assertions that this structure will be used as a base to undermine our laws and our government, and perhaps even serve as a base for terrorist or military operations. Assuming for purpose of argument momentarily that such is true, were the Court to consider that after construction the Muslim congregation may begin to use the structure for terrorist activities, for example, as the Plaintiffs assert will occur, then it will be the duty of law enforcement personnel and codes enforcement personnel to halt the activities. The remedy, then, is that of halting the illegal activity and not resistance to the use of the land....

We have a duty equally to treat those whose religious beliefs are similar to the majority beliefs and to those whose beliefs are very different from the majority. If the zoning laws are too favorable to those seeking to build places of worship, then citizens should prevail upon their elected representatives to change those ordinances, but until they do the Court must apply those laws equally to Protestant Christians, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists and others.

New Jersey Requirement For Resident To Be On Retirement Home Board Violates Church's Associational Rights

In Wiley Mission, Inc. v. State of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96473 (D NJ, Aug. 25, 2011), a New Jersey federal district court enjoined the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs from enforcing a portion of the Continuing Care Retirement Community Regulation and Financial Disclosure Act against a church that operated a residential retirement facility (CCRC) as part of its ministry to the elderly.  The facility contains 137 independent-living residential units, 53 residential healthcare beds, and 67 skilled nursing beds. Only 14 of the current residents are members of the church.  New Jersey law (NJ Code 52:27D-345) requires that the board of directors of every CCRC to include one resident as a full voting member of its board.  The board member is to be nominated by the elected representatives of the residents.  The church's CCRC is not separately incorporated, so this provision effectively requires the church to include a non-church member on the church board. While rejecting several other constitutional claims, the court held that this requirement unconstitutionally infringes the church's rights of expressive association. The CCRC "is inextricably linked to the Church's stated goal of evangelization."

Defendants In Anti-Gang Suit Say Order Would Infringe Their Religious Outreach

In Elgin, Illinois, the Kane County State's Attorney last September filed suit against 81 alleged members of the Latin King gang.  The suit, brought under Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act seeks an order barring the gang members from publicly associating with each other. (UPI, 1/18/11). Now, however, according to yesterday's Chicago Tribune, four of the defendants are asking the court to dismiss them from the lawsuit, arguing that the order would violate their rights of free expression and free exercise of religion.  One of the four says he was never a gang member, and the other three say they have left the gang. All four say they have now dedicated their lives to Jesus, and want to begin an outreach program to those who remain gang member.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of defendants' motion to dismiss.

Warren Jeffs Hospitalized, In "Medically Induced Coma" [Updated]

AP reports that Warren Jeffs, leader of the polygamous FLDS Church, who is serving a life sentence for sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of two minors who he had taken as his "spiritual wives", was hospitalized yesterday and is in critical condition.  It is reported that Jeffs is in a "medically induced coma".  In prison, he had been fasting for some period of time. An official said that Jeffs is expected to live, but the details of his medical condition are unclear.  Jeffs had recently been moved to a prison 100 miles southeast of Dallas and was being held in protective custody, which requires he be held alone in his cell and not involved in any work programs.  He is out of his cell only to shower and for recreation alone, though followers say he will continue to lead his sect from inside prison.

UPDATE: According to Reuters (8/30), correctional authorities say Jeffs is not in a coma, but is "somewhast sedated" and remains responsive.

New Report on Attitudes of Muslim Americans Released

The Pew Research Center today released an extensive public opinion survey of Muslim Americans. The report (full text) titled Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism, and is described by Pew as follows:

Based on interviews with 1,033 Muslim Americans conducted this year (April 14-July 22) in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, the wide-ranging report looks at Muslim Americans’ political and social attitudes; religious views and practices; experiences and difficulties faced after 9/11; views of Islamic extremism; views of U.S. efforts at combating terrorism; and views of national conditions. In addition to updating trends from earlier Pew Research surveys, the report includes comparisons of Muslim Americans with the general public and with Muslims in other countries, as well as detailed demographic information.

The report finds that 63% of Muslim Americans are first-generation immigrants, and estimates the total Muslim population in the U.S. to be 2.75 million.

Texas Prison Begins Program To Offer Inmates Theology Degree

Yesterday, the Texas prison system inaugurated its program to permit long-term prisoners at its Darrington Unit to earn a 4-year degree in Biblical Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  According to Friday's Houston Chronicle, the graduates will go on to minister to inmates at other prisons. State legislators who back the program say that a similar program at Angola Prison in Louisiana has reduced prison violence by 70%. The Texas program is entirely supported by private funds. The non-profit Heart of Texas Foundation raised $150,000 in start-up funds to pay for a library, teachers and equipment. Brad Livingston, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, explained: "The men who complete this four-year program will be a powerful voice to other inmates seeking to get their lives back on track, and will aid us in successfully reintegrating these inmates back into society." Americans United's Wall of Separation blog criticizes the program on church-state grounds.

Kosovo's Parliament Votes Down Religion In Schools, Hijab In Classroom

Kosovo's Constitution (Art. 8) provides that "The Republic of Kosovo is a secular state and is neutral in matters of religious belief."  Reaffirming that principle, 64 members of the country's 120-member Parliament have voted against proposals introduced by small religious parties to teach religion in the schools and to end the ban on wearing of the hijab (headscarf) in classrooms. AFP, reporting yesterday on these developments, points out that Kosvo is 90% Muslim, but has a tradition of moderate Islam.

Hopis Make Another Attempt To Prevent Use of Recycled Waste Water At Snowbowl

In 2008, the Hopi Indian tribe was one of several plaintiffs who lost a bid under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to stop the federal Forest Service from approving the use of recycled waste water to make artificial snow at Arizona's Snowbowl ski resort.  The 9th Circuit, en banc, rejected plaintiffs' claims of spiritual contamination of the sacred San Francisco Peaks, saying that the tribes' diminished spiritual fulfillment is not a "substantial burden" on their free exercise of religion. (See prior posting.) Now, according to a press release issued last week, the Hopis have filed a new challenge to the use of waste water, this time in state court, in a lawsuit against the city of Flagstaff (AZ).  The suit seeks to invalidate the city's contract to sell 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed waste water per day to Snowbowl.  The complaint alleges that the use of reclaimed water in a mountain setting will violate various environmental, health and safety restrictions. It asks the court to prohibit performance of the contract on the ground that it is for an illegal purpose and contrary to public policy.

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.