Human Rights Group Condemns Rape and Forced Conversion In Pakistan

The Asian Human Rights Commission today issued a news release condemning the growing number of instances in Pakistan in which women from minority religious groups (Hindus and Christians) are raped and forced to covert to Islam:

The forced conversion to Islam of women from religious minority groups through rape and abduction has reached an alarming stage which challenges interfaith harmony due to the total collapse of the rule of law and biased attitude of the judicial officers. It appears today that no one, from the judiciary to the police and even the government has the courage to stand up to the threats from Muslim fundamentalist groups. The situation is worse with the police who always side with the Islamic groups and treat minority groups as lowly life forms.

The dark side of the forced conversion to Islam is not restricted only to the religious Muslim groups but also involves the criminal elements who are engage in rape and abduction and then justify their heinous crimes by forcing the victims to convert to Islam. The Muslim fundamentalists are happy to offer these criminals shelter and use the excuse that they are providing a great service to their sacred cause of increasing the population of Muslims.

High School ROTC Member May Not Wear Hijab In Uniform

Fox News reported last week on the case of a 14-year old Muslim high school girl in Brentwood, Tennessee who has quit her high school's Junior ROTC program because she was not permitted to wear a headscarf (hijab) while in uniform in the Homecoming parade. The school says it must follow Army regulations which do not permit religious garb that is exposed or covers the uniform. [Thanks to God and Country blog for the lead.]

Zoning Challenge Dismissed On Younger Abstention Grounds

In Salman v. City of Phoenix, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122387 (D AZ, Oct. 20, 2011), an Arizona federal district court dismissed on Younger v. Harris abstention grounds a challenge to the building code and zoning laws that prevented plaintiffs from using their home and a building on their property for weekly Bible study and prayer sessions with 40 to 50 family and friends.  The city claimed that religious activity within a residence is considered "Church use" and requires the appropriate permits. Pending state court proceedings charging plaintiffs with building code violations, and appeals of other building code and zoning convictions, precluded federal court jurisdiciton over plaintiff's RLUIPA, free exercise, equal protection and other claims.

Libya Assures World It Will Be Moderate Muslim Country

Attempting to calm fears raised in the West after his statement that Libya would look to Islamic law as its main source of legislation, (see prior posting), Libyan National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said yesterday: "I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are moderate Muslims." AP reports that meanwhile a London-based spokesman for the National Transitional Council said that Libya would not become a theocracy. It will be a civic and democratic state. At the daily U.S. State Department press briefing yesterday (full text), Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said:

I think we’ve seen various Islamic-based democracies wrestle with the issue of establishing rule of law within an appropriate cultural context. But the number one thing is that universal human rights, rights for women, rights for minorities, right to due process, right to transparency be fully respected.

Herman Cain's Church Affiliation Explored

Today's Atlanta Journal Constitution profiles Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's home church in Atlanta. The article is captioned Church's Pride in Cain Outweighs Differences.  Cain has been a member of the Antioch Baptist Church North for more than 30 years. The article reports:

For church members, Cain’s run for office is a point of pride — chagrin, too. He’s on a national stage, taking aim at President Barack Obama, who overwhelmingly carried the African-American vote in the 2008 election and still enjoys an 85 percent approval rating among blacks.

Post-Revolutionary Libyan Leader Endorses Islam-Based Constitution

In a ceremony in Benghazi, Libya yesterday, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the chairman of the Transitional National Council, declared that Libya's revolution has now ended, as he endorsed Islamic goals. According to the New York Times, Abdel-Jalil said: "We are an Islamic country. We take the Islamic religion as the core of our new government. The constitution will be based on our Islamic religion." He promised to create Islamic banks in the new Libya.

Recent Articles and Film of Interest

From SSRN:

• Zoe Robinson, Rationalizing Religious Exemptions: A Legislative Process Theory of Statutory Exemptions for Religion, (William & Mary Bill of Rights, Forthcoming).
• Parveen Ara Pathan, Idea of Right of Maintenance of Woman in Islam and Socio Legal Development in India, (October 18, 2011).
• Samuel J. Levine, Jewish Law from Out of the Depths: Tragic Choices in the Holocaust, (Washington University Global Studies Law Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011).
• Jeffrey Shulman, The Siren Song of History: Originalism and the Religion Clauses, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 27, p. 101, 2011).

From SmartCILP:

• Edward A. Fallone, Funding Stem Cell Research: The Convergence of Science, Religion & Politics In the Formation of Public Health Policy, 12 Marquette Elder's Advisor 247-293 (2011).
• Marci A. Hamilton, The Endorsement Factor, 43 Arizona State Law Journal 349-387 (2011).
• Anton Schutz, A Quandary Concerning Immanence, [Abstract], 22 Law & Critique 189-203 (2011).
• Symposium in Miniature: Religious Symbols on Government Property. Articles by John Witte, Jr., Nina-Louisa Arold, Andrea Pin and student Adam Linkner. 25 Emory International Law Review 5-149 (2011).

New Film:

• Vic Losick, In God We Teach, (2011).

Hertz Fires Muslim Employees For Refusing To Clock Out For Prayers

AP reported Friday that Hertz, the rental car company, is firing 26 Somali Muslim employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport because they refuse to clock out for their daily prayer breaks. The Teamsters local union that represents the workers says that the company agreed during negotiations last year that the employees would not need to clock out. Hertz says that the failure of many employees to return promptly after their prayers had created an unfair work environment.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases and Note on New Format

Note to readers: Today my weekly compilation of prisoner free exercise cases appears in an abbreviated format which I plan to use in the future.  The prior format which included summaries had begun to consume far too much of my time for what I perceive the value of the summaries to be. If readers disagree with this assessment of the value of the prior format, please let me know by e-mail.

Here are recent decisions in which federal or state prisoners seek relief-- usually asserting free exercise and/or RLUIPA claims-- regarding conditions of confinement or other issues they perceive to infringe their religious exercise.  These cases often involve access to religious diets, materials or services while incarcerated:

Williams v. Sibbett, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 21103 (10th Cir., Oct. 18, 2011)

Jackson v. Goord, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117539 (WD NY, Oct. 11, 2011)

McKissick v. Owens, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118237 (MD GA, Oct. 13, 2011)

Somie v. GEO Group, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118546 (ED NC, Oct. 12, 2011)

Rupe v. Cate, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118414 (ED CA, Oct. 11, 2011)

Fitch v. City of Leitchfield, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118696 (WD KY, Oct. 11, 2011)

Cooper v. Evans, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117991 (SD IL, Aug. 3, 2011), adopted by 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114891 (Oct. 5, 2011)

McKenzie v. Ellis, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118373 (S.D. Cal. July 18, 2011), adopted by 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112222, (Sept. 29, 2011)

Turner-Bey v. Maynard, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118883 (D MD, Oct. 13, 2011).

Walton v. Sing, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119798 (ED CA, Oct. 17, 2011).

McChesney v. Hogan, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119690 (ND NY, Aug. 2, 2011), accepted in part and rejected in part by 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112525 (Sept. 30, 2011).

Egyptian Court Sentences Facebook Poster To 3 Years For Insulting Islam

AFP reports that in Egypt yesterday, a court sentenced Ayman Yusef Mansur to 3 years in prison at hard labor for Facebook postings that "intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule."

Default Judgments Totaling $3M Entered Against Former Priest

According to the Boston Globe, yesterday a Massachusetts state trial court awarded two clergy sex abuse victims damages of $2 million and $1 million respectively after former Catholic priest John Dority failed to appear in court or respond to a lawsuit filed against him.  The 70-year old Dority, now a registered sex offender living in Connecticut, earlier told reporters that he did not respond to the lawsuit because he could not afford an attorney. He has admitted molesting the two victims and says he is very sorry.

Is Washington Anti-Discrimination Exemption for Religious Organizations Constitutional?

In Donelson v. Providence Health Services, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119194 (ED WA, Oct. 14, 2011), a former employee of a Catholic sponsored skilled nursing facility sued claiming she was wrongfully terminated because of an injury. In response to plaintiff's claim under the Washington Law Against Discrimination, the nursing facility invoked the exemption in the statute for non-profit religious organizations.  Plaintiff argued that insofar as that statutory exemption allowed sectarian organizations to discriminate on grounds other than religion, it violates Sec. 11 of the Washington Constitution "because it grants religious organizations broad license to discriminate on grounds such as disability, gender, and race, thereby improperly favoring religion over non-religion." In response, the federal court asked to parties to file briefs on whether the federal court should certify the question to the Washington Supreme Court.

8th Circuit Enjoins Nebraska Funeral Picketing Law

In Phelps-Roper v. Troutman, (8th Cir., Oct. 20, 2011), a 3-judge panel of the 8th Circuit held that the district court should have granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the Nebraska Funeral Picketing Law against members of the Westboro Baptist Church-- a group that pickets military funerals, among other places, protesting tolerance of homosexuality in the United States.  The court was bound by a 2008 decision by the 8th Circuit which enjoined enforcement of a similar statute on free speech grounds. However in separate opinions the judges questioned the correctness of that 2008 precedent. The Columbia Daily Tribune reports on the decision.

Bus Line In New York Hasidic Neighborhoods Segregates Sexes

The New York World reported earlier this week on an unusual arrangement for bus service in Brooklyn, New York on a line that runs between the Hasidic Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park.  A private company pays the city to allow it to provide public bus service on the route, and the company in turn collects fares from passengers. The buses-- at the behest of a board of consulting rabbis-- require men to sit an the front and women to sit in the back in order to prevent physical contact between members of the opposite sex.  The city Department of Transportation however says that the bus line-- as a public service-- is subject to anti-discrimination laws, and it is asking the company about the situation. [Thanks to Jean Dudley via Religionlaw for the lead.]

Revised Plan To Transfer Land To Catholic School Still Violates Establishment Clause

In Wirtz v. City of South Bend, Indiana, (ND IN, Oct. 19, 2011), and Indiana federal district court rejected a revised plan by South Bend to transfer land for use by a Catholic high school for construction of athletic facilities.  Last month the court held that the proposed transfer violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) In this decision, the court likewise rejected a new plan that called for sale of the land to the highest bidder, but with discretion to reject the high bid in favor of a lower one that promises to use the land to promote development of St. Joseph High School. The court said: "given the recent history of the City’s acquisition and attempt to convey the parcel here at issue, the City can’t do so with its stated criteria for selecting among bidders without sending a message of endorsement of the Catholic faith."  A press release from Americans United announced the decision. [Thanks to Don Byrd for the lead.]

Republican Debate Includes Role of Religion In Choosing Nominee

Last night's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas sponsored by CNN included a lengthy discussion of the role of religion in choosing a candidate, in light of statements earlier this month by Rev. Robert Jeffress that Christians should not vote for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon. (See prior posting.). Last night's debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper.  Here is an excerpt from the full Part 3 transcript:

COOPER: Should voters pay attention to a candidate's religion? SANTORUM: I think they should pay attention to the candidate's values, what the candidate stands for....

SANTORUM: That's what is at play. And the person's faith -- and you look at that faith and what the faith teaches with respect to morals and values that are reflected in that person's belief structure. So that's -- those are important things.

I -- I'm a Catholic. Catholic has social teachings. Catholic has teachings as to what's right and what's wrong. And those are legitimate things for voters to look at, to say if you're a faithful Catholic, which I try to be -- fall short all the time, but I try to be -- and -- and it's a legitimate thing to look at as to what the tenets and teachings of that faith are with respect to how you live your life and -- and how you would govern this country.

With respect to what is the road to salvation, that's a whole different story. That's not applicable to what -- what the role is of being the president or a senator or any other job....

 COOPER: Speaker Gingrich, you agree with that?

GINGRICH: Well, I think if the question is, does faith matter? Absolutely. How can you have a country which is founded on truths which begins we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights? How can you have the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 which says religion, morality and knowledge being important, education matters. That's the order: religion, morality and knowledge.

Now, I happen to think that none of us should rush in judgment of others in the way in which they approach God. And I think that all of us up here I believe would agree....

But I think all of us would also agree that there's a very central part of your faith in how you approach public life. And I, frankly, would be really worried if somebody assured me that nothing in their faith would affect their judgments, because then I'd wonder, where's your judgment -- how can you have judgment if you have no faith? And how can I trust you with power if you don't pray?...

Who you pray to, how you pray, how you come close to God is between you and God. But the notion that you're endowed by your creator sets a certain boundary on what we mean by America.

COOPER: Governor Perry, Mitt Romney asked you to repudiate the comments of that pastor who introduced you on that stage. He didn't make the comments on the stage; he made them afterward in an interview. Will you repudiate those comments? ROMNEY: Well, our faith -- I can no more remove my faith than I can that I'm the son of a tenant farmer. I mean, the issue, are we going to be individuals who stand by our faith? I have said I didn't agree with that individual's statement. And our founding fathers truly understood and had an understanding of -- of freedom of religion.

And this country is based on, as -- as Newt talked about, these values that are so important as we go forward. And the idea that we should not have our freedom of -- of religion to be taken away by any means, but we also are a country that is free to express our opinions. That individual expressed an opinion. I didn't agree with it, Mitt, and I said so. But the fact is, Americans understand faith. And what they've lost faith in is the current resident of the White House....

ROMNEY: You know, with -- with regards to the disparaging comments about my faith, I've heard worse, so I'm not going to lose sleep over that....

What I actually found was most troubling in what the reverend said in the introduction was he said, in choosing our nominee, we should inspect his religion. And someone who is a good moral person is not someone who we should select; instead, we should choose someone who subscribes to our religious belief.

That -- that idea that we should choose people based upon their religion for public office is what I find to be most troubling, because the founders of this country went to great length to make sure -- and even put it in the Constitution -- that we would not choose people who represent us in government based upon their religion, that this would be a nation that recognized and respected other faiths, where there's a plurality of faiths, where there was tolerance for other people and faiths. That's bedrock principle.

And it was that principle, Governor, that I wanted you to be able to, no, no, that's wrong, Reverend Jeffress. Instead of saying as you did, "Boy, that introduction knocked the ball out of the park," I'd have said, "Reverend Jeffress, you got that wrong. We should select people not based upon their faith." Even though -- and I don't suggest you distance yourself from your faith any more than I would. But the concept that we select people based on the church or the synagogue they go to, I think, is a very dangerous and -- and enormous departure from the principles of our -- of our Constitution.

Court Says Counseling By Nun Is Not Privileged

According to the Parsippany, NJ Daily Record, and the Newark Star-Record,  a New Jersey state judge yesterday ruled that a nun who counseled a murder suspect can be called to testify against the suspect at trial. Sister Catherine Morrisett is a nun who is trained in therapy, but she is not a licensed psychologist. While she has a doctorate in ministry, she is not authorized by the Church to hear confessions or offer the sacrament of absolution. Therefore none of the traditional privileges against testifying apply to her.

Anti-Church Party Gets Surprising 3rd Place Win In Poland

Last Sunday in Parliamentary elections, Poland re-elected Prime Minister Donald Tusk who, according to AP, is holding coalition talks with the small Polish People's Party. The surprise, however, was the third-place showing of a new party, Palikot Movement (Movement of Support), which received 10% of the vote. According to CNS, the Palikot Movement campaigned against Catholic Church involvement in the Polish government:

The movement's leader, millionaire businessman Janusz Palikot, accused the church of "taking sides in politics," and said religious symbols had been "used disgracefully for political struggles."

He added that Poland needed "defending against Catholicism, not Catholicism against Poland," and said his first moves would include securing the removal of a cross from the Sejm, Poland's lower legislative chamber.

Poland's Catholic bishops reacted angrily to calls for religion to be less present in public life.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Smith v. Marshall, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20619 (9th Cir., Oct. 11, 2011), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prison's restrictions on third-party purchases of prayer oil did not substantially burden an inmate's ability to practice his religion.

In Davis v. Thaler, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116912 (SD TX, Oct. 6, 2011), a Texas federal district court rejected claims of a Christian Nazarite prisoner that his rights under the 1st Amendment and RLUIPA were violated by requiring him to cut his hair and beard.

In Jones v. Petty, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111368 (MD GA, Sept. 29, 2011), a Georgia federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116716, Sept. 6, 2011) and allowed a Muslim inmate to proceed with his claim for nominal damages because of interference with his use of a prayer rug and with his non-pork diet.

In Goodson v. Maggi, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82702 (WD PA, July 27, 2011), a Pennsylvania federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116853, July 6, 2011) and dismissed an inmate's complaint that while in the Special Housing Unit he was denied religious meetings, including ones with a Catholic representative, and no church services were available to him.

In Smith v. Thomas, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117482 (ED VA, Oct. 12, 2011), a Virginia federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations and rejected an inmate's complaint that he was denied the opportunity to receive religious materials from the chaplain's cart or office while he was in administrative segregation.

In Iscaro v. Unknown Party #1, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116997 (WD MI, Oct. 11, 2011), a Michigan federal district court rejected an inmate's claim that his rights were violated when he was denied clergy visits with two specified individuals.

In Williams v. Dart, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116993 (ND IL, Oct. 11, 2011), an Illinois federal district court rejected an inmate's claim that he was able to attend only one communal Muslim service and was not provided a proper religious diet during his four-months in the Cook County Jail.

Limits On Travel For Religious Purposes Pending Trial OK'd By Vermont High Court

In State of Vermont v. Johnson, (VT Sup. Ct., Sept. 21, 2011), the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the conditions imposed by a trial court in releasing Janette Johnson pending her trial for aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon.  The conditions include not leaving Bennington County, except for church services in Cambridge, New York. Johnson unsuccessfully sought a modification so that she could also travel around New York and New England with her liturgical dance group. The court rejected the claim that this limitation violates Johnson's free exercise of religion.