Australian Prime Minister Recommends Royal Commission On Institutional Responses To Child Abuse

At a press conference (full text) on Monday, Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard announced that she will recommend to the Governor-General that a Royal Commission be appointed to inquire into institutional responses to allegations of child abuse in Australia. The investigation will be aimed not just at the Catholic Church, but at all organizations and agencies that have been involved in caring for children. AAP reports that Australia's Cardinal George Pell welcomed the inquiry, but cautioned that the Catholic Church should not be made a scapegoat. New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell took strong issue with a statement made by Cardinal Pell that priests who hear confessions from other priests who have committed child sex abuse remain bound by the Seal of Confession. Pell advised priests to avoid hearing confessions from colleagues where they suspect abuse to prevent the problem of being bound to secrecy. The Australian reports that government opposition leader Tony Abbott also called for priests to report abuse even if they learned of it in confession. [Thanks to James S. Kolan for the lead.]

Canadian Court Invalidates Meeting of Sikh Temple, Finding Inadequate Notice

In Grewal v. Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Society, (BC CA, Nov. 2, 2012), the Court of Appeal for the Canadian province of British Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that invalidated a resolution changing the qualifications for election to the Sikh temple's Executive Committee. The case was triggered by a dispute between "old guard" members of the Gurdwara, many of whom are "non-baptized" Sikhs, and younger members who are baptized and who were elected to the Executive Committee in 2009. The Sikh Youth Executive obtained passage by members in 2010 of new provisions for giving notice of Gurdwara meetings. Instead of giving notice by mail, effective notice could be given by publication in English language and Punjabi language newspapers with a circulation of over 10,000, plus publication on the Gurdwara's website and posting a notice on a bulletin board in the hall of the temple.  At the 2011 meeting, called using this procedure, members changed the qualifications for election to the Executive Committee. Now only baptized Sikhs were eligible.

In invalidating that change, the court concluded that the notice given for the meeting did not meet the requirements of province's Society Act, Sec. 60:

There was evidence that certain of the newspaper notices were contained in papers not circulated but given away at certain locations.  It seems to me that it would be difficult to demonstrate that such a methodology could ever be the type of notice contemplated to be given to members of a society pursuant to s. 60 of the Act....  A “giveaway” paper is obviously a wholly inadequate vessel for the giving of proper notice.

The court also suggested, without deciding, that it was not adequate to give notice in papers having a circulation as low as 10,000 when the Society had over 30,000 members. Surrey Now reports on the decision.

Jamaican Government Bans Preaching On Public Buses

In the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, the government operated transit system has banned the practice of preaching to captive audiences on buses after complaints from some passengers.  Both AP and Jamaica Gleaner report that a directive has been given to drivers to politely tell preachers that they must stop their evangelizing.  Blind lay preacher Robert Lawson argues that the new order infringes his freedom of speech and religion.

Supreme Court Denies Cert. In Public School Released Time Case

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied certiorari in Moss v. Spartanburg County School District, (Docket No. 12-415, cert. denied 11/13/2012). (Order List.) In the case, the 4th Circuit upheld Spartanburg's released time program that permits high school students to receive two academic credits for off-campus religious instruction offered by a private Bible school. (See prior posting.) Becket Fund issued a press release on the court's refusal to review the case.

Evidence of Religious Beliefs May Negate Intent To Distribute Marijuana

In United States v. Martines, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160719 (D HI, Nov. 8, 2012), defendant, who was charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute over 100 marijuana plants, sought a continuance in order to secure the testimony of an expert on the Rastafarian religion.  A Hawaii federal district court denied the motion insofar as it related to a defense under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because the government advanced a sufficiently compelling interest to overcome a RFRA defense. However the court granted the motion to allow the defendant to "introduce evidence of his Rastafarian beliefs, including the expert testimony ..., in order to negate the Government's evidence of his intent to distribute."

7th Circuit: Police Department Employee Was Offered Adequate Religious Accommodation

In Porter v. City of Chicago, (7th Cir., Nov. 8, 2012), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a claim by an employee of the Chicago police records service division that the city failed to accommodate her religious practices. Plaintiff wanted Sundays off because of her church involvement. The court concluded that the city met its obligations under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it instead offered plaintiff a later Sunday shift that would have permitted her to attend church on Sunday mornings. The court also rejected her retaliation and disparate treatment claims.

Violent Clashes Break Out Over Control of California Sikh Temple

For several years, two factions have been competing for control of a Sikh Temple in California. A 2008 election brought in reform directors for the Tierra Buena Gurdwara in Yuba City. (See prior posting.) Last September, 5 of the 73 board members attempted to force new elections, but a Sutter County (CA) court refused to order them.  Now some members apparently are resorting to self-help. PTI reports that on Sunday a violent clash between two groups broke out in the Gudwara parking lot as board members were leaving after a board meeting. Board members were attacked with shovels, broom handles and sticks as two groups of over 30 people clashed. The Sutter County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

Human Rights Council Elected; Critics Concerned With Human Rights Records of Many

UN Watch reports on the 18 nations, including the United States, that were elected to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council yesterday. In an evaluation published prior to the election, U.N Watch rated 7 of the countries ultimately elected as not qualified based on their human rights and U.N. voting records. The 7 are: Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, UAE, Venezuela. The group rated two others-- Kenya and Sierra Leone-- as questionable.

Tunisian Government Struggles With Salafists Over Control Of Mosques

A New York Times article posted yesterday explores the struggle between the new moderate government of Tunisia and more radical Salafists, saying in part:

Revolution freed the country’s estimated 5,000 officially sanctioned mosques from the rigid controls of the previous government, which appointed every prayer leader and issued lists of acceptable topics for their Friday sermons.

That system pushed a moderate, apolitical model of Islam that avoided confronting a dictator. When the system collapsed last year, ultraconservative Salafis seized control of up to 500 mosques by government estimates. The government, a proponent of a more temperate political Islam, says it has since wrested back control of all but 70 of the mosques, but acknowledges it has not yet routed the extremists nor thwarted their agenda.

Suit On Discrimination Against Charter School Moves Ahead In Part

In Pocono Mountain Charter School v. Pocono Mountain School District, (MD PA, Nov. 8, 2012), a publicly funded charter school, along with students and parents, claimed that a Pennsylvania school district imposed harsher conditions on the school out of racial and religious animus. Most of the students in the school are African-American or Hispanic, and the school's former CEO was associate pastor of Shawnee Tabernacle Church, which several trustees attended as well. This opinion grows out of an amended complaint filed after a 3rd Circuit decision in the case. The court dismissed claims under the free exercise clause of the Pennsylvania constitution because plaintiffs raised only the freedom of worship rights of the school's officers and trustees, not their own rights. However the court permitted plaintiffs to move ahead with claims of religious, racial and national origin discrimination under the equal protection clause of the Pennsylvania constitution.  The court also permitted individual plaintiffs to proceed under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act on their racial and national origin discrimination charges, but held that the charter school itself could not sue under Section 1983.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Sylvie Langlaude, Lautsi v. Italy: Coercion and Lack of Neutrality in the Classroom?, (6 Annuaire Droit et Religions 601-617, 2012-2013, Forthcoming).
• Jason N. Summerfield, Comments on the Potter's Field: Burial Policy in New York City, (January 1, 2012).
• Mark A. Hicks, The Art of Ecclesiastical War: Using the Legal System to Resolve Church Disputes, (Liberty University Law Review, Vol. 6, p. 531, 2012).
• Iain T. Benson, Two Errors in Relation to Respecting Religious Rights: Driving a Wedge between Religion and Ethics/Morals and Treating All Kinds of Religious Employers the Same, (August 1, 2012).
• William S. Brewbaker, Government for the Time Being, (Matters of Faith, Austin Sarat, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2012).
• Ronald J. Colombo, The Naked Private Square, (Hofstra Univ. Legal Studies Research Paper, Oct. 21, 2012).
• Nahel N. Asfour, Law and Literature: Jewish and Christian Models, (Pólemos: Journal of Law, Literature and Culture, Berlin: De Gruyter, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 263-280, 2012).
• Saadiah Mohamad, Azlin Alisa Ahmad and Ahahida Shahimi, Innovative Islamic Hedging Products: Application of Wa'd in Malaysian Banks, (Capital Markets Review, Vol. 19, No.1 & 2, pp. 33-51, 2011).
• Nassef Manabilang Adiong, Ideology that Spawns Islamist Militancy, (in Frank Shanty (Ed.), Key Issues Impacting Counterterrorism Strategy, Vol. 1: Combating Modern Terrorism (1968-2011), pp. 253-258, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO).
• Peter K. Yu, The Confucian Challenge to Intellectual Property Reforms, (WIPO Journal, Vol. 4, 2012).

From SmartCILP:

• John M. Bickers, Standing on Holy Ground: How Rethinking Justicability Might Bring Peace to the Establishment Clause, 60 Cleveland State Law Review 415-459 (2012).
• Marc Rohr, Can the City Council Praise the Lord? Some Ruminations About Prayers At Local Government Meetings, [Abstract], 36 Nova Law Review 481-495 (2012).

Egyptian Lawyers File Complaint With Prosecutor Against El Baradei Over His Criticism of Islamists

As previously reported, last Friday Islamists in Egypt held a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square demanding that the assembly drafting the country's constitution include language giving more deference to Islamic law. The same day, reformist Dostour Party chairman Mohamed El Baradei spoke to a news conference in Aswan, urging various political groups to come together and criticizing the Islamists, calling them "the clowns of religion who call people infidels and secularist as they please and act as if they have moral authority over us." (Egypt Daily News). Now Ahram Online reports that today 40 Egyptian lawyers filed a complaint with the prosecutor general accusing El Baradei of offending Islamists, opposing Islamic sharia law and insulting prominent Islamist preachers.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Krieger v. Brown, (4th Cir., Nov. 8, 2012), the 4th Circuit held that an inmate had not shown that his practice of Asatru was substantially burdened by the denial of an outdoor worship circle and various requested sacred items.

In Armstrong v. Etchebehere, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158485 (ED CA, Nov. 5, 2012), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed, with leave to amend, an inmate's claims that staff and the Catholic Chaplain blocked previously approved Islamic programs such as Jumm'ah prayer and religious objects such as a prayer rug, Thikr beads and prayer oils, and deprived him of the Eid celebration was in retaliation for his filing grievances.

In Terrell v. Hendricks, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159080 (D NJ, Oct. 25, 2912), a New Jersey federal district court dismissed with leave to amend an inmate's claim that he was denied the right to practice his Muslim religion while in punitive segregation.

In Booker v. Tokarz, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159837 (SD NY, Nov. 7, 2012), a New York federal district court permitted a Muslim inmate to move ahead with his claims that conditions in the special housing unit substantially burdened his practicing his religion. He could not attend Jum'ah services or make Fithra (the removal of body hair).

In Dickerson v. Gusman, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159611 (ED LA, Nov. 6, 2012), a Louisiana federal district court approved a magistrate's recommendations (2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159609, Oct. 2, 2012)  and permitted an inmate to proceed with his complaint that he is being denied the ability to participate in congregational prayer with other Muslims.

In Spivey v. Taylor, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158760 (SD IL, Nov. 6, 2012) an Illinois federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendation (2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159741, Oct. 19, 2012) and dismissed an inmate's complaint that a correctional officer refused to provide him with his Jewish Bible for two days.

In Njos v. Carney, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160564 (MD PA, Nov. 8, 2012), a Pennsylvania federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161168, Sept. 12, 2012) and permitted an inmate to proceed against 3 prison chaplains on claims that they refused to furnish him kosher meals as well as juice and matzohs each week for the Sabbath. The chaplains asserted that plaintiff's beliefs were not sincere. Plaintiff's believed that non-kosher foods could be blessed by him to meet kosher standards. Various other claims were dismissed.

Charles Darwin Gets 4000 Write-Ins Against Evolution Opponent In Georgia

Congressman Paul Broun is a physician who represents Georgia's 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Particularly because he is a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committe, he attracted attention last month when a portion of a September speech he made at the 2012 Sportsman's Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia became public.  Huffington Post reports that Broun said in part:

God's word is true. I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. It's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.

The speech particularly irked some at the University of Georgia which is located in Broun's district. However, Broun was running unopposed in this past week's election.  So, as reported by the Athens Banner-Herald, plant biology professor Jim Leebens-Mack started a Facebook page to encourage voters to write in "Charles Darwin" instead of voting for Broun, even though the votes would not count because Darwin was not certified as a write-in candidate. The official results show Broun receiving 211,022.  However it is reported that "Darwin" received nearly 4,000 write-ins.

Court Continues Order For State To Home School Senior Who Objects To Immunizations

West Virginia is one of two states that have no religious exemption from requirements that students obtain immunizations before they can attend school.  AP reports that on Thursday, a West Virginia trial court continued a previously issued injunction requiring the Randolph County Board of Education to provide home instruction to high school senior Olivia Hudok who refuses immunizations for religious reasons.  Hudok and her father sued in September seeking an order allowing her to attend the county's small public school-- Hudok is one of only 3 seniors. The court instead ordered home instruction while a suit challenging the immunization rule played out in another county. That suit upheld the requirements, and the school board unsuccessfully then sought a dismissal of the preliminary injunction. The court however said the Randolph County injunction will continue until the West Virginia Supreme Court gives some guidance in the area.

Evangelist Sues College Over Access To Open Campus Area

The Rapid City (SD) Journal reports on a federal lawsuit filed last Thursday against the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology by evangelist Mark Gavin over access to campus areas to preach.  Gavin wants to preach on the "quad," a grassy area outside the student center. University officials insist that he comply with the rules for commercial activities-- pay a $50 fee and be limited to a table inside the student center. The suit claims the restriction infringes Gavin's free speech rights.

Islamists In Egypt Demonstrate For Stronger Deference To Shari'a In New Constitution

In Egypt today, more than 10,000 conservative Muslims demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square demanding that Egypt's 100-member constitutional assembly which is drafting the county's new constitution include language in the document that gives more weight to Shari'a law.  According to AP, secularists and liberals want the new document to carry over the language from Art. 2 of the present Constitution: "Principles of Islamic law ( Shari’a) are the principal source of legislation." The Islamic demonstrators, on the other hand, want the new section to provide that "the rulings of Shari'a" will be the basis for legislation. This is seen as giving more power to religious scholars to control the content of Egyptian law.

Plane Gets Military Escort As Passenger Insists On Praying In Aisle During Landing

A United Airlines flight from Denver to Washington, D.C. got a military escort into Washington's Dulles airport last night after the crew reported an emergency.  According to the Chicago Tribune and KUSA-TV, as the plane was preparing to land, a male passenger, instead of following flight crew instructions, stood up in the middle of the aisle and began to pray, apparently acting in a disorderly manner. After the plane landed, police and paramedics took the passenger off in handcuffs.

Court Requires Street Preacher To Stay Back From School Bus Stops

In Central Dauphin School District v. Garisto, (PA Com. Pl. Ct., Sept. 20, 2012), a Pennsylvania Dauphin County trial court, in a suit by a school district, issued a permanent injunction requiring a street preacher to stay at least 20 yards away from any school bus stop at which children are waiting to board or de-board buses.  Street preacher Stephen Garisto for at least 4 years has handed out Gospel tracts and spoken with school students at a school bus stops. The court concluded that a school bus stop, even though it is on a public sidewalk, is a non-public forum, so speech restrictions are permissible if they are viewpoint neutral and reasonable. The court said:

Certainly the School District has a strong interest in preventing an adult stranger from approaching captive audience school children and engaging them in conversation, handing out pamphlets, stopping them as they get off a school bus or pursuing them as they walk away therefrom.

The Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News reports on the decision.

Czech Parliament Passes Restitution To Churches For Nationalized Property

According to BosNewsLife yesterday, the Czech Parliament has approved a plan to provide restitution to churches whose property was nationalized after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948. Negotiations over the claims have been going on for several years. (See prior posting.) Under the legislation, churches will receive property and compensation totaling $7 billion over 30 years. Among the property that will be returned is some 6% of the country's forests and fields that once belonged to Christian churches. The bill now goes to President Vaclav Klaus for his signature, but he has expressed reservations about the legislation. However the bill received enough votes so that any veto is likely to be overridden.