Police Officer's Complaint About Attending Appreciation Day At Mosque Is Dismissed

In Fields v. City of Tulsa, (ND OK, Dec. 13, 2012), an Oklahoma federal district court rejected objections by a Christian police officer to a directive that he either attend or find volunteers to appear at a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day hosted by the Islamic Society of Tulsa. Police Captain Paul Fields, who was disciplined for refusing to comply with the directive, complained that he was being forced to attend an event at which there will be a discussion about the Muslim religion, but at which he is precluded from expressing his Christian faith. The court rejected plaintiff's free exercise claims, finding that the directive given to him was a neutral, generally applicable order. Nor did it infringe his right of expressive association, the Establishment Clause or his Equal Protection rights. The court also found that defendants had qualified immunity. Fox23 reports on the decision.

French Government To Emphasize Secularism, Combat Violent Religious Extremism

Reuters reported yesterday that President Francois Hollande's government in France will re-emphasize the policy of "laicite" (secularism) that they said was weakened under former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande this week announced the creation of a new agency to track how the separation of church and state is implemented. The agency will also study ways to introduce classes on secular morality into the public schools.  At a conference on the official policy on secularism, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that the government's goal is "to detect and understand when an opinion turns into a potentially violent and criminal excess. The objective is to identify when it's suitable to intervene to treat what has become a religious pathology."  The government is concerned both about radical Salafi Muslims recruiting disaffected young people, and about the far-right lay Catholic movement, Civitas. The Interior Minister said the government is ready to deport radical foreign-born imams and disband radical faith-based groups that could become violent.

In Philippines, Reproductive Health Bill Passes Important Second Reading

In the Philippines today, the House of Representatives in an historic vote passed a Reproductive Health bill (HB 4244) on its important second reading. The bill which has been opposed for 14 years by  the country's Catholic bishops requires the national government to make reproductive health services, including free contraceptives, available to poor families. Inquirer News and GMA News both report on the lengthy House voting session. With several Catholic bishops in the House gallery, each representative had 3 minutes to explain his or her vote. According to Inquirer News, the country's Catholic bishops still hope to stop the bill, either before its third reading in the House, or in the conference committee with the Senate and the vote on the conference report.

Constitutionality of Washington Anti-Discrimination Exemption For Religious Non-Profits Certified To State Supreme Court

In Ockletree v. Franciscan Health System, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175515 (WD WA, Dec. 11, 2012), a Washington federal district court certified to the Washington Supreme Court the question of whether the broad blanket exemption in the Washington Law Against Discrimination for non-profit religious organizations is constitutional under the Washington state constitution.  Under Wash. Rev. Code 49.60.040 the definition of "employer" subject to the state's anti-discrimination law excludes "any religious or sectarian organization not organized for private profit."  Here plaintiff, a security officer at a Catholic Hospital, claims he was discharged from his job on the basis of disability and race. In certifying the question, the court said:

The discrimination Ockletree claims (race and disability) is wholly unrelated to FHS' religious purpose, practice, or activity. It is not clear to this Court that WLAD's broad exemption is constitutional, at least in this context.

German Bundestag Passes Law Allowing Religious Circumcision of Boys

According to the New York Times, Germany's Bundestag yesterday passed legislation confirming the legality of religious circumcision.  The issue had been thrown into doubt after a Cologne district court last June held that parents lack the right to decide that their young sons should be circumcised for non-medical reasons. (See prior posting.) The new law, passed in the Bundestag by a vote of 434 to 100, with 46 abstentions, allows circumcisions to be carried out for religious or other reasons "in accordance with medical practice."  Specially trained members of a religious community (such as a Jewish mohel) can perform the procedure for boys 6 months old or younger.  Circumcisions on boys over 6 months old are required to be performed by a physician. In either case, both parents must consent to the procedure.

Kazakhstan Is Closing Unregistered Religious Organizations Through Court Proceedings

Last October, Kazakhstan enacted a new, more restrictive Religion Law. (See prior posting.) Under it, religious organizations had one year to register, or re-register, with the state. Forum 18 reported Tuesday that the Kazakhstan government is enforcing closure through the courts of Christian and Muslim religious institutions that have not met the registration deadline.  Some have consented to their closure in exchange for a promise that they can continue to operate as a branch of another registered community of the same faith. Others, such as the Azerbaijani Fatimai Shia Muslim Mosque in Almaty Region, the Tautan Molla Mosque in Karaganda Region. and the Light of the World Pentecostal Church in South Kazakhstan Region have been closed against their will.

New Decree Implementing Religion Law Takes Effect Jan. 1 In Vietnam

Radio Free Asia reported last month on new Decree 92 issued by the government of Vietnam on November 9. The Decree, replacing one originally issued in 2005, goes into effect January 1 to implement the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religion that covers religious practice in Vietnam. The Decree spells out procedures for registering places of worship, activities of religious organizations and clerics. The government recognizes 31 organizations representing 11 religions. However, non-recognized groups are banned. While some Buddhist groups are registered, the government does not recognize the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, whose parent body in Paris issued a statement strongly criticizing the new Decree.

Mennonite-Owned Small Business Files Challenge To Contraceptive Coverage Mandate

Another small business and its owners have filed a lawsuit challenging the contraceptive coverage mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act.  The complaint (full text) in Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, (ED PA, filed 12/4/2012), contends that applying the  moral teachings of their Mennonite faith, the owners of the cabinet and wood specialties company have concluded "that it would be sinful and immoral for them to intentionally participate in, pay for, facilitate or otherwise support any contraception with an abortifacient effect  through health insurance coverage the offer at Conestoga." The company's current health insurance plan excludes such drugs. In October of this year, the corporation's board of directors adopted a statement setting out the beliefs of the company owners on the sanctity of human life.  The suit claims violations of the 1st and 14th Amendments, RFRA and the Administrative Procedure Act. Independence Law Center issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

New Jersey Prisons Now Allow Real Candles In Hanukkah Menorah Lighting Ceremony

In late November, the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) issued a press release announcing a pilot program to allow state prison inmates celebrating Hanukkah to use NJDOC-approved candles in religious menorah lighting ceremonies.  Candles can be lit in a designated room by a NJDOC staff member or authorized volunteer religious leader. Inmates will be allowed to view the lighting and the burning down of the candles. Electric or battery-operated menorahs will also be permitted. According to an AP report on the policy change, in the past most prisons have been uncomfortable allowing real candles to be used. [Thanks to Joel Katz (Relig. & State in Israel) for the lead.]

Canadian Court Upholds Required Ethics and Religious Culture Program In Catholic School

LifeSite News reports that in Canada, Quebec's Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the province's Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports refusing to exempt a Catholic school, Loyola High School, from the requirement that it offer a government-mandated course in Ethics and Religious Culture instead of  the school's own course covering other religions and ethical creeds from a Catholic perspective. A trial court ruled in favor of the school (see prior posting), but the Court of Appeal reversed.  In Le Procureur General  du Quebec v. Loyola High School John Zucchi, (Quebec Ct. App., Dec. 4, 2012) the Court of Appeal held that "exposing students to the global study of religions in a neutral perspective without requiring them to adhere to it, is not an infringement of freedom of religion." In reaching this conclusion, the court cited a  February decision by Canada's Supreme Court upholding the Ethics and Religious Culture Program in a suit by parents who objected to it. (See prior posting.)

Court Finds North Carolina's Pro-Life Plates Unconstitutional

In American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina v. Conti, (ED NC, Dec. 7, 2012), a North Carolina federal district court held that North Carolina's "offering of a Choose Life license plate in the absence of a pro-choice plate constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment." The court reached this conclusion after rejecting arguments that the specialty license plate program was government speech. The court pointed out that the North Carolina legislature, with rancorous debate, rejected six proposals for various pro-choice plates. The ACLU issued a press release announcing the decision.  CNN reports on the decision.

New Report Focuses on Global Discrimination Against Humanists and Atheists

To mark Human Rights Day yesterday, Britain's International Humanist and Ethical Union issued (press release) the first report focusing on discrimination around the world against non-religious people. Titled Freedom of Thought 2012: A Global Report on Discrimination Against Humanists, Atheists and the Non-religious, the 72-page report covers laws and cases of discrimination country-by-country. Summarizing its findings, the report says in part:

This report shows that atheists, humanists and other nonreligious people are discriminated against by governments across the world. There are laws that deny atheists’ right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry, obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents.....

A handful of countries criminalize atheism per se.  In addition, there are several forms of legal measures found across many countries that either criminalize the expression of atheist beliefs or result in systematic discrimination against atheists and those who reject religion. These include laws regulating:

• Apostasy and religious conversion
• Blasphemy and religious criticism
• Compulsory religious registration, usually with a list of permissible religions
• Religious tests for citizenship or participation in civic life
• Religious control of family law
• Religious control of public education.

MSN News and Voice of Russia both cover the Report.

National Menorah Lighting Ceremony Held Sunday

As reported by CNN, on Sunday night Chabad Rabbi Levi Shemtov presided over the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse south of the White House. The ceremony featured the U.S. Navy Band. Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, helped light the first candle.

Plaintiffs Challenging 10 Commandments May Proceed Using Pseudonyms

As previously reported, in September the Freedom From Religion Foundation along with two students and their parents filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 6-foot tall Ten Commandments monument that has been displayed for decades in front of New Kensington, Pennsylvania's Valley High School. On Nov. 30, the trial court judge ruled (full text of Order) that the students and the parent of one may proceed in the case identified only as Doe 1, Doe 2 and Doe 3. As reported yesterday by the Valley News Dispatch, plaintiffs' counsel had sought the order because of "the highly personal and sensitive religious matters involved, the age of the student-Plaintiffs, the (ill will) expressed by the public regarding the Plaintiffs and this case, harassing remarks about the Plaintiffs, and the potential for physical harm." Plaintiffs introduced as evidence of the hostility toward them Facebook postings, website comments, emails and letters to the editor.

FBI Releases 2011 Hate Crimes Data; 19.8% Are Motivated By Anti-Religious Bias

The FBI today released its 2011 Hate Crime Statistics. The report shows that there were 6,216 single-bias motivated incidents reported, of which 1,233 (19.8%) involved religious bias.  For comparison, for 2010 the FBI reported 6,624 single-bias incidents, with 1,322 (20%) motivated by religious bias-- though the reporting jurisdictions were not identical in the two years. (See prior posting.) The 2011 data show that of the 1,233 incidents motivated by religious bias, 771 of those were anti-Jewish; 157 were anti-Islamic; 67 were anti-Catholic; 44 were anti-Protestant; and 4 were anti-Atheist or Agnostic.  Fully 130, however, involved bias against other religions. As previously reported, efforts are underway to add anti-Sikh and anti-Hindu subcategories in order to refine the "Other Religion" number. In 2011, crimes motivated by religious bias were the third most frequent category of hate crimes.  Racial bias ranked first (2,917 incidents), and bias based on sexual orientation ranked second (1,293 incidents). The ADL issued a press release welcoming the 6% decrease in hate crimes since last year, but saying this is still far too many. [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

From SSRN:

• Robert L. Tsai, The Politics of Hate, (Journal of Hate Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2012).
• Sahar F. Aziz, Federal Civil Rights Engagement with Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11, (November 9, 2012).
• Solomon A. M. Ekwenze, The Moral and Legal Frontiers of Homosexuality, Lesbianism and Gayism: A Paradox for the Third Millennium, (November 11, 2012).
• Linda Ross Meyer, Law's Suffering, (December 5, 2012).
• Haider Ala Hamoudi, Book Review: Islamic Law in Action, Authority, Discretion and Everyday Experiences in Mamluk Egypt, by Kristen Stilt, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2013).
• Max D. Siegel, The Future of Family, (George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal (CRLJ), Vol. 23, No. 2, 2013).
• Norman P. Ho, Confucian Jurisprudence in Practice: Pre-Tang Dynasty Panwen (Written Legal Judgments), (Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, Forthcoming).

From elsewhere:

• Stuart G. White, Religious Exemptions: An Egalitarian Demand?, [Abstract], The Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp. 97-118 (Dec. 2012).
• Maimon Schwarzschild, How Much Autonomy Do You Want?, Conversations, The Journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, Issue 14, Dec. 7, 2012.

Recent Books:

• Richard A. Hughes, Religion, Law and the Present Water Crisis, (Peter Lang Publishing, 2012), [Press Release].
• Wael B. Hallaq, The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity's Moral Predicament, (Columbia Univ. Press, Nov. 2012).
• Kimberley Brownlee, Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience, (Oxford Univ. Press, Dec. 2012).

In Canada, Scams Are Reviving Use Of Ban On Fraudulent Use Of Sorcery

Last Saturday's National Post reports that new scams are leading Canadian authorities to revive prosecutions under an an old statute (Canada Criminal Code Sec. 365) that prohibits fraudulently pretending "to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration."  Last month, charges under the section were filed against Gustavo Gomez who, using Spanish-language radio and print ads in Quebec and Ontario convinced people they were under a curse. He then offered to lift the curse for $10,000 to $15,000. In Toronto, a similar curse-lifting scam is being carried out in the city's Chinese community. Cantonese-speaking residents are warned of a curse and are convinced to fill a bag with valuables for a special ritual to lift it. Then the fraudster runs off with the bag.  Vancouver police are reporting similar scams.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Kramer v. Pollard, (7th Cir., Dec. 5, 2012), the 7th Circuit rejected an Odinist inmate's claim for damages on qualified immunity grounds. At issue were claimed free exercise and equal protection violations growing out of the refusal to allow group worship for Odinists separate from other Pagan groups. However the court reversed the dismissal of plaintiff's religious diet claim.

In Riddick v. Herlock, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171855 (ED VA, Nov. 30, 2012), a Virginia federal district court deferred ruling on dismissal of an inmate's claim that his copy of the Qur'an was confiscated so plaintiff could amend his complaint.

In People ex rel. Day v New York State Dept. of Corrections and Community Supervision, (NY Supr. Ct., Nov. 30, 2012), a New York trial court held that an inmate was denied due process when his parole violation hearing was held in abstentia, but the reason for his absence was his Muslim Friday religious observance.

In Johnson v. Director VDOC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173203 (WD VA, Dec. 6, 2012), a Virginia federal district court dismissed an inmate's complaint that the Department of Corrections banned his "Nuwaupian Moorish" religion and therefore he cannot have religious DVDs or CDs in DOC facilities.

In Benton v. Yon, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173197 (ND FL, Dec. 6, 2012), a Florida federal district court, rejecting a magistrate's recommendation (2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173196, Oct. 22, 2012) that plaintiff be permitted to proceed on most of his claims, dismissed on qualified immunity grounds an inmate's complaint that his free exercise and equal protection rights were infringed when a correctional officer tore and crumbled pages in plaintiff's Qur'an and drenched his prayer rug with water, apparently out of bias toward Muslims.  According to the court: "no authoritative court has decided—as a broad principle—that a correctional officer's disrespectful treatment of an inmate's religious property ... was unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments even when, as in this case, there is no allegation that such treatment burdened the inmate's ability to practice his religion."

In Forter v. Geer, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54400 (D OR, April 17, 2012), an Oregon federal district court dismissed an inmate's free exercise and RLUIPA complaint regarding withholding from him of certain Christian Identity material sent to him. The court also dismissed without prejudice other claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. [This case while several months old was not previously covered by Religion Clause.]

Court Rejects Quaker's Challenge To Tax Procedures Invoked After Anti-War Withholding Of Amounts Due

In Boardman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, (ED CA, Dec. 6, 2012), a California federal district court dismissed free exercise claims by a Quaker peace activist who challenged provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (26 USC Sec. 6330(g)) that curtail the administrative appeals process for "frivolous" taxpayer claims. The provision was invoked when plaintiff withheld half of her tax payments due because of her objections to government spending on war. She said she would pay the remaining amounts only if they were redirected to peaceful purposes. Relying on the 1st Amendment and RFRA, plaintiff argued that the government intentionally frustrated her religious beliefs by depriving her of rights and procedures that would have been available had she not asserted a religious motive for withholding a portion of her taxes. The court held that the Anti-Injunction Act (26 U.S.C. § 7421) requires dismissal of the lawsuit, since a ruling in favor of plaintiff would negatively impact the government's tax assessment methods. Alternatively, the court dismissed on the merits, holding that under past precedent plaintiff may not assert a religious objection to the country's tax system, even if she does not dispute her overall tax liability.

DNA Testing For Immigration Purposes Is Neutral Rule of General Applicability In Free Exercise Claim

In S. T. v. Napolitano, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172658 (SD TX, Dec. 5, 2012), a Texas federal district court held that there is no 1st Amendment free exercise problem with denial of plaintiff's certificate of citizenship, passport and related documents.  S.T.'s parents-- both American citizens-- practice the Swaminarayan religion. They believe they are required to follow their swami's religious instruction to never subject S.T., as a gift from a divine source, to medical testing. U.S. officials refuse to certify S.T. as a child of American citizens born abroad without DNA testing to establish a blood relationship. The court rejected the claim that requiring DNA testing violates the 1st Amendment free exercise rights of S.T. and his parents, finding that the testing requirement is a neutral rule of general applicability. However the court and defendants agreed that plaintiff may assert his claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act