Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In  Lowery v. Edmondson, (10th Cir., June 17, 2013), the 10th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint filed by an inmate who is a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America challenging an Oklahoma prison policy that prevents him from storing his fez in his cell.

In Holland v. Goord, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85094 (D NY, June 17, 2013), a New York federal district court held that only a de minimis burden was placed on a Muslim inmate's free exercise rights when during the Ramadan fast he was required to drink some water in order to be able to produce urine for a drug test triggered by an informant's tip. The court dismissed plaintiff's due process, free exercise and RLUIPA claims. It also found qualified immunity as to damage claims against individual defendants.

In Morales v. Pallito, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85870 (D VT, June 19, 2013), a Vermont federal district court dismissed an inmate's claim that the raising of American flags over Vermont's prisons is an establishment of religion and that it coerces inmates into worshiping the U.S. government as a deity.

In Tavares v. Amato, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84930 (ND NY, June 18, 2013), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate’s recommendation (2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85436, May 14, 2013) and dismissed an inmate’s claim that his free exercise rights were violated when, as a result of being placed in involuntary protective custody, he was unable to engage in religious worship.

In Stergios v. United States, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84462 (D ME, June 17, 2013), a Maine federal district court adopted a magistrate’s recommendation (2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84779,  May 3, 2013), holding that petitioner could preserve for later when he was actually on supervised release his claim that restrictions on alcohol consumption during supervised release will infringe his religious freedom in connection with religions that use wine in their ceremonies.

In Jamison v. Atchison, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86511 (SD IL, June 20, 2013), an Illinois federal district court held that an inmate could proceed with his free exercise and retaliation claims against a prison supervisor who refused to grant him a religious exemption from working on Saturday and instead moved him to non-worker housing.

In Hollins v. Curtin, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85945 (WD MI, June 19, 2013), a Michigan federal district court denied a motion for reconsideration, rejecting the claim that his free exercise rights were infringed when he was not permitted to attend a Nation of Islam religious service because he was in segregation.

In Stepler v. Warden, Hocking Correctional Facility, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86209 (SD OH, June 18, 2013) an Ohio federal magistrate judge recommended  permitting a Jewish inmate to proceed with his complaint regarding failure to provide a weekly prayer room and against one defendant for failure to provide kosher meals with sufficient calories. A number of other claims regarding kosher food and anti-Semitic verbal abuse were dismissed.

Russian Region Bans Religious Clothing and Symbols In Schools

In Russia, the governor of the Astrakhan Region in the southern part of the country announced yesterday that "explicitly religious" clothes and symbols will be banned in the Region's schools and colleges beginning September 1. According to Russia Beyond the Headlines, at a meeting of the regional council for issues of ethnicity and religion Governor Alexander Zhilkin said:

We must not forget that we are a secular state, and we will follow this path, no matter how certain groups try to unravel this system, both for reasons of ethnicity and religion. Those who oppose this idea are free to choose from a plenty of other countries to live in.

The Astrakhan Region is 46% Russian Orthodox and 16% Muslim.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Approves Sharia-Compliant Chapter 11 Reorganization

As reported by Reuters and Nasdaq, on June 11, a New York federal bankruptcy judge approved what appears to be the first-ever Sharia-compliant Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The reorganization plan is for Arcapita Bank PLC, a Bahrain investment firm which offers Sharia-compliant investments to wealthy families, institutions and sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf region. The confirmed plan includes a Sharia-compliant loan and exit financing of up to $525 million that is to be extended to the company by Goldman Sachs. The entire reorganization process complied with Sharia law.  After confirmation of the plan, however, another problem arose. According to Reuters, Central Bank of Bahrain rules require Arcapita to obtain a fatwa from a supervisory board of Islamic law experts before undertaking new financing. Last Monday, Hani Alsohaibi, who had invested money with Arcapita, filed a motion asking the bankruptcy court to reject the debtor in possession loan to Arcapita from Goldman Sachs because only one member of the Sharia supervisory board had signed the fatwa setting the conditions for the loan.

Buddhist Anti-Muslim Extremism Increases In Myanmar

The New York Times yesterday explored the rise of anti-Muslim extremism among Buddhists in Myanmar. The article focuses on Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu who is described as having "a rock-star following." The Times reports:

What began last year on the fringes of Burmese society has grown into a nationwide movement whose agenda now includes boycotts of Muslim-made goods. Its message is spreading through regular sermons across the country that draw thousands of people and through widely distributed DVDs of those talks. Buddhist monasteries associated with the movement are also opening community centers and a Sunday school program for 60,000 Buddhist children nationwide.

Cert. Petition Filed In Middle School Graduation Speech Case

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court in A.M. v. Taconic Hills Central School District. In the case, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a free speech claim by a middle school student, the co-president of student council, who was not permitted to include a religious blessing at the end of her remarks at the school's Moving-Up Ceremony. (See prior posting.) ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the cert. petition.

Suits Challenge Shift of California Parochial Schools' Sports Leagues As Religious Discrimination

As reported by the Los Angeles Daily News and the Ventura County Star, four parochial high schools filed three separate federal lawsuits yesterday against the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) challenging the transfer of their sports teams to the Parochial Area league, with a resulting significant increase in travel time for students to reach the location of "away" games. Here is the full text of the complaint in one of the lawsuits-- Archdiocese of Los Angeles Education and Welfare Corp. v. California Interscholastic Association Southern Section, (CD CA, filed 6/20/2013). Claiming federal and state constitutional free exercise, equal protection and due process violations, the complaint alleges:

a discriminatory scheme to uproot Plaintiff religious schools out of their home geographic areas where they have been competing in athletic sports for decades and require them to travel excessive distances for the sole purpose of segregating them with other religious schools.

Israeli Police Investigate Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi For Fraud As Chief Rabbi Elections Approach

In Israel today, police fraud unit officers raided the home and office of Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger who has been under investigation for fraud, money laundering and accepting bribes. According to YNet News, Metzger (the country's Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi) is suspected of taking for himself hundreds of thousands of shekels he had raised for different NGOs. Metzger was brought in for questioning by police this morning, and a lien was placed on his and his associates' bank accounts. The terms of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis, extended once, now expire on July 24. The Supreme Court has said that elections must be held by then. The contest, particularly for the Ashkenazi position, has become extremely acrimonious. (Jerusalem Post.)

Court Refuses "Sky Funeral" For Veteran; Gives Hospital Control of Body

In Newby v. Serpentfoot, (GA Super. Ct., June 17, 2013), a Georgia state trial court rejected an attempt by a "Ms. Serpentfoot" to claim the body of deceased veteran Leeveneous Dempsey who died while a patient at a hospital in Floyd County, Georgia.  Serpentfoot had a health care power of attorney from Dempsey, who died on April 14. Instead the court granted the petition of the Floyd Medical Center allowing it to direct disposition of Dempsey's body, saying that Serpentfoot planned "morally and legally reprehensible" acts on Dempsey's body.  According to the Rome (GA) News-Tribune, Serpentfoot, who is president of Word Problems and Problem Solvers, Cures — a religious organization based on her "Bad News Gospel"-- claimed to be Dempsey's de facto husband.  She wanted to provide Dempsey a "sky funeral," in which she would "dismember the body, extract and retain the bones for study and 'art' purposes, place the deboned flesh in the open to feed animals and fertilize plants and save a portion of the remains to deposit at sea." Dempsey was buried with military rites on Tuesday.

Suit Alleges Applicant For County Position Was Asked Illegal Questions About Religion, Political Views

The Austin Statesman reports today on a federal lawsuit that was filed this week by Robert Lloyd, an unsuccessful applicant for the position of Constable in Williamson County, Texas.  According to the complaint, the county Commissioners Court asked Lloyd illegal and irrelevant questions:

When defendants interviewed the five final applicants and their references for the constable position, they unabashedly and illegally asked questions about the applicants’ views on abortion, gay marriage, politics and whether they voted conservatively and voted Republican and their religious affiliation. 

Convictions of Faith Healing Parents Upheld

In State of Oregon v. Beagley, (OR App., June 19, 2013), the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the negligent homicide convictions of Jeffrey and Marci Beagley in the faith-healing death of their 16-year old son.  The Beagley's, members of the Followers of Christ Church that rejects medical care, prayed for their son rather than seeking medical attention for a congenital abnormality that led to kidney failure. (See prior posting.) The appeals court rejected defendants' arguments that the indictment did not state a crime; that the court's jury instructions were erroneous; and that the court erroneously denied their motion to exclude evidence regarding the faith-healing death of their granddaughter. The court held that defendants:

have presented us with no compelling reason now to conclude that parents do not have a legal obligation to provide needed life-sustaining medical care for their children, nor that parents' constitutional right freely to exercise their religion encompasses a right unreasonably to fail to meet that obligation.

County, In Change of Heart, Says Maum Meditation Center Qualifies As A Religious Institution

Under the Lake County, Illinois zoning ordinances, "religious institutions" are permitted to operate in areas zoned for "estates."  Yesterday's Lake Forester reports that the County Department of Planning, Building and Development has finally decided that Maum Meditation is a religion after initially taking the position that Maum Meditation House of Truth could not operate in a home donated to it by one of its followers because it did not meet the "elements of religion." The Department's change of heart comes two weeks after Maum Meditation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have the court declare that Maum Meditation is a religion. The county says it changed its mind after it received information showing that Maum Meditation is part of an "emerging new religious movement" from the Far East.

Court Upholds Refusal To Allow Church To Run Religious Services In City Homeless Shelters

In Caractor v. City of New York Department of Homeless Services, (SD NY, June  14, 2013), a New York federal district court rejected free speech, free exercise and equal protection challenges by the head of the Discovered Being Ministry to New York's refusal to permit him to conduct Christian religious services inside city homeless shelters. The court concluded that homeless shelters are non-public forums and that "DHS’s decision to limit access to external organizations that either assist in providing shelter, aid shelter residents to find permanent housing, or provide services mandated or authorized by law -- a restriction which consequently excludes religious organizations -- is both reasonable and viewpoint
neutral."

Federal Agencies Issue Guidelines For Houses of Worship In Developing Emergency Plans

The Obama Administration yesterday, at a White House event hosted by Vice President Biden, released  a progress report on executive action taken to reduce gun violence. Among the items highlighted by the White House is a new Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship. The 32-page Guide, developed by six federal agencies, provides information for houses of worship in developing an emergency operations plan to deal with violence, arson and natural disasters. Religion News Service focuses particularly on the Guide's recommendations on dealing with active shooter incidents.

Preliminary Injunction Allows Religious College To Exclude Certain Contraceptives From Student Health Plan, Pending Final Decision

As previously reported, a challenge to the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate by religiously-sponsored Geneva College is pending in federal district court in Pennsylvania. Yesterday in Geneva College v. Sebelius, (WD PA, June 18, 2013) (opinion) (order), the court granted Geneva College a preliminary injunction pending a decision on the merits or a decision in a similar case by the 3rd Circuit or U.S. Supreme Court. The injunction allows the College to exclude from coverage in its student health insurance plan abortifacients to which it has religious objections. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Geneva College, which must choose a health plan by Thursday for the coming school year, would have opted for no insurance coverage for students instead of coverage that violates its religious tenets.

Judge's Religious Comments During Sentencing Are Not Reversible Error

In State of Wisconsin v. Betters, (WI App., June 18, 2013), a Wisconsin state appeals court rejected defendant's claim that a trial court had improperly relied on religious considerations in sentencing him to a longer term than was recommended by the pre-sentence report or requested by the state. In a plea agreement, Robert Betters plead guilty to repeated sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography  growing out of charges that he had repeated sexual contact with his girl friend's two teenage sons. As described by the appeals court:

During sentencing, the [trial] court remarked that “every child is a gift from God,” and indicated Betters’s conduct toward the boys was “an abomination in the sight of God and in the sight of man, and … totally unacceptable.”

The court of appeals concluded however:

Although the [trial] court used religious language, sparingly, during its analysis, Betters has failed to show that it is highly probable or reasonably certain his sentence was based on the court’s religious convictions. We stress again that the court’s invocations of a religious deity were ill-advised. However, not every “ill-advised word” will create reversible error.

AP reports on the Court of Appeals decision.

Suit Challenges NYPD's Muslim Surveillance Program

A federal lawsuit was filed yesterday challenging the constitutionality of the New York Police Department's surveillance program directed at Muslim religious and community leaders, organizations, businesses and at mosques.  The complaint (full text) in Raza v. City of New York, (ED NY, filed 6/18/2013), asserting free exercise, equal protection and establishment clause violations, summarizes the claims:

Since 2002, the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") has engaged in an unlawful policy and practice of religioius profiling and suspicionless surveillance of Muslim New Yorkers. This policy and practice has a false and unconstitutional premise: that Muslim religious beliefs and practices are a basis for law enforcement scrutiny.

The ACLU issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. A similar lawsuit was filed last year by different plaintiffs in a New Jersey federal district court.

Obama Sends Senate The Nomination of New Ambassador To Holy See

Yesterday President Obama sent to the United States Senate the nomination of Kenneth Francis Hackett to be U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. (White House announcement.) As reported last week by Religion News Service, the nomination of Hackett, the former head of Catholic Relief Services, is not likely to be controversial.  The White House gave further information about Hackett last week when it announced its intent to nominate him. The U.S. ambassadorship to the Holy See has been vacant since last November when Miguel Diaz resigned to become University Professor of Faith and Culture at the University of Dayton.

Hearing Officer Says Christian Pregnancy Center Is Eligible In Government Loan Program

In a case on remand from a federal district court (see prior posting), a hearing officer in the Department of Agriculture's National Appeals Division held that the Department of Agriculture was wrong in denying a Christian pregnancy resource center eligibility for a direct loan under the agency's Community Facilities Loan Program.  In In re Care Net Pregnancy Center of Windham County, (Dept. Agr. Natl. App. Div., June 14, 2013), the hearing officer held that the loan denial because of voluntary Bible classes offered by Care Net to its clients violated the Department's rules properly construed:

These Department regulations do not prohibit Agency funding of Appellant’s Program loan since Appellant’s voluntary Bible classes do not impose an additional cost of facility construction or renovation (e.g., do not require the building of a chapel, sanctuary, church, worship center, or other building fixture principally used for inherently religious activities). If Appellant were to make its incidental and voluntary Bible classes mandatory or use coercion, or were to change its operations to become dominated by inherently religious activities and costs were imposed on secular activities, then a different analysis would result.

The hearing officer also held that the loan denial violates the Free Speech, Free Exercise and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution, saying in part:

Agency would have found Appellant eligible for the Program loan so long as Appellant keeps religious speech out of the building or segregated to a separate room – a literal religious gerrymander. Adopting Agency’s approach would require any religious discussion, regardless of whether it were to be initiated by Appellant or its clients, to cease and for the participants of that discussion to pause, leave the facility or room, and travel elsewhere to reengage in the discussion. This effect is more than an incidental burden on a particular religious practice or belief: it is significant pressure, which will almost certainly cause clients to end prematurely or avoid any religious discussion altogether. Such a burden would facilitate a “chilling effect” on such discussion....

Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release announcing the decision.

In Important Decision, New Hampshire Court Invalidates Tax Credit Scholarships To Sectarian Schools

In Duncan v. State of New Hampshire, (NH Super. Ct., June 17, 2013), a New Hampshire trial court judge in a precedent-setting 45-page opinion held that New Hampshire's Education Tax Credit program violates the state constitution's ban on compelling any person to support sectarian schools (Art. 6) and its "No Aid" clause (Art. 83), insofar as the state allows scholarship funds generated by the program to be used at religious schools. The court relied on a newly-enacted statutory amendment broadening taxpayer standing (RSA 491.22 I) to allow all the taxpayer plaintiffs in the suit to maintain the action.  Departing from interpretations of the federal and some other state constitutions, the court also held that even though the state constitution's "No Aid" clause refers to expenditure of "money raised by taxation," it also applies to funds contributed to scholarship organizations for which businesses receive a tax credit.  The court said:

Money that would otherwise be flowing to the government is diverted for the very specific purpose of providing scholarships to students....

[Articles 6 and 83] broadly obstruct, or bar, the provision of, or diversion of, "public funds." or tax monies, to financially aid "the schools of a religious sect or denomination."

The court held, however, that the program of scholarships funded by contributions for which businesses received tax credits may continue so long as scholarships are awarded only for attendance at non-religious schools. The Cato Institute reports at length on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Christian Church Leaders In Ireland Held In Contempt In Church's Financial Woes

The press in Ireland reports on the financial woes of Victory Christian Fellowship, a church which, according to the Sunday World, took 10% of its followers' income by preaching "the more money you give the more blessings you get." As reported yesterday by The Independent, the church lost its tax exempt status for engaging in excessive commercial activity.  This in turn led the Bank of Scotland to call in unpaid loans of 18 million Euros. When the bank sent in receivers to take possession of the church's three prime properties, they were blocked by church staff and congregation members. Friday's Kildare Nationalist reports that this led the court to hold three trustees of the church in contempt. To avoid jail, the trustees agreed to facilitate a peaceful handover of the church's three Dublin properties to the bank's receivers last Friday afternoon.