Religion Clause

Friday, October 30, 2015

Washington Football Coach Is Latest Focus In Battle Over Prayer At School Activities

An AP report yesterday focused on Bremerton, Washington, High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy who is quickly becoming the latest focus in the ongoing battle over prayer at public school events. Kennedy has been praying mid-field at the end of the game since 2008, but his actions have not become a cause for controversy until last month. Needless to say, Kennedy and school officials have starkly differing narratives.

Kennedy's lawyers, the Liberty Institute, say that Kennedy is merely engaging in a personal faith practice, in which he has often been voluntarily joined by a majority of his team, other coaches and the opposing team. The school district, however, says that coaches still have duties after the game is over, and permitting Kennedy to engage in a public religious display in the midst of his duties would amount to district endorsement of religion. He has now been placed on paid administrative leave. The school district says it has offered to accommodate Kennedy by providing him a private location for him to use to pray in a way that does not interfere with his duties. Kennedy's lawyer responds: "When it comes to religious freedom in the country, that's never been the law, that you can have religious expression, but you have to hide it somewhere." (Bremerton Patriot.) Apparently Kennedy plans to sue claiming a denial of religious accommodation.

Meanwhile, others are getting into the act. In October, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Bremerton superintendent supporting the school district's position. (Press release.) As reported by the Christian Post, 47 members of Congress this week signed a letter (full text) supporting Kennedy. And (as reported by RT) this week the Seattle Chapter of the Satanic Temple, saying that the school has essentially turned the post-game field into a public forum for religion, wrote to school officials (full text of letter) saying: "In light of football coach Joe Kennedy’s public prayer on the Bremerton High football field at the October 18 game, The Satanic Temple of Seattle requests permission to also perform a public Satanic invocation on the football field after the next football game, at the behest of a Bremerton High student."

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Suit Questions Whether Released Time Church Buses Must Meet School Bus Standards

Public Opinion News reported yesterday on a suit filed in a Franklin County, Pennsylvania trial court challenging the contention by Pennsylvania State Police that yellow buses used by a Christian camp to transport students to and from school for a once-a-week "released time" program must meet the standards for vehicles owned or under contract with a school district. Among other things, the buses used by Camp Joy El do not have swinging stop signs attached to the side, are not marked as school buses and are not painted with the specifically required yellow paint. A state trooper stopped one of the buses for inspection in a church parking lot, cited it for 9 violations and refused to allow students to board the bus to return to school. The suit asks for a preliminary injunction and a declaratory judgment permitting the Joy El to resume using its buses. Since the citation,it has been renting other buses at a cost of over $5000 per week.

Appeals Court: Sexual Orientation Not Covered By Missouri's Ban On Sex Discrimination In Employment

In Pittman v. Cook Paper Recycling Corp., (MO App., Oct. 27, 2015), a Missouri appeals court in a 2-1 decision held that the Missouri Human Rights Act does not bar employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. At issue was a hostile work environment claim by a former male employee of a recycling company. Judge Welsh's opinion held:

The clear meaning prohibiting discrimination based upon "sex" under the Missouri Human Rights Act intended by the Missouri legislature concerns discrimination based upon a person's gender and has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

Judge Clayton in a brief opinion concurred with the result only. Judge Gabbert dissented, saying:

Where our legislature used the broad term “sex,” and that term has been defined in many realms and most recently by the EEOC to include sexual orientation, I prefer to believe that if one is looking to the legislature for guidance, the legislature’s failure to exclude sexual orientation is more telling than its failure to act to include.

Columbia Daily Tribune reports on the decision.

6th Circuit En Banc: 1st Amendment Protects Christian Proselytizers At Dearborn's Arab International Festival

In a case that generated six separate opinions spanning some 65 pages, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, yesterday upheld the right of Bible Believers, a Christian group, to engage in provocative and offensive proselytizing of Muslims at the annual Dearborn, Michigan Arab International Festival. In Bible Believers v. Wayne County, Michigan, (6th Cir., Oct. 28, 2015), the majority described the Christian group's messages displayed on banners and T-shirts to a predominately Muslim crowd, many of who were adolescents. Among the slogans were: “Islam Is A Religion of Blood and Murder”; “Only Jesus Christ Can Save You From Sin and Hell”; and “Turn or Burn”. One member of the group also carried a severed pig's head on a spike, believing that Muslims are "petrified of that animal." After several encounters with hostile crowds, Bible Believers were escorted out of the Festival by police and ticketed.

Judge Clay's opinion of the court, joined in full by 7 other judges, concluded:

Ultimately, we find that Defendants violated the Bible Believers’ First Amendment rights because there can be no legitimate dispute based on this record that the [Wayne County Sheriff's Office] effectuated a heckler’s veto by cutting off the Bible Believers’ protected speech in response to a hostile crowd’s reaction.

Several of the judges writing separate opinions concluded, contrary to the majority, that defendants at least enjoyed qualified immunity from damages. Detroit News reports on the decision.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Homeless Shelter's Challenge To Permit Revocation Dismissed As Not Yet Ripe

In New Life Evangelistic Center, Inc. v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, (ED MO, Oct. 27, 2015), a Missouri federal district court dismissed as not ripe a lawsuit by a Christian church seeking to continue to operate its homeless shelter. The city's Board of Public Service voted to revoke the shelter's 32-bed hotel permit when, after receiving a petition from neighbors, it found that the shelter was housing up to 300 individuals per night. The shelter however was given the option of coming into compliance with its license or obtaining a new appropriate permit. The church responded by suing for a declaratory judgment and injunction, alleging that its rights under RLUIPA and the 1st and 14th Amendments had been infringed. However the court concluded:

at the time New Life filed this litigation, it had several options before it which made any claimed injury contingent on several possibilities and fairly speculative. Although the grace period in the Board's Order has elapsed, the Court finds that Plaintiff cannot escape the requirements of either appealing the Board's Order or proceeding with the filing of a new application as required by the Board's Order simply by prematurely filing a case in federal court.

Donald Trump On the Ayatollah and Middle Eastern Muslim Women

CBS News reports that Donald Trump, at a campaign rally on Monday, continued his unconventional rhetoric, this time in connection with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Muslim women in the Middle East. Focusing on how he would address Khamenei, Trump said:

I'll say, 'Hey baby, how ya doing?' I will never call him the Supreme Leader. And I'll get along with him probably. And maybe not. And if he doesn't get along with me, they got problems. We don't.

He then went on to say that the U.S. should stop intervening to further women's rights in the Middle East because women there do not want freedom, as shown by their desire to wear burqas or niqabs that hide their face. Trump framed his conclusion this way:

With the women over there, they don't have to wear the you-know-what. And then I said, 'Oh well that makes sense. That's nice.' Then, I saw women interviewed. They said, 'We want to wear them. We've worn them for a thousand years. Why would anyone tell us?' They want to. What the hell are we getting involved for? The fact is it's easier. You don't have to put on make-up. Look how beautiful everyone looks. Wouldn't it be easier if "mwah" (kissing sound)? Right? Wouldn't that be easy? I tell you if I was a woman - "mwah" - I'm ready darling. Let's go.

Ben Carson's Seventh Day Adventist Faith Is Explored

With Ben Carson coming in as either first or second in almost all the Republican presidential polls, yesterday the New York Times posted a lengthy survey of Dr. Carson's Seventh Day Adventist religion and his relationship to the denomination, saying in part:

In an election season where religion and politics have collided frequently, Mr. Carson’s faith remains a mystery to some and is something that could prove to be both a strength and a liability as he moves forward....

The Adventist legacy is rooted in the 19th century and grew out of what was known as the “Great Disappointment.” Most followers consider its initial founder to be William Miller, a Baptist preacher from upstate New York who calculated that Jesus Christ was due to return to earth on Oct. 22, 1844. When the savior failed to show up, the flock was left in a state of despair.

One of Mr. Miller’s followers, Ellen G. White, reconstituted the denomination under the doctrine that Christ had actually relocated to a heavenly sanctuary where he would begin judgment of the world. She was seen as a prophet.

Unlike members of other Christian denominations, Adventists honor the Sabbath on Saturdays instead of Sundays. They tend to be vegetarians and they continue to wait patiently for the Second Coming and the end of the world....

For theological reasons, Adventism has faced tensions with the Catholic and Baptist churches over the years....

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Today Is International Religious Freedom Day

October 27 is International Religious Freedom Day, marking the 17th anniversary of the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act. (Background.) It also commemorates the execution of the Boston Martyrs on this day in 1659. (Background). Secretary of State John Kerry issued a press statement marking the day and calling on the "international community – governments, civil society, and citizens alike – to speak out against religious persecution, and to stand unequivocally for religious freedom." UPDATE: Also today a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom. The prepared statements of the witnesses and a video of the nearly 3-hour hearing are available at the Committee's website.

Bangladesh Arrests Facebook Critic of Hajj Deaths On Charges Of Insulting Islam

Last week, the free speech advocacy group Article 19 called attention to the September 26 arrest in Bangladesh of Mohon Kumar Mondal, the leader of a Bangladeshi environmental organization, on charges of offending religious sentiments of Muslims. After the death of hundreds in a crush and resulting stampede during the Hajj (see prior posting), Mohon published a Facebook posting criticizing Saudi Arabia's security arrangements at Mina, Saudi negligence in dumping dead bodies from the stampede, and questioning the rationality of the Hajj ritual of stoning the devil at Mina. Police arrested Mohon after a local political leader filed charges against him under Section 57 of the Information Communication and Technology Act. That section prohibits the deliberate publication or transmission online of material which hurts or is likely to hurt religious sentiments. Article 19 called for Mohon's release.

European Court Reverses Genocide Conviction For Killing of Lithuanian Partisans

In Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania, (ECHR, Oct. 20, 2015), the European Court of Human Rights in a 9-8 decision by the Grand Chamber reversed a genocide conviction by the courts of Lithuania. As summarized by the Court's press release:

The case concerned the conviction in 2004 of Mr Vasiliauskas, an officer in the State security services of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1952 to his retirement in 1975, for the genocide in 1953 of Lithuanian partisans who resisted Soviet rule after the Second World War....

The Court found in particular that it was clear that Mr Vasiliauskas’ conviction had been based upon legal provisions that had not been in force in 1953, and that such provisions had therefore been applied retroactively....

Although the offence of genocide had been clearly defined in the international law (notably, it had been codified in the 1948 Genocide Convention....), the Court took the view that his conviction could not have been foreseen under international law as it stood at the time of the killings of the partisans. Notably, international treaty law had not included a “political group” in the definition of genocide [it only included national, ethnic, racial or religious groups] and customary international law was not clear on the definition....

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

DOJ Sues Michigan Township Over Denial of Zoning Approval for Muslim School

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that it has filed a civil suit under RLUIPA against a township just south of Ann Arbor, Michigan challenging the refusal to rezone a vacant parcel of land to allow construction of a Muslim pre-K through 12 school. The complaint (full text) in United States v. Pittsfield Charter Township, (ED MI, filed 10/26/2015), contends that various findings by the township Planning Commission were unjustified and that the rezoning denial makes it impossible for Michigan Islamic Academy to carry out its religious mission. Detroit News reports on the lawsuit.

Dutch Appeals Court Denies Scientology Tax Exempt Status

In the Netherlands last Wednesday, a Dutch appellate court held that the Church of Scientology has not carried the burden of showing that it qualifies as a tax exempt public benefit organization. The full text in Dutch of the Oct. 21 decision by the Court of the Hague is available online. As explained by The Underground Bunker, under Dutch law, an organization must show that 50% of its activities have a public benefit in order to obtain tax exempt status. The Dutch Supreme Court had remanded Scientology's case to the appellate court to determine if this criterion was met. The appeals court concluded that over half of Scientology's activity in Amsterdam involved auditing and training courses offered at high prices. This suggests that private commercial interests were being served more than the public interest.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Trump Questions Carson's Religious Beliefs

On the Republican presidential campaign trail last week, Donald Trump raised questions about the Seventh Day Adventist beliefs of fellow candidate Ben Carson. According to the New York Post Trump told a Florida audience on Saturday:

I’m Presbyterian. Boy, that’s down the middle of the road folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don’t know about. I just don’t know about.

Subsequently Trump refused to apologize for his remarks.

Amish Man Sues Challenging Photo ID Requirement To Buy Firearms

Under 18 USC 922(t)(1)(c) (part of the Brady Bill), in order to purchase a firearm an individual must present the seller with a valid identification document that includes the purchaser's photo. According to Penn Live, last Friday an Amish man filed suit in a Pennsylvania federal district court challenging the application of the photo requirement to those who have a religious objection to being photographed. Plaintiff Andrew Hertzler contends that his rights under the Second Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act were violated when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms refused to accommodate his Amish religious beliefs by accepting his state-issued non-photo ID along with other documentation.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Replica of Removed Oklahoma 10 Commandments Given To Oklahoma Governor [Corrected]

AP reports that on Friday, 11 riders from a Texoma Cowboy Church in Wichita Falls, Texas delivered to Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin a replica of the Ten Commandments monument which a court ordered moved from the Oklahoma statehouse grounds. (See prior posting.) Rev. John Riggs, leader of the church, told the governor:

We're riding for the law of God today. We fully believe that this country was founded upon the principles of God's word. It breaks our hearts to see where this country is headed and to see the removal of the law of God from our land, from our buildings.

Fallin said she will place the replica in her office. [Corrected--an earlier version of this posting incorrectly said the replica was delivered to the governor of Texas.]

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Barnes v. Furman, (2d Cir., Oct. 22, 2015), the 2nd Circuit upheld a prison's prior policy of limiting kosher meals to Jewish inmates (and denying them to Hebrew Israelites) and dismissed as moot a complaint regarding seizure of an inmate's religious head covering because he had now changed his religious designation to Protestant. At the time, the head covering he wore (a Tsalot‐
Kob) was limited by prison rules to Rastafarians.

In King v. Barr, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141454 (WD VA, Oct. 19, 2015), a Virginia federal district court held that a Muslim inmate failed to show that jail officials denied his classification to Phase III privileges because of his beard.

In Jones v. Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142142 (WD VA, Oct. 20, 2015), a Virginia federal district court dismissed a Muslim inmate's complaint that authorities refused to provide vegan Ramadan meals.

In Burroughs v. Petrone, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142732 ND NY, Oct. 15, 2015), a New York federal district court dismissed a Muslim inmate's vague complaints regarding removal from the religious service call-out sheet, confiscation of religious material, substitution of a Bible for the Qur'an and discarding of religious food.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Mikveh OK In Area Zoned For Places of Worship

In Matter of Winterton Properties, LLC v Town of Mamakating Zoning Board of Appeals, (NY App., OCT. 22, 2015), a New York state appellate court held that the term "neighborhood places of worship" in a town's zoning law includes a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath). The proposed mikveh is located in an area zoned for neighborhood places of worship, but the city claimed that the term only includes places of communal worship. The appeals court concluded: "The terms of the ordinance do not support this requirement, nor do we find it to be either established or supported by the dictionary definition..." [Thanks to Steven H, Sholk for the lead.]

Fire Department's Grooming Rules Upheld

In Mann v. City of Moss Point, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144320 (SD MS, Oct. 23., 2015), a Mississippi federal district court dismissed the claim by a former fire captain that departmental grooming rules barring long hair such as dreadlocks violate his 1st Amendment free exercise rights.

Friday, October 23, 2015

7th Circuit Upholds Muslim Woman's Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation Claims

In Huri v. Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, (7th Cir., Oct. 21, 2015), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the district court, held that a Muslim woman's hostile work environment and retaliation claims should not be dismissed. Fozyia Huri, a Saudi native employed by a state court as a child care attendant, complained particularly about her treatment by her supervisor, Sylvia McCullum, who is a devout and vocal Christian. When Huri filed internal complaints about her treatment, she was transferred to the court reporter's office where her supervisors continued to treat her badly in retaliation for her complaints. AP reports on the decision,