New Report on Cultural Issues and the 2024 Election

The Pew Research Center yesterday published the results of an extensive survey on Cultural Issues and the 2024 Election. The 80-page report (full text) deals with attitudes on various topics, including religious values, sexual orientation and gender identity, and issues of family and reproductive rights. The Report says in part:

Voters who support Joe Biden and Donald Trump have starkly different views of the role religion should play in the U.S. government and politics. 

Across several measures, Trump supporters are much more likely than Biden supporters to favor an expansive government role in support of religion. Biden and Trump supporters differ on government support for religion and the Bible’s influence on the nation’s laws.

At the same time, larger shares of Trump supporters than Biden supporters also say religion – and particularly the Bible – should have influence on government policy....

 A majority of Trump supporters (56%) say religion should be kept separate from government policy, while 43% say government policies should support religious values. By more than six-to one (86% vs. 13%), Biden supporters say religion should be kept separate from government. 

These views differ by race and ethnicity and – especially among Trump supporters – by religious affiliation.

Russian Court Places Pro-Putin Witch in Pre-Trial Detention

The English language Moscow Times reports on a hearing held in a Russian court this week, saying in part:

A Moscow court on Thursday remanded the self-proclaimed witch Alyona Polyn, known for casting spells in support of President Vladimir Putin, shortly after she collapsed in court, state media reported.

Polyn, whose real name is Yelena Sulikova, was detained in the Moscow region earlier this week on charges of disseminating “extremist” literature and “insulting believers’ religious feelings.”

She is accused of sharing reading materials that call for “violence against the Russian Orthodox Church clergy” and posting videos online that insult people of faith....

 Polyn received medical attention but was not hospitalized. The court later ruled to place her in pre-trial detention, TASS reported....

UCLA Students Sue University For Failing to Protect Jewish Students

Three Jewish students at UCLA yesterday filed a civil rights lawsuit in a California federal district court alleging that the University, by tolerating widespread antisemitic behavior, has violated a lengthy list of state and federal statutory and constitutional provisions.  The complaint (full text) alleges in part:

1.  The University of California, Los Angeles ..., has deteriorated into a hotbed of antisemitism. This rampant anti-Jewish environment burst into view on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel....

2. In the wake of these horrifying events, UCLA should have taken steps to ensure that its Jewish students were safe and protected from harassment and undeterred in obtaining full access to campus facilities. Instead, UCLA officials routinely turned their backs on Jewish students, aiding and abetting a culture that has allowed calls for the annihilation of the Jewish people, Nazi symbolism, and religious slurs to go unchecked....

4. Starting on April 25, 2024, and continuing until May 2, 2024, UCLA allowed a group of activists to set up barricades in the center of campus and establish an encampment that blocked access to critical educational infrastructure on campus....

6. With the knowledge and acquiescence of UCLA officials, the activists enforced what was effectively a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” segregating Jewish students and preventing them from accessing the heart of campus, including classroom buildings and the main undergraduate library....

11. Yet even as the activists continued to enforce the Jew Exclusion Zone, Defendants not only failed to marshal resources to intervene— they adopted a policy facilitating the Jew Exclusion Zone.....

19. The administration’s cowardly abdication of its duty to ensure unfettered access to UCLA’s educational opportunities and to protect the Jewish community is not only immoral—it is illegal.  

20. Specifically, it violates numerous federal and state constitutional guarantees, including the Equal Protection Clause, the Free Exercise Clause, and the freedom of speech.  

21. And it contravenes the basic guarantee of equal access to educational facilities that receive federal funding, as well as numerous other statutory guarantees of equality and fair treatment.

Fox 11 reports on the lawsuit. Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the suit.

 

Catholic Preschools Must Be Able to Conditionally Participate in Colorado Universal Preschool Program

In St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton v. Roy, (D CO, June 4, 2024), a Colorado federal district court in a 101-page opinion, held that Colorado cannot exclude from its Universal Preschool Program two Catholic schools that will not enroll LGBTQ children or children from LGBTQ families so long as the state continues to improperly grant an exemption from religious anti-discrimination requirements to faith-based pre-schools that limit their enrollment to members of their own congregations. The court said in part:

Defendants have established a compelling interest in denying an exemption from the sexual-orientation and gender-identity aspects of the equal-opportunity requirement for Plaintiff Preschools specifically....

In sharp contrast to the evidence Defendants presented to establish a compelling interest with respect to the sexual-orientation and gender-identity aspects of the equal-opportunity requirement, Defendants did not offer any evidence relating to discrimination on the basis of religious affiliation....

Defendants enable faith-based providers to effectively discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation in their admission of preschoolers but, at the same time, deny Plaintiff Preschools an explicit exemption from the related aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement. Defendants have provided no compelling interest for their course of conduct....

The application by Defendants ... acting in their official capacities on behalf of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, of the religious affiliation aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement...violates Plaintiffs’ rights secured by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution....

The Court immediately and permanently enjoins Defendants ... from requiring, as a condition for participation in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program, that the preschools operated by Plaintiffs St. Mary Catholic Parish ... and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish... agree to provide or provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of religious affiliation for as long as Defendants allow exceptions from the religious affiliation aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement set out in Colorado Revised Statute § 26.5-4-205(2)(b) and in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program Service Agreement.

Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the decision. 

Louisiana Governor Signs Women's Safety and Protection Act, Rejecting Gender Identity Classifications

On June 3, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed HB 608, the Women's Safety and Protection Act (full text) into law. The law states as part of its purpose:

To provide protections for women and girls against sexual assault, harassment, and violence in correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, dormitories, and restrooms, or where women have been traditionally afforded safety and protection from acts of abuse committed by biological men.

Where there are multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms or sleeping quarters, the new law requires transgender men and transgender women to use only those facilities that conform to their biological sex. The limitation applies to public schools, domestic violence shelters, correctional facilities and juvenile detention facilities. The new law also provides a detailed biological definition of male and female that is to be applied to any state law or administrative rule that refers to an individual's sex. It additionally provides:

"Sex" means an individual's biological sex, either male or female, as observed or clinically verified at birth.  Gender identity and other subjective terms shall not apply to this Part and shall not be used as synonyms or substitutes for sex.

The new law goes on to provide in part:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no governmental agency ... shall prohibit distinctions between the sexes with respect to athletics, correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, or other accommodation where biology, safety, or privacy are implicated and that result in separate accommodations that are substantially related to the important government interest of protecting the health, safety, and privacy of individuals in such circumstances.

The law creates a cause of action for injunctive relief or damages to anyone who suffers direct or indirect harm from a violation of the Act. It provides:

It is a rebuttable presumption that requiring an individual to be housed with members of the opposite sex at a domestic violence shelter, juvenile detention center, corrections facility, or public school that is subject to the provisions of this Part is inherently discriminatory and is a cognizable harm to biological women under this Part.

Louisiana Illuminator has more details on the bill. ADF issued a press release announcing the governor's signing of the bill.

Ohio AG Sues to Prevent Reform Rabbinical College from Dismantling Its Valuable Library Collection

Ohio's Attorney General filed suit this week in an Ohio trial court seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction to prevent Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati from selling off any of its valuable library collection of Judaica which the college was exploring the possibility of doing in order to deal with a crippling financial deficit.  The complaint (full text) in State of Ohio ex rel. Yost v. Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion, (OH Com. Pl., filed 6/3/2024) alleges in part that the college is violating Ohio law by soliciting contributions from donors without disclosing that it is exploring the sale of parts of the Klau Library collection. It also alleges breach of fiduciary duty in administering charitable assets according to the donors' intent and alleges in part:

By the acts, omissions, and imminent acts identified in this Complaint, Defendant has breached and/or is breaching its fiduciary duties to collect, preserve, and share the Cincinnati Library collection for the charitable benefit of the public, including the Greater Cincinnati community.

Attorney General Dave Yost issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Following Yost's move Tuesday, HUC spokeswoman Patricia Keim said the college has made no plans to sell books or close the library. "We have retained a rare books expert to assess our holdings," she said. "We remain committed to responsible management of the Klau Library and its critical role in the study of Judaism, Jewish history, and Jewish civilization."

Neo-Nazi Sentenced for Defacing Michigan Synagogue

 In a press release, the Department of Justice announced yesterday:

A Michigan man was sentenced today to 26 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring with other members of a white supremacist group, The Base, to victimize Black and Jewish people, and for defacing Temple Jacob, a Jewish synagogue in Hancock, Michigan, using swastikas and symbols associated with The Base....

The evidence at trial established that, in September 2019, Weeden, Tobin and Barasneh, all members of The Base, used an encrypted messaging platform to discuss vandalizing property associated with Black and Jewish Americans. Weeden and his co-conspirators dubbed their plan, "Operation Kristallnacht” — a term that means "Night of Broken Glass,” and refers to events that took place on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, when Nazis murdered Jews and burned and destroyed their homes, synagogues, schools and places of business. Weeden carried out this plan on Sept. 21, 2019, when he spray-painted swastikas and symbols associated with The Base on the outside walls of Temple Jacob....

Suit Challenges Vermont Foster Care Rules on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Suit was filed yesterday in a Vermont federal district court by two couples challenging a policy adopted by the state foster care agency relating to sexual orientation, gender identity/ expression (SOGIE). Plaintiffs allege that the policy is inconsistent with their Christian religious beliefs. The complaint (full text) in Wuoti v. Winters, (D VT, filed 6/4/2024) alleges in part:

According to the Department, to meet the “needs of each foster child” under Rule 301 (emphasized), all parents must demonstrate that they can support any hypothetical child’s SOGIE....

All foster families must show that they will unconditionally support and affirm a child’s desire to dress, cut their hair, or wear accessories to express their stated gender identity,,,,

Plaintiffs allege that as applied the policy violates their 1st Amendment free speech rights:

... [T]he Department’s Mandate requires applicants to agree to speak certain words, like inaccurate pronouns, and to engage in certain expressive activities, like pride parades, that express the Department’s preferred views on human sexuality, as a condition for accessing child-welfare services. 

... [T]he Department’s Mandate forbids applicants from expressing certain views, like the Plaintiffs’ religious views on human sexuality, and engaging in certain expressive activities, like attending church, as a condition for accessing child-welfare services....

They also allege that the policy violates their 1st Amendment religious free exercise rights:

... The Wuotis and the Gantts have certain sincerely held religious beliefs about the human body and human sexuality, and they are also religiously motivated to provide foster care and adoption. 

... The Department’s SOGIE Mandate conditions Plaintiffs’ ability to obtain a foster-care license on their willingness to speak and act contrary to these religious beliefs.

The complaint also alleges due process and equal protection claims. ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. 

GAO Says DEA Should Improve Its Process for Granting Religious Exemptions for Psilocybin Use

Last Week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an 80-page Report to Congressional Committees (full text) titled DEA Should Improve its Religious Exemptions Petition Process for Psilocybin (Mushrooms) and Other Controlled Substances. The Report says in part:

Selected stakeholders reported several barriers to the legal access and use of psilocybin for religious practices under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. For example, DEA established a process for parties to petition for a religious exemption from the Controlled Substances Act to use controlled substances for religious purposes. However, DEA’s guidance does not inform petitioners on its timeframes to make determinations on completed petitions. DEA officials stated the agency is aware of public concerns on the need to better understand its policies and processes that impact the petitions for religious exemptions. In 2019, DEA initiated a draft notice of proposed rulemaking related to its process for petitioning for religious exemptions. Four years later, in February 2023, the final draft notice was submitted to DEA’s Office of the Administrator, according to DEA officials; but there is no timeframe for issuance of the notice or final regulations....

Including timeframes to make determinations about religious exemption petitions in DEA’s guidance will provide better transparency about the agency’s process.

Filter has additional details.

Oklahoma Legislature Enacts Bill Requiring Schools to Offer Released Time for Credit Courses in Religious or Moral Instruction

Last week the Oklahoma legislature passed and sent to Governor Kevin Stitt for his signature HB 1425 (full text) which requires every school district board to adopt a policy that allows students to attend a released-time course in religious or moral instruction for up to three class periods per week. The course is to be taught by an independent entity off of school property. The school district is to award students credit for the released-time course after the course is evaluated using secular criteria set out in the new law.

According to KRMG News, before the Governor announced whether or not he would sign the bill, The Satanic Temple issued a statement saying that if the bill becomes law, it will offer a released-time course through its Hellion Academy of Released Time Learning. The Satanic Temple said in part that it "believes that public schools should be free from religious influence, [but is] ... prepared to ensure our members’ children receive the same opportunities as those participating in other religion’s programs."

Alabama Supreme Court Refuses to Order United Methodist Conference to Allow Church Disaffiliations

In Aldersgate United Methodist Church of Montgomery v. Alabama- West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc., (AL Sup. Ct., May 31, 2024), the Alabama Supreme Court, in a per curiam opinion, applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine and dismissed a challenge by 44 Methodist congregations to a refusal by their parent Conference to allow the congregations to disaffiliate and retain their property. A few months before the congregations sought to disaffiliate, the Conference had changed its rules to provide that a member church could disaffiliate only after the Conference approved an eligibility statement that set out the reasons of conscience that led to the congregation's request. Prior to that, under a policy that was to expire at the end of 2023, congregations could disaffiliate and retain their property merely if they disagreed with the Chruch's policy on same-sex marriage and homosexuality. In affirming the dismissal of the case, the court said in part:

In order to grant the churches the relief they seek -- the right to vote on disaffiliation -- the trial court would have to survey the Judicial Council's ecclesiastical decisions, interpret the doctrinal scope of ¶ 2553 of the Book of Discipline, and review Conference determinations about the religious adequacy of the churches' eligibility statements.  That is, to decide any property questions, the trial court would have to adjudicate whether each of the churches had adequate "reasons of conscience...."  Resolving those issues would "inherently entail inquiry … into the substantive criteria by which [courts] are supposedly to decide the ecclesiastical question" -- whether the churches' reasons of conscience were sufficient for disaffiliation under ¶ 2553....   "But [that] is exactly the inquiry that the First Amendment prohibits."

Justice Bryan filed an opinion concurring specially which Justice Mitchell joined. Justice Cook filed an opinion concurring specially which Chief Justice Parker joined. Both opinions expressed sympathy with the churches' claim that the last-minute change in rules was engineered to prevent them from disaffiliating. Justice Mundheim filed an opinion concurring in the result, but not in the reasoning of the main opinion. Justice Sellers concurred in the result without filing a separate opinion. Justices Shaw, White and Stewart recused themselves.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Muthoifin Muthoifin & Dimas Adi Saputra, Early Marriage in Islam and its Implementation in Indonesia, (May 27, 2024).
• David E. Guinn, Negotiating Peace in Ethno-Religious Infused Conflict: Applying Religiously Informed Socio-Secular Analysis to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, (May 16, 2024).
• Robert W. Gomulkiewicz, Separated by a Door Not a Wall: Replacing a Powerful Establishment Clause Metaphor, (University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Forthcoming vol. 27 (2025)).
• Clark B. Lombardi, Reynolds Revisited: The Original Meaning of Reynolds v. United States and Free Exercise after Fulton, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 1009 (2024).
• Christopher C. Lund, Church Autonomy in the United States, (in Freedom of Religion and Religious Pluralism (Md Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan & Carla M. Zoethout, eds., Brill, 2023).
• Michael Lewyn, Intentional Discrimination and Haredi Jews, (51 Real Estate L.J. 25 (2022)).
• Holning Lau, Decriminalizing Same-Sex Sexual Activity: Jurisprudence from the Global South, (International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 22 (2024 forthcoming)).
• An Qi Tan, The Impact of Charitable Giving on Financial Wellbeing: Aligning Values with Financial Security (May 28, 2024).
• S. Ernie Walton & Eric A. DeGroff, Brief as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners in John and Jane Parents 1 v. Montgomery County Bd. of Educ., (January 24, 2024).

From SSRN (Islamic Law):

• Fatima Idrees, Concept of Mal and Ownership: Comparison in Positive Law and Shariah Law (April 25, 2024).
• Fatima Idrees, Islamic Perspective: Terrorism and Human Rights (April 25, 2024).
• Fatima Idrees, A Comparative Analysis of the Responsibility and Limitations of an Agent in Contract Act, 1872 and Islamic Law of Contract, (April 25, 2024).
• Fatima Idrees, Charter of Madina: The First Constitutional Document, (April 25, 2024).
• Zainuddin Zainuddin, Islamic Economic Law Perspectives of Profit-Sharing Systems (Teseng) in the Cultivation of Rice Fields in Bugis-Makassar Community, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, (April 24, 2024).
• Murtala, Wazeer, Beyond Religious Divide: How the Muslim Community in Romania are Helping Refugees from Ukraine, (April 29, 2023).

From SmartCILP and elsewhere:

• Ahmed Al Rawi, Blocking Faith: How American Muslims Are Chilled through the New Anti-Muslim Statutes and the Security Agencies' Surveillance in the Era of Digital Policing, 39 Touro Law Review 1-42 (2023).
• Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 39, Issue 1 (Jan 2024). (Open access until 6/30/2024).

Obstructing Police Clearing Abortion Clinic Demonstrators Not Protected as Free Exercise

In People of the State of Michigan v. Connolly, (MI App., May 30, 2024), a Michigan state appellate court upheld convictions of four anti-abortion activists. Defendants had conducted a "red rose" rescue-- entering an abortion clinic, handing each client in the waiting room a rose and attempting to convince them not to proceed with abortions. When ordered by police to leave, defendants instead fell limp to the floor, and officers had to carry them out of the building. Defendants were convicted of resisting or obstructing a police officer, trespass and disturbing the peace. Defendants contended in part that the obstructing police conviction violated their First Amendment rights to the Free Exercise of religion because their actions were motivated by their Catholic faith. The court responded:

Defendants do not dispute that MCL 750.81d(1) is facially neutral because it does not refer to religion in any manner.  However, “[f]acial neutrality is not determinative.”... While a law plainly targeting a religion obviously is not neutral, “if the object of a law is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation, the law [also] is not neutral[.]” ...

...  The language of MCL 750.81d is facially neutral, and defendants have not identified any possible legislative intent directed at individuals who practice Catholicism, or even those who oppose abortion on religious grounds.  Indeed, even a brief review of recent caselaw from this Court reveals MCL 750.81d is regularly used to prosecute individuals for reasons completely unrelated to religious beliefs.

The court also rejected vagueness and equal protection defenses.

Texas Supreme Court Rejects Expansion of Medical Exceptions to Abortion Ban

 In State of Texas v. Zurawski, (TX Sup. Ct., May 31, 2024), the Texas Supreme Court vacated a temporary injunction entered by a state trial court which had broadened the medical exception to Texas' abortion ban. The trial court had relied on the Due Course of Law and Equal Protection clauses of the Texas Constitution. The Supreme Court said in part:

Under the Human Life Protection Act, a woman with a life-threatening physical condition and her physician have the legal authority to proceed with an abortion to save the woman’s life or major bodily function, in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment and with the woman’s informed consent. As our Court recently held, the law does not require that a woman’s death be imminent or that she first suffer physical impairment. Rather, Texas law permits a physician to address the risk that a life-threatening condition poses before a woman suffers the consequences of that risk. A physician who tells a patient, “Your life is threatened by a complication that has arisen during your pregnancy, and you may die, or there is a serious risk you will suffer substantial physical impairment unless an abortion is performed,” and in the same breath states “but the law won’t allow me to provide an abortion in these circumstances” is simply wrong in that legal assessment. 

Given this construction, we conclude that Dr. Karsan has not demonstrated that the part of the Human Life Protection Act that permits life-saving abortion is narrower than the Texas Constitution allows.

Justice Lehrmann filed a concurring opinion. Justice Busby also filed a concurring opinion which Justice Lehrmann joined.

CBS News reported on the decision.

Lifeguard Sues L.A. County Over Required Flag Raising for Pride Month

A suit was filed last week in a California federal district court by plaintiff who is employed as a lifeguard by Los Angeles County objecting to the requirement that he raise the Progress Pride Flag at his lifeguard station during June which has been designated as LGBTQ+ Pride month. The complaint (full text) in Little v. Los Angeles County Fire Department, (CD CA, filed 5/24/2024), alleges in part:

Captain Little is ... an evangelical Christian with beliefs on marriage, family, sexual behavior and identity that align with the traditional and orthodox biblical-social teachings....

... While Captain Little understands that the government can speak its own messages, and thus may promote Pride Month, he believes that he cannot personally do so by raising the Progress Pride Flag. Doing so would be to personally participate in, espouse, and promote messages contrary to his sincerely held religious beliefs, similar to how many courts have recognized that Jehovah’s Witnesses may not salute or pledge allegiance to the flag of any nation or state....

The complaint alleges that requiring him to raise the Pride Flag, refusing to provide him with a religious accommodation and taking retaliatory action against him violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Law, the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. and California Constitutions and the Free Speech clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit. Los Angeles Times has additional details.

UPDATE: According to a June 5. 2024 press release from the Thomas More Society, Los Angeles County has agreed to give plaintiff a partial accommodation by not requiring him to raise the Progress Pride Flag as part of his job for the remainder of June.

Civil Court Must Accept Disciplinary Actions by Hierarchical Church's Parent Body

In San Jose Korean Central Church v. Korean Evangelical Church of America, (CA App., May 29, 2024), a California state appellate court applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, holding that a trial court was required to accept as binding internal disciplinary judgments by a church's parent body, Korean Evangelical Church of America (KECA).  At issue was an attempt by a local congregation, San Jose Korean Central Church (SJKCC) to disaffiliate from KECA. As explained by the court:

... [T]he board of SJKCC, led by its senior pastor, Francis Chung, purportedly approved new bylaws and voted to disaffiliate itself from KECA.  One week later, at a special meeting set by the board, the congregation ... approved the new bylaws and voted in favor of SJKCC’s disaffiliation from KECA.  Prior to these actions, however, KECA had issued a disciplinary judgment suspending Chung from performing his duties as an SJKCC board member.  KECA therefore contended that the purported actions taken by the SJKCC board, with Chung acting as its chairman ... were void.  As a result of Chung’s disobedience of the judgment of suspension, ... KECA entered a further disciplinary judgment revoking Chung’s SJKCCs pastorship and excommunicating him from KECA.  Shortly before that date, ... KECA entered a disciplinary judgment against two Chung allies, Ki Soo Kim, Jung Young Lee, removing their status as elders and as members of the SJKCC board....

... [I]t is plain that the May 26, 2019 judgment suspending Francis Chung—being a disciplinary action taken by the national hierarchical church, KECA, through the Judgment Committee of its Northern California District Conference—was an internal ecclesiastical decision that was not subject to review by the civil judicial system.  The rule of judicial deference to ecclesiastical matters applies not only to decisions related to matters of religious doctrine; it “also [applies to] issues of membership, clergy credentials and discipline, and church polity and administration.... The rule of deference to internal decisions of clergy discipline applies irrespective of whether the action taken was “by a procedure contrary to church law and regulations, and for improper, false and fraudulent motives.” ...

Louisiana Legislature Requires Posting of 10 Commandments in Every Public School and College Classroom

The Louisiana legislature this week gave final passage to HB71 (full text) which requires all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom. The bill specifies the Ten Commandments text which must be used-- choosing the text that appeared on the Ten Commandments marker at the Texas State Capitol that was the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Van Orden v. Perry. The Louisiana bill requires:

The nature of the display shall be determined by each governing authority with a minimum requirement that the Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches.  The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster or framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font.

A specified "context statement" that details the appearance of the Ten Commandments in public school textbooks since 1688 must be displayed along with the Ten Commandments. It permits, but does not require, public schools to also display the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance along with the Ten Commandments.

Public colleges must display the same text of the Ten Commandments (but apparently not the context statement) in each classroom on their campuses.

The bill's substantive provisions are preceded by legislative findings, including the following:

Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments accords with our nation's history and faithfully reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government. History records that James Madison, the fourth President of the United States of America, stated that "(w)e have staked the whole future of our new nation . . . upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.

The bill now goes to Governor Jeff Landry for his signature. CNN reports on the bill.

UPDATE: On June 19, Governor Landry signed HB71, and the ACLU quickly announced that several advocacy organization would file suit to challenge the law.

2nd Circuit: Former Hindu Inmate's Challenges to Mandated Treatment Program Dismissed

 In Tripathy v. McKoy, (2d Cir., May 29, 2024), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a suit brought against prison officials by a former inmate who contended that his rights were violated when he was forced to enroll in a specific sex offender treatment program in order to get lighter parole and registration requirements. According to the court: 

A devout Hindu, Tripathy objected to this requirement on religious grounds, arguing that he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted and that accepting responsibility for his crimes would require him to make a false statement, in violation of the “core” Hindu “tenet[]” against lying.

The court summarized its holdings:

We agree with the district court that Tripathy’s claim for damages under RLUIPA is barred by our precedent holding that the statute does not permit individual capacity damages; we likewise agree that his demands for injunctive and declaratory relief became moot when his state convictions were vacated and he was released from prison.  With respect to his constitutional claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the district court properly concluded that Tripathy’s free exercise claim under the First Amendment is barred by qualified immunity, that he lacks standing to seek damages for his due process claim under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that he fails to state a claim for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.

New Hampshire Divisive Concepts Law Is Void For Vagueness

 In Local 8027, AFT-N.H., AFL-CIO v. Edelblut, (D NH, May 28, 2024), a New Hampshire federal district court held that statutes enacted in 2021 that ban the teaching in public schools, or by employers, or in government programs of specified divisive concepts are void for vagueness. The banned concepts found in NH Revised Statutes §193.40 , §354A-31 and §354A-32, are:

(a) That one's age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion or national origin is inherently superior to people of another age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin;

(b) That an individual, by virtue of his or her age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;

(c) That an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin; or

(d) That people of one age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin cannot and should not attempt to treat others without regard to age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin.

The court concluded:

The Amendments are viewpoint-based restrictions on speech that do not provide either fair warning to educators of what they prohibit or sufficient standards for law enforcement to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Thus, the Amendments violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Concord Monitor reports on the decision.

President Issues Memorial Day Prayer for Peace Proclamation

Today is Memorial Day. Last week, President Biden issued his Memorial Day 2024 Proclamation, titled A Proclamation on Prayer for Peace (full text), which says in part:

This Memorial Day, we honor the brave women and men who made the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation’s freedom.  We recommit to keeping our sacred obligation to their survivors, families, and caregivers.  Together, we vow to honor their memories by carrying on their work to forge a more perfect Union....

In honor and recognition of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested that the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer and reflection.  The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time when people might unite in prayer and reflection.  I urge the press, radio, television, and all other information media to cooperate in this observance.  I further ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.