Court Accepts VT Magistrate's License Plate Recommendations

The Rutland Vermont Herald reports today that federal district court judge J. Garvan Murtha has accepted the Magistrate's Report in Byrne v. Terrill, 2005 WL 2043011 (D.Vt., Aug. 1, 2005). (See prior posting.) Plaintiff is attempting to force the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a "vanity" license plate with the number JN36TN, a reference to a Biblical verse. The decision refuses to preliminarily enjoin the DMV from enforcing its regulation against references to religion on license plates. However, it permits plaintiff to attempt to prove that the DMV is violating the equal protection clause or engaging in prohibited viewpoint discrimination by permitting some religious references on license plates and denying others.

Israel's High Court To Face Claim For Equal Treatment of Reform Woman Rabbi

Haaeretz reports today on a case that is about to be filed in Israel's High Court of Justice by the Religious Action Center of Israel's Movement for Progressive Judaism. It will seek to require the government to honor the request of the Gezer Community Council to allot one of the government paid city rabbinical positions to a Reform rabbi, Miri Gold, the rabbi of Kibbutz Gezer in central Israel. The case will raise two important questions: Is a Reform or Conservative rabbi entitled to receive a salary from the state as the rabbi of a community, and, if so, does this entitlement apply to a female rabbi? Currently, no liberal rabbi is recognized by the state as the rabbi of a neighborhood, community or city.

The Religious Action Center's release on the upcoming case says that they are not only seeking a position for Rabbi Gold, but a change in the procedures for qualifying for a salary as a community rabbi.

Prisoner's Establishment Clause Claim Not Ripe

Earlier this week, in Duquette v. New Hampshire, (USDC D NH, Aug. 29, 2005), the New Hampshire federal district court avoided deciding a claim that the state prison system's sexual offender program is a religious program the violates the Establishment Clause. The court found that since plaintiff will not be eligible to enroll in the program until near the end of his 20 year sentence, his claim is not ripe at this time.

Interparliamentary Religious Freedom Conference Will Be In Morocco

The Third Session of the Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom will be held in Marrakech, Morocco on Nov. 28 through Dec. 1. According to a report today by the Christian Communication Network, national parliaments, organizations, and individuals are registering in unprecedented numbers. Participation is expected from over 75 countries. For the first time, an international parliamentary assembly on the topic of religious freedom is being held in a pre-dominantly Muslim country.

New National Survey On Religion and Political Attitudes

Yesterday, a new national survey on religion, politics and public policy issues was released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. A lengthy summary, as well as the full report, are available online.

The survey finds that by a margin of 51% to 28% ,­ the Republican Party is seen as most concerned with protecting religious values, while by a margin of 52%-30% the Democratic Party is seen as most concerned with protecting the freedom to make personal choices. 44% of those surveyed say that liberals who are not religious have too much control over the Democratic Party, while 45% say that religious conservatives have too much influence over the Republican Party. On evolution and the origins of life, 48% of the public says that humans have evolved over time, while 42% say that living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. 64% of those surveyed say they are open to the idea of teaching creationism along with evolution in the public schools, and 38% favors replacing evolution with creationism. Two thirds of respondents say that liberals are going too far in trying to keep religion out of schools and the government. The survey covers a number of other issues as well.

Naval Academy To Continue Lunchtime Prayer

While the Air Force issued a policy statement this week discouraging public prayer in most Air Force sponsored activities, the Navy plans to continue its practice of having chaplains at the Naval Academy say grace before lunch each day. (See prior posting.) The Baltimore Sun reports on this today, saying that during each mandatory lunch, all midshipmen stand for announcements and nondenominational prayer led by Catholic, Jewish or Protestant chaplains.

Law Review Articles Recently Published

New law review articles from this week's SmartCILP:
Jordan C. Budd, Cross Purposes: Remedying the Endorsement of Symbolic Religious Speech, 82 Denver Univ. Law Rev. 183-257 (2004).

Susan J. Stabile, State Attempts To Define Religion: The Ramifications of Applying Mandatory Prescription Contraceptive Coverage Statutes To Religious Employers, 28 Harvard Jour. of Law & Public Policy 741-780 (2005).

Symposium: Religious Education and the Liberal State, 44 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 57-231 (2005).

Complaint in Christian School Challenge to UC Now Online

The full text of the complaint in Association of Christian Schools International v. Stearns is now available online. This suit challenges the University of California's refusal to recognize certain courses from fundamentalist Christian high schools as meeting UC's course requirements for those applying for admission. (See prior posting.) Further discussion of the case (and the lead to the link) is on The Questionable Authority blog.

Air Force Issues Interim Religious Guidelines

The Air Force Times reported yesterday that new Interim Guidelines (full text) on religious tolerance have been adopted by the Air Force in the wake of allegations that at the Air Force Academy, evangelical Christians created a hostile atmosphere for non-Christians. The new guidelines discourage public prayer at functions like staff meetings, office meetings, classes and sports events or practices. They urge commanders to be sensitive that personal expressions of religious faith can easily be mistaken for official expressions. They also tell chaplains to to "respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs." However, the Guidelines point out that in situations like mass casualties or preparation for imminent combat, the potential benefit of public prayer may outweigh the potential of causing discomfort.

The official Air Force release announcing the Guidelines quotes Lt. Gen. Robert A. Brady as saying: "In a world where many nations are torn apart by religious strife, we must understand that our ability to stand together -- those who represent many religions shoulder-to-shoulder with those who claim no religion -- is a great strength."

IL Mosque Loses Bid For New Trial In Claim Against City

Last week, a suburban Chicago mosque lost its bid for a new trial in its failed attempt to purchase a church building over the objections of local residents and city council. (See background article.) In Al Salam Mosque Foundation v. City of Palos Heights, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18237 (USDC ND Ill., Aug. 26, 2005), an Illinois federal district court rejected a series of objections raised by plaintiff to an earlier jury verdict. The jury rejected plaintiff's claim that its religious freedom rights under the First Amendment and the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act had been infringed by the city. The mosque reluctantly backed out of a contract to purchase a Palos Heights church building after it was unable to get written confirmation from the city that the property could be used by it as a mosque and school. The court said that plaintiff had not shown that the city itself did anything to interfere with plaintiff's rights.

Beard Prohibition Deters Recruiting Jewish Military Chaplains

An August 26 article in The Forward points out that the severe shortage of Jewish chaplains in the military is exacerbated by the military's insistence that beards are not permitted. Only 29 Jewish chaplains are on active duty in the military. Many young Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis might be interested in enlisting if beards were permitted. Unlike some Orthodox Jewish groups which permit shaving with an electric razor, Chabad prohibits removal of facial hair by any means. The military insists however that beards interfere with the effective use of gas masks. One bearded Lubavitch rabbi does serve in the military, though, because he, as well as Sikhs with beards, who were in the service before 1986 were exempted from the requirement.

German Court Rules Against Muslim School Teacher

In Germany, the Superior Administrative Court in Bremen has ruled against a Muslim public school teacher who insists on wearing a headscarf while teaching. Bernama reports today that the decision upholds an amendment to Section 38 of the School Act enacted by the Bremen Parliament in June providing: "Teachers at public schools... are not allowed to exercise political, religious, ideological or similar manifestations that may endanger or disturb the neutrality of the country towards pupils or parents or the political, religious or ideological peace of the school." The judges held that the head scarf constitutes an "abstract danger for the education mandate given to the state and also for the peace in school".

College Instructor Claims Unconstitutional State Religious Endorsement

An adjunct instructor at Florida's Broward Community college has sued claiming that he was not hired to teach more courses because the school's religion department has embraced Christian fundamentalism. James W. Johnson, who is Catholic, charges that state-supported community college is discriminating against nonfundamentalists in violation the Florida Constitution that prohibits using state money "directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination." Today's South Florida Sun Sentinel reports on the filing of the lawsuit in Broward County Circuit Court by Johnson who has taught religion part time at the college for 12 years.

Americans United Report Opposes Roberts Nomination

Today, Americans United For Separation of Church and State issued a report titled Religious Minorities At Risk: A Report In Opposition to the Nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. to the United States Supreme Court. The 19-page report concludes that:

At every step of his legal career, Roberts has advanced an exceedingly narrow reading of the constitutional provision that was designed to ensure a healthy separation of church and state. He has time and again advocated a legal standard that jettisons longstanding protections against over-reaching by religious majorities.... Roberts may claim that he took some of these positions because they represented the views of his clients or employers, rather than his own. But if that were so, one would expect to find writings advancing varied positions from a range of perspectives. Instead, Roberts’ writings ... present a remarkably consistent vision: a federal court system that is wholly unreceptive to the Establishment Clause concerns of religious minorities.

A press release accompanying the Report quotes AU executive director Rev. Barry W. Lynn as saying: "I urge every senator to read this report and then vote against Roberts' confirmation. I understand why Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson support Roberts' confirmation. I don't understand why anyone else would."

The American Center for Law and Justice immediately issued a release criticising AU's Report.

New SSRN Postings

New papers on SSRN:
Gregory A. Kalscheur, Christian Scripture and American Scripture: An Instructive Analogy?

Jim Wedeking, Quaker State: Pennsylvania's Guide to Reducing the Friction for Religious Outsiders under the Establishment Clause.

No Unemployment Comp Exemption For Christian School In VT

On Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court decided Mid Vermont Christian School v. Department of Employment and Training, rejecting the claim of an independent Christian school that it should be exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation law. The Court affirmed the determination of the state’s Employment Security Board that Mid Vermont Christian School fit neither of the statutory exemptions (21 VSA 1301(6)(C)(vii)(I)) —(1) a church or association of churches, or (2) an organization operated primarily for religious purposes which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or association of churches.

The school claimed that requiring it to pay unemployment compensation violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Federal Constitution, and the Common Benefits Clause of the Vermont Constitution. However the court disagreed, saying that all of the school’s constitutional arguments were based on its claim that the Vermont distinguishes between religious schools owned or operated by churches and those run independently. However, church-run schools are also subject to the tax, since they are operated for educational, not religious, purposes.

Christian Schools Sue University of California Over Admissions

Last Thursday, the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, California along with the Association of Christian Schools International filed suit in federal district court in Los Angeles against the University of California system alleging violations of plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. California newspapers, including the Long Beach Press Telegram, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times have reported on the lawsuit which alleges unconstitutional discrimination by UC admissions officials against the Christian perspective in various courses offered by Christian schools.

The UC system requires entering students to have completed certain high school science, English and history courses in order to be admitted, though those who have not can try to obtain admission based solely on their SAT scores. The Universities last year began sending a form letter to many Christian high schools indicating that some courses they teach will not be accepted as meeting the universities’ minimum standards. Courses using two popular Christian biology textbooks that challenge evolution are not acceptable. UC says that the outlines in courses using these are “not consistent with the viewpoints and knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community.” The UC system also rejected a Calvary Chapel Christian School history course titled "Christianity's Influence on American History”, an English course titled “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” and a government course titled “Special Providence: American Government”. [Thanks to Ed Brayton and Allen Asch via Religionlaw listserv for leads on this posting.]

Petitioner's Brief In O Centro Available

The Petitioner's Brief on the Merits in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, scheduled for argument before the US Supreme Court on November 1, 2005, is now available online. The Brief describes the question presented as:

Whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ... requires the government to permit the importation, distribution, possession, and use of a Schedule I hallucinogenic controlled substance, where Congress has found that the substance has a high potential for abuse and is unsafe for use even under medical supervision, and where its importation and distribution would violate an international treaty.

However, the case may be seen as presenting only the narrower issue of what is the appropriate standard for granting a preliminary injunction under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. (See prior posting.)

Jewish Synagogue Group Endorses Roberts

In a move seen as somewhat unusual, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has sent a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsing Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "qualified to serve". The August 22 letter to Sen. Arlen Specter from USCJ's Public Policy Committee says that its conclusion is based on a Position Paper on Federal Judicial Nominations adopted by USCJ in June. The Paper concludes that the criteria for an acceptable judge are:

1) – be well trained, well educated and enjoy wide respect among diverse segments of society.
2) – eschew an ideologically defined approach to judicial interpretation. That is to say, a jurist should be neither an activist for change nor an unalterable opponent thereof.
3) – demonstrate in his or her past decisions a balanced respect for foundational documents, reasonable interpretation and societal realities.

The Baltimore Jewish Times today reports that this is the first time that USCJ has endorsed a Supreme Court nominee. USCJ is the parent body of Conservative synagogues in the United States and Canada.

ACLU Sues On Behalf Of Mormon Prisoner

The ACLU of Louisiana announced on Friday that it has filed suit against the Louisiana Department of Corrections on behalf of Norman Sanders, a Mormon prisoner who has been denied access to religious materials. Also Sanders' requests that Mormon religious services be held in the prison have been ignored. Under a 2003 policy change, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola permits inmates to order books and other written materials only from vendors on an "approved vendor list". The prison has refused to add vendors such as Brigham Young University, to the list. The Complaint (full text) says that the LDS Church itself-- which sells copies of scriptures but not other kinds of religious books-- is on the approved list, but that requests for books from it have been returned to Sanders by prison employees without comment.