New Alabama Christian Youth Facility To Give Judges A Placement Option

The non-profit group, Youth Reach, is opening a 9-bed Christian-based group foster home outside Summerdale, Alabama tomorrow. A second 9-bed facility is under construction. They are designed for long-term stays by troubled boys ages 12 to 21. A girls' facility is planned for the future. Some 30 area churches and other supporters raised over $1 million to fund the project. The AP reported yesterday that the home is intended to give Alabama judges a facility in which they can place juvenile offenders. Some of the first 5 boys moving in Monday are coming from area jails. Though no mention is made of the issue, presumably any placements need to be voluntary on the part of the parents or children involved to avoid church-state problems. Youth Reach describes its philosophy on its website:

First and foremost, we are a Christian ministry built on the foundation of God’s Word. We are not religious, but we take advantage of the power found in a relationship with Jesus to witness the healing of young lives.

New Texas Sheriff Reaches Out To Sikhs In Light of Recent Incident

Friday's Houston Chronicle reports on efforts by Adrian Garcia, the new sheriff-elect of Harris County, Texas, to reach out to the local Sikh community after Sikh Coalition criticized the handling of an incident by deputies under outgoing sheriff Tommy Thomas. In the incident, members of a Sikh family called 911 to report a Nov. 26 burglary. The family charges that when deputies arrived, instead of investigating the complaint, they became alarmed at the kirpan (ceremonial dagger) worn by Kawaljeet Kaur. Other deputies arrived and began handcuffing and cursing family members. It is alleged that one deputy made reference to the "bombings in Bombay" that had just taken place. The Sheriff's Office is currently investigating the incident, and Internal Affairs Division has already met with the family.

Witch Sues University of Nebraska For Employment Discrimination

AP reported yesterday on a state court lawsuit filed earlier this month by a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, who claims she was fired by the University of Nebraska because of her religion. The woman alleges that she was removed as director of a youth program when the University discovered that she was a witch. The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission has already ruled in the woman's favor.

Publications Charge Army With Improper Aid To Missionaires Filming TV Show

Jason Leopold at The Public Record yesterday, following up on a claim in the weekly newsletter of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, charges that the U.S. Army was improperly entangled in the filming of an episode of the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Christian reality TV series titled Travel the Road. The series follows two so-called "extreme missionaries" who travel around the world to preach the gospel. The 2006 season of the program ended with three episodes filmed in Afghanistan. The missionaries, Will Decker and Tim Scott, were embedded with the Army in Afghanistan for the programs. They accompanied Army soldiers on patrol and say in one episode that a Staff Sergeant played a hands-on role in helping them facilitate proselytizing of Afghans. Apparently the missionaries distributed copies of the New Testament translated into Dari to Afghans.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Parks v. Brooks, (9th Cir., Dec. 2, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a grant of summary judgment and ordered a prisoner's claim that he was wrongly denied kosher meals to go to trial. The court held that the sincerity of plaintiff's religious beliefs is a question of fact that cannot be decided by summary judgment. It also held that the trial court should have considered the prison regulations under RLUIPA even though the pro se plaintiff did not cite to the statute. Plaintiff was permitted to proceed with his damage claim for past violations, even though the prison was now serving him kosher meals. As reported by AP, plaintiff, who is black, was originally refused kosher meals because he had no "hereditary connection" to Judaism and could not show "a substantial philosophical understanding" of it.

In Mello v. Martinez, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98547, (ED CA, Nov. 25, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge found that a Native American inmate had failed to adequately allege free exercise or RLUIPA violations in connection with authorities' refusal to permit him to take various religious objects with him when he was transferred to a different facility. The court dismissed the complaint with leave to amend.

In Gonzalez v. Corrections Corporation of America, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98667, (ND MS, Dec. 5, 2008), a Mississippi federal court held that a Muslim inmate's religious exercise was not substantially burdened by his failing to receiving meals that met his religious requirements 13 times over a course of 8 months. The court held it was sufficient that the rest of the time he was served vegetarian meals which met his religious requirements, even though he would have preferred kosher meals. The court rejected his claims under RLUIPA, the free exercise and the equal protection clauses. In reaching its decision, the court assumed without deciding that RLUIPA applies to a state prison that has been privatized.

In Bergmann v. Hanna, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100329 (D DE, Dec. 11, 2008), a Delaware federal district court rejected a claim that a prisoner's free exercise rights were infringed when on one day she was denied permission to attend chapel services to protect her from others in attendance.

Gov. Palin's Wasilla Church Hit By Suspected Arson

Today's Anchorage Daily News reports that in Wasilla, Alaska, a fire of suspicious origin caused $1 million damage to the Wasilla Bible Church Friday night. Damage is mostly confined to the back corner of the building. The church became well known during the recent presidential elections as the church attended by Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin's office issued the following statement:

Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29. Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.

Arson investigators say that as of now they have no leads as to intent or motive and no indication at this time of a political motivation.

Suit Says False Story of No Circumcision Is Libelous

The New York Times earlier this week focused on an interesting complaint (full text) filed last month in a New York federal district court. John F. Singer of Queens says that Centropa (the Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation), an oral history project based in Europe, in 2005 published an article on its website about his family. The article quotes Singer's mother as saying that Singer was not circumcised as an infant. Singer notified the Center's director that this was false, but the Center published it anyway, and republished it when its website was redesigned. The quote was not removed until October 2008. Singer's mother denies making the statement quoted in the story. Singer's complaint alleges that "as a Jewish male, it is in direct contradiction to Jewish law to be uncircumcised." It goes on to allege that as a result of the false story, Singer "suffered loss of his reputation, shame, mortification and extreme emotional distress." The suit, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress, seeks an injunction and damages.

Ohio School Board Sued By Teacher Who Wants To Divert Union Dues To Charity

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced in a press release last week that it had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an Ohio elementary school teacher who wants her compulsory union dues diverted to charity because of her religious objections to her union's positions on abortion and gay rights. Kathy Hart, who is an active member of the Catholic Church, teaches in the Coldwater (Ohio) Exempted Village School District. A collective bargaining agreement requires her to pay union fees to the National Education Association (NEA) and its affiliates - the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and the Coldwater Teachers Organization (CTO). The NEA agreed to Hart's request, but the OEA refused to go along. Hart originally filed a religious discrimination complaint with the EEOC, and it authorized her in September to file her own civil suit. (See prior related posting.)

Jewish Charities Are Victims of Madoff Wall Street Fraud

A number of Jewish charities find themselves among the victims of the massive Ponzi scheme carried out by Wall Street legend Bernie Madoff. Thursday's New York Times reports on the arrest of Madoff in a fraud scheme whose losses could reach $50 billion. Yesterday a New York federal district court appointed a receiver and froze all of Madoff's remaining assets. (Full text of court's order.) Today's Washington Post reports that the entire $8 million endowment of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation was invested with Madoff. The website of the Lappin Foundation carries the following notice on its home page:

The programs of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation and the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation are discontinued, effectively immediately. This includes Youth to Israel and Teachers to Israel.

The money used to fund the programs of both Foundations was invested with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and all the assets have been frozen by the federal courts..... The money needed to fund the programs of the Lappin Foundations is gone. The Foundation staff has been terminated today.

"It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement," said Robert I. Lappin, Foundation trustee. "The Foundations' programs have touched thousands of lives over many years in our efforts to help keep our children Jewish."

In addition, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System lost $5 million in the fraud. The Texas-based Julian J. Levitt Foundation that focuses on Jewish causes lost about $6 million. Yeshiva University, on whose board Madoff served, is still attempting to determine how much it had invested with him. Madoff's own foundation that contributed extensively to Jewish charities also is now gone. Haaretz reports that Madoff resigned from Yeshiva's board on Friday. It also suggests that a number of other Jewish philanthropists, in New York and Palm Beach, have likely lost significant amounts in the fraud.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation can be added to the list of victims. Luke Ford.net reports that some $18 million of the Foundation's Common Investment Pool (currently valued as 11% of its assets) was invested with Madoff.

UPDATE 2: Monday's Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports on additional investors who were victimized, including foundations of two well-known Jewish philanthropists: Elie Wiesel's Foundation for Humanity and Steven Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation (which received 70% of its 2006 income from Madoff investments).

UPDATE 3: Monday's Haaretz has more information on Jewish foundations that were impacted: including the Chais Family Foundation which contributes heavily to Jewish causes and the Gift of Life Foundation, a Jewish bone marrow registry that to which Madoff contributes substantial amounts.

9th Circuit Rejects Tax Deduction for Religious Day School Tuition

In Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, (9th Cir., Dec. 12, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has once again rejected a claim by parents that they should be able to deduct for income tax purposes a portion of the tuition and fees paid to their children's Orthodox Jewish day schools. The parents insisted that expenditures covering solely religious education should be deductible as a charitable contribution to the schools. In 2002, the 9th Circuit had rejected a similar claim by the same parents for prior tax years. Both then, and in this case, the parents claimed that a 1993 settlement agreed to by the IRS permitting members of the Church of Scientology to deduct 80% of the cost of "auditing" and "training" was analogous to the exemption claimed by the Sklars. They argued that denying the exemption to Orthodox Jews violated the Establishment Clause and principles of administrative consistency. The court disagreed. Here is the Department of Justice press release on the decision. Josh Gerstein's blog discusses the case at greater length. (Also see prior related posting.)

Student's Op-Ed On Evolution Rejected For Class Magazine

In Franklin County, Virginia, the Gereau Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration is a high school alternative that allows students to explore various careers. One of the courses it offers is Introduction to Media. The class produces a news magazine titled "In the Groove." Yesterday's Roanoke Times reports that a 16-year old student in the class, Brandon Creasy, says an opinion piece on evolution that he wrote for the magazine is being censored by the school's principal. The piece explains evolution by natural selection and says: "Evolution is a fact folks, not a theory!" (The full text of Creasy's essay accompanies the Times article.)

Principal Kevin Bezy says the piece needs to be revised because "It didn't present the theory with a sensitivity for those who hold other theories." The teacher of the course says that Principal Bezy was concerned that the article sounded angry at the church and could lead to community backlash. Brandon Creasy says his article was censored because the principal does not believe in evolution. Bezy says his personal views are irrelevant; he was acting in an unbiased way. Teacher David Campbell says he is using the situation to teach his class about the First Amendment and its application to student publications. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

UPDATE: Commenters to this posting point out that the principal may have had other more legitimate reasons to reject the essay-- namely its resemblance to one available online.

Moratorium Placed On More Displays In Washington State Capitol

As previously reported, the Washington state Capitol's open forum policy for holiday displays has led to a flurry of applications after a Humanist group put up a controversial sign calling religion a "myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." The state Department of General Administration has had enough. KOMO News reported yesterday that the Department has declared a moratorium on any more displays while it reviews its policy. The Department says it has received more applications for displays than can be reasonably accommodated. This means that all the new proposals, including the one for a Festivus pole, remain on hold. Apparently the nativity scene, the Christmas tree and the Humanists' sign remain in the Capitol.

UPDATE: One of the applications put on hold by the moratorium is from the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, best known for picketing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' funerals. Its proposed display was a poster captioned "Santa Claus Will Take You To Hell!" Dispatches from the Culture Wars (12/14) has more, along with a photo of the proposed display.

Costa Rican Court Rejects Religious Objection To Blood Test For Driver's License

Costa Rica requires each applicant for a drivers license to have a blood test so the individual's blood type can be noted on the license. Costa Rica Pages reported yesterday that a Costa Rican appellate court has rejected an attempt by a Jehovah's Witness to claim a religious exemption to the requirement. Apparently the court held that the government's interest in having this medical information which aids emergency services in treating victims of serious accidents justifies the infringement of religious belief.

Evangelical Lobbyist Resigns After Statement Supporting Gay Civil Unions

Richard Cizik has resigned as vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Already under criticism from some of the evangelical community for his strong stance on global warming, Wednesday night's resignation came after Cizik told Terry Gross on on National Public Radio's Fresh Air that he now believes in civil unions for same-sex couples. He also expressed support for government programs that supply contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancies. Christianity Today reports on developments. It also has the transcript of part of the NPR interview. NPR has a recording of the full program available on its website.

A statement issued yesterday by the NAE says: "in a December 2, 2008 broadcast interview on National Public Radio, Richard responded to questions and made statements that did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents. Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized and affirmed our values there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesperson among leaders and constituents." Cizik was one of the signers of a New York Times ad earlier this month condemning violence against the LDS Church for its support of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. (See prior posting.)

8th Circuit Hears Arguments In Gideon Bible Case

Yesterday the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Roark v. South Iron R-1 School District, (Docket No. 08-1847). A recording of the full oral argument is available from this page of the 8th Circuit's website. In the case, a Missouri federal district court held that a school district's policy permitting adult members of Gideons International to distribute Bibles to elementary school students on school property during the school day violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) Today's Christian Post reports on the case. Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver who represents the school district framed the issue this way in a statement: "The Bible cannot be singled out for special penalties like contraband." Believers' Rights blog also discussed the case yesterday.

First Sikh Inaugural Ball Will Be Held

The Sikh Community Center announced this week that the first ever Sikh Inaugural Ball will be held in Washington, D.C. on January 20. The Sikh Inaugural Ball Inaugural Committee will hold the event a few blocks from the White House, at Ascot, I-The Indian Experience Restaurant. No more than 300 tickets will be sold.

3 Faith-Based Leaders Among 24 Recipients of Presidential Citizens Medal

On Wednesday, President Bush awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to 24 individuals (including one posthumously). Three of the recipients, as described by a White House news release, were honored for their faith-based activities:

Charles W. Colson: For more than three decades, Chuck Colson has dedicated his life to sharing the message of God’s boundless love and mercy with prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. Through his strong faith and leadership, he has helped courageous men and women from around the world make successful transitions back into society. The United States honors Chuck Colson for his good heart and his compassionate efforts to renew a spirit of purpose in the lives of countless individuals.

John P. Foley, S.J.: Father John Foley has successfully reached some of our Nation’s most vulnerable youth and instilled in them a love of learning. Through his spiritual leadership of a faith-based education system that partners with the community, he has provided opportunities for young people to achieve their dreams. The United States honors Father John Foley for his commitment to helping his fellow citizens lead lives of integrity and achievement.

Timothy R. Scully, C.S.C.: Father Timothy Scully has committed his life to strengthening communities through faith-based education that prepares individuals for a lifetime of achievement, service, and compassion. Through his leadership at the University of Notre Dame, he has developed innovative ways to support under-resourced schools. The United States honors Father Timothy Scully for demonstrating that every human being has boundless potential.

The Medal was created in 1969 by Executive Order 114994. According to the official website for the Medal, it is intended "to recognize U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation." Approximately 100 people have been awarded the Medal since 1969.

Federal Court Preliminarily Enjoins South Carolina "I Believe" Plates

A South Carolina federal district court has issued a preliminary injunction barring the state of South Carolina from further advertising, distribution or production of its controversial "I Believe" license plate. In Summers v. Adams, (D SC, Dec. 11, 2008), the court found that plaintiffs have standing and had made a strong showing of the likelihood of success on their Establishment Clause challenge to the special plates. The plates feature the words "I Believe" with a cross superimposed on a stained glass window. The court said it was unlikely that the "I Believe Act" which authorized the plates passed any of the three prongs of the Lemon test. Defendants in the case were the Director of Motor Vehicles, as well as the Director of the Department of Corrections since the plates are apparently made in state prisons. A release from Americans United (which filed the case) applauding the ruling also has links to some of the briefs and pleadings. (See prior related posting.)

Australia High Court Gives Expansive Definition of Tax-Exempt Charity

In Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Word Investments Limited, [2008] HCA 55 (Dec. 3, 2008), Australia's High Court held that "a company that conducted commercial businesses to raise funds for a missionary organisation was entitled to the status of a tax-exempt charity." (High Court press release). In a 4-1 decision, the court held that Word Investments, an investment business (which also formerly operated a funeral business), is a charitable institution because all of its profits support the Christian activities carried out by Wycliffe Bible Translators which is a recognized charity. Under its memorandum, Word's profits may not be distributed to its members. A report on the decision from the law firm of Corney & Lind says that the decision will now permit charities "to pursue 'asset protection' strategies, by incorporating separate entities to raise funds for their charitable purposes."

Court Dismisses Rabbi's Breach of Contract Claim On 1st Amendment Grounds

In Friedlander v. Port Jewish Center, (ED NY, Dec. 8, 2008), a New York federal district court dismissed a breach of contract claim brought by a rabbi against her congregation. Rabbi Ariel Friedlander was fired by her congregation after members complained about a number of things, most relating to the manner in which she conducted religious services and life cycle events. The court held that deciding the case would unduly entangle it in a religious dispute: "Here, adjudicating the Plaintiff’s claim would ... necessarily require the Court to review the Plaintiff’s performance of her rabbinical duties. This is precisely the type of inquiry that the First Amendment prohibits." [Thanks to Volokh Conspiracy for the lead.]