Indonesian Task Force Head Wants To Define Miniskirts As Pornographic

In Indonesia, religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali is heading a new task force set up to enforce a strict anti-pornography law that was enacted in 2008 with the backing of Islamic parties. (Background.) According to The National today, Suryadharma wants to draw up "a set of universal criteria" on what constitutes pornography. He says it would include women wearing skirts above the knee. The law imposes a penalty of up to 12 years in prison for "pictures, sketches, photos, writing, voice, sound, moving picture, animation, cartoons, conversation, gestures, or other communications shown in public with salacious content or sexual exploitation that violate the moral values of society." Suryadharma's proposal follows a threat by Parliament's speaker Marzuki Alie to exclude female politicians wearing short skirts.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Samuel J. Levine, RLT: A Preliminary Examination of Religious Legal Theory as a Movement, (85 St. John's Law Review 579, 2011).
• Herbert J. Hovenkamp, The Classical American State and the Regulation of Morals, (April 18, 2012).
• Robert C. Blitt, Defamation of Religion: Rumors of Its Death are Greatly Exaggerated, (University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 182, April 2012).
• Mark James Findlay, Representing Genocide: Crime, Rights and the Impact of Judicial Intervention, (Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 12/22, April 2012).

From SmartCILP:

• Qasim Rashid, Pakistan's Failed Commitment: How Pakistan's Institutionalized Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 11 Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business 1-42 (2011).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Foster v. Zamora, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52588 (ED CA, April 13, 2012), a California federal magistrate judge dismissed an inmate's complaint that despite winning administrative appeals, his attempt to use natural herbal and holistic remedies and medicines as part of his religious beliefs has not been honored.

In Mickens v. Lindley, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52267 (WD PA, April 13, 2012), a Pennsylvania federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (Mickens v. SCI Greene C.E.R.T. Team Supervisor, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52265, March 19, 2012) and dismissed federal and state claims against various defendants by a former inmate who complained that his Qur'an was damaged during a search of his cell.

In Jenner v. Sokol, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53513 (D CO, April 17, 2012), a Colorado federal district court adopted in part a magistrate's recommendations (2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53514, Jan. 4, 2012) and dismissed an Jewish inmate's complaint that authorities permitted insincere practitioners of Judaism to participate in Passover services. The court permitted plaintiff to move ahead with claims that the was prevented entirely from conducting religious services and prevented from purchasing religious food and items for observance of various Jewish holidays.

In Wilson v. Depolo, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54988 (ND NY, April 19, 2012), a New York federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendations (Wilson v. Woodbourne Correctional Facility, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54989, March 21, 2012) and dismissed an inmate's 1st Amendment and RLUIPA claims that a corrections officer who does not like Muslims delayed one of his Ramadan meals for 1 1/2 hours.

Catholic Church In Sudan Torched By Several Hundred Muslims

AP reports that in Khartoum, Sudan today, a mob of several hundred Muslims set fire to a Catholic church that is attended by South Sudanese living in the north and by Ethiopian refugees. Fire engines were unable to extinguish the fire in the church, that is part of a complex that also houses a school and dormitories.  While the church is located on a disputed parcel of land, the attack apparently was triggered by the hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over the oil town of Heglig on the disputed border between mostly Muslim Sudan and largely Christian and animist South Sudan which became an independent country last year.

National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Speakers Focus On Religious Liberty Threats

The National Catholic Register reports on the sense of urgency about threats to religious liberty expressed by speakers at Thursday's National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.  Keynote speaker, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, current permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, spoke of threats of persecution of Christians in Iraq and Egypt, and then drew a parallel to the situation in the U.S.:

While nobody would confuse the marginalization of religion with the actual killing of Christians in other parts of the world, it is through this marginalizing that violent persecution is born.

Knights of Columbus head, Carl Anderson reflected a similar theme, saying:

I venture to say that never in the lifetime of anyone present here has the religious liberty of the American people been as threatened as it is today.

Also speaking, Mother Agnes Donovan, superior general of the Sisters of Life, said:

We face a summons to action in response to a global and national reality that we are reluctant to perceive: Christians as the object of open persecution.

Charles Colson, Watergate Offender Turned Evangelist, Dies At Age 80

Charles Colson, a key figure in the Nixon White House Watergate scandal died today at the age of 80.  After serving a prison term for his role in the burglarizing of the psychiatric files of Daniel Ellsberg who had leaked the Pentagon Papers to the media, Colson became an influential evangelical Christian.  As Time reports in his obituary today:

Colson would turn incarceration into resurrection. Seeing the conditions of his fellow prisoners, he would be inspired to start Prison Fellowship shortly after he regained his freedom to evangelize the inmates of America's penitentiary system.... 

As the years went by, Colson would use his celebrity as one of America's most famous redeemed sinners to crusade for prison reform — as well as buttress the country's burgeoning evangelical movement, which was finding its political legs in the 1980s. Among evangelicals and conservative Christian groups, he became a fount of carefully worded argument, without the bombast and grandstanding of politically-ambitious preachers, even as he defended the same positions on evolution and abortion, same-sex marriage and the use of the Bible in public schools. In 2009, he started the Chuck Colson center, an online research site that he calls "the Lexis-Nexis of resources on the Christian worldview." Colson was key to forming an amalgam of conservative Christian principles that would come together as an ecumenical political front of great potency.

British Court Upholds Ban On Radio Ad To Be Run By Christian Station

In London Christian Radio Ltd. v. Radio Advertising Clearance Centre, (EWHC, April 20, 2012), Britain's High Court (Queen's Bench Division) for England and Wales held that the ban on political advertising on radio broadcasts imposed by Communications Act 2003 (Secs. 319 and 321) does not infringe a Christian radio station's free expression rights protected by Art. 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Radio Advertising Clearance Centre refused to clear an ad that was to be run by the station seeking information from listeners on marginalization of Christians in the workplace. The court found the ad to come within the ban since it was aimed at influencing public policy or bringing about changes in the law. In reaching its decision, the court said:

It must be stressed that it has not been suggested in any way that the stance of the Secretary of State is in any way anti-Christian or that his reasoning would not apply to any other religion. Indeed nothing in this judgment is meant to preclude advertisements by bodies such as the claimants in, for example, newspapers.

Today's London Guardian reports on the decision.

Anti-Semitic Comments Against Non-Jew Actionable Under New Jersey Anti-Discrimination Law

In Cowher v. Carson & Roberts, (NJ App., April 18, 2012), a New Jersey state appellate court held that a truck driver formerly employed by defendant site construction company had a cause of action under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (NJSA 10:5-12a) for anti-Semitic comments directed at him on a daily basis for over a year, even though plaintiff in fact was not Jewish.  Defendants inaccurately thought that plaintiff was Jewish, The court held:

if plaintiff can demonstrate that the discrimination that he claims to have experienced would not have occurred but for the perception that he was Jewish, his claim is covered by the LAD.

The court also held that, because the goal of the statute is to change conduct, in determining whether defendants' comments created a hostile work environment:

although plaintiff is not Jewish, the proper question in this case is what effect would defendants' derogatory comments have on a reasonable Jew, rather than on a reasonable person of plaintiff's actual background.

[Thanks to CCH Employment Law Daily via Steven H. Sholk for the lead.] 

Pakistan Supreme Court Resolves Dispute Over Hindu Women's Conversions

The New York Times  and the Times of India reported from Pakistan Wednesday on the surprise outcome in the case of three Hindu women who converted to Islam in order to marry their husbands. In cases widely followed in Pakistan, the Pakistan Hindu Council petitioned the court claiming that the women were forced to convert. Last month Pakistan's Supreme Court intervened in the cases and ordered the women sequestered for three weeks so they could decide, without pressure, what they wanted to do. Then in a hearing on Wednesday, the Court told the women that they were free to go wherever they chose, and would get police protection. The women were then taken to the court registrar's office-- without any relatives accompanying them-- so that they could each make a statement in private as to their wishes. Each of the women chose to remain Muslim and go with her new husband. The court ordered officials to report in two weeks on implementation of the order to honor the women's decisions. However, the women's parents, backed by Hindu law makers, were not satisfied with the outcome.

Complaint Filed With IRS Over Homily By Catholic Bishop

Americans United announced yesterday that it has filed a formal complaint (full text) with the Internal Revenue Service alleging that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois has violated rules barring tax exempt organizations from supporting or opposing candidates in political elections.  The complaint focuses on an April 14 homily (full text) by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky (later reprinted in The Catholic Post) in which Jenky compares President Obama's attitude toward churches with those of Hitler and Stalin. The complaint says that moments after making the comparison, Jenky urges Catholics not to vote for candidates who fail to uphold Catholic values. The complaint goes on: "It is impossible to interpret this as anything but a command to vote against Obama." The Diocese has issued an additional statement explaining Bishop Jenky's remarks.

MRFF Says Marines Nickname of Unit As "Crusaders" Violates Establishment Clause

MSNBC reported Wednesday that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has sent a letter (full text) to the Secretary of the Navy and Commandant of the Marine Corps objecting to a commanding officer's decision last month to reinstate the name "Crusaders" as the label for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122. The squadron has also adopted a new logo to go along with the name change-- a red cross on a white shield similar to that of the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages. The squadron previously used the name Crusaders up until 2008, when it was changed to "Werewolves" because of the negative connotation of "Crusaders ' in Islamic and Arab countries. The demand letter sent by MRFF's counsel argues that the the new name conveys a "loud and clear" message of religious endorsement in violation of the Establishment Clause. It seeks assurances that the Marines will cease using the Crusader moniker and related imagery.

Fired Muslim IHOP Managers Sue Claiming Discrimination

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that on Tuesday, four former managers of IHOP restaurants in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area filed suit in federal district court claiming they were fired because of their Muslim religion and Arab ancestry. The four were long-time employees of Anthraper Investments, the franchisee-owner of IHOP restaurants in four communities. Plaintiffs claim that their problems began when the owner's son moved from Ohio to take over operation of the Texas restaurants. The son made derogatory remarks to the managers.  The four were fired in 2010 and replaced by white, non-Muslim employees.  The suit seeks back pay, front pay and other damages.

5th Circuit: Social Security Survives Free Exercise and Establishment Clause Challenge

In Hamner v. United States, (5th Cir., April 18, 2012), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims brought by a pro se plaintiff that the Social Security Act violates the free exercise and establishment clauses of the 1st Amendment.  The court described as "frivolous" plaintiff's claims that Social Security is a "charity" program, and that payment of Social Security taxes and administration of the program either interferes with his exercise of Christian charity or forces him to participate in a Christian charity.

Bishops Criticize Social Welfare Cuts In House Budget; Boehner Responds

In a press release on Tuesday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops report on several letters to Congress from the bishops critical of proposed social welfare budget cuts in the budget that has been passed by the House of Representatives. The letters:

repeated and reinforced the bishops’ ongoing call to create a "circle of protection" around poor and vulnerable people and programs that meet their basic needs and protect their lives and dignity. The bishops’ message calls on Congress and the Administration to protect essential help for poor families and vulnerable children and to put the poor first in budget priorities. The bishops’ letters oppose measures that reduce resources for essential safety net programs.

As reported by The Hill, at a press conference yesterday House Speaker John Boehner, himself a Catholic, responded to the criticism, saying:

I want them to take a bigger look. And the bigger look is, if we don't make decisions, these programs won't exist, and then they'll really have something to worry about.

Rep. Paul Ryan who authored the budget bill said last week that his Catholic faith shaped the budget bill and that the bill is consistent with Catholic teachings.

New Virginia Law Protects Beliefs of Adoption and Foster Care Agencies

Last week, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell signed into law SB 349  (full text) that protects the religious views of adoption and foster care agencies by allowing them, to the extent permitted by federal law, to refuse to be involved in any placement which "would violate the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies."  Such refusals also cannot be the basis for state licensing refusals, denials of grants or contracts, or the basis for a damage claim. Luray Page Free Press (4/12) and The Foundry report on the bill which has been a top priority of the Virginia Catholic Conference ever since the State Board of Social Services last year proposed, but then backed away from, prohibiting agencies from considering factors such as sexual orientation, family status, age, gender, political beliefs and religion when making child placements. (See prior posting.) The new law makes Virginia the second state to adopt these kinds of protections. The other is North Dakota.

Vatican Orders Reforms In Nuns' Group That Backed Obama Health Care Plan

Both AP and Zenit yesterday report on action of the Vatican to bring the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) more into line with positions of the bishops.  LCWR, which represents some 57,000 nuns, made the news in 2010 when it, through its affiliated Network, split with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and publicly supported President Obama's heath care reform bill. (See prior posting.) A press release yesterday from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the publication by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) of a document titled Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and of an accompanying statement by CDF head Cardinal William Levada.

An initial review of LCWR by Rev. Leonard Blair, Bishop of Toledo, reported:

while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States. Further, issues of crucial importance to the life of Church and society, such as the Church’s Biblical view of family life and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda in a way that promotes Church teaching. Moreover, occasional public statements by the LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the Bishops, who are the Church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals, are not compatible with its purpose.

With the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, CDF has appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle to oversee changes in LCWR. Sartain is to be assisted by Bishop of Toledo (OH) Leonard Blair and Bishop of Springfield (IL) Thomas John Paprocki.  Their mandate is to revise the governing documents of LCWR, review its plans and programs to ensure that its "mission is fulfilled in accord with Church teachings and discipline," to "offer guidance in the application of liturgical norms and texts," and to review LCWR's links to organizations such as Network and Resource Center for Religious Life.

Hasidic Teenager Gets 7-Years In Religiously Motivated Firebombing

AP reported yesterday that 18-year old Shaul Spitzer, a Hasidic Jew who lives in the insular village of New Square, New York, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his firebombing of the house of another New Square resident growing out of a religious dispute between the leader of the Skverer Hasidic movement and a group of dissidents. (See prior posting.) Spitzer's attorney says the sentence was "fair and compassionate," but he is concerned how Spitzer will fare in prison. Spitzer's religious lifestyle in New Square means he has had "no exposure to the outside world."

Court Says Factual Issues Remain In Suit Over Sabbath Accommodation For Employees

In Jackson v. Longistics Transportation, Inc., (WD TN, April 13, 2012), the Jacksons, a married couple who worked as team drivers for defendant trucking company, sued claiming defendant had failed to reasonably accommodate their Sabbath observance which precluded them from working from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The Jacksons belong to a Christian church that observes the Jewish Sabbath and festivals. The trucking company issued a written reprimand to plaintiffs when they refused an assignment that would violate their Sabbath, warning that a second refusal would lead to their termination. They subsequently refused a second assignment, and are no longer employed by the company.  Details of their leaving is the subject of dispute between the parties. Plaintiffs contend they were constructively discharged. The court refused to grant summary judgment for defendant, finding that triable issues remain as to whether defendant ever offered an accommodation to plaintiffs and whether plaintiffs requested an accommodation that would result in undue hardship to the trucking company. [Thanks to CCH Employment Law Daily via StevenH. Sholk for the lead.]

Bishops Appeal Court's Decision on Trafficking Victims Grant

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced on Tuesday that it has filed a notice of appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in  American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts v. Sebelius.  In the case, a Massachusetts federal district court held that the Department of Health and Human Services violated the Establishment Clause when, in selecting the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops to administer funds under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, it permitted USCCB to impose religious restrictions on use of grant funds. The Bishops prohibited grantee subcontractors from using grant funds to refer trafficking victims for abortion services or contraceptive materials. (See prior posting.) The Washington Times reports that Rep. Christopher H. Smith, the New Jersey Republican who authored the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, supports the bishops' appeal.

German Halal Butcher Encounters Bureaucratic Resistance Despite Court Wins

Public Radio International yesterday reported on the problems faced by a Muslim butcher, Rüstem Altinküpe, in obtaining a license to engage in halal slaughter of animals without first stunning them. Even though Altinkupe has repeatedly won in German courts, a Hessen district administrator, Reinhard Strack-Schmalor, is resisting.  Strack-Schmalor-- under pressure from animal rights activists and the extreme political right-- takes the position that there are ways around the Islamic law ban on stunning animals. Altinküpe is particularly concerned that a local German bureaucrat can impose his interpretation of Islam on on a Muslim.