Religion Clause

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Pence Accepting VP Nomination Defines Himself As A Christian First

At the Republican National Convention yesterday evening, Indiana Governor Mike Pence accepted the nomination for vice-president. (Full text of remarks.) In acknowledging his introduction to the audience by House Speaker Paul Ryan, Pence said:

Paul knows me well, and he knows the introduction I prefer is just a little bit shorter: I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.

UPDATE: The New York Times yesterday traced the details of Pence's religious journey from the Catholic Church to Evangelical Christianity.

FLDS Leader and His Law Firm Sued Over Exploitation of Minors

Courthouse News Service reports on a lawsuit filed last week in Utah federal district court by 21 former members of the polygamous FLDS Church and their children. In a 121-page complaint in Bistline v. Jeffs, (D UT, filed 7/13/2016) (full text) the suit names as defendants FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, lawyer Rodney Parker and Parker's Utah law firm Snow, Christensen & Martineau, charging:

On or about August 6, 1998, Rulon Jeffs suffered a major stroke which left him largely impaired and paved the way for [Warren] Jeffs to eventually assume complete and absolute control of the FLDS. As Defendant Jeffs assumed greater control over the FLDS ..., the concept of celestial or spiritual “marriage” of children was not yet broadly practiced.... As he assumed the mantle of power that would later culminate in his self-avowed role as Prophet, ... Jeffs was committed to changing this state of affairs and was obsessed with the creation of a controlled society in which he was the absolute ruler and the wholesale rape of young girls by himself and others was treated as a ceremonially sacrosanct ritual. He sought to institutionalize this atrocious practice and to cloak it with the superficial trappings of legal acceptance, so he retained SC&M to develop an overarching scheme and plan, executed and developed by SC&M during period of years, to develop the legal framework within which Jeffs and his favored cohorts would possess means to enforce their lewd, sadistic, tortious and criminal wishes upon the FLDS people...

The complaint charges defendants with legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy, violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, aiding and abetting, and violations of RICO.

In a statement denying wrongdoing, the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm said in part: "Our work in protecting religious liberties and other civil rights of the FLDS was not an endorsement of or complicity in illegal behavior."

Romania's Constitutional Court Upholds Proposed Traditional Marriage Amendment

Romania's Constitutional Court yesterday ruled unanimously that a proposal to amend Article 48 of the country's Constitution to preclude same-sex marriage is constitutional. The Constitutional provision now reads: "The family is founded on the freely consented marriage of the spouses...." According to Reuters, the proposed amendment would replace "the spouses" with "a man and a woman." The petition proposing the amendment received 3 million signatures earlier this year. The next steps will be for the amendment to be approved by Parliament and then submitted to a national referendum. The case has garnered international attention. The U.S. advocacy group Liberty Counsel submitted an amicus brief (full text) in support of the proposed amendment. Twenty-eight human rights groups, including Amnesty International, had urged the Court to reject the proposed amendment.

Settlement Leads To Dropping of Criminal Charges Against St. Paul Archdiocese

In St. Paul, Minnesota yesterday, a state trial court held a hearing on the progress so far in implementing a settlement agreement that was entered last December in civil charges brought against the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. The suit filed last June alleged failure to protect children from abuse by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. (See prior posting.) Also last June the County Attorney filed criminal charges against the Diocese. As reported by AP, at yesterday's civil hearing the parties announced an agreement to also drop the criminal charges. In exchange, the Archdiocese agreed to extend the civil settlement agreement to 2020. It also admitted wrongdoing and agreed that Archbishop Bernard Hebda will personally participate in at least three more restorative justice sessions with abuse victims. In a Letter to the Faithful posted on the Archdiocese's website, Archbishop Hebda said in part:

Today, the Ramsey County Attorney dismissed the criminal charges. More importantly, through our Civil Settlement Agreement, [County Attorney] John Choi and I have committed to a course of action that will keep kids as safe as possible. I am grateful that his office will hold us accountable. Over the past year, we worked with Mr. Choi and his team to define how the Archdiocese can best create and maintain safe environments for children in our parishes, schools and communities. Over the past six months, we have demonstrated our commitment to that path. Today, we humbly acknowledge our past failures and look forward to continuing down that path to achieve those vital, common goals that together we all share.

Mormon Car Salesman Sues Claiming Religious Harassment By Employer

Arkansas Online reported yesterday on a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by a former auto salesman against a Fort Smith, Arkansas Ford dealership. Richard Black says that about two weeks after he began working for Randall Ford, the used car manager began to question him intrusively about his religious beliefs. He particularly harassed him about his religious undergarments. Black also complained that he was told to lie to customers about prices and deals in order to sell vehicles. After 7 months he was fired, being told he did not fit in. The suit was filed in state court in June and removed to federal court last week.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Turkey Dismisses 492 From Religious Affairs Directorate Over Coup Attempt

Reuters reported yesterday that in Turkey, 492 staff members have been removed from their positions at the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) on suspicion of involvement in the recent coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan. The Diyanet employs over 100,000 people. Turkey's government claims that cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind the coup. Gulen, who now lives in the United States has denied the charges. (RNS).

1st Circuit: No Qualified Immunity In Establishment Clause Suit Against Puerto Rico Police Officials

In Marrero-Mendez v. Calixto-Rodriguez, (1st Cir., July 19, 2016), the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a Puerto Rico federal district court that Puerto Rico police officials could not claim qualified immunity in a suit against them challenging opening of police formation meetings with Christian prayer. When plaintiff, an open atheist, complained to his commander about the prayers, the commander told him to stand aside, and shouted to the police formation that plaintiff was standing apart because "he doesn't believe in what we believe in." When plaintiff filed an administrative complaint, he was reassigned to duties that effectively demoted him. The court concluded:

However complex the nuances of the Establishment Clause doctrine may be for cases without the direct coercion present in this case, a reasonable officer in March 2012 would have known that appellants' conduct amounted to direct and tangible coercion, a paradigmatic example of an impermissible establishment of religion.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

2016 Republican Platform on International Religious Freedom

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the seventh and last in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Here is the Platform section titled Defending International Religious Freedom:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an initiative of Congressional Republicans, has been neglected by the current Administration at a time when its voice more than ever needs to be heard. Religious minorities across the Middle East have been driven from their ancient homelands, and thousands, there and in Africa, have been slaughtered for their faith in what the State Department has, belatedly, labeled genocide. The United States must stand with leaders, like President Sisi of Egypt who has bravely protected the rights of Coptic Christians in Egypt, and call on other leaders across the region to ensure that all religious minorities, whether Yazidi, Bahai, Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant Christians, are free to practice their religion without fear of persecution. At a time when China has renewed its destruction of churches, Christian home-schooling parents are jailed in parts of Europe, and even Canada threatens pastors for their preaching, a Republican administration will return the advocacy of religious liberty to a central place in its diplomacy, will quickly designate the systematic killing of religious and ethnic minorities a genocide, and will work with the leaders of other nations to condemn and combat genocidal acts.

2016 Republican Platform on Individual Conscience in Healthcare

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the sixth in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Here is the Platform section titled Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare:

America’s healthcare professionals should not be forced to choose between following their faith and practicing their profession. We respect the rights of conscience of healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and organizations, especially the faith-based groups which provide a major portion of care for the nation and the needy. We support the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral, or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty. We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children. We support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their minor children and urge enactment of legislation that would require parental consent for their daughter to be transported across state lines for abortion. Providers should not be permitted to unilaterally withhold services because a patient’s life is deemed not worth living. American taxpayers should not be forced to fund abortion. As Democrats abandon this four decade-old bipartisan consensus, we call for codification of the Hyde Amendment and its application across the government, including Obamacare. We call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.

2016 Republican Platform on School Choice and Title IX

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the fifth in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Note that the excerpts continue after the jump. Here are portions of the sections titled Choice in Education, and Title IX:

We support options for learning, including home-schooling, career and technical education, private or parochial schools, magnet schools, charter schools, online learning, and early-college high schools. We especially support the innovative financing mechanisms that make options available to all children: education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tuition tax credits. Empowering families to access the learning environments that will best help their children to realize their full potential is one of the greatest civil rights challenges of our time. A young person’s ability to succeed in school must be based on his or her God-given talent and motivation, not an address, ZIP code, or economic status. We propose that the bulk of federal money through Title I for low-income children and through IDEA for children with special needs should follow the child to whatever school the family thinks will work best for them.....

2016 Republican Platform on Marriage, Family and Society

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the fourth in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Note that the excerpt continues after the jump. Here is the Platform section titled Marriage, Family and Society:

Foremost among those institutions is the American family. It is the foundation of civil society, and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman. Its daily lessons — cooperation, patience, mutual respect, responsibility, self-reliance — are fundamental to the order and progress of our Republic. Strong families, depending upon God and one another, advance the cause of liberty by lessening the need for government in their daily lives. Conversely, as we have learned over the last five decades, the loss of faith and family life leads to greater dependence upon government. That is why Republicans formulate public policy, from taxation to education, from healthcare to welfare, with attention to the needs and strengths of the family.

2016 Republican Platform on Abortion

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the third in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Note that the excerpt continues after the jump. Here is the lengthy Platform section titled The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life:

The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.

2016 Republican Platform on Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the second in a series of posts that focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Here is the Platform section titled Defending Marriage Against an Activist Judiciary:

Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values. We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law. We also condemn the Supreme Court’s lawless ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which in the words of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, was a “judicial Putsch” — full of “silly extravagances” — that reduced “the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Storey to the mystical aphorisms of a fortune cookie.” In Obergefell, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The Court twisted the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment beyond recognition. To echo Scalia, we dissent. We, therefore, support the appointment of justices and judges who respect the constitutional limits on their power and respect the authority of the states to decide such fundamental social questions.

2016 Republican Platform on Religious Liberty

Yesterday the Republican Party at its national convention adopted its 2016 Platform (full text). This is the first in a series of posts that will focus on Platform provisions dealing with moral values and religious liberty. Note that the excerpt continues after the jump. Here is the Platform's lengthy section on Religious Liberty:

The Bill of Rights lists religious liberty, with its rights of conscience, as the first freedom to be protected. Religious freedom in the Bill of Rights protects the right of the people to practice their faith in their everyday lives. As George Washington taught, “religion and morality are indispensable supports” to a free society. Similarly, Thomas Jefferson declared that “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.” Ongoing attempts to compel individuals, businesses, and institutions of faith to transgress their beliefs are part of a misguided effort to undermine religion and drive it from the public square. As a result, many charitable religious institutions that have demonstrated great success in helping the needy have been barred from receiving government grants and contracts.

Religious Speakers At Republican Convention

Politico sets out the full schedule of speakers and events at the Republican Convention that began yesterday. Here is the list of religious figures delivering invocations, remarks and benedictions:

Monday Afternoon Session:

Invocation: Rabbi Ari Wolf
Benediction: Pastor Mark Burns. Harvest Praise and Worship Center

Monday Evening Session:

Prayers from Maria Foundation
Invocation: Monsignor Keiran Harrington, Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, NY
Benediction Pastor Paula White, New Destiny Christian Center

Tuesday Session:

Invocation: Harmeet Dhillon, San Francisco, CA
Benediction: Sajid Tarar, Founder, American Muslims for Trump

Wednesday Session:

Invocation: Nathan Johnson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Remarks: Darrell Scott, Senior Pastor, New Spirit Revival Center Ministries
Benediction: His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Thursday Session:

Invocation Reverend Dr. Steve Bailey, Pastor, New Philadelphia First United Methodist Church
Remarks: Jerry Falwell, Jr., President, Liberty University
Benediction: Roger W. Gries, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus

Monday, July 18, 2016

New Pew Survey On Religion and the 2016 Campaign

Last week, the Pew Research Center released a 35-page Report (summary) (full text) setting out the results of a new survey on Religion and the 2016 Campaign, and on attitudes toward Religion in Public Life. The survey found that white evangelical voters strongly favor Donald Trump, while religiously unaffiliated voters favor Hillary Clinton. The survey also found that a declining number of U.S. adults (62% vs. 67% in 2012) think it is important for the President to have strong religious beliefs. The survey was conducted June 15-26, 2016, using a national sample of 2,245 adults.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

European Court Favors Muslim Employee's Right To Wear Hijab At Work

The Court of Justice of the European Union last week released an Advocate General's opinion on whether under European Union Directive 2000/78 a private employer may bar a Muslim employee from wearing a hijab at work when a customer objects to the head covering. The Advocate General's opinion in Bougnaoui v. Micropole SA, (CJ EU, July 13, 2016), is the first step in the Court's rendering an advisory opinion to France's Court of Cassation on the meaning of the EU employment discrimination directive. The Advocate General's opinion provides a recommendation to a panel of the Court's judges who will then render a decision. The Advocate General concluded that barring wearing of the hijab under these circumstances amounts to both illegal direct and indirect discrimination. The Advocate General said in part:

73. When the employer concludes a contract of employment with an employee, he does not buy that person’s soul. He does, however, buy his time. For that reason, I draw a sharp distinction between the freedom to manifest one’s religion – whose scope and possible limitation in the employment context are at the heart of the proceedings before the national court – and proselytising on behalf of one’s religion. Reconciling the former freedom with the employer’s right to conduct his business will, as I shall demonstrate, require a delicate balancing act between two competing rights. The latter practice has, in my view, simply no place in the work context. It is therefore legitimate for the employer to impose and enforce rules that prohibit proselytising, both to ensure that the work time he has paid for is used for the purposes of his business and to create harmonious working conditions for his workforce....

133. ... It seems to me that in the vast majority of cases it will be possible, on the basis of a sensible discussion between the employer and the employee, to reach an accommodation that reconciles adequately the competing rights of the employee to manifest his or her religion and the employer to conduct his business. Occasionally, however, that may not be possible. In the last resort, the business interest in generating maximum profit should then in my view give way to the right of the individual employee to manifest his religious convictions. Here, I draw attention to the insidiousness of the argument, ‘but we need to do X because otherwise our customers won’t like it’. Where the customer’s attitude may itself be indicative of prejudice based on one of the ‘prohibited factors’, such as religion, it seems to me particularly dangerous to excuse the employer from compliance with an equal treatment requirement in order to pander to that prejudice. Directive 2000/78 is intended to confer protection in employment against adverse treatment (that is, discrimination) on the basis of one of the prohibited factors. It is not about losing one’s job in order to help the employer’s profit line.

Law & Religion UK has more on the decision.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Johnson v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90255 (MD PA, July 11, 2016), Muslim inmates alleged various interferences with their ability to pray 5 times per day. A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a number of the claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and dismissing on the merits a claim that plaintiff is not allowed to pray while in the prison library and while at his adult education classes.

In Lane v. Tavares, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91052 (MD PA, July 12, 2016), a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended that a Muslim inmate be allowed to proceed with his complaint that authorities have failed to accommodate his religious needs. He often cannot attend Friday Prayers because his heart condition prevents him from climbing the five flights of stairs to reach the chapel.

In Giraldes v. Beard, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91205 (ED CA, July 13, 2016), a California federal magistrate judge, denying a preliminary injunction, rejected a Catholic inmate's claim that denial of conjugal visits infringed his free exercise rights and his rights under RLUIPA.

In Roberts v. Perry, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91639 (WD NC, July 14, 2016), a North Carolina federal district court allowed an inmate to proceed with his complaint that authorities refuse to recognize Nation of Israel as an approved faith group and that inmates are limited to ten religious publications.

In Allah v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91939 (WD VA, July 15, 2016), a Virginia federal district court dismissed an inmate's complaint that the file from his litigation that included much Nation of Gods and Earths material was seized by prison authorities.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

House Hearing Examines Blasphemy Laws and Censorship Around the World

On Thursday, Congressional Hearings titled Blasphemy Laws and Censorship by States and Non-State Actors: Examining Global Threats to Freedom of Expression were held by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Transcripts of most of the testimony as well as a video of the full hearing are available on the House Committee's website.