Congress Passes Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act

Last Friday, the House of Representatives gave final passage to S.1158, Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (full text). Section 3 of the Act provides:

It shall be the policy of the United States to—

(1) regard the prevention of atrocities as in its national interest;

(2) work with partners and allies, including to build their capacity, and enhance the capacity of the United States, to identify, prevent, and respond to the causes of atrocities, including insecurity, mass displacement, violent conflict, and other conditions that may lead to such atrocities; and

(3) pursue a United States Government-wide strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to the risk of atrocities by—

(A) strengthening the diplomatic, risk analysis and monitoring, strategic planning, early warning, and response capacities of the Government;

(B) improving the use of foreign assistance to respond early, effectively, and urgently in order to address the causes of atrocities;

(C) strengthening diplomatic response and the effective use of foreign assistance to support appropriate transitional justice measures, including criminal accountability, for past atrocities;

(D) supporting and strengthening local civil society, including human rights defenders and others working to help prevent and respond to atrocities;

(E) promoting financial transparency and enhancing anti-corruption initiatives as part of addressing causes of conditions that may lead to atrocities; and

(F) employing a variety of unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral means to prevent and respond to atrocities by—

(i) placing a high priority on timely, preventive diplomatic efforts; and

(ii) exercising leadership in promoting international efforts to prevent atrocities.

The bill will now be forwarded to the President for his signature.

Ohio Governor Signs One Abortion Restriction, Vetoes Another

CNN Wire reports that Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law last Friday that bans the commonly used  dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure for abortions (Sub. S.B. 145). The new law labels such abortions "dismemberment abortions". Meanwhile, Kasich vetoed a bill that would have banned abortions where the fetus has a detectable heartbeat-- generally at 6 weeks of gestation. (Sub. H.B. 258). A press release from the Governor's office reports on the actions. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Dwight G. Newman, Arguing Indigenous Rights Outside Section 35: Can Religious Freedom Ground Indigenous Land Rights, and What Else Lies Ahead?, (Tom Isaac, ed., Key Developments in Aboriginal Law (Toronto: ThomsonReuters Canada, 2018)),
• Teresa Stanton Collett, A Catholic Perspective on Law School Diversity Requirements, (U of St. Thomas (Minnesota) Legal Studies Research Paper No. 18-27 (2018).
• Chloë Kennedy, Defences: Justification, Excuse and Provocation. (in Norman Doe, Mark Hill & John Witte (eds), Christianity and Criminal Law: An Introduction (CUP, 2019)),
• Christof Bezemek, Stranger in a Strange Land: The Alien and the State, (In Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, ed., Migration: Neue Herausforderungen für Europa, für die Staatssou-veränität und für den sozialen Rechtsstaat (2017)),
• Gary J. Simson, Permissible Accommodation or Impermissible Endorsement? A Proposed Approach to Religious Exemptions and the Establishment Clause, (106 Kentucky Law Journal 535 (2017-2018)).
• Barry McDonald & Erwin Chemerinsky, Eviscerating a Healthy Church-State Separation, (Washington University Law Review, Forthcoming).
• Bogdan David, Prevention and Fight Against Harvest and Revenge Motivated Crimes, (November 20, 2018).
• Christopher R. Green, Justice Gorsuch and Moral Reality, (Alabama Law Review, Forthcoming),
• Teresa Quintel  & Carsten Ullrich, Self-Regulation of Fundamental Rights? The EU Code of Conduct on Hate Speech, Related Initiatives and Beyond, (Bilyana Petkova & Tuomas Ojanen, eds., Fundamental Rights Protection Online: The Future Regulation Of Intermediaries, Edward Elgar Publishing, Summer/Autumn 2019).

From SSRN (Law of India):

• G. V. Mahesh Nath, Latest Trends in Succession among Hindus, (November 23, 2018).
• Deepa Das Acevedo, Pause for Thought: Supreme Court's Verdict on Sabarimala, (Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. LIII, No. 43, p. 12 (October 27, 2018)).
• Adeel Hussain, Muhammad Iqbal's Constitutionalism, (Indian Law Review, 2:2 (2018)),

From SSRN (Islamic Law):

• Ousmane Seck, Islamic Microfinance Experience in a Secular State: Case of Benin, (IRTI Policy Paper No. 2017-05 (2017),
• Mohammed Obaidullah, Managing Climate Change: The Role of Islamic Finance, (IRTI Policy Paper No. 2017-01 (2017).
• Mohammed Obaidullah, An Investigation into Goodness of Zakat Laws in Selected Countries, (IRTI Policy Paper No. 2017-04 (2017)),
• Khalifa MohamedæAli, Waqf Resource Mobilization for Poverty Alleviation Based on Maqasid Framework, (IRTI Policy Paper No. 2018-03 (2018)).
• Azam Ali, Tanveer Kishwar & Muhamed Zulkhibri, Islamic Financial Institutions and Participatory Finance Constraints: The Case of Pakistan, (IRTI Policy Paper No. 2018-02 (2018)).
• Jakub Vojtěch, The EU Framework for Islamic Securitisation and Sukuk in the Times of Brexit, (Charles University in Prague Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2018/III/2 (2018)).

From elsewhere:

• Steven H. Sholk, A Guide to Election Year Activities of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations (updated version, 2018).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Amaker v. Bradt, (2d Cir., Dec. 19, 2018), the 2nd Circuit affirmed the dismissal for lack of exhaustion of administrative remedies of an inmate's claim regarding access to religious meals and retaliation.

In Vincent v. Stewart, (9th Cir., Dec. 21, 2018), the 9th Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of free exercise and RLUIPA claims regarding a religious diet.

In Hancock v. Cirbo, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212319 (D CO, Dec. 14, 2018), a Colorado federal magistrate judge recommended allowing a Jewish inmate to move ahead on his claim of denial of kosher meals, but recommended dismissing his complaint regarding the past requirement that he shave his beard.

In Brown v. Solomon, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212824 (WD NC, Dec. 18, 2018, a North Carolina federal district court allowed an inmate to move ahead with claims that prison authorities should not classify Jehovah's Witness as a Christian- Protestant sect, and should provide separate group worship services for Jehovah's Witness inmates.

In Ables v. Hall, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 214749 (ND MS, Dec. 21, 2018), a Mississippi federal magistrate judge dismissed an inmate's claim of free exercise violations when he was required to withdraw from seminary school for excessive tardiness stemming from no regular schedule for administration of insulin shots.

In Pattison v. State Department of Corrections, 2018 Nev. App. Unpub. LEXIS 962 (NV App,, Dec. 17, 2018), a Nevada appellate court affirmed the trial court's award of only $1 in nominal damages for denial of kosher meals to an inmate. A concurring opinion disagreed with the majority on the need for physical injury to recover damages for a 1st Amendment violation.

Supreme Court Will Not Stay Injunction Against Asylum Rule

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order (full text) in East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump (stay denied, Dec. 21, 2018), denying a stay of a preliminary injunction against implementation of a Presidential Proclamation and a rule that allow asylum to be granted only to refugees who cross the border at a designated port of entry. (See prior posting). Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh dissented from the denial of the stay.

Suit Against Atlanta Archdiocese For Past Sex Abuse

A lawsuit was filed in a Georgia state trial court yesterday against the Atlanta Catholic Archdiocese by a man who was the victim of priest sexual abuse over 40 years ago when he was 12 to 15 years old.  According to AP, the suit alleges:

The Archdiocese and Archbishop of Atlanta owed a duty of reasonable care to protect minor parishioners who were altar boys at St. Joseph’s church.

It also contends that the Archdiocese's failure to report the alleged abuse constituted a public nuisance.

RLUIPA Suit By Chabad Challenges Demolition Order

The Baltimore Sun reports that a lawsuit was filed yesterday in a Maryland federal district court by the Chabad House serving Goucher College and Towson University alleging that authorities violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in requiring that a 2016 expansion of the Chabad House be razed because it violates a land covenant. State courts have given Chabad until mid-January to set aside funds to comply with the demolition order. According to the Sun:

In the lawsuit, Friends of Lubavitch alleges that Baltimore County officials required Chabad to take part in unnecessary hearings and issued citations that were without merit. The suit also says officials falsely claimed Chabad was operating as a “community center” instead of a residence because the Rivkins were hosting students for Shabbat dinners and Jewish instruction.

European Court:Says Greece Should Not Have Applied Sharia Law In Will Contest

In Molla Sali v. Greece, (ECHR, Dec. 19, 2018), the European Court of Human Rights in a Grand Chamber judgment held that Greece had violated Art. 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights which bans discrimination on the basis of religion when it insisted that Sharia law be applied to a wife's inheritance rights. As summarized in part by a press release issued by the Court:

On the death of her husband, Ms Molla Sali inherited her husband’s whole estate under a will drawn up by her husband before a notary. Subsequently, the deceased’s two sisters challenged the validity of the will, arguing that their brother had belonged to the Thrace Muslim community and that any question relating to inheritance in that community was subject to Islamic law and the jurisdiction of the “mufti” and not to the provisions of the Greek Civil Code. They relied, in particular, on the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which provided for the application of Muslim customs and Islamic religious law to Greek nationals of Muslim faith....

Owing to the application of Muslim inheritance law to her husband’s estate – which law in Greece applied specifically to Greeks of Muslim faith – Ms Molla Sali had been deprived of the benefit of the will drawn up in accordance with the Civil Code by her husband, and had therefore been deprived of three-quarters of the inheritance. The fact is that if her husband, the testator, had not been of Muslim faith, Ms Molla Sali would have inherited the whole estate. As the beneficiary of a will drawn up under the Civil Code by a testator of Muslim faith, Ms Molla Sali had therefore been in a situation comparable to that of a beneficiary of a will established under the Civil Code by a testator who was not of Muslim faith, but she had been treated differently on the grounds of the testator’s religion.

EEOC Moving Toward Insufficient Members For Quorum

National Law Journal yesterday reported that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is moving toward a scenario in which it will not have a quorum. Currently the 5-member Commission has two vacancies. Also Chair Chai Feldblum's current term is drawing to an end.  Feldblum's renomination and nominations for the two vacant positions have been pending in the Senate for months.  Utah Senator Mike Lee has blocked a vote on Feldblum's renomination because he opposes her advocacy of LGBTQ rights. Meanwhile, Daniel Gade, a nominee for one of the other vacancies says he has withdrawn and accepted another position, though his nomination is still listed on the Senate's executive calendar.

Court Orders Church To Allow Federal Surveyors On Its Property

A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas yesterday ordered attorneys for the Pharr Oratory of St. Philip Neri-- a congregation of priests that owns 26 acres near the U.S. Mexican border-- to allow government surveyors access to their land so surveys for a border wall could be conducted.  According to the Mission, Texas Progress Times, the Bishop of Brownsville had argued that using church property to build a border wall would limit the ability of the Church to carry out its mission. Federal Judge Randy Crane however rejected the Church's argument that allowing surveyors on the property would constitute a substantial burden of free exercise rights. The court ordered the parties to negotiate terms for reasonable access to the property.

Canada Repeals Blasphemous Libel Section of Criminal Code

On Dec. 13, Royal Assent was given to Bill C-51 which has been passed by Canada's Parliament.  Among other things, the new law repeals Sec. 296 of Canada's Criminal Code. Sec. 296 criminalized blasphemous libel, and subjected offenders to up to two years in prison.  In a press release, the Canadian Secular Alliance applauded the repeal.

Illinois AG Says Catholic Church Is Delinquent In Reporting On Offending Priests

A press release from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office yesterday says that preliminary findings in an investigation begun in August show that the Catholic Church in Illinois has not fully disclosed information on priests accused of sexual abuse:

Attorney General Lisa Madigan today released preliminary findings of her ongoing investigation into the Catholic Church. While the six dioceses in Illinois have now publicly identified 185 clergy members as having been “credibly” accused of child sexual abuse, Madigan’s investigation has found that the dioceses have received allegations of sexual abuse of at least 500 additional priests and clergy members in Illinois....

The investigation has revealed that allegations frequently have not been adequately investigated by the dioceses or not investigated at all. In many cases, the Church failed to notify law enforcement authorities or Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) of allegations of child sexual abuse. Among the common reasons the dioceses have provided for not investigating an allegation is that the priest or clergy member was deceased or had already resigned at the time the allegation of child sexual abuse was first reported to the diocese.

“By choosing not to thoroughly investigate allegations, the Catholic Church has failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois,” Madigan said. “The failure to investigate also means that the Catholic Church has never made an effort to determine whether the conduct of the accused priests was ignored or covered up by superiors.”

4th Circuit Says Student Has Standing To Challenge Bible In Schools Program

In Deal v. Mercer Coounty Board of Education, (4th Cir., Dec. 17, 2018), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a West Virginia federal district court and held that a student who had withdrawn from the offending school system (and her parent) had standing to challenge the school system's Bible in the Schools program. It also held that the claim was ripe for adjudication. The Beckley (WV) Register Herald reports on the decision. [case title corrected from earlier post].

Texas BDS Law Challenged

A suit was filed in a Texas federal district court this week by an Arabic-speaking speech pathologist challenging the constitutionality of Texas' statute barring those who contract with the state from participating in any boycott of Israel.  The complaint (full text) in Amawi v. Pflugerville Independent School District, (WD TX, filed 12/16/2018), contends that the anti-BDS law violates the free expression rights of plaintiff who refused on moral grounds to sign an anti-BDS pledge as part of her contract with the school system. Common Dreams reports on the lawsuit.

9th Circuit: Ministerial Exception Doctrine Does Not Bar Parochial School Teacher's Suit

In Biel v. St. James School, (9th Cir., Dec, 17, 2018), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision held that a 5th grade teacher at a Catholic elementary school is not a "minister" for purposes of the ministerial exception doctrine. At issue was a suit under the Americans for Disability Act brought by a teacher whose contract was not renewed.  The majority said in part:

A contrary rule, under which any school employee who teaches religion would fall within the ministerial exception, would not be faithful to Hosanna-Tabor or its underlying constitutional and policy considerations. Such a rule would render most of the analysis in Hosanna-Tabor irrelevant. It would base the exception on a single aspect of the employee’s role rather than on a holistic examination of her training, duties, title, and the extent to which she is tasked with transmitting religious ideas.

Education Week reports on the decision.

Churches Win Exemption From Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

The Green Bay Press Gazette reports that on Friday a Wisconsin state trial court held that De Pere, Wisconsin's anti-discrimination ordinance infringes the free exercise rights of churches and that churches should not be considered public accommodations under the statute.The ordinance prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of sex, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, (See prior posting.)

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Mark Movsesian, Masterpiece Cakeshop and the Future of Religious Freedom, (Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Forthcoming).
• Marc Tizoc González, Criminalizing Charity: Can First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion, RFRA, and RLUIPA Protect People Who Share Food in Public? (2017). 7 U.C. Irvine L. Rev 291 (2017).
• Yvonne Tew, Stealth Theocracy, ( Virginia Journal of International Law, Vol. 58, No. 31, 2018).
• F. Mnyongani & Magda Slabbert, A Jehovah’s Witness’s Autonomy versus the Interests of Her Children – ES v AC Mnyonfd, (Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law, Vol. 81, p. 316-325, 2018).
• Joshua Moir & Julia Wagner, The Idea of Religious Neutrality and the Cooperation Model Compared in Germany, Austria and Italy, (University of Milano-Bicocca School of Law Research Paper No. 18-13 (2018).
• Constanza Nardocci, Equality & Non-discrimination between the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Challenges and Perspectives in the Religious Discourse, (University of Milano-Bicocca School of Law Research Paper No. 18-12 (2018).
• Sina Haydn-Quindeau, Religious Symbols in Public Space: The German Way, (University of Milano-Bicocca School of Law Research Paper No. 18-14 (2018).
• Wojciech Brzozowski, Is Islam Incompatible with European Identity?, (University of Milano-Bicocca School of Law Research Paper No. 18-15 (2018),

From SSRN (Writings by John Witte):

• John Witte, Founding Principles, Secular Skeptics, and Religious Freedom: Review of Kathleen A. Brady, the Distinctiveness of Religion in American Law: Rethinking Religion Clause Jurisprudence, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 32, 2018).
• John Witte & Justin Latterell, The Little Commonwealth: The Family as Matrix of Markets and Morality in Early Protestantism, (in Ted A. Smith and Robert P. Jones, eds., Markets and Morality: Spirit and Capital in an Age of Inequality, 2018).
• John Witte & Brian Kaufman, Law and Religion in American Education, (in Michael D. Waggoner and Nathan C. Walker, eds.,The Oxford Handbook on Religion and Education, 2018).
• John Witte, Law and the Protestant Reformation, (in Heikki Pihlajamäki, Markus Dubber & Mark Godfrey, eds., Oxford Handbook of European Legal History (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 583-610, 2018).
• John Witte, Foreword, (to Rex Ahdar, ed., Research Handbook on Law and Religion (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2018), xii-xviii).
• John Witte, Faith in Law: The Legal and Political Legacy of the Protestant Reformations, (John Witte, Jr. and Amy Wheeler, eds., The Reformation of the Church and the World (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 105-38).

From SmartCILP:

• Amihai Radzyner, Rabbis Drafting Criminal Legislation: The Shaping of the Prohibition Against Bigamy for Jews in Mandatory Palestine, [Abstract], 66 American Journal of Comparative Law 369-410 (2018).
• Symposium: Christian Legal Thought. Introduction by student editors Liam Ray, Nicholas A. DiMarco; contributions by Randy Beck, David A. Skeel Jr., Angela C. Carmella, Michael P. Moreland, Richard W. Garnett. 56 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 1-83 (2017).

New Mexico Supreme Court Upholds Textbook Loan Program

In Moses v. Ruszkowski, (NM Sup. Ct., Dec. 13, 2018), the New Mexico Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision held that New Mexico's textbook loan program does not violate the state constitution. The program provides for the loan of secular textbooks to private and parochial school students.  In 2015, the state Supreme Court held that the program was unconstitutional. (See prior posting.) However in 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court  granted certiorari, vacated the judgment and remanded the case for further consideration in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's Trinity Lutheran Church decision. (See prior posting.) Now on remand, the state Supreme Court reversed itself, saying in part:

On remand, we conclude that this Court’s previous interpretation of Article 16 XII, Section 3 raises concerns under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. To avoid constitutional concerns, we hold that the textbook loan program, which provides a generally available public benefit to students, does not result in the use of public funds in support of private schools as prohibited by Article XII, Section 3. We also hold that the textbook loan program is consistent with Article IV, Section 31 of the New Mexico Constitution, which addresses appropriations for educational purposes, and Article IX, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution, which limits “any donation to or in aid of any person, association or public or private corporation.”

Chief Justice Nakamura and Justice Clingman dissented. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Holt v. Givens, (11th Cir., Dec. 12, 2018), the 11th Circuit held that an inmate failed to state a First Amendment Claim growing out of the taking of his prayer oil.

In Derx v. Yancey, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208053 (ED AR, Dec. 10, 2018) an Arkansas federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendation (2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208651, Nov. 13, 2018) and allowed an inmate top move ahead with 1st Amendment and RLUIPA claims that his his ability to practice his Wiccan beliefs was restricted.

In Strozier v. Hall, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208839 (SD GA, Dec. 11, 2018), a Georgia federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing an inmate's complaint that he was not allowed to attend religious services while in an isolation cell.

In Williams v. New York State Office of Mental Health, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211279 (ED NY, Dec. 14, 2018), a New York federal district court dismissed a complaint by an involuntarily committed criminal defendant that he was prevented from attending religious services.

Vandalizing Religious Building Includes Vandalizing Sign Outside It

In People v. Laduke, (CA App., Dec. 14, 2018), a California appellate court held that defendant could properly be convicted under California Penal Code Sec., 594.3(a) for vandalism of a building owned and occupied by a religious institution after he torched a sign in front of John Paul the Great Catholic University. The court said in part:

Because the vandalism set forth in section 594.3, subdivision (a) prohibits damage to both real and personal property, we reject LaDuke's suggested interpretation limiting that offense to damage to only an occupied structure with four walls and a roof....  [W]e construe section 594.3, subdivision (a) as prohibiting, inter alia, malicious damage to personal property or fixtures located on or attached to the real property of, and related to, a "building owned and occupied by a religious educational institution."

The court also rejected the argument that Sec. 594.3 violates the Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection clause.