Changes Proposed For British Religious Hatred Bill

Next week, Great Britain's controversial Racial and Religious Hatred bill will face committee hearings in the House of Lords. (See prior postings 1, 2, 3). BBC News reported today that opponents of the bill have now proposed compromise language to insure that commentators and comedians can still ridicule and criticize religion. The proposed amendments would provide that no one could be convicted under the law unless it is proved they intended to stir up hatred; that only threatening words would be banned by the bill, not those which are only abusive or insulting ; and that the law would not restrict discussion, criticism of expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or beliefs. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lester said: "The purpose of these amendments is to take the rot out of a rotten bill."

Appellate Court Permits Kindergartener's Claim On Jesus Poster To Go To Trial

In Peck v. Baldwinsville Central School District, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 22368, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on October 18 affirmed the trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's Establishment Clause claim, but vacated and sent back for trial plaintiff's First Amendment expression claim. The case grows out of a parents' challenge to the school's refusal to display their kindergarten child's environmental poster that included a picture of Jesus.

The court said: "the district court overlooked evidence that, if construed in the light most favorable to Pecks, suggested that Antonio's poster was censored not because it was unresponsive to the assignment, and not because Weichert and Creme believed that JoAnne Peck rather than Antonio was responsible for the poster's content, but because it offered a religious perspective on the topic of how to save the environment." It went on to say: "however, we do not foreclose the possibility that certain aspects of the record might be developed in such a manner as to disclose a state interest so overriding as to justify ... viewpoint discriminatory censorship. For example, The District has proffered its interest in avoiding the perception of religious endorsement as a rationale for not including Antonio's full poster in the environmental assembly." Yesterday's New York Newsday reported on the decision.

Government Reverses Its Position On Deportation of Persecuted Chinese Christian

As reported in an earlier posting, in August the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals which refused to permit a Chinese Christian who claimed religious persecution to remain in the United States. The controversial decision held that the petitioner had been punished at home for violating China's law on unregistered churches and not because of his religion. But now the government has had a change of heart. Jubilee Campaign, an international human rights organization, worked with Congressional officials and others to get a reversal of policies within the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. Yesterday Agape Press reported that the efforts have been successful.

On October 4, in a surprise move, DHS filed a "Motion to Reopen and Withdrawal of Appeal" with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Then the DOJ's Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated the original decision of the immigration judge that had allowed respondent Li to stay in the United States.

Will City Pay Plaintiff's Legal Fees In Prayer Case?

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied certiorari in Great Falls, SC v. Wynne, in which the Court of Appeals banned explicitly sectarian prayers at town council meetings , a battle is looming over legal fees. A federal court last month ordered Great Falls to pay $53,000 in legal fees that Darla Wynne incurred in her four-year fight over the prayers. The Rock Hill, SC Herald reported earlier this week that Town Council meets next Monday, but its agenda does not include action on the federal court order. If Great Falls does not pay this week, Wynne's lawyer, Herbert Buhl, said he will ask the federal court to enforce the order and send federal marshals to seize assets so he can collect.

AZ Police Suspended For Polygamy

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board voted unanimously Wednesday to revoke the certifications of two Colorado City, Arizona police officers accused of practicing polygamy, according to yesterday's San Diego Union-Leader. Colorado City is dominated by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that encourages polygamy, and this is the latest of many enforcement steps against the FLDS Church. (See prior posting.) A predecessor agency in 1990 had refused to decertify Colorado City's then-marshal on the basis of his practicing polygamy, instead deciding that it merely amounted to cohabitation.

NJ Jail Ends Kosher and Halal Meals

The Passaic County, New Jersey jail has stopped serving halal and kosher meals to inmates, according to a report yesterday from the Bergen County Record. The change comes during Ramadan and as the jail is being audited by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General after immigration detainees complained of poor conditions and abuse. An internal jail memo dated Monday stated, "As of 10/17/05 there will be no more kosher meals. The religious diet tray will be a vegetarian diet tray." Federal immigration detention centers are required to provide food that is prepared according to religious customs. The jail had been ordering prepackaged kosher and halal meals, but stopped because it was too expensive. The sheriff's office said that the jail will now make its own halal and kosher meals by adding two layers of plastic wrap to the tray. But inmates said the two sheets of wrap and absence of meat does not meet their religious standards.

Review Of Book On Islamic Law In Secular Asian Courts

The Hindu yesterday carried a review of Cases in the Muhammadan Law of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, by Asaf A.A. Fyzee, edited and revised by Tahir Mahmood. Oxford University Press issued the book last year. The book looks at interpretation of Islamic law by secular courts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 19 different subject areas. The reviewer points out that Islamic scholars differ among themselves on the degree of authority they give to interpretations of Islamic law by modern secular courts.

FEMA To Aid Rebuilding Religious Social Service Facilities, But Not Churches

The Washington Post reports today that the federal government will help rebuild parochial schools, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, community centers and similar religious institutions destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. But it will not pay for reconstruction of churches or other houses of worship. James Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, announced in a conference call to reporters that religious groups that run "essential, government-type facilities" can apply for reconstruction grants from FEMA. But facilities used primarily for inherently religious activities are not eligible. Before receiving federal funds, religious groups must exhaust private insurance coverage and apply for disaster loans from the Small Business Administration. The reaction to the announcement from religious groups was mixed. This follows an earlier announcement that FEMA would reimburse churches and other religious groups that shelter and feed hurricane victims at the request of state or local officials. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Marty Lederman via Religionlaw for the information.]

Civil Protection Order Does Not Violate Free Exercise

In Rogers v. Johnson-Norman, 2005 D.C. App. LEXIS 517 (DC Ct. App., Sept. 26, 2005), the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that a provision in a civil protection order against an alleged stalker does not deprive him of his constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. The order requires the appellant to stay away from the church that the complaining witness attends in Maryland.

Settlement Offer In Suit Against Air Force Academy

The plaintiff in a law suit filed recently against the Air Force Academy challenging prosetylization of cadets has offered to settle. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reported yesterday that Sam Bregman, the Albuquerque attorney representing the plaintiff who is an Academy graduate and father of a current cadet, faxed a letter to Mary L. Walker, the Air Force's top lawyer in Washington, making the offer. Bregman asked the Air Force to agree to a stipulated order in federal court that no one in the Air Force, including a chaplain, will "in any way attempt to involuntarily convert, pressure, exert or persuade a fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty.'' He also asked that the service not permit or advance one religion over another, or over no religion.

Ark and Torah Added To Pentagon Chapel

In 2002, in the Pentagon, a chapel was built at the site where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building on Sept. 11, 2001. The Pentagon Memorial Chapel was dedicated in memory of the individuals who lost their lives there on 9-11. Now the Chapel has a new addition to it. On Monday, The Jewish Press reported that a Torah scroll is now housed in an ornate Israeli-built ark in the Chapel. A dedication ceremony was held on September 26. Rabbi Andrew Cohen, who until recently served as chaplain at the Pentagon chapel, said that the Torah scroll will accommodate the needs of Jewish servicemen and officials at the Pentagon when prayer services may be held in the Chapel. The Aleph Institute, a national Jewish organization devoted to Jews in the military and in prisons obtained a donation for the ark and Torah scroll from the generous donor Yaakov Sopher.

Interview With Seamus Hasson On Religious Liberty

Tuesday's National Review Online carries an interesting interview with Kevin Seamus Hasson, chairman of the Becket fund for Religious Liberty and author of the new book, The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America. Here are two excerpts, but the full interview is worth the read.

The biggest threat [to religious liberty in the U.S.] comes from people who think that religious truth is the enemy of human freedom — that the only good religion is a relativist one.... Practically speaking, the threat comes from lawyers, judges, and political elites who think that nativity scenes and menorahs are like secondhand smoke — something that decent people shouldn't be exposed to in the public square.... The second biggest threat is believers who let themselves be goaded into accepting the same false dichotomy between truth and freedom, only on the other side. They fall into the secularists' trap and think that in order to defend the truths of faith they have to oppose the whole idea of human freedom. Like the bureaucrats in a Cobb County, Georgia, jail who tried to prevent Catholic priests from ministering to prisoners because they were afraid some Protestant prisoners would decide to convert.

Discovery Institute Files Amicus Brief In Kitzmiller

The Center for Science & Culture reports that on Monday the Discovery Institute, the leading think tank on intelligent design, filed an Amicus Curiae brief in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District urging the judge uphold the constitutionality of teaching Intelligent Design. Monday marked the beginning of the defense's presentation of evidence in the case. Dover School Board has required to read to students a statement notifying them about the existence of the theory of intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution. (See prior posting.)

The 34-page amicus brief (full text) argues that there are many secular purposes for teaching the theory of Intelligent design, and that teaching it advances science education and does not primarily advance religion. The brief also has 2 Appendices, one setting out the revised expert report of Stephen C. Meyer, PhD, and the other claiming to document that Intelligent Design makes no claims about the identity or nature of the intelligent cause responsible for life.

New Data On Religiously Motivated Hate Crimes In U.S.

The FBI has recently released its report on Hate Crime Statistics for 2004, collected under the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act. The report shows an increase in hate crimes. It says that 16.4% of the reported hate crimes were religiously motivated. Those broke down as follows: There were 1374 total incidents of religiously motivated hate crime. Of these, 954 were anti-Jewish, 57 were anti-Catholic, 38 were anti-Protestant, 156 were anti-Islamic, 128 were anti-other religion, 35 were anti-multiple religions or groups, and 6 were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism. The Anti-Defamation League today issued a press release welcoming the report and calling for increased efforts to address the problem of hate crimes.

In Philippines, Senator Claims Permitting March Would Violate Establishment Clause

The Philippine Constitution has an Establishment Clause virtually identical to that in the U.S. Constitution. The Philippine Star today reports on a controversy over the meaning of that clause growing out of a political demonstration held last Friday. Under Philippine law, marches and demonstrations are limited to the location in the rally permit granted by the government. A number of Catholic bishops and priests were part of the group that violated that requirement and were hosed down by police while marching peacefully from Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila in what they called a "prayer rally". Philippine Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago criticized the marchers saying "The Catholic religion does not possess the governmental power to determine the venue of any rally." Because of the Establishment Clause, Santiago said that the attempt of the protesters to change the authorized venue for the rally by using two bishops, a priest and a few nuns constituted excessive entanglement. "It would turn over the traditional governmental power to regulate public assemblies to a few Catholic bishops and religious," she added. "No religion can serve to camouflage law disobedience by invoking freedom of religion. That would be creeping theocracy," Santiago said.

Indian Government Seeks Church Assistance In Health Initiative

The government of India seems to have embarked on its own version of faith-based initiatives, according to a report in today's Asia News. Anbumani Ramadoss, Health and Family Welfare Minister, during a speech on selective abortions and birth control, said that the government wishes to collaborate with leaders of Catholic and other religious communities to control disparity in the gender ratio and to upgrade the country’s health system. Fr. Alex Vadakumthala, secretary of the Health Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference commented, "The Indian government has launched a programme called Rural Health Mission in which they ask for the collaboration of the Church to improve health services in villages. We have said very clearly that we intend to collaborate with the government and non-governmental organizations only if Catholic morals and ethics are respected."

Cartoonists and Miers' Religious Beliefs

From today's New York Times:

Christian Exodus Movement Attracts Few Supporters

The Christian Exodus Movement seems to be losing steam. The Greenville, SC News reports today that only 94 people attended the group's convention this weekend. The 2-year-old group seeks to convince enough like-minded people to move to South Carolina so it can take political power and transform government to reflect Christian values. (See prior posting.) Only six families, made up of 14 adults and 20 children, have moved to Christian Exodus' two target counties, though the group's leaders say it is getting unexpected support from local residents. Founder Corey Burnell said that the group's first candidates will probably run next year with a 10-year goal of seizing the Legislature. But its initial focus will be on county and city councils, sheriff's races, and school boards. He also indicated that the group hopes to make property ownership a prerequisite for voting. Burnell also said that with national power, Christian Exodus would seek to determine whether the 14th, 16th and 17th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were "ratified properly, and if not, put them up for proper ratification."

Court Upholds Size Limits For Church Building

In Vision Church v. Village of Long Grove, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23493 (ND Ill., Oct. 7, 2005), an Illinois federal district court rejected Vision Church’s challenge to the denial of its application for a special use permit to allow construction of a church complex on its property. The Church, comprised mainly of America-born Chinese, projected that its membership would grow rapidly. However, the Village’s Public Assembly Ordinance limited the size of the Church’s building to 55,000 square feet, far smaller than the Church’s proposed building. The court rejected Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, RLUIPA, Equal Protection Clause and other claims raised by the Church, and granted the Village’s motion for summary judgment on all claims.

First Edition of "The Bloudy Tenant" Discovered

A rare 1644 First Edition of Roger Williams, The Bloudy Tenent, has been discovered in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society according to a report in today’s Providence Journal. The book sets out Williams’ theories of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. It speaks of the need for a sturdy fence separating the sacred and the secular, and calls for an end to people being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Williams was banished from Massachusetts for his radical views. Karen Eberhart, the Historical Society’s Library Director, said that the newly discovered volume is in good shape because it was printed on paper made from cotton, rather than wood.