Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Newly Available Scholarly Articles
Ian Ward, Headscarf Stories, 29 Hastings International & Comparative Law Review, 315-341 (2006).
From SSRN:
Melynda Price, God's Will or Linked Fate: Race and Religion in African American Views of the Death Penalty (A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach) (2006).
Tomorrow Religious Freedom Day On Capitol Hill
UPDATE: Here is more on the conference from Sen. Santorum.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Da Vinci Censorship By American Samoa Would Be Unconstitutional
Role Of Islam In Constitution For Kurdish Iraq Debated
New U.S. Muslim Seminary Seeks To Train Moderate American Clergy
South African Equality Court Upholds Anti-Semitism Complaint
Blasphemy Defendant In Pakistan Murdered Outside Court House
Meanwhile, Gopang's younger brother has also been arrested for hurling a brick at Maulana Abdul Rasheed, the complainant in the blasphemy case, and Rasheed has been taken into protective custody.
South Carolina Released Time Credit Act Becomes Law
The State reports that now released time groups are quickly moving to get more high schools to approve their programs.Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly finds that: ...The free exercise of religion is important to the intellectual, moral, civic, and ethical development of students in South Carolina, and that any such exercise must be conducted in a constitutionally appropriate manner.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: Section 59-39-112. (A) A school district board of trustees may award high school students no more than two elective Carnegie units for the completion of released time classes in religious instruction ... if:
(1) ... the released time classes ... are evaluated on the basis of purely secular criteria that are substantially the same criteria used to evaluate similar classes at established private high schools for the purpose of determining whether a student transferring to a public high school from a private high school will be awarded elective Carnegie units for such classes.... and
(2) the decision to award elective Carnegie units is neutral as to, and does not involve any test for, religious content or denominational affiliation.
(B) For the purpose of subsection (A)(1), secular criteria may include, but are not limited to ... (1) number of hours of classroom instruction time; (2) review of the course syllabus ...; (3) methods of assessment used in the course; and (4) whether the course was taught by a certified teacher.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Funding Of Hunger Program OK'd With Disclaimer
New York Governor Signs Law On Swastikas, Burning Crosses
Las Vegas School Cuts Mike On Valedictorian
Administrators had earlier reviewed Brittany McComb’s speech and cut out six references to God or Christ, two biblical references, and a detailed reference to Christ’s crucifixion. The high school’s policy does not permit the school to censor religious references by speakers who have been chosen "on the basis of genuinely neutral, evenhanded criteria'. However, school district lawyer Bill Hoffman said that while the regulation allows students to talk about religion, they cannot cross over into the realm of preaching or proselytizing. School officials said that permitting McComb to continue would have amounted to school sponsored proselytizing. McComb responded: "People aren't stupid and they know we have freedom of speech and the district wasn't advocating my ideas. Those are my opinions. It's what I believe.'
Preliminary Injunction In Church Challenge To Rec Area Fees
Jewish School Fits Unemployment Tax Exemption
Japanese Lawmakers Urge Secular Shrine For War Dead
Racketeering Claim Filed Against Philadelphia Archdiocese
Friday, June 16, 2006
Former Waqf Leader Breaks With Muslim Views On Historicity Of Jewish Temples
Singapore Police Investigate Jesus Cartoons On Website
Spokane Diocese Wins Appeal In Bankruptcy Case
Arapaho Tribal Courts Ignored On Sun Dance
The Indian Civil Rights Act, enacted by Congress in 1968, requires that Indian tribes exercising their rights of self government abide by most of the provisions of the Constitution's bill of rights. The Act prohibits tribes from making or enforcing any law that prohibits the free exercise of religion. It does not impose establishment clause constraints on tribes.