Ohio's Governor Pinch-Hits On Invocation; Officials Choose Various Books For Oath

In an unusual twist on invocations at public ceremonies, yesterday at the formal inauguration of Ohio's new governor, Ted Strickland, the minister who was scheduled to deliver the invocation failed to show up. Governor Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, filled the gap. He probably became the first public official anywhere to deliver-- unrehearsed-- an invocation at his own inaugural. No explanation appears to have been published for the failure of Portsmouth, Ohio's Rev. Evan Fisher-- a Strickland family friend-- to show up. (Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer.) After that, Strickland was sworn in on a Bible printed in 1763 and used by Ohio's second governor in 1807 for his inaugural. Strickland's Lieutenant Governor, Lee Fisher, who is Jewish, was sworn in on a Bible owned by his wife, Peggy, and three copies of the Torah owned by other family members. (Columbus Dispatch).

Meanwhile other Ohio office holders mostly used a Bible to take their oaths of office. However, Jewish state Sen. David Goodman used a prayer book that belonged to his grandfather. Hindu state Rep. Jay Goyal followed the lead of all the other state House of Representatives members being sworn in and carried no book at all during the formal ceremony on the House floor. (Columbus Dispatch).

School Bathroom Is No Place For Biblical Verses

In Kentucky, the bathroom in Christian County Middle School had become filled with graffiti. So-- according to the Associated Press yesterday-- the school's principal, Larry Cavanah, granted permission to teachers and students to beautify the bathroom by painting over the graffiti. When he returned after winter break, he discovered that graffiti had been covered with upbeat art and inspirational messages. However some of the new artwork was religious in nature-- including a quotation from Psalms 45 reading: "So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him." After complaints from a parent, Superintendent Bob Lovingood consulted with the school's attorneys and ordered that the Biblical verses be covered up. (By the way, the names of the county, the superintendent, and the quote from Psalms, are for real.)

Environmental Agency and Church Argue Over Whether A Building Is Necessary

In Phillipsburg, New Jersey, the Alliance Church has sued the state's Department of Environmental Protection over whether the church is exempt from environmental restrictions on building in the Highlands Protected Area. The Easton (PA) Express-Times reported yesterday on the filing of the federal lawsuit. The 2004 New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act grandfathered in exemptions for building by churches that existed in March 2004. New Jersey's DEP says that means they must have had a building on site before that date. Alliance Church says it should be enough that they held worship services outside on the land in question before March 2004. Phillipsburg Alliance Church has already paid more than $250,000 toward the $1 million purchase price for the 30-acre site on which it hopes to build.

Religious Abortion Parade Protesters Win Speech, But Not Free Exercise, Claim

In Grove v. City of York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1837 (MD PA, January 10, 2007), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that relegating religious abortion-protesters in a Halloween parade to the least obtrusive rear of the march violated their free expression and free assembly rights. However it did not violate their right to the free exercise of religion since the group would have been placed at the rear of the parade even if their anti-abortion views were solely secular. The city had attempted to justify its action on the ground that the pictures of aborted fetuses carried by the protesters would be offensive to many onlookers.

County Commissioner Now Privately Pushes 10 Commandments

The Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal reported yesterday that after reluctantly voting with others in favor settling the ACLU's lawsuit against Rutherford County that successfully challenged county display of the Ten Commandments, County Commissioner Mike Sparks has found an alternative. The Tennessee county commissioner has spent $125 of his own money to print up 400 copies of the Ten Commandments. He is distributing them local businesses for them to hand out the copies to customers. (See prior related posting.)

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Parks-El v. Fleming, (4th Cir., Jan. 10, 2007), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an inmate's equal protection claim, but vacated the dismissal of his RLUIPA and free exercise claims. The inmate had been suspended from attending chapel services because he was involved in posting unauthorized flyers in inmate housing units.

In Justus v. Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1161 (WD VA, Jan. 5, 2007), a Virginia federal district court rejected an inmate's challenge to a lock down that kept him in his cell when he said that he did not wish to attend religious services being held in his pod.

In Banks v. Fraiser, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235 (D NJ, Jan. 3, 2007), a New Jersey federal district court dismissed a prisoner's claim that he was denied a religious "no meat" diet.

Another case, decided several months ago, has recently become available on LEXIS. In Boyd v. Lehman, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94223 (WD WA, May 19, 2006), adopting Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation (2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94222), a Washington federal district court dismissed claims by a prisoner that he was only given a vegetarian diet, and not one that included halal meat. It also rejected his claim regarding temporary problems with the time of Ramadan meals.

10th Circuit Says BYU Police Force Does Not Create Establishment Clause Problems

In Raiser v. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (10th Cir., Jan. 10, 2007), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a novel Establishment Clause claim. Aaron Raiser, an applicant to Brigham Young University's graduate school, sued claiming the University disclosed information about his prior psychiatric history. Part of his claim related to the University's sharing information about him with its police force. In particular, Raiser alleged that the "[state] statute . . . which allows [BYU] to maintain a state empowered police force . . . fosters an excessive governmental entanglement with religion," and that "[t]he state/church entanglement has injured Plaintiff." The court said that there was no religious component to the actions of the police force in dealing with Raiser, so that the district court was correct in holding that Raiser lacked standing to pursue an Establishment Clause claim.

Utah Files Brief Opposing Cert. In Polygamy Case

In October, convicted bigamist Rodney Holm filed a petition for certiorari [Westlaw link] with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Utah Supreme Court's determination that the state's polygamy laws were constitutional. Today's Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Utah Attorney General originally waived a response to Holm's petition, citing costs involved and the unlikelihood that cert. would be granted. However, the Supreme Court's clerk notified the state in November that the justices wanted Utah's views before they decided whether to grant certiorari. So on Friday the state filed a brief in opposition to the granting of cert., arguing that the case does not pose an issue of widespread national importance and that Holm's case, which involved a minor, is not the appropriate case to use for testing the constitutionality of the law.

European Court Finds Russia Violated Religious Rights of Jehovah's Witnesses

On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a decision in Kuznetsov and Others v. Russia, (Application No. 184/02, Jan. 11, 2007), finding that various actions by the Russian government that disrupted religious services being held by Jehovah's Witnesses and which led to the termination of their lease for an auditorium in which to hold services violated their religious freedom as protected in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Institute On Religion and Public Policy issued a release detailing more information about the decision.

School Board Requires Opposing Views On Climate Change After Religious Objection To Gore's Film

In Federal Way, Washington, the School Board last week required that teachers showing Al Gore's film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, must also present their classes "a credible, legitimate opposing view" to Gore's views on global warming. In addition, teachers must obtain consent of the principal and superintendent to show the film. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Thursday reported that the school board action followed a complaint by parent Frosty Hardison-- who also believes in teaching creationism and opposes sex education in schools. Hardison said: "Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher. The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD." Meanwhile, Hardison's wife Gayla, said: "If you're going to come in and just say America is creating the rotten ruin of the world, I don't think the video should be shown." School board President Ed Barney said that the district has a policy of presenting both sides of controversial issues. [Thanks to Ronald L. Chichester for the lead.]

9th Circuit Vacates State Constitutional Challenge To Mt. Soledad Cross As Moot

Yesterday, in Paulson v. City of San Diego, (9th Cir., Jan. 12, 2007), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal as moot and ordered the lower court to vacate its May 3, 2006 order to enforce a 1991 injunction to remove the Mt. Soledad cross from its prominent display on city land. The federal district court had found that the display of the cross violated provisions in California's constitution on separation of church and state. Last year, federal legislation divested the city of title to the land and transferred the Mt. Soledad Veterans War Memorial to the United States. So the city no longer has any interest in the Memorial and the federal government is not subject to the provisions of the California constitution. Today's San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times covered the decision.

Clergy Abuse Claims Against Vatican May Proceed In U.S. Court

In O'Bryan v. Holy See, (WD KY, Jan. 10, 2007) [available in PACER], a Kentucky U.S. District Court issued an 18-page opinion interpreting the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to permit certain claims relating to clergy sexual abuse in the United States to be brought against the Vatican. It held that while the Vatican is a foreign state covered by the FSIA (see prior posting), the "tort exception" to the Act permits some of plaintiffs' claims to be brought in U.S. courts. It held that to the extent that archbishops, bishops and priests acted in the United States as officials or employees of the Vatican pursuant to Holy See policy, they were acting within the scope of their employment. The Vatican can thus be liable for clergy's failure to warn parishioners that their children would be under the care of known or suspected pedophiles, and for failing to report known or suspected abusers to state and local authorities. However the court left open the possibility that future evidence might show that the Holy See does not exert sufficient control over clergy to make them officials or employees of the Vatican.

Yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal reporting on the decision quoted plaintiffs' attorney William McMurry who said that the lawsuit could lead to attorneys taking depositions of Vatican officials, obtaining copies of church documents and ultimately determining "what prompted all of the bishops to keep quiet, hide these pedophiles and refuse to report child abusers.".

Commentary: The First Amendment Dilemma In The Battle Against Islamic Terrorism

In the 1943 Flag Salute case that upheld the right of Jehovah's Witness students to refuse to salute the flag, Justice Robert Jackson wrote the following paragraph that has come to be seen as the essence of First Amendment protections: "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us." Since 9/11, a troubling question has been whether government officials may prescribe what is orthodox Islam in an attempt to distinguish radical jihadists-- who the U.S. is fighting-- from other Muslims whose religious practice the U.S. is dedicated to protect. Two developments this week point up the problem.

President Bush, speaking yesterday to military personnel and families at Ft. Benning, Georgia (full text) arguably attempted to define what is and is not a valid religious belief. He said: "It's important for the American people to understand al Qaeda still is in Iraq.... They don't believe in freedoms, like freedom to worship. I, frankly -- well, speaking about religion, these are murderers. They use murder as a tool to achieve their objective. Religious people don't murder. They may claim they're religious, but when you kill an innocent woman, or a child to create a political end, that's not my view of religion. And yet, there are a lot of peaceful, religious people in the Middle East."

On Tuesday the House of Representatives passed HR 1, a bill implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Title XIV is titled "Quality Educational Opportunities in Arab and Predominantly Muslim Countries". The bill establishes a fund to encourage educational reform in Arab and predominantly Muslim countries. One of the bill's goal is to "dramatically increase... the availability of modern basic education through public schools in Arab and predominantly Muslim countries, which will reduce the influence of radical madrassas and other institutions that promote religious extremism." (Sec. 1411(b)(1)). Is Congress here attempting to supplant the teaching of Islamic fundamentalism with a version of Islam that it finds more acceptable? If that is a fair characterization of the bill, are there any First Amendment objections to it?

Court Orders Release of Diocese Records To Insurance Companies

Yesterday's Boston Herald reported that Berkshire Superior Court Associate Justice John A. Agostini has ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts to release nearly 7,500 pages of documents to insurance companies that the Diocese is suing in order to get them to cover claims of 57 people who allege they were sexually abused by priests. The court rejected the Diocese's claim that the records are protected by the First Amendment or by the priest-penitent of psychotherapist-patient privilege. However the court agreed that some of the records are protected by the lawyer-client privilege. Insurers want to determine how the Diocese handled allegations of sexual abuse by priests when they received complaints. (See prior related posting.)

Rabbis Tell Congress To Raise Minimum Wage

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism reports that 450 rabbis and rabbinical students sent a letter to every member of Congress yesterday in support of an increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Director of Education at Jewish Funds For Social Justice, is an authority on wage issues in Jewish law. Supporting the letter, she said: "Jewish labor law rests on the assumption that a full time worker shall earn enough to support his/her family."

New Jersey AG Says Clergy Need Not Perform Civil Unions

New Jersey Attorney General Stuart Rabner yesterday issued written advice to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics concluding that, when a New Jersey law authorizing civil unions takes effect on February 19, members of the clergy are not required to perform civil union ceremonies if doing so would conflict with "sincerely held religious beliefs". However public officials who are available to solemnize marriages would be violating the state's anti-discrimination laws if they refuse to also solemnize civil unions. (Press release; full text of letter.) The Associated Press reported on the AG's letter.

FDA's Approval Of Cloned Animals Poses No Issue For Kashrut Certification

While some conservative religionists have objected to the Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of the safety of milk and meat from cloned animals (see prior posting), apparently cloned animals pose no problems for Orthodox Jewish determinations of whether meat is kosher. Wednesday's Washington Jewish Times reports that Maryland Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz said: "I do not see a kashrus issue here. Judaism as a whole does allow us to use creative ways of reproduction." Avrom Pollak, head of the Star-K agency that certifies food as kosher, said: "If it looks like a cow, if it chews its cud like a cow, if it has split hooves like a cow, then it's a cow; and how it got to be a cow does not affect its kosher status."

Church's Proposed Deal With High School Debated

Los Angeles' Daily Breeze yesterday reported on an unusual proposal for use of El Segundo, California High School premises on Sundays by El Segundo Foursquare Church. Last November, a bond measure to repair the school's auditorium failed to pass. So now it is proposed that Foursquare Church will pay for $180,000 worth of renovations, in addition to paying a monthly rental, in exchange for using the school all day each Sunday. Loyola Law School Professor Kurt Lash said: ""If this is a unique deal that has not been offered to anybody else and is unlikely to be offered to anybody else, we might have a problem here as a public facility showing preference and getting uniquely involved with a religious group."

6th Circuit Holds Hospital Did Not Waive Reliance On Ministerial Exception To ADA

Yesterday, in Hollins v. Methodist Healthcare Inc., (6th Cir., Jan. 10, 2007), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the ministerial exception to claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act requires dismissal of a discrimination claim brought by resident in the clinical pastoral educational program of a religiously affiliated hospital. The court refused to accept plaintiff's argument that the hospital had waived its right to rely on the ministerial exception by agreeing it would not discriminate on the basis of disability when it sought and obtained accreditation from the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education. [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

Israeli Activist Claims House Arrest Monitoring Violates His Religious Freedom

In Israel, Avraham Zarbiv, an Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) activist, was removed from house arrest and placed in jail because he refused to wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements on the Sabbath. Yesterday's Jerusalem Post reports that there is a disagreement among Orthodox rabbis over whether wearing the bracelet is consistent with Sabbath restrictions. Haredi activists view the court's order against Zarbiv as an attack on religious freedom.