Another Lawsuit Against A Dissident Episcopal Parish- This Time In Tennessee

On Friday, the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee filed suit against St. Andrew's parish in Nashville to obtain title to church property. Yesterday's Tennessean reports that in 2006 St. Andrews broke away from the Diocese of Tennessee and affiliated with a more conservative Anglican Church in North America. The Tennessee diocese claims that the the church's Dennis Canon which provides that parish property is held in trust for the diocese controls the case. This is one of about 60 cases involving break-away Episcopal congregations in recent years.

Israel's Transportation Ministry Reports To High Court on Sex-Segregated Buses

In two articles last week, the Jerusalem Post reports on the response of Israel's Transportation Ministry to an order of Israel's High Court of Justice originally issued in 2008 calling for the Ministry to report on gender-segregated public bus lines being operated by the Egged Bus Cooperative. At issue are bus lines serving the haredi (strictly Orthodox Jewish) community whose religious beliefs call for gender separation. A lawsuit filed in 2007 challenged the legality of these so-called "Mehadrin" (kosher) buses (see prior posting). The Transportation Ministry's report concludes that imposed sex segregation on buses serving the public violates basic human rights such as equality and freedom of movement. It recommended a year-long trial of a voluntary system in which buses in haredi neighborhoods would open both the front and rear doors when picking up passengers so that those who wish to voluntarily sit separately could do so. Drivers would be responsible for preventing passengers from coercing others who do not wish to comply with separate seating arrangements. Also there will be no restrictions on the type of clothing that men or women wear on these buses. [Thanks to Religion & State In Israel for the lead.]

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Jeremy J. Patrick, Canadian Blasphemy Law in Context: Press, Legislative, and Public Reactions, (October 29, 2009).
• Liav Orgad & Ted Ruthizer, Race, Religion and Nationality in Immigration Selection: 120 Years after the Chinese Exclusion Case, (Constitutional Commentary, Forthcoming).
• Ruthann Robson, Compulsory Matrimony, (Feminist and Queer Legal Theory, pp. 315-328, Ashgate 2009).

From SmartCILP and elsewhere:

• Steve Sheppard, What Oaths Meant To the Framers' Generation: A Preliminary Sketch, 2009 Cardozo Law Review de novo 273.
• Shirin Ebadi, Keynote Address: Islam, Human Rights, and Iran, 23 Emory International Law Review 13-24 (2009).
• L. Bennett Graham, Defamation of Religions: The End of Pluralism?, 23 Emory International Law Review 69-84 (2009).
• Russell Powell, Theology In Public Reason and Legal Discourse: A Case for the Preferential Option for the Poor, 15 Washington & Lee Journal of Civil Rights & Social Justice 327-404 (2009).

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Givens v. Walker, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98876 (CD IL, Oct. 23, 2009), an Illinois federal magistrate judge upheld the constitutionality of regulations promulgated by the Illinois Department of Corrections imposing a number of conditions on inmates conducting religious activities where religious program volunteers or chaplains of that particular faith are unavailable. Plaintiff complained that no Hebrew Israelite religious services were available.

In Kanda v. Walker, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98938 (ED CA, Oct. 23, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge recommended that a preliminary injunction be granted ordering prison officials to furnish a Hindu prisoner with a diet that meets his religious requirements-- a diet that includes only vegetables, fruits and fish.

In Uhuru v. Hart, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100267 (CD CA, Sept. 24, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge recommended rejecting the complaint by a prisoner (who attends both Jewish and Muslim activities) that occasionally he was not permitted to wear a head covering.

In Rice v. Curry, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100443 (ND CA, Oct. 14, 2009), a California federal district court permitted an inmate who was a practicing Ansare EL Mohammed Muslim to move ahead with his claim that he was denied access to the prison chapel to conduct classes and group worship consistent with his movement in Islam, and that prison officials refused to serve him a pre-dawn "suhoor" meal during the month of Ramadan.

In Dempsey v. Ahern, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100520 (ND CA, Oct. 14, 2009), a California federal district court held that an inmate could move forward with his claim that his 1st and 8th Amendment rights were violated when the Santa Rita Jail failed to accommodate the religious diet needs of inmates such as himself. He alleged that a 26-day denial violated his religious and nutritional needs.

Last Friday's Omaha World-Herald reported that a Nebraska trial court judge has given a prisoner permission to change his name from Billy Joe McDonald to his "witch" name, Hayden Autumn Blackthorne. McDonald, who is serving a sentence for sexual assault of a teenage girl, asserted in his petition for a name change that he is "a lifetime member of Witch School," a "recognized Wiccan Priest" and has "successfully completed Correllian Wicca — First Degree."

Court Rejects Constitutional Challenges To Marijuana Possession Charges

In State of New York v. Storm-Eggnick, (Albany City St., Oct. 21, 2009), an Albany New York City Court rejected claims by a woman charged with possession of marijuana that the possession statute is unconstitutional on free exercise of religion, equal protection, vagueness, and due process grounds. The court concluded that the statute does not purposefully target religious activity. At to defendant's free exercise challenge under the New York Constitution, the court found that any incidental burden of the statute on religion is justified. Rejecting defendant's due process privacy argument, the court pointed out that here the issue was not possession of marijuana in the home. Defendant had twice carried a marijuana plant into the capital building.

Students Organize Football Game Prayers To Avoid Ban On School Doing So

Earlier this year, the Santa Rosa County, Florida School Board entered into a high profile, and locally unpopular, consent decree in a lawsuit brought against it by the ACLU challenging religious practices in schools. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Panama City (FL) News Herald reports that now, since school officials cannot lead prayers, students have taken up the cause. At each home football game, students hand out cards with the words of the Lord's Prayer outside the stadium. Then ten minutes before game time, students hold up signs in the stadium asking fans to stand and recite the Lord's Prayer with them. Later, a voice over the PA system, will announce that the school did not organize or participate in the prayer.

Washington State Adopts Final Rules On Displays and Gatherings At Capitol

Washington State's Department of General Administration on Friday announced the adoption of new rules, effective Dec. 1, governing displays and exhibits in the public areas of the state capitol. Yesterday's Seattle Times reports that in order to avoid the controversies that were generated during last year's holiday season, only government-sponsored displays will be allowed inside buildings. This permits the state to continue its state-sponsored holiday tree in the Capitol Rotunda. However private displays will not be allowed there. Last December, the attempt to use an open forum policy led to chaos as applicants sought to put up competing signs and displays. (See prior posting.)

The new rules (full text) allow gatherings, including free speech activities, of up to 25 people inside the Capitol building or up to 75 outside without a permit. For larger groups, a permit is required. Only hand-held banners and signs are permitted inside the Capitol during these events. For events outside on the Capitol grounds, temporary signs, exhibits or displays can be placed on the grounds during the activity, but must then be removed. The state has also published a 113-page "Concise Explanatory Statement" summarizing of all the comments received on the new rules when they were issued in proposed form, and an explanation of the differences between the proposed and final rule.

First Women Appointed To Shariah Courts In Palestinian Authority

In the Palestinian Authority West Bank towns of Hebron and Ramallah, the first women to preside over Shariah courts have been appointed. Australia's ABC News reported yesterday that Sheikh Tayseer al Tamimi, effectively the Chief Justice of the Palestinian state, paved the way by permitting Asmahan Liwheidi in Hebron and Khulud Mohammed Faqih in Ramallah to sit the judges' exam. The new judges hope to bring changes to the way Islamic courts treat Muslim women.

James Dobson Will Step Down As Radio Host For Focus On Family

James C. Dobson, the 73-year old founder of Focus on the Family, will end 32 years as its primary spokesman in February when he steps down as host of its radio program. The announcement by Focus on the Family on Friday said that this "is just the 'third chapter in a transition that began in 2003,' when Dr. Dobson stepped down as Focus president." At that time, Jim Daly took over the presidency. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that the powerful conservative Christian leader, who was asked for advice by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, has become a polarizing figure through his strong support of the traditional family and his opposition to pornography and same-sex marriage. Focus on the Family has suffered from declining donations in recent years. The Denver Post says that under Daly's presidency, Focus on the Family has become less confrontational and political as a younger generation of evangelical leadership is developing.

NY Condo Settles Complaint That It Restricted Placing Mezuzahs On Doors

According to MCT News Service yesterday, the New York Attorney General's office has won a settlement with a condominium homeowners association after beginning an investigation of a complaint that Stone Ridge Estates in Dix Hills (NY) was restricting Jewish residents from placing mezuzahs on their door frames. Condo resident Patti Werner claimed she was being discriminated against on religious grounds when residents were told to "either take down their mezuzahs or purchase a screen door costing between $300 to $500 dollars to conceal the object." Under the settlement, the condo association will pay a $10,000 fine and amend its bylaws so they "do not discriminate against residents because of their religion." [Thanks to Vos Iz Neias? for the lead.]

Priest's Claims of Abuse and Retaliation From Fellow-Priests Dismissed

In Hoatson v New York Archdiocese, (NY S.Ct., Oct. 26, 2009), a New York trial court dismissed claims brought against the Congregation of Christian Brothers, various clergy, the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Albany by a priest who claimed that he had been sexually abused by fellow priests for 12 years. He alleged that he was denied promotions and experienced retaliation because he refused and complained about sexual advances and that he experienced retaliation when he complained of alleged inappropriate sexual behavior of priests with minors. He says he was fired from his position at a parochial school in the Archdiocese of Newark for speaking critically about the Catholic Church at a public hearing before the New York State Senate in Albany, on behalf of victims of clergy sexual abuse. The court dismissed all the claims on various procedural and pleading grounds, including statute of limitations. In doing so, the court avoided having to determine whether the "ministerial exception" applies to claims under New Jersey's Conscientious Employee Protection Act that protects whistle blowers.

9th Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing On Washington State Pharmacy Board Regs

In Stormans Inc. v. Selecky, (9th Cir., Oct. 28, 2009), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant an en banc rehearing. In July, a 3-judge panel in the case refused to preliminarily enjoin enforcement of Washington State Pharmacy Board regulations that require pharmacists to fill all prescriptions (including Plan B, the "morning after" contraceptive) even if doing so violates their religious beliefs. (See prior posting.) Along with this week's denial of a rehearing, the original panel granted a request for a rehearing by the panel, and without hearing further arguments vacated its original opinion and issued a new opinion reaching the same conclusion as it did before. However the new opinion, in discussing whether the regulation is neutral and generally applicable, eliminates the section that was in the July opinion taking the district court to task for considering the rule's legislative history . This allowed Judge Clifton to join in the opinion fully and omit the concurrence he filed in July objecting to the majority's conclusion that it was inappropriate to consider the legislative history.

State Department Helps Bring Threatened Yemeni Jews To U.S.

The tiny remaining Jewish community in Yemen has been in increasing danger over the last year as growing internal strife and Islamic militancy has made it more difficult for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to continue to protect the 350-person community. Today's Wall Street Journal carries a long article on the U.S. State Department's role (along with private relief groups) in secretly getting some 60 Yemeni Jews out of the country and resettling them in Monsey, New York. Up to 100 more could still come to the U.S. Others will settle in Israel and and some will remain in a protected government enclave in Yemen. Those arriving in the U.S. have had little contact with the West. The Journal's striking photo of one family arriving shows a father with his hair in traditional peyot (sidelocks), and his three daughters all wearing burkas.

Halloween Creates Church-State Puzzle For Some Schools

Tomorrow is Halloween, a holiday which has varied religious connections. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain. In the 7th and 8th centuries, the Catholic Church tried to co-opt the day as the eve of All Saints Day. Some Protestant groups have used it as a celebration of the Reformation. More recently some Christians have rejected Halloween because they see it as celebrating the occult or promoting Satanism, or stemming from Pagan origins. (Background from Wikipedia.) No wonder all of this is confusing to school officials concerned about maintaining the proper line between church and state. Guampdn reported yesterday that at C.L. Taitano Elementary School in the Guam town of Sinajana, Halloween celebrations were replaced by a costume parade designed to promote literacy. Students could dress up as a character from any book they had read.

Last month, Guam Department of Education legal counsel Fred Nishihira sent out a routine annual notice to principals telling them that they must remain neutral in their treatment of religion. The memo allowed him to provide the required annual certification to the U.S. Department of Education that Guam schools are complying with the separation of church and state. Nishihira's memo created uncertainty for C.L. Taitano principal Corina Paulino as to whether a Halloween celebration would be permissible. So, out of an abundance of caution, she scheduled the book character costume parade instead. Nishihira said that when he sent out the religious neutrality memo, the question of Halloween had not occurred to him.

Protester Sues Nashville's Scientology Centre For Injuries

The Tennessean reports today on a lawsuit filed against the Church of Scientology's Nashville Celebrity Centre by Thomas A. Parker, a member of the anti-Scientology group Anonymous. Parker and others planned to protest the April 25 opening of the Centre. The lawsuit alleges that Parker was confronted by two off-duty police officers who had been hired as security guards for the Centre, was pushed to the ground and arrested for criminal trespass. The incident occurred across the street, some 450 yards away from the Centre. Later the charges against Parker were dismissed. Parker suffered injuries to his shoulder, elbows and knees.

Two Courts Around the World Rule On Conscientious Objector Claims

In different parts of the world this week, courts were examining the question of conscientious objector exemptions from military service. In Case of Bayatyan v. Armenia, (ECHR, Oct. 27, 2009), the European Court of Human Rights held that the European Convention on Human Rights does not require Armenia to provide an exemption from military service for a Jehovah's Witness who is a conscientious objector. The freedom of thought, conscience and religion protections of Art. 9 of the Convention need to be read in light of the provision in Art. 4, Sec. 3(b) which appears to leave the choice of providing CO objections up to the decision of each country. (Court's press release on case.) Subsequently Armenia adopted an alternative service law.

Meanwhile, according to Ekklesia, last week Colombia's Supreme Court held that all citizens have the right to opt out of military service on religious, moral or philosophical grounds. Previously only men studying to be Catholic priests were entitled to an exemption on religious grounds.

Malaysia Seizes Bibles That Translate "God" As "Allah"

CNN reported yesterday that in Malaysia during recent months, the Home Ministry's Publications and Quran Text Control Department has seized over 20,000 Malay-language editions of the Bible from the Bible Society of Malaysia and from the Gideons. The problem is that the Bibles translate "God" into the Malay word "Allah". However the government says that the word "Allah" can only be used by Islam, and that its use in Christian texts will confuse Muslims and draw them into Christianity. A similar dispute involving the Catholic Herald was resolved earlier this year by requiring the newspaper to print a disclaimer in large type declaring it is a Christian publication. (See prior posting.)

House Democrats' Health Care Bill Does Not Mandate Coverage For Spiritual Healing

Yesterday in Congress, House Democrats introduced their health care reform bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. (Press release.) The Chicago Tribune reports that this version does not mandate insurance coverage for services of Christian Science practitioners or other spiritual care. Christian Science practitioner Shirley Paulson said that Christian Science treatment is different from faith healing. Christian Science does not bar members from also seeking traditional medical care. The typical session with a Christian Science practitioner costs $25.

Al Arabiya Charged With Blasphemy In Saudi Court

According reports in Arab News and in Maktoob Business yesterday, in Saudi Arabia a group of citizens has filed a lawsuit against the television channel Al Arabiya charging it with blasphemy. The station is Saudi owned, and operates from Dubai. The lawsuit, filed in the summary court in Jeddah, charges the station with ridiculing God, the Prophet Muhammad and his sayings, and the Angel Gabriel.

Jury Agrees Bible Reading Dispute Was Merely A Misunderstanding

Yesterday, according to WBIR News, a federal court jury in Knoxville, Tennessee found in favor of the Knox County Schools in a lawsuit over the right of elementary school students to read the Bible during recess. The suit involves an incident that occurred when plaintiff, Luke Whitson, was in the 4th grade at Karns Elementary School. Luke's family claims that the school's principal interfered with a group of students who had started a Bible study club at recess. They sued for an injunction and nominal damages. The school said it was all a misunderstanding of the school's policy which prohibits adult-led Bible study during school hours, but allows students to study the Bible on their own. Apparently the jury agreed with the school's contention. (See prior related posting.)