Muslim County Worker Wins $1.2 Million In Employment Discrimination Suit

The Detroit Free Press reports that after a two-week employment discrimination trial, a federal court jury in Michigan on Thursday awarded nearly $1.2 million to Ypsilanti (MI) resident Ali Aboubaker, a Muslim.  Plaintiff, a U.S. citizen originally from Tunisia who holds four advanced degrees, claims that his firing from his maintenance engineer job with Washtenaw County was based on ethnic, religious and racial discrimination.  Aboubaker, who worked for the county for 17 years, says he was constantly subjected to racial and ethnic taunts-- especially focusing on his long beard-- and management did nothing about it. His suit also challenged a promotion he did not receive.

State Department's Human Rights Report Includes International Religious Discrimination Concerns

Last Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry released the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013. While the report leaves the assessment of religious liberty around the world to the State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report, Thursday's Human Rights report covers religious discrimination concerns for each country. The report's Introduction summarized these concerns:

Religious and ethnic minorities continued to face extreme restrictions and were targets of repression by governments and subject to societal discrimination across the globe.  In China, the government continued to implement repressive policies against ethnic Uighurs and Tibetans. 

In Pakistan, religious minorities faced a specter of growing violence during the year, including a deadly September church bombing in Peshawar that claimed more than 80 lives and three other incidents that killed at least 244 Shia Muslims. Religious minorities also faced discriminatory laws, societal intolerance, and a lack of accountability for crimes against them. 

In Iran, the government continued its egregious repression of Baha’i whose seven leaders remained in prison as did Christian pastor Saeed Abedini at year’s end. Attacks against Christians and Shia Muslims continued in Egypt as did attacks against Christians, Yezidis, Sabean Mandaeans, and other religious minorities in Iraq, often with a lack of accountability for the perpetrators. Ahmadi Muslims continued to face violence and repression in places such as Indonesia, as well as disenfranchisement in places such as Pakistan. 

Anti-Semitism also remained a significant problem in 2013. According to a survey of eight European member states by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, harassment of Jews continued, with one-quarter of respondents stating they experienced some form of anti-Semitic harassment in the 12 months before the survey. In the Middle East, media occasionally contained anti-Semitic articles and cartoons, some of which glorified or denied the Holocaust and blamed all Jews for actions by the state of Israel. 

Threats to religious practice also emerged during the year. For example, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a non-binding resolution implying that religious male circumcision – as practiced by Jews and Muslims, and other religions – is a human rights violation.

Ukrainian Religious Organizations Impacted By Russian Actions

Not surprisingly, the rapidly developing conflict between Ukraine and Russia is impacting Ukraine's religious institutions.  The Orthodox Church-- the dominant religion in Ukraine-- is split between three factions. These are the pro- Russian Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate); the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) which dominates Kiev and the central region of the country; and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church whose membership is mainly in the western half of Ukraine. According to The Economnist, this past Monday Moscow moved to assure its control over the Ukrainian Church that is part of the Moscow Patriarchate:

On Monday, the ruling synod of the UOC met and named a "locum tenens" to run the institution's headquarters in Kiev because of the incapacity of its elderly leader, Metropolitan Volodymyr.... The synod said it had ascertained that Metropolitan Volodymyr was definitely too ill to carry out his duties. The new acting leader, a certain Metropolitan Onufry from the southwest of Ukraine, certainly looks, from his biography, like a man who will remain in step with Moscow....

However the synod also accepted a proposal from the Kiev Patriarchate for dialogue.  Some think this is an attempt to continue to be a player should the Ukrainian government move toward creating a single national church.

Meanwhile, as reported by RIA Novosti, on Wednesday in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, a dozen backers of the Kiev Patriarchate attempted to seize a UOC-MP cathedral and threatened to set it on fire.  Other religious groups are also responding.  Yesterday's Catholic Sun reports that the Catholic bishop whose diocese includes Crimea issued a statement calling for "all believers and nonbelievers to refrain from extremism, and not to allow the fraternal bond between people living in Crimea to break."

New York Jewish Week this week reports on the uncertain situation of the Jewish community in Ukraine. There have been a few anti-Semitic incidents, including the fire bombing of a synagogue.  Several outside agencies are providing aid, including funds for increased security, for the Jewish community.

Islamist Syrian Rebel Group Imposes Strict Controls On Christians In Town of Raqqa

BBC News reported yesterday that in the northern Syrian town of Raqqa, the rebel group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) that controls the city has announced online that it is imposing new controls on Christians there. Christians must pay a special tax of 14 grams of gold, may not carry arms, may not renovate their churches, display crosses or other religious symbols outside churches, ring church bells, or pray in public. The group said that Christians must either convert to Islam or accept these conditions or else risk being killed. ISIS said 20 Christian leaders have accepted the conditions. Rival rebel groups have been fighting ISIS since last month.

$525M Default Judgment Entered Against Affiliate of Evangelist Tony Alamo

AP reports that an Arkansas trial court yesterday issued a $525 million default judgment against Twenty First Century Holiness Tabernacle Church-- an affiliate of Alamo Ministries.  The judgment came in a suit by 7 women who as young girls were physically, sexually and psychologically abused by evangelist Tony Alamo.  Alamo is presently serving a 175-year prison sentence for taking girls across state lines for sex. (See prior posting.) This week's default judgment gave each victim both actual and punitive damages in amounts totaling between $30 and $87 million per victim. Plaintiffs' attorney plans to register the judgment in California and begin levying on property there to satisfy the judgment.

Court Issues Final Order On Recognition of Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages In Kentucky; Intervenors Pursuing Additional Relief

As previously reported, earlier this month a Kentucky federal district court issued an opinion holding unconstitutional Kentucky provisions that deny recognition to same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. As reported by the Louisville Courier Journal and Insider Louisville, after a hearing on Tuesday, the court issued its final order (full text) implementing the decision (Bourke v. Beshear,  (WD KY, Feb. 27, 2014)). At the hearing, the deputy attorney general told the court that he did not have authority at that time to ask for a stay of the decision, and the court's final order thus did not contain a stay pending appeal. However the state subsequently quickly filed a motion (full text) asking for a 90-day stay to "give Defendants time to determine if they will appeal the order, and the Executive Branch time to determine what actions must be taken to implement this Court’s Order if no appeal is taken."

Meanwhile, the court yesterday also allowed (full text of order) two other couples to intervene in the case to pursue their claims (full text of intervenors' complaint) that Kentucky laws banning the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples are also unconstitutional. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

Veterans' Memorial Design Featuring Cross Held Unconstitutional

Following on a preliminary injunction issued last July (see prior posting), this week after a bench trial a California federal district court in American Humanist Association v. City of Lake Elsinore, (CD CA, Feb. 24, 2014), held that a veterans'-memorial design approved by the Lake Elsinore (CA) City Council violates the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause and the California constitution's Establishment and No Preference Clauses. The memorial includes a soldier kneeling with his gun in front of a 1.4 foot cross, and a row of approximately eight additional crosses and two Stars of David behind the central cross. The court, after tracing in detail the history of the design and redesign of the proposed monument concluded that the city had not shown a predominately secular purpose for including the Latin cross in the design, and its principal effect is to advance religion.  The city's contention that the multiple crosses and stars of David added in a redesign of the monument had the secular purpose of depicting a historic European World War II military cemetery was described by the court as "only a litigating position." American Humanist Association issued a press release calling attention to the decision.

Virginia Legislature Passes Student Religious Expression Bill; Veto Expected

As reported by Metro Weekly, yesterday the Virginia General Assembly gave final passage to SB 236 which protects student religious expression in public schools. The vote was 20-18 in the Senate and 64-34 in the House of Delegates.  The bill would protect voluntary student prayer and prayer gatherings before, during and after school; wearing of clothing or jewelry displaying religious messages; and expression of religious viewpoints by neutrally selected student speakers at graduation and similar events. As reported in Tuesday's Roanoke Times, Gov. Terry McAuliffe's office has said that the governor will veto the bill out of concern for its constitutionality and its unintended consequences.

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports, as expected, that Gov. McAuliffe vetoed the bill on April 4.  [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

9th Circuit: Court Should Order Removal of "Innocence of Muslims" From YouTube

In Garcia v. Google, Inc., (9th Cir., Feb. 26, 2014), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, held that a preliminary injunction should be granted to require the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims" to be removed from YouTube. The suit was filed by Cindy Lee Garcia who acted in a portion of the film.  As explained by the court:

The film’s writer and producer ...cast Garcia in a minor role [in a film with the working title "Desert Warrior."] Garcia was ... paid approximately $500 for three and a half days of filming. “Desert Warrior” never materialized. Instead, Garcia’s scene was used in an anti-Islamic film titled “Innocence of Muslims.” Garcia first saw “Innocence of Muslims” after it was uploaded to YouTube.com and she discovered that her brief performance had been partially dubbed over so that she appeared to be asking, “Is your Mohammed a child molester?”

These, of course, are fighting words to many faithful Muslims and, after the film aired on Egyptian television, there were protests that generated worldwide news coverage.  An Egyptian cleric issued a fatwa, calling for the killing of everyone involved with the film, and Garcia soon began receiving death threats. She responded by taking a number of security precautions and asking that Google remove the video from YouTube.

As summarized by the court:

The panel concluded that the plaintiff established a likelihood of success on the merits of her claim of [copyright] infringement of her performance within the film because she proved that she likely had an independent interest in the performance and that the filmmaker did not own an interest as a work for hire and exceeded any implied license to use the plaintiff’s performance.

Volokh Conspiracy has an extensive analysis of the decision. (See prior related posting.)

UPDATE: On Feb. 28, the 9th Circuit issued a revised preliminary injunction (full text) making it clear that the injunction "does not preclude the posting or display of any version of “Innocence of Muslims” that does not include Cindy Lee Garcia’s performance." [Thanks to Volokh Conspiracy for the lead.]

Arizona Governor Vetoes Anti-Gay Religious Freedom Bill

As reported by the Arizona Daily Star, yesterday Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed H.B. 1062, the controversial amendments to the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act that would, among other things, have allowed businesses to invoke religious freedom claims to refuse to serve gays and lesbians, particularly in the context of same-sex marriages. (See prior posting.) Announcing her decision at a news conference (full text of remarks), Brewer said that the bill is unneeded and "could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would ever want." In her formal Veto Letter (full text), Brewer said in part:

Senate Bill 1062 ... does not seek to address a specific and present concern related to Arizona businesses.  The out-of-state examples cited by proponents of the bill, while concerning, are issues not currently existing in Arizona.  Furthermore, the bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences.  The legislation seeks to protect businesses, yet the business community overwhelmingly opposes the proposed law.  Moreover, some legislators that voted for the bill have reconsidered their votes and now do not want this legislation to become law.

Federal District Court Strikes Down Texas Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday in De Leon v. Perry, (WD TX, Feb. 26, 2014), a Texas federal district court held unconstitutional Texas' statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriages and their prohibition on recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Granting a preliminary injunction, the court said:

[T]oday's Court decision is not made in defiance of the great people of Texas or the Texas Legislature, but in compliance with the United States Constitution and Supreme Court precedent. Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution. Furthermore, Supreme Court precedent prohibits states from passing legislation born out of animosity against homosexuals (Romer), has extended constitutional protection to the moral and sexual choices of homosexuals (Lawrence), and prohibits the federal government from treating state-sanctioned opposite-sex marriages and same-sex marriages differently (Windsor).

Applying the United States Constitution and the legal principles binding on this Court by Supreme Court precedent, the Court finds that Article I, Section 32 of the Texas Constitution and corresponding provisions of the Texas Family Code are unconstitutional. These Texas laws deny Plaintiffs access to the institution of marriage and its numerous rights, privileges, and responsibilities for the sole reason that Plaintiffs wish to be married to a person of the same sex. The Court finds this denial violates Plaintiffs' equal protection and due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The court however stayed the execution of the preliminary injunction pending final disposition of any appeal to the 5th Circuit. According to the Dallas Morning News , state attorney general Greg Abbott says the state will appeal.  Washington Post places the decision in a broader context. Texas Gov. Rick Perry yesterday issued a statement (full text) reacting to the decision, saying in part:

it is not the role of the federal government to overturn the will of our citizens. The 10th Amendment guarantees Texas voters the freedom to make these decisions, and this is yet another attempt to achieve via the courts what couldn't be achieved at the ballot box.

Protester At Center of SCOTUS Decision On Military Base Protests Was Catholic Worker Movement Adherent

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Apel, (US Sup. Ct., Feb. 26, 2014), held that a federal statute which makes it a crime to re-enter a military installation after the base commander orders a person not to do so applies to a protest area at Vandenberg Air Force Base that is open to the public.  The Court describes John Dennis Apel, the protester involved in the case, as an antiwar activist. It says nothing about the religious basis for Apel's protests found in his involvement in the Catholic Worker Movement. Here is some insight into Apel's religious beliefs from a Dec. 2013 article reprinted on the Pacific Life Community's website:

[Apel] and a dedicated core of volunteers — including his wife of 15 years, Tensie — provide food and clothes to the community’s poor. They run a summer children’s program and a weekly free medical clinic.

The couple are devotees of the Catholic Worker movement, a social reform cause committed to social justice, pacifism and voluntary poverty that they’ve dedicated most of their adult lives to promoting.

They receive no salary — the couple and their two young children survive on his Social Security income, as well as donations and the charity of others.

For more than a dozen years, as part of Mr. Apel’s deep peace-oriented belief system, he has regularly stood outside the gates of Vandenberg, protesting what he believes is an immoral military mission. He has been arrested 15 times, and received “ban and bar” citations that restrict his ability to protest near the classified military installation.

New Ukraine Acting President Turchynov Is Baptist Pastor

Christianity Today reports that Ukraine's new Acting President who took office on Sunday is not only a well-respected opposition politician, but is also a Baptist pastor. BBC reports that the interim President, Olexander Turchynov, was the top aide to former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko (who was imprisoned by the now ousted President Viktor Yanukovych). Turchynov preaches regularly at one of the Baptist churches in Kiev. In an article today, Religion News Service speculates:

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov is neither Ukrainian Orthodox nor Eastern Rite Catholic, and that may be the key to his success at a time when fissures between East and West are threatening to split the country, 

Missouri County Treasurer Will Accept Same-Sex Marriages From Other States In Unclaimed Property Claims

According to Monday's Columbia Daily Tribune, in Boone County, Missouri (which includes Columbia) County Treasurer Nicole Galloway has announced she will recognized same-sex marriages from out of state. This means that after the death of a spouse, a surviving same-sex spouse can obtain unclaimed property of the deceased being held by the county. The county treasurer took the step despite the provision in Sec. 33 of the Missouri Constitution that provides: "That to be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman." Galloway said: "In Boone County and in my office, we accept legal documents from every state in America, and this is just an extension of that." [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Lesbian Employee Forced To Watch Religious Anti-Gay Video Loses Claim For Harassment

As reported by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, a Sonoma County, California trial court yesterday issued a tentative decision (full text) in White v. GC Micro Corp., (Cal. Super. Ct., Feb. 25, 2014).  Plaintiff in the case, a lesbian in a committed domestic partnership, was recruited by GC Micro's CEO to move from Colorado to California to work for the company. She was fired after 5 months.  The supervisor in charge of training sales staff made derogatory remarks about plaintiff's sexual orientation and lifestyle, and required her to watch a video featuring a minister who had "outspoken disdain for homosexuality" and believed "that all homosexuals are sinners." However, according to the court, plaintiff "does not allege that the video contained any inappropriate material." The court allowed plaintiff to move ahead with a sexual orientation discrimination claim and a fraud claim against the company, but dismissed with leave to amend the claims against the CEO and supervisor personally. The court dismissed completely plaintiff's claim for harassment.

Suit Challenges World War I Memorial Cross

A humanist organization and three individuals yesterday filed suit challenging the constitutionality of a 40-foot tall cross erected nearly 90 years ago as a memorial to those killed in World War I.  The cross is located on a median between roadways in Bladensburg, Maryland.  The complaint (full text) in American Humanist Association v. Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission, (D MD, filed 2/25/2014) contends that the county's:

ownership, maintenance and prominent display on public property of the Bladensburg Cross amounts to the endorsement and advancement of religion (and, specifically, an endorsement of and affiliation with Christianity) in violation of the Establishment Clause.

American Humanist Association issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Universities In Crossfire Over Bibles In Hotel Rooms

Two state universities find themselves in the cross fire of rival advocacy groups over the issue of Gideon Bibles in the night stands at university hotels and conference centers.  The Blaze reported yesterday that after complaints by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Iowa State University's Hotel Memorial Union agreed to remove bibles from in-room night stands and place them instead in its downstairs library and reading room. The University of Wisconsin-Extension also agreed to remove bibles from guest rooms in its conference center. Now however Alliance Defending Freedom has told both universities that the 1st Amendment does not require them to remove the Bibles, and doing so amounts to viewpoint discrimination.

Greek Jews Sue Germany In European Court For Return of Ransom Paid To Nazis

AP reports that the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, Greece last week filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in a suit against Germany seeking to recover the $69 million in ransom paid in 1942 to Nazi occupiers for the release of thousands of Jewish men aged 18-45 who were forced as slave laborers to work on construction projects across Greece. Soon after their release, the city's entire Jewish population was sent to German death camps anyway. Greece's Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit last year on jurisdictional grounds.

Obama Criticizes Uganda President's Signing of Anti-Gay Law

As he said he would, yesterday Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a harsh Anti-Homosexuality bill. CNN reports that at the public signing of the bill, Museveni said he would not allow the West to impose its values on Uganda.  In response, the White House issued a statement (full text) reading in part:

Instead of standing on the side of freedom, justice, and equal rights for its people, today, regrettably, Ugandan President Museveni took Uganda a step backward by signing into law legislation criminalizing homosexuality.  As President Obama has said, this law is more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda, it reflects poorly on the country's commitment to protecting the human rights of its people and will undermine public health, including efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.... 

Court Rules That Illinois Same Sex Couples Can Wed Immediately In Cook County

In Lee v. Orr, (ND IL, Feb. 21, 2014), an Illinois federal district court, in a 4-page opinion, held that Illinois statutes barring same-sex marriages violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.  Illinois has already enacted a law allowing same-sex marriages, but that law does not take effect until June 1. (See prior posting.) In this decision, however, the court ruled that same-sex couples need not wait for June:

There is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry.

However because the suit was filed only against the Cook County Clerk, the court's decision applies only to marriage licenses issued by Cook County. The Chicago Tribune reports that same-sex couples began lining up for marriage licenses within an hour after the ruling was issued.