Reporting On Cardinal Pell Conviction Is Examined

Get Religion published a piece today examining media coverage of the child sex abuse charges against Australia's Cardinal George Pell, as well as the outcome of his trial.  Reporter Julia Duin begins her report as follows:

I hadn’t been following the child abuse charges against Australian Cardinal Pell all that much because I assumed, based on the evidence, that they were somewhat plimsy and would never stick.

But they did — in a series of trials that are as odd as they come. At the heart of the proceedings there was a single witness and what appeared to be “recovered memories” of abuse. 

The end result? A cardinal is now in jail and a bunch of journalists have been handed the Aussie equivalent of contempt-of-court charges.

(See prior related posting.) Perth Now reports on Pell's appeal of his conviction.

Challenge To Treatment of Hinduism In California Curriculum Fails

In California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials v. Torlakson, (ND CA, Feb. 28, 2019), a California federal district court dismissed the claim that California public schools' History-Social Science Content Standards adopted in 1998 and its History-Social Science Framework adopted in 2016 violate the Establishment Clause by demonstrating hostility toward Hinduism.  Plaintiffs contended that the discussion of Hinduism only from a secular perspective, over-emphasis on the caste system, adoption of the Aryan Invasion Theory and the description of Hinduism's treatment of women all denigrate Hinduism. They also object to the input of SAFG, a group of academics who they describe as anti-Hindu. The court concluded however:

[E]ven if there is some evidence by which a reasonable person could infer a disapproval of Hindu religious beliefs—an excessive discussion of caste, for example, or a failure to be fully transparent about coordination with SAFG—that is not enough to conclude that the primary message of the Standards and Framework is disparagement.

Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Canadian Suit Challenges Failure of Hasidic Schools To Follow Provincial Curriculum

CBC reports that a trial date has been set for a year from now in a case filed in 2015 challenging the failure of Hasidic Jewish schools to comply with the curriculum set by education authorities in the Canadian province of Quebec. Plaintiff Yohanen Lowen and his wife Shifra allege that when Yohanen graduated high school at age 18, he could barely add and subtract, he could not read and write in English or French, and he was unequipped to find employment. The lawsuit was brought against both the Quebec Education Ministry and Hasidic schools in a secluded ultra-Orthodox community near Montreal.

9th Circuit: Suit Against FBI For Anti-Muslim Surveillance May Move Ahead

In Fazaga v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, (9th Cir., Feb. 28, 2019), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 103-page opinion held that three Muslim plaintiffs may move ahead with many of their claims growing out of an FBI investigation that they allege involved unlawful searches and anti-Muslim discrimination. The court in a lengthy summary of its holdings said in part:

Addressing plaintiffs’ claims arising from their allegations that they were targeted for surveillance solely because of their religion, the panel first held that the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment injunctive relief claims against the official-capacity defendants may go forward. Second, concerning plaintiffs’ Bivens claims seeking monetary damages directly under the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, the panel concluded that the Privacy Act and the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (“RFRA”), taken together, provided an alternative remedial scheme for some, but not all, of their Bivens claims....  Fourth, concerning plaintiffs’ claims that Agent Defendants and Government Defendants violated RFRA by substantially burdening plaintiffs’ exercise of religion, and did so without a compelling government interest without the least restrictive means, the panel held that it was not clearly established in 2006 or 2007 that defendants’ covert surveillance violated plaintiffs’ freedom of religion protected by RFRA. The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the RFRA claim as to the Agent Defendants because they were not on notice of a possible RFRA violation.

UPDATE: Los Angeles Times reports on the decision.

EU Court of Justice: Halal and Kosher Meat Cannot Be Sold As Organic Without Pre-Slaughter Stunning

In Œuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs (OABA) v. Ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, the Court of Justice of the European Union in a Grand Chamber opinion held that under EU regulations, the EU Organic logo cannot be used for animals which have been slaughtered in accordance with Halal or kosher religious rites without first being stunned.  A ruling by the Court of Justice had been requested by French authorities in a case involving a challenge to the marketing of Halal beef products as organic. The Court also issued a press release summarizing the decision.  The Independent, reporting on the decision, says that 88% of the animals slaughtered as Halal in Britain are stunned before slaughter. Kosher slaughter cannot use pre-slaughter stunning.

Missouri Bill Would Bar Anonymous Plaintiffs In Church-State Cases

Friendly Atheist reports on an interesting bill that has been introduced in the Missouri legislature.  House Bill 728 (full text) provides:

Except if the party in interest is a minor, in any action involving the separation of church and state, such action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest.

If enacted, the bill would prevent "John Doe" or "Jane Doe" plaintiffs in Establishment Clause challenges in state courts where the plaintiff is an adult. Suits are often filed under such pseudonyms when the plaintiff fears harassment from those who disagree with his or her position. A hearing has been held in the House on the bill, but it is not yet calendared for a vote.

SCOTUS Oral Argument Transcript In Bladensburg Cross Case Now Available

The transcript of today's full oral arguments in the Supreme Court in American Legion v. American Humanist Association is now available.

Missouri Supreme Court Rules On Transgender and Sex Stereotyping Discrimination

In R.M.A. v. Blue Springs R-IV School District, (MO Sup. Ct., Feb. 26, 2019), the Missouri Supreme Court in a 4-2 decision held that a transgender male middle-school student stated a claim for sex discrimination under Missouri's Human Rights Act when he alleged that he was not permitted to use the boys' restrooms or locker room.

In Lampley v. Frost, (MO Sup. Ct., Feb. 26, 2019), a case involving complicated procedural issues, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed and remanded a lower court's dismissal of a case in which a gay man claims harassment and retaliation at work.  As summarized in a Court press release:

Five judges agree the circuit court’s judgment should be reversed and the case remanded. Five judges agree the employees sufficiently stated a claim for sex discrimination under the state’s human rights act. Three agree the claims here were based on sex stereotyping rather than sexual orientation; two believe the Court should not have considered whether sex discrimination can be proved by evidence of sex stereotyping. Six judges agree it is unnecessary to reach the issue of whether the state’s act covers claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation; one would hold the act does not extend to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

St. Louis Post Dispatch reports on the decision.

United Methodist Church Risks Split Over Position On LBTQ Ordination and Marriage

HuffPost reports that the United Methodist Church will likely break apart after a close vote yesterday at its 2019 General Conference on LGBTQ roles in the Church. As reported by United Methodist News Service, the delegates adopted the so-called "Traditional Plan" by a vote of 438 to 384.  This plan continues the Church's ban on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and the prohibition on officiating at or hosting same-sex weddings. The opposing "One Church Plan" was defeated by a vote of  449 to 374.  It would have allowed ordination LGBTQ pastors, and allowed, but not required, churches to host and pastors to officiate at same-sex marriages.  Later, by a vote of 405 to 395, the Conference asked the Church's Judicial Council to rule on the constitutionality of the Traditional Plan at its scheduled April meeting.

In South Africa, Funeral Homes Sue Church Over Fake Resurrection

In Johannesburg, South Africa, three funeral parlors have filed suit for reputational damage against Alleluia Ministries International leader Prophet Alph Lukau claiming that he used their hearse to carry out a hoax in which he purported to resurrect a dead person. According to news reports yesterday, church representative tricked the funeral homes into providing a coffin and transportation for the supposed body.  Video of the purported resurrection went viral after it was placed on the church's social media sites. The Star further reports:

Lukau had claimed that a man, whom he referred to as Elliot, died on Friday, and was on his way to Zimbabwe on Sunday before the pastor brought him back to life.

Meanwhile, snaking queues of people from as far as the US and the Caribbean waited to buy “holy oil” and “prophetic salt”....

The funeral parlors have also filed police complaints.

Buffalo Diocese Sued By Sex Abuse Victim For $300 Million

WGRZ News reported Monday that the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York has been sued for $300 million by a woman who says that she was sexually abused between 1978 and 1981 by the priest who was her high school science teacher.  The accused abuser, Rev. Mark Andrzejczuk, who died in 2011 was a member of a Franciscan order which is also named as a defendant.  New York's recently passed Child Victims Act opened the way for Gail Holler-Kennedy to file the suit.

Supreme Court Will Hear Oral Arguments Today In Bladensburg Cross Case

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in American Legion v. American Humanist Association.  In the case, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, held that the 40-foot high Bladensburg Cross that has stood for over 90 years as a World War I Veterans' Memorial, violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) The Circuit Court, by a vote of 8-6, then denied en banc review. (See prior posting). Some 47 amicus briefs have been filed in the case. Here is the SCOTUS blog case page for the case, with links to the briefs, other filings and commentary.  I will post the full transcript of today's oral arguments when it becomes available, probably this afternoon.

Australian Court Convicts Cardinal Pell On Child Sex Abuse Charges

With the lifting today of a gag order that had been imposed by Australian courts,  NPR reports on the conviction last December of Australian Catholic Cardinal George Pell on five counts of historical child sexual offenses dating back decades.  Pell, now 77, once served as Archbishop in Melbourne. Pell had been a top advisor on the Vatican's budget to Pope Francis. He was removed from the College of Cardinals last October. Pell will be sentenced tomorrow. (Reports had surfaced outside of Australia last December of the conviction.)  [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Egypt Will Build Synagogues For Any Resurgent Jewish Community

Jerusalem Post and JTA report that Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a U.S. delegation last week that if a Jewish community is re-established in Egypt, the government will build synagogues and communal institutions for it. Sisi also promised to clean up the ancient Bassatine  Jewish Cemetery in Cairo.  The U.S. delegation was comprised of members of the Anwar Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Commission, which had obtained passage of a law to posthumously grant the late Egyptian President Anway Sadat the Congressional Gold Medal.  The delegation invited Sisi to attend the award ceremony this fall.  Earlier this month the United Arab Emirates formally recognized its small Jewish community.

European Court: Romania's Conviction of Dismissed Clergy For Conducting Services Violated Religious Protections

Law & Religion UK reports at length on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights  In Tothpal and Szabo v Romania, (ECHR, Feb. 19, 2019) (full text of opinion in French).  In the case, the Court held that Romania had violated Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) when it convicted a Lutheran pastor and a Reformed Church minister of acting as clerics without authorization of their respective churches.  In each case, the clergyman had been dismissed from his position with his congregation, but continued to conduct religious services for some of the congregation members who disagreed with their dismissals.  The Court issued an English language press release summarizing the decision.

HHS Issues Final Rule Changes For Title X Family Planning Programs

In a 312-page release (full text) issued on Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services issued final rules revising regulation of its Title X family planning program. The new rules are scheduled to take effect 60 days after their publication in the Federal Register.  According to the release:

This rule ... will ensure compliance with, and enhance implementation of, the statutory requirement that none of the funds appropriated for Title X may be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning, as well as related statutory requirements.....  The rule also clarifies that provision of family planning services under Title X may be available under the good reason exception at the discretion of the project director for women denied coverage for contraceptives if the sponsor of their health plan exercises a religious or moral exemption recognized by the Department.

The new rules, according to Politico:

could effectively cut off tens of millions of federal family planning dollars to Planned Parenthood and steer some of that funding towards anti-abortion, faith-based care providers....

It would ... bar Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that accept the funding from making any abortion referrals or performing abortions — regardless of the funding source — at the same facilities where they provide Title X services like birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings.

One of the rule changes eliminates the requirement that Title X programs provide abortion referral if requested.  The release says that this requirement conflicted with statutes protecting conscience in health care. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Ronald J. Rychlak, Book Review: András Fejérdy, Editor, the Vatican “Ostpolitik” 1958–1978: Responsibility and Witness During John XXIII and Paul VI, (22 Catholic Social Science Review).
• Michael O. Leavitt, Shared Spaces and Brave Gambles, in Religious Freedom, (Chapter 33 in Religious Freedom, LGBT Rights and the Prospects for Common Ground (William N. Eskridge & Robin Fretwell Wilson, eds.), 2018).
• J. Stuart Adams, Cultivating Common Ground: Lessons from Utah for Living With Our Differences, (Chapter 32,Religious Freedom, LGBT Rights and the Prospects for Common Ground (William N. Eskridge & Robin Fretwell Wilson, eds., 2018).
• Elder Von G. Keetch, Toward Collaboration: A Perspective from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Chapter 14 in Religious Freedom, LGBT Rights and the Prospects for Common Ground(William N. Eskridge & Robin Fretwell Wilson,eds. 2018).
• Adrienne Stone, Viewpoint Discrimination, Hate Speech Law and the Double-Sided Nature of Freedom of Speech, (Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2017, 687-696).
• Tarunabh Khaitan, The Point of Discrimination Law, (The Empire of Disgust: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Policy in India and the US (Martha Nussbaum, Zoya Hasan, Aziz Huq, Vidhu Verma eds, OUP 2018)).

Pope Francis Addresses Bishops' Summit On Protection of Minors

New York Times reports today:

Pope Francis ended a landmark Vatican meeting on clerical sexual abuse with an appeal “for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors,” which he compared to human sacrifice, but his speech did not offer concrete policy remedies demanded by many of the faithful.

Zenit has both extensive excerpts and the full text of the Pope's remarks ending the Summit on the Protection of Minors in the Church, Feb. 21-24, 2019 attended by some 190 bishops.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Maye v. Klee, (6th Cir., Feb. 14, 2019), the 6th Circuit denied qualified immunity to prison officials who refused to allow Nation of Islam members participate in the prison's Eid al-Fitr celebration.

In Whitney v. Furgerson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21818 (MD PA, Feb. 8, 2019), a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended that an inmate's complaint that he was not allowed to purchase or carry beads or cowry shells should be dismissed without prejudice for improper joinder with other claims and of defendants.

In Hall v. Hamilton, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22238 (WD NC, Feb. 11, 2019), a North Carolina federal district court allowed a Muslim inmate to move ahead with his complaint that inmates are required to go to the showers only in boxers while his religion requires him to be clad from waist to ankles.

In Rodriguez v. Dzurenda, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23164 (D NV, Feb. 13, 2019), a Nevada federal district court adopted a magistrate's recommendation (2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221326, Dec. 17, 2018) and refused to issue a preliminary injunction to require prison authorities to formally recognize Satanism and allow practice of the faith.

In Collins v. Brockbridge Correctional Facility, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23207 (D MD, Feb. 12, 2019), a Maryland federal district court dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies an inmate's claim that strip searches violated his religious freedom rights.

In Shields v. Khan, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23761 (SD CA, Feb. 13, 2019), a California federal magistrate judge recommended that a Muslim inmate be allowed to move ahead with his complaint that his name was removed from the Ramadan list.

In Tatum v. Lucas, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25020 (ED WI, Feb. 15, 2019), a Wisconsin federal district court dismissed a Nation of Islam inmate's complaint that he did not receive a meatless diet and that correctional officers mocked his religious beliefs.

Christian School May Use Oregon's Religious Exemption To Reject Jewish Faculty Applicant

In King v. Warner Pacific College, (OR App, Feb. 21, 2019), an Oregon state appellate court held that a Christian college's refusal to hire a Jewish applicant for a position as adjunct professor of psychology falls within the religious preference exemption to Oregon's non-discrimination law.  ORS 659A.006(4)provides:

It is not an unlawful employment practice for a bona fide ... religious institution, including ... a school... to prefer an employee, or an applicant for employment, of one religious sect or persuasion over another if:  (a) The religious sect or persuasion to which the employee or applicant belongs is the same as that of the ... institution; ... [and]  (c) The employment involved is closely connected with or related to the primary purposes of the ... institution....

The court held that the exemption allows the school to reject a non-Christian applicant and await a later hiring cycle to fill the position, or to assign the work to an existing Christian employee.  A majority of the judges also held that this particular faculty position met the requirement of being closely connected to the school's religious purpose.