Religion & Law

Title VII Religious Institution Exemption Not Applicable To Harassment Claim

Posted on May 04, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Kennedy v. Villa St. Catherines, Inc., (D MD, April 30, 2010), a Maryland federal district court held that the exclusion in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that permits religious institutions to use religious criteria in their hiring does not prevent a suit under Title VII for religious harassment or for retaliation stemming from opposition to the harassment ...

Nominal Damages Awarded In ?Day of Truth? T-Shirt Case

Posted on May 04, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "Illinois federal district court last week issued yet another decision in the long running litigation against a suburban Chicago school district over its attempt to prevent two Christian students from wearing a T-shirt carrying the slogan "Be Happy, Not Gay" as their participation in 'Day of Truth,' an event set up to counter the LGBT 'Day of Silence' event ...

Short list gets shorter

Posted on May 04, 2010
SCOTUS Blog: "At the WSJ Law Blog, Ashby Jones writes that the ?short list? has been further narrowed to four: Kagan, Wood, Garland, and the Ninth Circuit?s Sidney Thomas."

Justice Scalia as campaign finance reform champion

Posted on May 04, 2010
Tom Goldstein writes at SCOTUS Blog: "But the Doe v. Reed argument identified an extremely strong fifth vote: Justice Scalia. In that argument, Justice Scalia expressed the strong view that disclosure requirements do not implicate significant First Amendment concerns...

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French opposition presents softened anti-veil bill

Posted on May 04, 2010
AP: "France's opposition Socialists have presented a bill that would ban Islamic face veils in places such as hospitals and banks."

Missouri Personhood Amendment fails to qualify for November ballot

Posted on May 04, 2010
LifeNews: "The personhood amendment has failed to qualify for the November ballot in another state. One week after California organizers announced the didn't get enough signatures, backers of the amendment in Missouri indicated they did not receive enough as well...

?Nebraska Group?s Evangelistic Rallies At Public Schools May Result In Lawsuit, Says Americans United?

Posted on May 04, 2010
AU: "Nebraska religious group that holds evangelistic rallies during the school day in public schools may be held legally liable for violating the Constitution, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In a letter today, Americans United warned officials ...

CA: Lancaster faces lawsuit against its policy of opening meetings with prayers

Posted on May 04, 2010
Contra Costa Times: "The City of Lancaster faces a lawsuit against the city council's policy of opening meetings with sectarian prayers. Plaintiffs Shelley Rubin and Maureen Feller filed suit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court asking a judge to prohibit 'any session of (the) city council to include a prayer wherein the name of Jesus Christ is invoked...

Patriarch: Faithful should have more children to repopulate Russia

Posted on May 04, 2010
Catholic Culture: "Russia?s population has declined by nearly 7 million since 1991."

Criminal conviction against Phoenix pastor sentenced for ringing church bells overturned

Posted on May 04, 2010
"The court reversed the conviction of Bishop Rick Painter of Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church in the wake of a federal court?s determination last month that the city noise ordinance under which he was convicted is unconstitutional when enforced against sounds generated in the course of religious expression, such as church bells...

ACLU Florida asks Crist to veto abortion bill

Posted on May 04, 2010
Miami Herald: "The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is asking Gov. Charlie Crist to veto a bill containing anti-abortion amendments they say affects the health of women. The ACLU said Tuesday the measure (HB 1143) would undermine women's rights ...

Traditional marriage proponents look at proposed same-sex marriage amendment

Posted on May 04, 2010
Gazette Online: "Bryan English, spokesman for Iowa Family Policy Center Action, said, if given the chance, he is 'quite convinced' the decision of Iowa voters on a proposed constitutional amendment would be similar to 31 other states that have affirmed marriage as only between one man and one woman...

Missouri House committee advances bill to expand informed consent on abortions

Posted on May 04, 2010
Kansascity.com: "The legislation would require that the consultation occur in person instead of over the phone and that women be given details about fetal development. Abortion providers also would have to give women a chance to see an ultrasound and listen to a heartbeat...

David French: Playing sexual politics with blood donation

Posted on May 04, 2010
ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: "San Jose State University has suspended all blood drives on campus. Why? Because the FDA bans donations from men who have sex with men. With some critical shortages in the local supply, at least those innocents who suffer from SJSU's decision can comfort themselves with the knowledge that they're (involuntarily) suffering for a cause...

Stanley Fish: When is a cross a cross?

Posted on May 04, 2010
Stanley Fish writing at the New York Times | The Opinionator: "It has become a formula: if you want to secure a role for religious symbols in the public sphere, you must de-religionize them, either by claiming for them a non-religious meaning as Kennedy does here, or, in the case of multiple symbols in a park or in front of a courthouse, by declaring that the fact of many of them means that no one of them is to be taken seriously; they don?t stand for anything sectarian; they stand for diversity...

UK: Ban council?s Christian prayers, say secularists

Posted on May 04, 2010
Christian Institute: "A secular campaign group is trying to use the courts to ban a North Devon Council from starting its meetings with Christian prayers. Bideford Town Council has had prayers at its meetings since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but now the National Secular Society (NSS) says the practice infringes the human rights of non-believers...

Workplace Religious Freedom bill finds revived interest

Posted on May 04, 2010
Beliefnet (RNS): "More than a decade after it was first introduced, an on-again off-again bill to protect employees' religious expression in the workplace is attracting renewed attention that could lead to action on Capitol Hill in coming weeks . . . If passed, the now narrowly tailored legislation would require employers to make reasonable accommodation in the three areas where the vast majority of religious accommodation claims fall: religious clothing, grooming, and scheduling of religious holidays...

Spain: Córdoba hosts High Level EU meeting on religious freedom

Posted on May 04, 2010
Think News: "Religious freedom and the prevention of religious extremism will be the main focus of a High Level EU meeting being held in the Palacio de Congresos in Córdoba today and tomorrow."

Nigeria: New law requires religious groups to disclose records

Posted on May 04, 2010
Next: "Religious organizations and other non-profit organizations working in Nigeria will soon be legally required to disclose their transactions and accounting records."

Malaysia top court hears landmark religious dispute

Posted on May 04, 2010
Reuters: "Malaysia's highest court began proceedings on Monday on a landmark inter-religious child custody dispute whose outcome could further raise political tension in this mainly Muslim country."

In Lebanon, a campaign to get God out of politics

Posted on May 04, 2010
TIME: "Demonstrations are hardly unusual in Lebanon, where politics is often conducted on the streets. But the few thousand people who gathered in Beirut on Sunday to march on the country's parliament made for an unusual sight, mostly because of what was missing...

Amnesty International: Lithuanian President must support ?gay pride? march

Posted on May 04, 2010
Amnesty International: "Amnesty International has called on the Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskaite, to ensure that the 2010 Baltic Pride march goes ahead on 8 May despite a new attempt to have it banned."

TV viewing delays development for babies: Study

Posted on May 04, 2010
Peter Hitchens writing at Mail Online: "The study found that for every extra hour of TV a week that the two-year-olds watched, there was a 6 per cent decrease in maths achievement, a 7 per cent decrease in classroom engagement and a 10 per cent increase in 'victimisation' (eg teasing, rejection and assault) by their peers...

Argentina: Archbishop reaffirms rejection of same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on May 04, 2010
Diario Digital De Santa Fe [Google Translation]: "The Archbishop of Santa Fe, Monsignor Jose Maria Arancedo, spoke against the bill to authorize marriage between persons of the same sex in Argentina and to be adopted in the Chamber of Deputies."

German minister: no need for burqa ban

Posted on May 04, 2010
Taiwan News (AP): "Germany's interior minister says he sees no need for a ban on full-body veils, or burqas, in the country . . . De Maziere says there are only some 100 women in Germany who wear a burqa so it is basically a non-issue here."

UK: Christian preacher arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin

Posted on May 03, 2010
Dale McAlpine was charged with causing ?harassment, alarm or distress? after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of ?sins? referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.

Connecticut attorney general probing Craigslist on paid-sex ads

Posted on May 03, 2010
Reuters: "Craigslist.com was subpoenaed on Monday by Connecticut's attorney general, who is investigating whether the popular online classified ad service is doing enough to quash prostitution on its site and whether it may be profiting from it . . . "

Transcending Ovaries: Toward Male Equality in the Abortion Debate

Posted on May 03, 2010
"Increasingly, pro-choice activists are noting the political downside of relegating men to second-class status in abortion discourse."

Poll of Ireland shows overwhelming support for continued abortion ban

Posted on May 03, 2010
CNA: "A survey of the Republic of Ireland shows that 70 percent of Irish people support the constitutional protection for the unborn, including the prohibition of abortion."

Hawaii House Sneaks Civil Unions Bill out of the Closet and into Law with Surprise Vote

Posted on May 03, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "However on Thursday, the very last day of the state?s legislative session, Rep. Blake Oshiro moved to revive the Senate bill. Instead of following the rules established for taking up the shelved bill, Speaker Calvin Say had the House take four votes to suspend those rules and pass the bill with just a majority...

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