Religion & Law

Sri Lanka Charges Muslim Convert With Insulting Buddhism By Publishing Books

Posted on May 17, 2010
On Friday, the British-based Islamic Human Rights Commission reported on the upcoming trial in Sri Lanka of Sarah Malanie Perera, a Sri Lankan national who lives in Bahrain. While she was vacationing in Sri Lanka in March, she was detained by the Ministry of Defense under special emergency laws and charged with offending Buddhism...

Christian Group Launches 8th Annual Campaign To Encourage Graduation Prayer

Posted on May 17, 2010
Last week, Liberty Counsel announced that it was launching its 8th annual "Friend or Foe" Graduation Prayer Campaign. Again this year it is distributing its 8-page Legal Memorandum on Graduation Prayers in Public Schools setting out its understanding of legal precedent that still permits prayers by speakers who truly initiate prayer on their own after being chosen to speak...

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

Posted on May 17, 2010
From SSRN:Steven Lubet, Why the Dreyfus Affair Does and Doesn't Matter, (Green Bag, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 331, 2010).Timothy Stewart-Winter & Simon Stern, Picturing Same-Sex Marriage in the Antebellum United States: The Union of 'Two Most Excellent Men' in Longstreet's 'A Sage Conversation', (Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol...

Texas Board of Education Member Will Propose New Establishment Clause Focus In Social Studies

Posted on May 16, 2010
This week, the Texas State Board of Education resumes deliberations on revisions to the state's social studies curriculum. In March, the Board approved a number of changes that will require more conservative approaches to history and economics. (See prior posting...

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Arizona Governor Signs Bill Giving New Religious Land Use Protections

Posted on May 16, 2010
The Arizona Republic reports that Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday signed House Bill 2596 that gives added protections from land use regulations to religious institutions. It prohibits zoning regulations that impose an unreasonable burden on the exercise of religion, even if the government has a compelling interest, unless the proposed religious exercise violates religion-neutral zoning standards in effect when the zoning application was made; there are toxic hazards on adjacent property; or a suitable alternative location is available...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on May 16, 2010
In Colvin v. Caruso, (6th Cir., May 13, 2010), a Jewish inmate sued officials in a prior facility in which he had been housed for denying him kosher meals for 16 days, thereafter on various occasions inadvertently serving him non-kosher food. He also challenged the lack of Jewish services and literature...

Holder Testifies About Religious-Based Hiring By Funded Faith-Based Groups

Posted on May 16, 2010
The Obama administration has so far not announced an official position on whether it would continue the Bush Administration policy that allowed social-service groups receiving federal faith-based funding to apply religious criteria in hiring. Last Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder, in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee (after his prepared statement), answered questions from Rep...

Patriarchate In Republic of Georgia Wants Legislation To Protect Against Religious Insult

Posted on May 15, 2010
Today's Georgian Times reports that the Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church in the Republic of Georgia has called on the government to enact legislation to protect the religious feelings of the population. The Patriarchate's statement stems from an incident last week at a televised debate over the book Saidumlo Siroba-- a collection of stories about incest, blasphemy and the like...

6th Circuit Denies Motions To File Amicus Briefs In Ministerial Exception Rehearing Bid

Posted on May 15, 2010
In March, the 6th Circuit in EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School held that parochial school teachers who teach primarily secular subjects are covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act. (See prior posting.) The court reasoned that they are not "ministerial employees" who are excepted from coverage...

Canadian Court Hearing Arguments On Conscience Rights For Marriage Commissioners

Posted on May 14, 2010
Today's Vancouver Sun reports that for the first time in 20 years, the government of Canada's province of Saskatchewan has invoked the Constitutional Questions Act to obtain an opinion from the Court of Appeal on the constitutionality of proposed legislation...

Malaysian Woman Challenges Ban On Non-Muslim Lawyers Practicing In Syariah Court

Posted on May 14, 2010
In Malaysia, Victoria Jayaseele Martin, a non-Muslim woman who earned a Diploma in Syariah Law and Practice in 2004 from the International Islamic University Malaysia, is challenging the requirement imposed by the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur that only Muslims can be admitted to practice before its Syariah Court...

Vermont Catholic Diocese Settles All Past Clergy Abuse Lawsuits For Over $20M

Posted on May 14, 2010
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, the diocese that covers the state of Vermont, has settled the 26 pending clergy sex abuse cases that have been filed against the Diocese for a total of $17.65 million. Three other cases that have gone to trial and are currently on appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court were also settled for undisclosed amounts-- said by Barre Montpielier (VT) Times Argus to total at least $3 million...

Debate Over Permitting Stores To Open On Holidays Becomes Contentious

Posted on May 14, 2010
In Canada, Toronto's City Council voted to defer further discussion of a proposed amendment that would allow all retail stores to remain open 365 days per year. Yesterday's Toronto Globe & Mail reports that the proposal was put forward by Council's economic development committee in order to equalize the playing field for all retailers...

11th Circuit: Muslim's Employment Discrimination Claim Not Supported

Posted on May 14, 2010
In MackMuhammad v. Cagle's Inc., (11th Cir., May 12, 2010), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a religious discrimination in employment and hostile work environment suit brought by a Muslim man who was rejected for a superintendent's position at a poultry plant...

Split 6th Circuit Panel Denies Rehearing In 10 Commandments Case

Posted on May 14, 2010
In a 2-1 decision issued in January, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a "Foundations of American Law and Government" display (including the 10 Commandments) that had bee placed in the Grayson County, Kentucky courthouse...

Two Clergy Sexual Abuse Cases Filed In Florida

Posted on May 13, 2010
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that a new clergy abuse lawsuit was filed yesterday in Orange County, Florida against the Catholic Diocese of Orlando and the Diocese of Gary, Indiana. It accuses former priest Richard Emerson, who was on temporary assignment from Indiana, of abusing the plaintiff in the late 1980's and early 1990's...

Anonymous Letter Claims To Be From Veteran Who Stole Sunrise Rock Cross

Posted on May 13, 2010
Yesterday's Barstow, California Desert Dispatch published an anonymous letter claiming to explain the theft earlier this week of the Cross on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave National Preserve World War I memorial. (See prior posting.) The newspaper, which said it could not verify the validity of the letter, reported it was transmitted by an anonymous caller who claimed it was written by the person directly responsible for the theft...

Remedies Imposed In Muslim Charity's Challenge To Terrorist Designation

Posted on May 13, 2010
In KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner, (ND OH, May 10, 2010), an Ohio federal district court issued an opinion on the appropriate remedy in a Muslim charity's challenge to the procedures used by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in designating the charity a Global Terrorist Group...

NGO's Oppose 5 Countries Running For Seats On UN Human Rights Council

Posted on May 13, 2010
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled today to elect 14 new members to the 47-member Human Rights Council. UN Watch reports that human rights groups are calling on UN members to reject 5 of the 14 countries that are running unopposed. They say that Libya, Angola, Mauritania, Qatar and Malaysia all have poor human rights records...

New York Church Designated As Landmark Over Leaders' Objections

Posted on May 13, 2010
New York City Council yesterday approved landmark designation for the historic West Park Presbyterian Church at Amsterdam Ave. and 86th St. According to the New York Times, preservationists have waged a 20-year battle to save the Romanesque Revival building which has been closed for two years because of physical deterioration...

Evangelicals Call For "Just Assimilation" Immigration Policy

Posted on May 13, 2010
A Statement (full text) released om Tuesday and signed by six leading evangelical leaders calls for a "just assimilation immigration policy." It says in part: We must first secure our borders before we can implement a broader just assimilation immigration policy...

New Details of Elena Kagan's Bat Mitzvah Are Revealed

Posted on May 13, 2010
The New York Times published details yesterday of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's campaign as a 12-year girl old for more women's equality in Jewish religious life. Kagan's family belonged to the Orthodox, but progressive, Lincoln Square Synagogue, headed at that time by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin...

Court Refuses To Dismiss Chabad's Claims Against Historic Commission Members

Posted on May 12, 2010
In Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County v. Borough of Lichtfield, Connecticut, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45677 (D CT, May 7, 2010), a Connecticut federal district court held that a town and its Historic District Commission lack standing to move to dismiss civil rights claims brought against three members of the Historic District Commission in their individual capacities...

British Police Recognize Pagan Officers Association

Posted on May 12, 2010
According to yesterday's London Times, Britain's Home Office has formally recognized the Pagan Police Association as a "diversity staff support organization." This means that Pagan police officers will be allowed to take off Pagan holidays as part of their annual leave...

Town's Emergency 911 Prayer Group Helps As Bad Weather Threatens

Posted on May 12, 2010
Yesterday's Tulsa World reports that in Miami, Oklahoma, ten churches participate in an Emergency 911 prayer group set up by the city's emergency management coordinator, and approved by its city manager, two years ago. The group was activated on Monday when forecasters said there was a threat of severe thunder storms...

Indian Tribe Now Excluded From Sacred Site In California Marine Life Protection Initiative

Posted on May 12, 2010
Under California's Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, new regulations that became effective on May 1 set aside 21 Marine Protected Areas. The San Francisco Bay Independent Media Center yesterday reported that on April 30, Native American tribal leaders held a ceremony to bless a site that is sacred to the Kashia Tribe of Pomo Indians who are now excluded from gathering seaweed and fishing in the area...

French Parliament Adopts Non-Binding Resolution Opposing the Burqa

Posted on May 12, 2010
In another step toward outlawing the wearing of the burqa in France, yesterday the French National Assembly, the country's Parliament, adopted by a vote of 434-0 a non-binding resolution declaring that "radical practices which violate the dignity and equality between men and women, such as the wearing of the full veil, are contrary to the values of the republic...

Muslim Police Officer's Religious Discrimination Claim Dismissed

Posted on May 12, 2010
In Wallace v. City of Philadelphia, (ED PA, April 26, 2010), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that a Muslim police officer's request to wear his beard longer than permitted by police department policy could not be reasonably accommodated without imposing an undue burden on the city...

Protesters Prevent Cartoonist Vilks From Completing Talk On Art and Free Speech at Uppsala University

Posted on May 12, 2010
The Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks was prevented by protesters from completing a lecture on art and free speech at Sweden's Uppsala University yesterday. Vilks' 2007 depiction of the head of the Prophet Muhammad on the body of a dog resulted in protests and death threats...

Religious Advocacy Groups Issue Statements On Kagan Nomination

Posted on May 11, 2010
A number of religious advocacy groups have issued statements commenting on President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Baptist Joint Committee said it hopes Kagan, if confirmed, "will protect our most fundamental freedom ? religious freedom ? with a commitment to principles of both no establishment and free exercise embodied in our 'first freedom'...

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