Religion & Law

Canadian Town's Public Schools-- All Catholic-- Do Not Offer Secular Alternative

Posted on March 09, 2011
All the schools in the Canadian town of Morinville, Alberta (near Edmonton) are government supported Catholic schools. Yesterday's Toronto Globe and Mail reports that some parent are complaining about the lack of a secular alternative.  Alberta law permits parents to take their children out of religion classes...

British Tribunal Rules Anti-Hunting Beliefs Protected Under Employment Discrimination Regulations

Posted on March 09, 2011
Britain's  Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (Sec. 2) include "philosophical belief" in the definition of religion or belief. Yesterday's London Telegraph reports that an employment tribunal judge has ruled that the anti-hunting view of activist Joe Hashman are protected under the law's employment discrimination prohibitions...

House Hearing on Radicalization of U.S. Muslims Will Stream Live Thursday Morning

Posted on March 09, 2011
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King's controversial hearing on The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 10.  The hearing will be streamed live from this committee website...

Suit Charges University of California With Tolerating Dangerous Anti-Semitic Climate

Posted on March 08, 2011
Today's Daily Californian reports on a lawsuit filed in a California federal district court by a UC Berkeley graduate against Berkeley and the University system over a series of anti-Semitic incidents.  The lawsuit was filed by Jessica Felber who was co-president of Tikvah, the campus Zionist group...

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Students Protest Removal of 10 Commandments From Schools

Posted on March 08, 2011
In response to the decision taken last month by the Giles County, Virginia school board to remove copies of the Ten Commandments that had hung in the county's schools for many years (see prior posting), 200 high school students staged a protest.  WDBJ News reports that yesterday the students marched out of Giles High School where they were met by parents and community leaders...

Cert. Denied In Challenge To "In God We Trust" Motto

Posted on March 08, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied review in Newdow v. Lefevre, (Docket No. 10-893, cert. denied 3/7/2011). (Order List.) In the case, the 9th Circuit rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to the inscription of "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins and currency...

Kentucky Appeals Court Upholds Billboard Limits Applied To Religious Messages

Posted on March 08, 2011
In Harston v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, (KY App., March 4, 2011), the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the application of the permit requirements of Kentucky's Billboard Advertising Act to several billboards carrying religious messages that were placed within 660 feet of an Interstate highway...

EEOC Sues Over Failure To Accommodate Sabbath Observance of Job Applicant

Posted on March 08, 2011
The EEOC announced last week that it has filed a Title VII employment discrimination suit against Convergys Corp. ewhich refused to hire a member of the Hebrew Israelite faith who was unable to work on his Sabbath.  The EEOC says the company should be able to accommodate applicant Shannon Fantroy's request not to work from sunup to sundown on Saturday since he would be woking at a large call center...

Montana Supreme Court Stays Order Requiring Surgery Over Woman's Religious Objections

Posted on March 07, 2011
The Montana Supreme Court last week ordered a stay and expedited appeal of a trial court's order that a woman with cancer undergo surgery despite her religious objections. In Office of State Public Defender on Behalf of L.K. v. Montana Fourth Judicial District Court, (MT Sup...

White House Advisor Reassures US Muslims In Advance of Congressional Hearing on Radicalization

Posted on March 07, 2011
In advance of Thursday's scheduled hearings by the House Homeland Security Committee chairman Pete King (R-NY) on radicalization of American Muslims (see prior posting), the White House is seeking to reassure Muslims.  The New York Times reports that Dennis McDonough, White House deputy national security adviser, yesterday delivered an important speech at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (the Adams Center) in Sterling, Virginia...

Recent Articles Of Interest

Posted on March 07, 2011
From SSRN:Rafael Palomino, Legal Dimensions of Secularism: Challenges and Problems, (17th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, October 3-5, 2010).Adam Farra, Theories of Discrimination and Gay Marriage, (Maryland Law Review Endnotes, Vol...

Supreme Court Denies Review In Student Organization Funding Case

Posted on March 07, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Walsh v. Badger Catholic, Inc., (Docket No. 10-731, cert. denied 3/7/2011). (Order List). In the case, the 7th Circuit in a 2-1 decision invalidated a University of Wisconsin policy that withheld student activity fee funding for worship, proselytizing or religious instruction by recognized student groups...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on March 06, 2011
In Brown v. Secretary, Department of Corrections, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19207 (MD FL, Feb. 25, 2011), a Florida federal district court rejected an inmate's free exercise and equal protection challenges to the failure to provide services for Nation of Islam inmates separate from Muslim services...

2011 White House Easter Egg Roll Set

Posted on March 06, 2011
The White House announced Friday that this year's White House Easter Egg Roll will be held on April 25.  The theme will be "Get Up and Go!"  Activities will encourage children to lead a healthy and active life style. Tickets will be distributed through an online lottery system to children 12 and under and their families...

Church Dispute Dismissed To Keep Court Out of Deciding Church Doctrine and Governance

Posted on March 05, 2011
In Retta v. Mekonnen, (TX App., March 3, 2011), the Texas Court of Appeals dissolved a temporary injunction that had been issued by a Dallas trial court. The appeals court concluded that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction because the dispute requires the determination of religious doctrine and church governance...

Speaker Moves To Have House of Representatives Defend DOMA In Court

Posted on March 05, 2011
House Speaker John Boehner announced Friday that he was taking steps to have the House of Representatives intervene to defend the Defense of Marriage Act now that the President and the Attorney General have said that the Administration will not defend its constitutionality in court...

Clergy Group Supports Proposed Colorado Civil Unions Bill

Posted on March 04, 2011
With the first hearings set for Monday in the Colorado Senate on Senate Bill 172 that would permit same-sex civil unions, a group of 130 clergy have announced their support for the bill. A KWGN News report yesterday quotes Rabbi Joe Black, one of three leaders from different faiths representing the bill's supporters, who said:You're going to be hearing opposition to this bill from faith communities...

Indonesian Provinces Place New Restrictions on Ahmadiyah

Posted on March 04, 2011
In Indonesia, the governor of the province of West Java yesterday issued a gubernatorial regulation (No. 12 of 2011) banning all public activities by the 17,000 members of the Ahmadiyah sect in the province.  Today's Jakarta Globe reports that the action is seen as implementing an Indonesian 2008 joint ministerial decree that bars the Ahmadiyah from spreading their faith...

Military Backs Off Equal Support For Non-Religious Rock Concert

Posted on March 04, 2011
Last September, the U.S. Army base at Ft. Bragg (NC) hosted the controversial "Rock the Fort" concert sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  Groups such as Americans United complained that the concert was designed to proselytize soldiers and community members...

Fired Prison Chaplain Settles Her Claim Against Minnesota

Posted on March 04, 2011
Yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a settlement that has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a former Minnesota prison chaplain who says she was fired for speaking out against the state's use of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative program which she believed would violate the Establishment Clause by promoting evangelical Christianity...

New York City Passes Law Requiring Disclosures By Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Posted on March 03, 2011
The New York Times reports that yesterday New York City Council passed Int. No. 371 which requires crisis pregnancy centers that do not provide abortion or contraceptive services to disclose these facts (in Spanish and English) on a sign in their waiting room, on their website and in any ads...

Suit Challenges Prayer At Vermont Town Meeting

Posted on March 03, 2011
The ACLU of Vermont reported yesterday that it has filed suit in state court on behalf of a resident of Franklin, Vermont challenging the town's practice of incorporating a Christian prayer as part of the annual town meeting at  which town officers are elected and other public business conducted...

In Turkey, Minority Religious Groups Face Obstacles In Opening Places of Worship

Posted on March 03, 2011
Forum 18 reported yesterday on the continuing problems faced by minority religious communities in Turkey in establishing and maintaining formally recognized places of worship. The most significant problem is that of the large Alevi community who want their cemevi to be formally recognized by the state as houses of worship...

Amendments Proposed To Kentucky Anti-Bullying Bill To Protect Anti-Gay Language

Posted on March 03, 2011
Last month, six members of Kentucky's House of Representatives introduced HB 370, a bill that would require school discipline codes to prohibit bullying and cyberbullying directed at a student's race; religion; national origin; ancestry or ethnicity; sexual orientation; physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability;  gender; gender identity and expression; or other distinguishing personal characteristic...

Plaintiffs Lack Standing To Challenge Procedure For Omitting Social Security Numbers In Drivers Licence Applications

Posted on March 03, 2011
In Baer-Stefanov v. White, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19139 (ND IL, Feb. 25, 2011), an Illinois federal district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to provisions in Illinois' drivers license law that set up procedures for obtaining a religious exemption so an applicant can obtain a license without furnishing a social security number...

Designer Galliano To Be Charged By French Prosecutors Over Anti-Semitic Statements

Posted on March 03, 2011
Fashion designer John Galliano, fired by Christian Dior for making anti-Semitic remarks during an argument at a Paris bar (background), will be placed on trial by French authorities on charges of inciting racial hatred. Yesterday's New York Times reports that the trial which will take place between April and June could lead to $31,000 (US) in fines and up to six months in prison...

White House Faith-Based Office Hosts Conversation On Support For Military Families and Veterans

Posted on March 02, 2011
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships yesterday described a meeting it hosted last week exploring ways in which congregations and faith- and community-based organizations can support military families and veterans.  Representatives of local and national groups joined representatives from the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments and the First Lady's Office in a four hour conversation aimed at expanding available tools.

7th Circuit Upholds Injunction Permitting "Be Happy, Not Gay" Slogan on Student Clothing

Posted on March 02, 2011
In Zamecnik v. Indian Prairie School District #204, (7th Cir., March 1, 2011), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial court's entry of a permanent injunction permitting any student at a Naperville, Illinois high school  to display on clothing or personal items the slogan "Be Happy, Not Gay...

Archbishop Speaks On U.S. Church-State Principles As Model For Other Countries

Posted on March 02, 2011
Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput yesterday delivered an interesting keynote address (full text) at a Georgetown University conference on "Religion in American Politics: A Model for Other Countries?". Here are some excerpts from the talk which Chaput said emerged from his experience on the U...

Pakistani Cabinet Member Assassinated Over His Opposition To Blasphemy Law

Posted on March 02, 2011
CNN reports that Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister of minority affairs, was assassinated today.  The Taliban claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan's cabinet.  A Taliban spokesman said that the assassination "is a message to all of those who are against Pakistan's blasphemy laws...

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