Religion & Law

Orthodox Jewish Medics Say Volunteer Fire Company Refused Accommodation

Posted on December 25, 2009
According to yesterday's Baltimore Sun, three medics who are Orthodox Jew, have filed complaints with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations and the U.S. EEOC, complaining that the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Co. has been unwilling to permit them to ride on emergency calls...

11th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Challenge To Park Rules Limiting Feeding the Poor

Posted on December 24, 2009
Last Thursday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in First Vagabonds Church of God v. City of Orlando. In the case, a Florida federal district court found that Orlando's Large Group Feeding Ordinance violates the speech rights of an activist group that feeds the poor and infringes the free exercise rights of a church that holds Sunday services, including the sharing of food, in a downtown city park...

2nd Circuit: World Trade Center Recovery Did Not Violate Free Exercise Rights

Posted on December 24, 2009
In World Trade Center Families for Proper Burial, Inc. v. City of New York, (2d Cir., Dec. 23, 2009), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an attempt by families of 9/11 victims to force New York City to reclaim the finely-sifted residue of the World Trade Center debris now at the City's Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island and move it to a more suitable location, and to create a cemetery for the 1,100 who perished without identifiable remains...

Police Protect Atheist Sign In Illinois Capitol

Posted on December 24, 2009
Next to the Christmas tree and near a nativity scene in the Illinois State Capitol Building, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has placed a sign reading: At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell...

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Rifqa Bary Case Moves Ahead As Her Lawyers Wait For Her To Turn 18

Posted on December 24, 2009
There have been new developments in the case of Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenager who fled from her parents' home to a pastor in Florida, saying she feared her father would kill her because she had converted from Islam to Christianity. The 17-year old girl is now in foster care in Ohio...

Airline Settles With EEOC Over Failure To Grant Religious Accommodation

Posted on December 24, 2009
Yesterday's Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports that Mesaba Airlines (a subsidiary of Delta) has settled a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. A federal district court judge in Milwaukee on Tuesday approved a $130,000 settlement in the suit brought on behalf of five individuals who were refused accommodations of their religious beliefs...

County Reverses Order On Removing Stars and Angels From Christmas Trees

Posted on December 24, 2009
Bowing to a storm of criticism from around the world, Acting Sonoma County (California) Administrator Chris Thomas yesterday rescinded his request that stars and angels be removed from Christmas trees in county buildings. (See prior posting.) The original ban was put in place after a complaint by an activist who has a long history of opposing government use of religious symbols...

"War on Christmas" Subsides

Posted on December 23, 2009
An interesting article in Canada's National Post yesterday documents the reduced intensity of the this year's "War on Christmas" in the United States: Because the furor was media-driven in the first place, media mentions seem as good a metric as any. After 2005, Google Trends shows a continuous decline in searches for and mentions of the "war on Christmas...

Baghdad Conference Focuses On Future of Iraqi Christians

Posted on December 23, 2009
AINA this week reported on a conference held in Baghdad on Dec. 11-12 to discuss the future of Iraq's Christian community. Attended by over 120 leaders of Christian groups and former and current government officials, the conference made dozens of recommendations, mostly to the government of Iraq, but some to Kurdistan, the UN, the international community and Iraqi Christians themselves...

Defendant Gets Light Sentence From Tribal Court For Bald Eagle Act Violation

Posted on December 23, 2009
As previously reported, the long-running prosecution of Winslow Friday, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, charged with killing a bald eagle so he could use it in his tribe's Sun Dance, was transferred to a tribal court. In the case, the 10th Circuit rejected Friday's challenge to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the Supreme Court denied cert...

Obama Gives Christmas Message To Children At D.C. Boys and Girls Club

Posted on December 23, 2009
On Monday, President Obama visited a Boys and Girls Club in Washington, D.C. and gave the children present a largely religious-themed message about Christmas. The White House has posted his remarks and the response by the children listening. Here is part of it: THE PRESIDENT: I think one thing that's important to remember is that, even though there's a lot of fun at Christmas, you know, you got -- especially when it's snowy like this, so it's pretty outside, you got the Christmas tree, you got the Christmas cookies, you've got presents...

Ethnic Limits For Political Positions In Bosnian Constitution Struck Down By European Court

Posted on December 23, 2009
Yesterday the European Court of Human Rights in Sejdic and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled that the provisions in the Bosnian Constitution that limit seats in the lower house of Parliament, and the country's Presidency to Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs violate the European Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms...

Attorney Claims Religious Rights of Ft. Hood Shooting Suspect Are Being Infringed

Posted on December 23, 2009
According to Monday's San Antonio Express News, the attorney for accused Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan says that his client's free exercise rights are being infringed. The Muslim psychiatrist who is charged with killing 13 is subject to pre-trial conditions that require him to speak only in English with his visitors at Brooke Army Medical Center or in phone calls, unless an Army-approved translator is present...

Cuban Cardinal Will Give Christmas Message On State TV

Posted on December 23, 2009
AP reported yesterday on a new sign of the improving relationship between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church. For the second year in a row, Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega will read a Christmas message on state television. His message will include thanks for the U...

Vatican Will Require Permission For Use of Pope's Name, Photo, Coat of Arms

Posted on December 23, 2009
Zenit reports that the Vatican issued an announcement Saturday indicating that the Holy See will be taking steps to protect its intellectual property rights in the name, picture and coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican Press Office said that "the use of anything referring directly to the person or office of the Supreme Pontiff -- his name, his picture or his coat of arms -- and/or the use of the title 'Pontifical,' must receive previous and express authorization from the Holy See...

Bishops Continue To Oppose Senate Health Care Bill-- Looking At Why

Posted on December 22, 2009
While the U.S. Senate appears poised to finally pass a health care reform bill before Christmas, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops remains opposed to the Senate version on the ground that its limits on abortion funding do not go far enough. According to statements issued last Friday and Saturday by the Bishops, the Manager's Amendment (full text) to H...

NY Court Upholds Bifurcated Arbitration Procedure By Rabbinical Tribunal

Posted on December 22, 2009
In Shimon v. Silberman, (NY Sup. Ct., Dec. 21, 2009), a New York trial court, in a decision it described as involving an issue of first impression, confirmed an award made in a bifurcated arbitration proceeding conducted by the Shevet Halevi Rabbinical Court...

Mexico City Approves Gay Marriage, Adoptions

Posted on December 22, 2009
Mexico City yesterday became the first Latin American city to legislatively approve same-sex marriage. (A court decision in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November had approved same-sex marriages, but the issue is tied up in further litigation.) CNN and AP report that the city's legislative assembly approved the change by a vote of 39-20, with 5 abstentions...

5th Circuit: Town Not Liable For Police Officer's Infringement of Preachers' Rights

Posted on December 22, 2009
In World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship v. Town of Columbia, (5th Cir., Dec. 21, 2009), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Town of Columbia, Louisiana is not liable under 42 USC Sec. 1983 for the violation of First Amendment rights of a group of preachers by a town police officer who in February 2005 threatened the group with arrest if they did not disperse...

Indian Court Orders Participation For Dalit Village In Hindu Festival

Posted on December 22, 2009
In India, the Madras High Court has issued a decision in favor of low caste Dalits who want to be part of the annual festival observed during the Tamil summer month of Aadi in which the diety from the Arulmighu Poottai Mariamman Temple near Sankarapuram is transported on a temple car...

County Removes Stars and Angels From Its Christmas Trees

Posted on December 22, 2009
In Sonoma County, California, Acting County Administrator Chris Thomas has ordered stars, angels and other religious symbols removed from all Christmas trees in county buildings after a complaint was filed by an activist who has a long history of opposing government use of religious symbols...

Anglican Priest Sues His Attorney For Malpractice After He Loses Fraud Suit

Posted on December 22, 2009
In 2002, Episcopal Bishop Charles Bennison summarily removed Rev. David Moyer as rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal parish in Rosemont, Pennsylvania on the ground that he had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church when he was ordained by the more conservative Traditional Anglican Union...

6th Circuit Upholds Deportation To Jordan of Christian Couple, Rejecting Persecution Claims

Posted on December 22, 2009
In Helal v. Holder, (6th Cir., Dec. 17, 2009), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Board of Immigration Appeals that a Palestinian Christian couple who are citizens of Jordan are not entitled to withholding of removal from the United States for fear of religious persecution in Jordan...

Israel's High Court Finds Alternative To Contempt In Kosher Certification Challenge

Posted on December 21, 2009
In June, Israel's High Court of Justice ordered the country's Chief Rabbinate to issue a kashrut certificate (certifying the business is kosher) to a bakery operated by a Messianic Jew after the Chief Rabbi of Ashdod Yosef Sheinin, withdrew it claiming that the owner could not be trusted to maintain the proper standards of kashrut without enhanced supervision...

Child Support Fight Over Home Schooling and Catholic Beliefs Back In Appeals Court

Posted on December 21, 2009
In McFarlane v. McFarlane, (OH Ct. App., Dec. 17, 2009), an Ohio appellate court was faced with two questions involving the relationship of parents' religious views to the award of child support. The parties' original divorce action also found its way to the state court of appeals three years ago...

FLDS Polygamist Gets 33 Years For Sexual Assault On Child

Posted on December 21, 2009
Last Thursday, a jury in Eldorado, Texas last Thursday sentenced FLDS member Allan Eugene Keate to 33 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child. The Salt Lake Tribune last week reported on the conviction of Keate for his "spiritual " or "celestial" polygamous marriage to a 15-year-old girl who gave birth at age 16...

Malaysian Coalition Calls For Royal Commission On Religious Issues

Posted on December 21, 2009
In Malaysia, the Pakatan Rakyat (a coalition of three political parties) has formally proposed the creation of a Royal Commission to deal with religious issues, particularly where civil and syariah law overlap. Saturday's Malaysian Insider reported on the coalition's new Common Policy Framework document which defends the dominant position of Islam in Malaysia, but calls for more dialogue between various cultures and religions to promote understanding in the face of increasing religious extremism...

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

Posted on December 21, 2009
From SSRN:Konstantinos G. Margaritis, The Freedom of Religion and its Limits in Greece and the Netherlands: A Comparative Approach, (December 15, 2009).Justin R. La Mort, The Soundtrack to Genocide: Using Incitement to Genocide in the Bikindi Trial to Protect Free Speech and Uphold the Promise of Never Again, (Interdisciplinary Journal for Human Rights Law, Vol...

Two Religious Displays On Their Way To Government Property

Posted on December 20, 2009
While a number of governmental units this year are removing religious displays (see prior posting), there is some movement in the opposite direction. Reports from the Oklahoman and AP indicate that last Thursday the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Committee voted to implement a law passed by the legislature earlier this year (see prior posting) to place a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the State Capitol...

Court Refuses To Dismiss Challenge To Graded Released Time Religious Course

Posted on December 20, 2009
In Moss v. Spartanburg County School District No. 7, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117744 (D SC, Dec. 17, 2009),a South Carolina federal district court refused to dismiss an Establishment Clause challenge to the released time program for religious instruction that was set up by the Spartanburg County (SC) School District...

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