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Religion & Law

Religion Clause

Current legal, political and scholarly developments relating to free exercise of religion and separation of church and state.
By Howard M. Friedman

Post Frequency: 19.9/day

Last Entry: November 05, 2020 at 07:00:00

Indian Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge To Appointment of Temple Manager

Posted on February 03, 2009
India's national newspaper, The Hindu, today reports on an interesting religious freedom decision handed down Monday by the Madras High Court . The Lord Nataraja Temple in the town of Chidambaram is an important religious pilgrimage site. The Temple is operated by some 300 families know as Podhu Dikshidars...

Church Loses RLUIPA Challenge To Denial of Use Permit

Posted on February 03, 2009
In Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenas Nuevas v. City of Yuma, (D AZ, Jan. 30, 2009), an Arizona federal district court rejected claims by a church that Yuma, Arizona's denial to it of a conditional use permit violated its rights under RLUIPA, the 1st and 14th Amendments, and the Arizona Religious Freedom Restoration Act...

Private Baccalaureate Plans Satisfy All Sides In Florida School District

Posted on February 03, 2009
Yesterday's NWF Daily News reported on the aftermath of a court decision preliminarily enjoining various religious activities-- including religious baccalaureate services-- that in the past have been sponsored by the Santa Rosa County (FL) School district...

Bolivian President Says Catholic Church Is Enemy Of His Reforms

Posted on February 03, 2009
After Bolivians last week approved a new Constitution that eliminated special protection for the Catholic Church (see prior posting), Bolivia's President Evo Morales lashed out at the Church in remarks at the World Social Forum in Brazil. Catholic News Agency reports on Morales' remarks made last Thursday that accuse the Catholic Church in Bolivia of being the "main enemy" of his proposed reforms...

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5th Circuit Hears Arguments In Parochial School Bid To Join Sports League

Posted on February 03, 2009
Yesterday, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral arguments in Cornerstone Christian Schools v. University Interscholastic League. (Recording of full arguments.) Last April a Texas federal district court upheld the rejection of Cornerstone Christian's application for membership in the state's interscholastic athletic league for public schools...

Kirill Installed; Russia's President Stresses Church-State Separation

Posted on February 03, 2009
In Moscow on Sunday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the three-and-a-half-hour service installing the newly-elected Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill I. Yesterday Ekklesia and ITAR/TASS both reported on the ceremony at which Kirill stressed the importance of Church unity in the face of suggestions by Ukraine's president that the Ukrainian Orthodox church to break away...

Justice Department Will Likely Focus on Race Instead of Religious Discrimination

Posted on February 02, 2009
Today's New York Times reports on the dramatic changes that are expected at the Department of Justice under new attorney general Eric Holder. The Senate is expected to confirm Holder today and he plans to be sworn in this evening in order to get a quick start...

Botswana Proposal To Force Sale of Non-Halal Meat Stirs Controversy

Posted on February 02, 2009
Gaborone's Sunday Standard reports today that Botswana's attorney general began in October to draft legislation to compel major food retailers to provide a section of their stores in which non-halal food is sold. At issue is the difficulty that small farmers in majority-Christian Botswana are having in selling their poultry to retail outlets...

Conversion To "Prison Islam" Is Popular

Posted on February 02, 2009
An article in Sunday's Everett, Washington Herald discusses the growth of conversion to Islam in U.S. prisons. Vassar professor Lawrence Mamiya estimates that 10% of all prison inmates have converted, though only 20% of those continue in the faith after they are released...

Recent Articles of Interest

Posted on February 02, 2009
From SSRN:Frances Raday, Traditionalist Religious and Cultural Challengers - International and Constitutional Human Rights Responses, (Israel Law Review, Vol. 41, pp. 596-634, 2008).Joel A. Nichols, Evangelicals and Human Rights: The Continuing Ambivalence of Evangelical Christians' Support for Human Rights, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol...

Indonesian Police Hold Sect Leader, Preliminarily Charged With Blasphemy

Posted on February 02, 2009
Indonesian police have charged Agus Noro, head of the Satria Piningit Weteng Buwono sect, with blasphemy after a female sect member called Kartiningsih charged that Noro proclaimed himself to be God and held bizarre sex rituals. Other charges could follow...

Court Orders Amish Couples To Comply With Building Code Or Vacate Homes

Posted on February 01, 2009
The Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat reported on Friday that a state trial court judge has issued a preliminary injunction against two Amish couples who have refused to comply with county sewage and building code regulations in the houses they are constructing...

British Court Convicts Father For Encouraging Son In Ashura Rite

Posted on February 01, 2009
BBC News reported Friday that a British court has convicted a Muslim father of cruelty for encouraging his 10-year old son to take part in a Shia religious ceremony that involves self-flagellation with an instrument made up of chains and blades. Police began an investigation after the boy's mother complained...

Two Cases Result In Victory For Religious Accommodation In Employment

Posted on February 01, 2009
Last week brought one verdict and one settlement for individuals seeking dress and appearance code accommodations from employers. In Trenton, New Jersey, a federal jury awarded $10,000 in damages against United Parcel Service for failing to create an exception to its grooming guidelines to accommodate a Rastafarian employment applicant...

Fiji Village Chief Bans Sunday Travel Except For Church

Posted on February 01, 2009
In the South Pacific nation of Fiji, village chief Isei Vosadrau has banned residents of his village on the island of Vanua Levu from traveling anywhere on Sundays except to church services. Fiji Times reported yesterday that the step was taken because villagers had been walking out of church services to catch the boat to the island's largest town, Labasa...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on February 01, 2009
In Singson v. v. Norris, (8th Cir., Jan. 27, 2009), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Arkansas Department of Corrections policy that requires Wiccan inmates to check out tarot cards from a chaplain and prohibits keeping of the cards in the inmate?s cell...

Moderate Elected Somali President; Wants To Correct Radical Interpretation of Islam

Posted on February 01, 2009
Reuters reported yesterday that Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate, has been elected president of Somalia. The election took place in an all-night session of Somalia's parliament meeting in neighbouring Djibouti because of military control of Baidoa by the Islamic terrorist group, al Shabaab...

Sudan Expels US Aid Group From Darfur Over Bibles

Posted on January 31, 2009
Reuters reports today that Sudanese authorities have expelled an American aid group, Thirst No More In North Darfur (TNM), after the government found 3,400 copies of the Bible in Arabic in the group's offices. Sudanese regulations require aid groups to provide details of their activities to Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission...

Reaction Is Mixed To New Head Of White House Faith Based Office

Posted on January 31, 2009
The Washington Post reported Friday that a White House aide, confirming earlier reports, announced that President Obama has appointed 26-year old Joshua DuBois to head the White House's revamped Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. (See prior posting...

Proposed Texas Law Would Aid Break-Away Congregations In Property Fights

Posted on January 31, 2009
Texas state Rep. Byron Cook has introduced into the Texas legislature a bill that would help congregations that break away from their parent church claim ownership of local church property. Proposed H.B. 729 provides that in a factional separation in an hierarchical religious organization, a court can order division of local church property "in a manner that the court considers just and right...

Hawaii Court Rejects Free Exercise Defense To Marijuana Use

Posted on January 31, 2009
In State of Hawai'i v. Kimmel, (HI App., Jan. 23, 2009), the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's conviction for commercial promotion of marijuana. The court rejected the argument that James Kimmel's use of marijuana for religious purposes was protected by the free exercise clause (Art...

Videos Show Questioning Process In Immunization Waiver Application

Posted on January 31, 2009
In New York state, a child can obtain a waiver of immunizations normally required before entering school if the child's parents hold "genuine and sincere religious beliefs" that oppose immunization. Public Health Law, Sec. 2164(9). Three videos posted on Age of Autism yesterday show the meeting during which a school attorney questions a parent about her religious beliefs on the issue...

Senate Passes S-Chip Expansion After Rejecting Two Abortion Related Amendments

Posted on January 30, 2009
Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (HR 2), expanding the "S-chip" program, by a vote of 66-32. (AP report.) During debate on numerous amendments, the Senate rejected two Republican amendment that attempted to inject the abortion debate into the legislation...

Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Signed; Applies To Religious Discrimination Claims

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Washington Post reports that yesterday President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (full text). The law amends Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (as well as several other anti-discrimination statutes) so that the statute of limitations period resets every time a person receives a paycheck impacted by unlawful employment discrimination...

Darwin Day Proposal Creates Controversy In Ohio City

Posted on January 30, 2009
February 12 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and already battles are erupting over celebrating the event. Wednesday's Columbus (OH) Dispatch reports that in the Columbus suburb of Whitehall, objections are derailing a proposal in city council...

Poll Ranks Most and Least Religious States In U.S.

Posted on January 30, 2009
In a poll released on Wednesday, Gallup ranked the "top 10 most religious states" and the "top 10 least religious states." The rankings are based on a 2008 survey of 350,000 individuals who were asked: "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas ranked as most religious...

Pope Says Church Tribunals Are Too Lenient In Annulments

Posted on January 30, 2009
CNS reports that in a speech yesterday to the Roman Rota, Pope Benedict XVI criticized the increasing leniency with which annulments are granted by Church tribunals. The Rota mainly handles appeals in annulment cases. Pope Benedict argued that tribunals are too ready to grant annulments on the ground of "immaturity or psychic weakness...

Group Says Proposal on Columbaria Violates Establishment Clause

Posted on January 30, 2009
Americans United announced Wednesday that it has written to the Berkeley, California City Council to object to a pending ordinance relating to storage of cremated human remains. (Full text of letter.) Currently Berkeley totally prohibits graveyards within the city limits...

Italian City Bus Will Carry Toned-Down Atheist Ad

Posted on January 30, 2009
After earlier this month rejecting an advertising campaign that an atheist group wished to run on Genoa, Italy buses (see prior posting), an advertising agency has now approved a toned-down display. ANSA reported yesterday that the new ad will read: "The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists In Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe In Freedom Of Expression...

Senate Stimulus Bill Excludes House Bill's Faith-Based Funding; Both Versions Limit Grants for Sectarian College Buildings

Posted on January 30, 2009
It appears that the Senate version of the stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (S.336) does not include the funds for faith-based programs that were in the House version. (See prior posting.) The House version included the funding for the Capital Compassion Fund in its appropriations for Children and Family Services Programs...

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