Religion & Law

Study Lists Countries That Bar Foreign Religious Workers

Posted on August 17, 2008
WorldNet Daily reported Friday that a study from a researcher at the Library of Congress shows that 23 countries around the world deny entry to foreign religious workers, while an additional 16 allow entry only with restrictions. Almost all the countries on the "total ban" list are countries with majority Muslim populations.

TN High Court Says Cult Leader May Be In Loco Parentis Under Child Neglect Law

Posted on August 17, 2008
In State of Tennessee v. Sherman, (TN Sup. Ct., Aug. 15, 2008), the Tennessee Supreme Court refused to dismiss charges under Tennessee's child neglect statute against a religious cult leader in the death of Jessica Crank, a teenage girl whose mother opted for prayer instead of medical treatment for her daughter's bone cancer...

Obama, McCain Quizzed on Faith and Values Issues

Posted on August 16, 2008
On Saturday evening, Pastor Rick Warren held his Saddleback Forum at which he interviewed both Barack Obama and John McCain on issues of concern to faith and values voters. Warren posed the same questions to each of the candidates-- giving each one hour on national television time...

Utah FLDS Members Will Be Able To Get Individual Title To Property

Posted on August 15, 2008
Yesterday's Deseret News reports that Utah Judge Denise Lindberg , who is overseeing the reorganization of the United Effort Plan that owns assets of the FLDS Church, says that she will not prevent FLDS members from gaining ownership of their own property...

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Congressional Candidate On "How Would Jesus Vote?"

Posted on August 15, 2008
Bennion Spencer, the Democratic congressional candidate from Utah's 3rd district, has written a book on Jesus and politics that will appear in October. Yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune reported that the book attempts to analyze which policies Jesus would support...

5th Circuit Upholds Death Sentence Despite Jury's Use of Bible

Posted on August 15, 2008
In Oliver v. Quarterman, (5th Cir., Aug. 14, 2008), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected convicted murderer Khristian Oliver's challenge to his death sentence. The court summarized the challenge and its holding as follows: Oliver argues that the jury violated his rights under the Sixth and Eighth Amendments by considering passages from the Bible during the sentencing phase of its deliberations...

Malaysia Threatens To Suspend Catholic Paper For Political Editorial

Posted on August 15, 2008
Malaysia's Home Ministry is threatening to suspend the Catholic newsletter, The Herald, for publishing articles and editorials relating to politics. The Star on Wednesday reported that The Herald has been issued a "show cause" letter that claims it is violating the conditions of its publication permit that only allows it to publish articles about religion and religious activities...

Italian Suit Challenging Baptism Dropped

Posted on August 15, 2008
In Italy, the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics has dropped a lawsuit on behalf of a plaintiff who was attempting to have his name deleted from a baptism register. The suit challenged the right of parents to have their children baptized. According to World Net Daily, the suit alleged that since the law does not allow parents to enroll their children in organizations like labor unions, parents should also not be able to decide that their children should become members of religious associations...

Tanzania Debates Creation of Kadhi Courts

Posted on August 15, 2008
Dar Es Salaam's The Citizen reports today on an emotional debate in Tanzania's Parliament over whether Kadhi courts should be set up by the government to handle issues such a marriage, divorce and inheritance for Muslims. The government is studying a report by the Law Reform Commission on the issue...

Ohio Library's Meeting Room Rules Enjoined

Posted on August 15, 2008
In Citizens for Community Values v. Upper Arlington Public Library Board of Trustees, (SD OH, Aug. 14, 2008), an Ohio federal district court found unconstitutional a public library's policy of making its meeting rooms available for a wide variety of meetings by non-profit groups, but barring their use for elements of meetings that are quintessentially religious or are inherent elements of a religious service...

Contempt Petition Against Judge For Poster Dismissed

Posted on August 14, 2008
According to a release by the American Center for Law and Justice, an Ohio federal district judge has dismissed a contempt motion brought by the ACLU against Richland County (OH) Judge James DeWeese. (See prior posting.) The court found that the "Philosophies of Law In Conflict" poster that Judge DeWeese has posted in his courtroom is significantly different from the Ten Commandments display ordered removed by the federal court in 2002.

Christian Groups Seek Removal of Canadian Chief Justice

Posted on August 14, 2008
In Canada, 42 Christian and pro-life organizations, and one individual, have filed a complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council seeking removal of Canadian Supreme Court Justice Beverly McLachlin. The Province reports that the complaint stems from the fact that McLachlin chairs the Order of Canada Advisory Council...

Potenital County Resident Has Standing To Challenge 10 Commandments Display

Posted on August 14, 2008
In ACLU of Florida Inc. v. Dixie County Florida, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61177 (ND FL, Aug. 8, 2008), a Florida federal district court held that an ACLU member had standing (and thus so did the ACLU) to challenge on Establishment Clause grounds a stone display of the 10 Commandments on the steps of the Dixie County (FL) courthouse...

IL Appellate Court Majority Invalidates Ban On Heirs Intermarrying

Posted on August 14, 2008
In In re Estate of Max Feinberg, (IL Ct. App., June 30, 2008), an Illinois District Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, held unenforceable decedents' testamentary provision disinheriting any grandchild who marries outside the Jewish faith unless the spouse converts within one year of the marriage...

Turkey's AKP Official Ignites New Concerns Over Secularism Principle

Posted on August 14, 2008
After narrowly avoiding court-ordered dissolution for undermining Turkey's secularism (see prior posting), Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is again embroiled in controversy. After the court verdict, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said that he would try to avoid polarizing Turkey's society...

Sheriff's Church Protection Program Questioned By County Commissioners

Posted on August 13, 2008
In Cleveland, Tennessee, according to yesterday's Cleveland Banner, Bradley County Commissioners are questioning a new Church Protection Program announced by Sheriff Tim Gobble. The Cleveland Banner reported earlier this month that the program was created in response to increased violence against churches around the country...

DC Land Exchange With Homeless Shelter Said To Violate Establishment Clause

Posted on August 13, 2008
Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced yesterday that it has written to the mayor of Washington, D.C. (full text of letter) to protest a proposed exchange of land between the District and Central Union Mission. Last Sunday, a letter to the editor in the Washington Post from a Presbyterian minister John W...

Prison Inmates Who Have Declared Multiple Faiths Create Issues for Chaplains

Posted on August 13, 2008
This morning's Tacoma (WA) News- Tribune carries an article about prisoners who declare multiple religions under a new Washington Department of Corrections Policy adopted earlier this year. (See prior posting.) McNeil Island Prison chaplain John Barnes says he is uncomfortable with the policy, which gives inmates the right to possess religious items from each declared faith...

8th Circuit Upholds Prison Grooming Rules In Split Decision

Posted on August 12, 2008
In Fegans v. Norris, (8th Cir., Aug. 11, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, rejected an Assemblies of Yahwah adherent's challenge to Arkansas grooming regulations for prisoners. The majority held that both the restrictions on long hair and the prohibition of beards withstand scrutiny under Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act...

Does McCain Ad Link Obama With the Antichrist?

Posted on August 12, 2008
An article in Friday's Wall Street Journal explores the controversy over whether an Internet ad being run by the McCain campaign contains a hidden message linking Barack Obama with the Biblical figure of the Antichrist. The ad, captioned "The One" [from YouTube], is described by the McCain campaign as merely a light-hearted attempt to show that Obama "gets carried away" when he speaks...

Cert. Petition Filed In Case Excluding Religious Material From Class Project

Posted on August 12, 2008
The Alliance Defense Fund announced that yesterday it filed a petition for certiorari (full text) seeking Supreme Court review of the 6th Circuit's decision in Curry v. Hensinger. In the case, the Court of Appeals upheld a Saginaw, Michigan school principal's decision barring a fifth-grader from selling candy canes with religious material attached as part of a classroom project to learn about marketing...

College Raises Church-State Issues By Program Offered Through A Church

Posted on August 12, 2008
Inside Higher Ed today reports on problems faced by North Carolina Central University, a part of the University of North Carolina system. The campus violated UNC rules by opening an out-of-state program housed at a Georgia megachurch, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church...

Nigereian Prelate Blames Crime and AIDS on Ending of Religion In Schools

Posted on August 12, 2008
In Nigeria, the Prelate of the Methodist Church, Dr. Ola Makinde, is blaming most of the country's societal ills on the federal government's decision to replace Christian and Islamic religious studies in the schools with courses in social studies. The Punch reported yesterday that Makinde, speaking at the end of the church's 41st biennial conference, blamed cultsim, HIV/AIDS and crime on the change...

Good News Club Wins Preliminary Injunction On Facilities Fee

Posted on August 11, 2008
In Child Evangelism Fellowship of Virginia v. Williamsburg-James City County School Board, (ED VA, Aug. 8, 2008), a Virginia federal district court granted a preliminary injunction barring the school board from charging a facilities usage fee to the Good News Club for its after-school Bible study and enrichment program...

President Bush Raises Religious Freedom Issues In Beijing

Posted on August 11, 2008
The McClatchy Newspapers today report on President Bush's activities and statements yesterday nudging the Chinese on religious freedom. The President and Laura Bush, in Beijing for the Olympics, attended services at the Beijing Kuanjie Protestant Christian Church, one of China's state-approved Protestant churches...

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

Posted on August 11, 2008
From SSRN:Larry Catá Backer, Theocratic Constitutionalism: An Introduction to a New Global Legal Ordering, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2008.Josh Paul Davis & Joshua D. Rosenberg, The Immanent Structure of Free Speech Doctrine: Bong Hits, Jesus, and the Role of the Public Schools in Controlling Student Speech, (August 5, 2008)...

3 USCIRF Commissioners Are Reappointed

Posted on August 11, 2008
Three current members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom have been reappointed for additional two-year terms on the Commission, according to a USCIRF release last week. The 9-person Commission is made up of members appointed by the President, the President Pro-tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on August 11, 2008
In Washington-El v. Diguglielmo, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58304 (ED PA, July 31, 2008), a Pennsylvania federal district court denied defendants' motion to dismiss a claim by a prisoner who was a member of the Moorish American Moslem faith. Plaintiff asserted that he was refused the right to participate in Ramadan, to keep a copy of the Koran and to receive visits from clergy of his religion...

University of California's Rejection of Christian School Courses Upheld

Posted on August 10, 2008
In Association of Christian Schools International v. Stearns, (CD CA, Aug. 8, 2008), a California federal district court upheld the University of California's refusal to recognized certain high school courses offered by Christian schools in making admissions decisions...

Air Force Chief of Chaplains Interviewed By AF Times

Posted on August 10, 2008
The Air Force Times on Friday published an interview with the Air Force's recently-appointed Chief of Chaplains, Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson. Much of the interview focused on defining the appropriate line between sharing one's faith and proselytizing. However Richardson also spoke about changes he plans to introduce to focus more on counselling those being deployed...

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