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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

District Court Nominee's Religious Views Generate Opposition

Posted on February 10, 2008
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the nomination of attorney Richard H. Honaker to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. Americans United is urging the committee to reject the nomination because of Honaker's extreme views on religious liberty...

Court Rejects Challenge To Tennessee Charitable Solicitations Act

Posted on February 10, 2008
In Free the Fathers, Inc. v. State of Tennessee, (TN Ct. App., Feb. 7, 2008), a Tennessee appellate court rejected a number of constitutional challenges to the state's Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act raised by a non-profit organization devoted to freeing Roman Catholic priests jailed in foreign countries...

Suit Challenges Literature Distribution Ban On Behalf of Evangelist

Posted on February 10, 2008
The Alliance Defense Fund announced on Friday that it had filed suit in federal district court challenging an ordinance of Kewaskum, Wisconsin that prohibits the distribution of literature on public or private property, except to individuals willing to accept handbills...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Decisions

Posted on February 10, 2008
In Patel v. United States Bureau of Prisons, (8th Cir., Feb. 4, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Muslim inmate's free exercise, RFRA and RLUIPA claims. It held that the dietary accommodations offered to him were sufficient, and therefore his religious exercise was not substantially burdened...

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Oregon Court Orders Game Times Changed To Accommodate Sabbath Observers

Posted on February 09, 2008
The Oregonian reports that on Friday, an Oregon state Circuit Court judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Oregon School Activities Association to modify the starting times of certain games in the Class 3A state basketball tournament to accommodate the religious beliefs of players from the Portland Adventist Academy...

Indonesian Christian Group Sues Magazine For Blasphemy

Posted on February 09, 2008
Sunday's Jakarta Post reports that Indonesia's Alliance of Christian Students and Youths (AMPK) has filed a lawsuit charging Tempo magazine with blasphemy. A lawsuit was filed after a Feb. 4 special edition of the magazine featured a cover depicting the late president Suharto having dinner with his six children in the same poses as figures in Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper...

Egypt's High Court Says ID Papers Can Reflect Conversion Back To Christianity

Posted on February 09, 2008
On Saturday, according to Reuters, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court held that twelve individuals who had converted to Islam and then back to Christianity were entitled to have their birth certificates and government identity papers reflect that they are Christian...

US Agency Holds Hearings On Anti-Semitism In US and Europe

Posted on February 09, 2008
On Thursday, the U.S. Helsinki Commission held the second of two hearings on "Taking Stock: Combating Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Region". Transcripts of the Jan. 29 hearing and the Feb. 7 hearing are available online. The press release announcing the hearings billed them as: "a two-part series that will review U...

Turkish Parliamentary Vote Approves End To University Headscarf Ban

Posted on February 08, 2008
The Turkish Daily News reports that after 13 hours of heated debate yesterday, Turkey's Parliament passed a constitutional amendment that will permit Muslim women to wear headscaves at universities. (See prior posting.) By a vote of 404 to 92, the legislators approved an amendment to Article 42 of the Constitution that will provide that no one can be deprived of their right to a higher education...

Romney Campaign Said To Revive Anti-Mormon Views

Posted on February 08, 2008
Today's Wall Street Journal carries a front-page article concluding that Mitt Romney's now-ended campaign for the presidency "exposed a surprisingly virulent strain of anti-Mormonism that had been largely hidden to the general public." The article points in particular to statements made in December by political commentator and actor Lawrence O'Donnell Jr...

9th Circuit Hears Arguments In Tax Dispute Over Tuition Deductions

Posted on February 08, 2008
Today's New York Sun reports on last Monday's oral arguments before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. An Orthodox Jewish couple is claiming that they should have been permitted to deduct for tax purposes the amount by which the tuition they paid to Orthodox Jewish schools exceeded the market value of the secular component of the education their children received...

Bill Introduced In Congress To Permit Church Super Bowl Parties

Posted on February 08, 2008
As previously reported, the National Football League again this year told churches that the copyright law limited their ability to host Super Bowl parties in auditoriums larger than 2000 square feet if the bowl game was shown on TV screens larger than 55 inches...

Archbishop of Caterbury Suggests Role for Sharia In British Legal System

Posted on February 08, 2008
In Britain, the Archbishop of Cantebury Dr. Rowan Williams has provoked a firestorm of controversy by suggesting that British law should give some level of recognition to Sharia. Williams delivered the foundation lecture in the Temple Festival Series at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday...

In Property Dispute, Court Finds Assemblies of God Is Hierarchical Church

Posted on February 08, 2008
In Leach v. Johnson, (Macomb Co. MI Cir. Ct, Jan. 25, 2008), a Michigan trial court held that the Assemblies of God is an hierarchical religious organization. Based upon this, the court concluded that the decision of the parent body to assert control over the property of the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Warren, Michigan is binding upon the courts...

Two ADF Suits Settled; Student Religious Groups Prevail

Posted on February 08, 2008
Settlement has been reached in two separate lawsuits that were filed by the Alliance Defense Fund challenging restrictions imposed on student religious groups. In one case, Georgia's Savannah State University has agreed to allow the Christian student group "Commissioned II Love" to return to campus...

Denial of Variance For Church Sign Upheld Under RLUIPA

Posted on February 08, 2008
In Trinity Assembly of God of Baltimore City, Inc. v. People's Counsel, (MD Ct. Spec. App., Feb. 6, 2008), a Maryland appellate court upheld Baltimore City's denial of a zoning variance for a large sign that a church proposed to erect near an expressway...

Real ID Photo Requirement Creates Problems For Religious Objectors

Posted on February 07, 2008
CNet News yesterday reported on the problem created for a number of religious groups by new drivers' license and identification card standards imposed by the federal Real ID Act. New regulations (full text) being phased in require states to have a full facial digital photo of the licensed driver on each license...

First Orthodox Jewish Member of New Hampshire Legislature Profiled

Posted on February 07, 2008
Today's Concord Monitor carries an interesting profile of New Hampshire state representative Jason Bedrick, the first Orthodox Jew elected to the New Hampshire legislature. Growing up as a non-observant Jew who attended a Catholic high school, Bedrick became religiously observant in college...

Dutch Government Cited By EC For Anti-Discrimination Exception

Posted on February 07, 2008
Last week, the European Commission notified eleven member states that they have failed to fully implement the EU's rules prohibiting discrimination in employment. (Press release.) Yesterday Radio Netherlands reported on the problem the EC found with the Dutch antidiscrimination law...

Website Tracks References To Faith By Presidential Contenders

Posted on February 07, 2008
Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs has created a web page titled Faith 2008. It tracks references to faith and religion in the statements of the candidates of both parties in the 2008 race for U.S. President. Quotes can be sorted by candidate, topic area or date.

Israel Creates New State Conversion Authority

Posted on February 07, 2008
In Israel, according to yesterday's Jerusalem Post, the Ministerial Committee on Immigration, Absorption and the Diaspora has approved creating a new State Conversion Authority to speed up the conversion process for some 150,000 immigrants who would like to become Jews...

Petition For En Banc Rehearing Filed In Curry v. Hensinger

Posted on February 07, 2008
A petition for en banc rehearing (full text) has been filed with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Curry v. Hensinger. In the case, a 3-judge panel last month upheld a 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...

Pakistan Plans Non-Muslim Worship Facilities In Prisons

Posted on February 06, 2008
Asia News reported yesterday that Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Ansar Burney, toured several of his country's prisons and announced a number of reforms. Among them were plans to construct places of worship for non-Muslims inside Pakistan's correctional facilities...

British Court Refuses Temporary Relief For Sikh Teenager Seeking To Wear Bangle

Posted on February 06, 2008
In Britain, London's High Court has refused to grant temporary relief to a Sikh school girl who wishes to be able to wear a religious wrist bangle to school, in violation of the school's rule against wearing jewelry other than a wrist watch and plain earnings...

Kansas Supreme Court Temporarily Quashes Subpoenas In Abortion Probe

Posted on February 06, 2008
In Wichita, Kansas, an unusual voter-initiated grand jury is investigating whether abortion provider George Tiller violated Kansas law by performing late-term abortions. (See prior posting.) Yesterday, the Kansas Supreme court issued a temporary order (full text) quashing subpoenas for medical records of 2000 women who have sought late-term abortions at the Women's Health Care Services clinic...

UK's Charity Guidelines Published; Religious Groups Lose Public Benefit Presumption

Posted on February 06, 2008
In Britain today, the Charity Commission-- the regulatory body governing charities in England and Wales-- issued lengthy guidelines interpreting the requirement in the Charities Act of 2006 that all charities must establish that they are created for "public benefit"...

Minnesota Court Says Concealed-Carry Law Cannot Be Enforced Against Churches

Posted on February 06, 2008
Yesterday in Edina Community Lutheran Church v. State of Minnesota, (MN Ct. App., Feb. 5, 2008), a Minnesota state appellate court upheld the objections of two churches to enforcement against them of the Minnesota Citizens' Personal Protection Act of 2005...

Omaha Rejects Street Sign Honoring Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Posted on February 06, 2008
The Omaha (NE) City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to reject a request to put up a commemorative street sign to honor Madalyn Murray O'Hair, founder of American Athiests. O'Hair was the plaintiff in Murray v. Curlett, the 1963 Supreme Court case (decided together with Abington School District v...

In Spain, Church Is At Odds With PSOE Party As Elections Appoach

Posted on February 06, 2008
CNS News and the World Socialist Web Site today both report on the growing tensions in Spain between the Catholic Church and the country's ruling Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), as the country's March 9 elections approach. The Catholic Bishops have been attacking the PSOE's policies on abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as the government's dealings with the Basque separatist group ETA...

Punitive Damages Reduced In Funeral Picketing Case

Posted on February 05, 2008
Yesterday in Snyder v. Phelps, (D MD, Feb. 4, 2008), a Maryland federal district judge ruled on a number of post-tial motions filed by Westboro Baptist Church and its leaders in the suit brought against them for their picketing of the funeral of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A...

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