Religion & Law

Catholic Hospital Sued For Refusing Transgender Surgery

Posted on January 20, 2008
In San Francisco Superior Court, a transgendered individual who had completed gender reassignment surgery to become a woman sued a Catholic hospital in Daly City (CA) that refused to permit her physician to perform breast augmentation surgery in the hospital...

Saudis Discuss Women's Rights and Polygamy With UN Committee

Posted on January 20, 2008
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is meeting in Geneva from Jan. 14 to Feb. 1 to review reports on eight countries' implementation of their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women...

Sharia Councils Operate In Britain

Posted on January 20, 2008
Yesterday's London Telegraph published a report on Sharia Councils that operate in a number of British mosques. They mainly deal with issues of marriage and divorce, and with financial disputes. Under current British law, their judgments have no legal force and so are binding only on those who voluntarily agree to comply with them...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on January 20, 2008
In Hill v. Cruz, (5th Cir., Jan. 14, 2008), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a Muslim inmate's First Amendment and RLUIPA claims challenging the Texas prison system's policy on the substitution of pork entrees with other food items...

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Debate Over Female Circumcision In Indonesia

Posted on January 20, 2008
Today's New York Times Magazine, in an article titled A Cutting Tradition, explores the tradition of female circumcision in Indonesia and the debate in Indonesia over banning it. The Ministry of Health has prohibited medical personnel from engaging in female genital cutting, but the decree has not been backed by legislation and does not apply to traditional circumcisers and birth attendants...

China Appellate Body Releases Four House Church Leaders

Posted on January 19, 2008
In China, the Hubei Provincial Re-Education Through Labor Administration Committee issued a decision (full text) earlier this month releasing four Christian house church leaders from a labor camp to which they had been sentenced. The Administration Committee's ruling reversed a decision made last year by the Re-Education Through Labor Administration Committee of Enshi Autonomous Region...

Court Says Private Religious School Not Covered By California's Unruh Act

Posted on January 19, 2008
The Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise reports that in a January 11 ruling, a California trial court dismissed a discrimination lawsuit filed against Wildomar's California Lutheran High School by two 11th graders who in 2005 were expelled because school officials suspected they were in a lesbian relationship...

NY Corrections Department Settles Title VII Suit Brought By Feds

Posted on January 19, 2008
The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that a New York federal district court has approved a consent decree under which the New York State Department of Correctional Services must keep in place a process under which employees seeking religious accommodations to workplace policies get an individualized review and determination...

Trinidad & Tobago Court Advertises For Input On Whether Juror Can Wear Burka

Posted on January 19, 2008
The High Court in Trinidad & Tobago is taking an unusual approach to the question of whether a Muslim woman wearing a burka may serve as a juror. Trinidad & Tobago Express and Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday today both report on the decision of High Court Judge Joan Charles to run advertisements in newspapers once a week for the next two weeks inviting religious organizations and other interested parties to submit their views on the matter...

Serbia Accused of Improperly Denying Registration To Religious Groups

Posted on January 19, 2008
Forum 18 reported yesterday that in Serbia, the Religion Ministry continues to deny state registration to religious communities on five different grounds that are not found in the country's Religion Law. The watchdog group says that former Religion Minister Milan Radulovic, who is now an adviser in the Ministry, refuses to grant legal status to churches that refuse to unite with other similar communities; to any Orthodox church that is not part of the Serbian Orthodox Church; to non-monotheistic religions; to religions that do not have a headquarters in another country; and to groups that are viewed as either non-traditional or philosophical...

Court Says Animal Slaughter Ban Not A Land Use Regulation Under RLUIPA

Posted on January 19, 2008
In Merced v. City of Euless, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3685 (ND TX, Jan. 17, 2008), a Texas federal district judge ruled that a Euless, Texas ordinance banning the slaughter of animals or maintaining property to slaughter animals is not a land use regulation...

Belarus Sentences Journalist To Prison For Muhammad Cartoons

Posted on January 19, 2008
In Belarus, the Minsk City Court on Friday sentence journalist Alyaksandr Zdvizhkow to three years in prison for his decision in 2006 to reprint the controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in his newspaper, Zhoda. Beloruski Novosti reports that the deputy editor, whose paper was closed down over the printing of the cartoons, was convicted of "inciting racial, national or religious enmity or discord" under Article 130, Paragraph II, of the Belarus Criminal Code...

France's Sarkozy Criticized For Positive References To Religion

Posted on January 19, 2008
Reuters on Thursday reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under increasing criticism by those who say he is violating the French notions of church-state separation by his frequent positive references to God and religion. Last Monday in Riyadh, he called Islam "one of the greatest and most beautiful civilisations the world has known...

Miami Dade County Changes Church Zoning Rules After Lawsuit Filed

Posted on January 18, 2008
Florida Baptist Witness reported yesterday that Miami Dade County Commissioners voted last month to change the county's zoning requirements for churches. As churches increasingly meet in warehouses and storefronts, they could not comply with requirements that churches be located on at least 2...

Malaysian Court Permits Christian Funeral For Decased Woman

Posted on January 18, 2008
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a high court has permitted the husband of deceased Wong Sau Lan to have her body cremated in Christian funeral rites. Reuters today reports that the Buddhist husband's 18-day legal battle ensued after his ethnic Chinese wife, who was baptised as a Christian last November, died of kidney failure in a Kuala Lumpur hospital...

New Turkish Draft Constitution Permits Headscarves At Universities

Posted on January 18, 2008
The Turkish Daily News reported on Wednesday that Turkey's new draft constitution (which will be released within a few days) will guarantee the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves at universities. The following sentence is included in the draft: "No one can be debarred of his or her right to higher education because of his or her attire...

New Poll of Russians On Church-State Issues

Posted on January 18, 2008
With Russian presidential elections scheduled for March, Interfax yesterday reported on a new nation-wide poll in Russia of public opinion on church-state issues. The poll was conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. It found that 55% of Russians believe Russia?s next president should prefer the Russian Orthodox Church to other religious organizations, while 34% think he should treat all religions equally and observe the principle of separation of church and state...

Churches Increasingly Disciplining Members; Police and Courts Become Involved

Posted on January 18, 2008
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that conservative Protestant churches around the country are increasingly bringing back the practice of disciplining church members for religious offenses that range from adultery and theft to gossip, missing services or criticizing church leaders...

IRS Challenged Over Its Limits On Politcial Statements From the Pulpit

Posted on January 17, 2008
The Becket Fund yesterday directly challenged the policy of the Internal Revenue Service that restricts clergy from preaching from the pulpit about the moral implications of a political campaign. Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code bans non-profit organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns...

New Indictment Returned Against Islamic Charity and Former Congressman

Posted on January 17, 2008
The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that a federal grand jury in Missouri has returned a superseding indictment adding eight new counts to the 33 previous ones in proceedings against a now-defunct Islamic charity. The Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) and several of its former officers were originally charged with illegal transfer of funds to Iraq, theft of government funds and misuse of IARA's charitable status to raise funds for illegal purposes...

6th Circuit OK's Ban On Student Using Religious Product In Class Project

Posted on January 17, 2008
In Curry v. Hensiner, (6th Cir., Jan. 16, 2008), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an elementary school principal's decision to prevent a 5th grade student from selling religious-themed material as part of a Classroom City project in which students using faux school currency sold goods they had produced specifically for the event...

Evangelist Charged For Preaching In Public Sqare On Halloween

Posted on January 17, 2008
Christian News Wire yesterday reported that a hearing is scheduled Jan. 23 in Salem, Massachusetts in connection with charges brought against Repent America leader Michael Marcavage. According to the Foundation for Moral Law which now represents Marcavage, the evangelist's megaphone was taken away and he was charged with violating Salem's noise ordinance for preaching in a public square in the city on Halloween night...

Court Says LDS Membership Does Not Require Recusal In Case Against BYU

Posted on January 17, 2008
In Raiser v. Brigham Young University, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3048 (D UT, Jan. 15, 2008), a Utah federal district court rejected plaintiff's motion for recusal in a case against Brigham Young University. The court found no merit in plaintiff's contention that if the judge and the law clerk(s) assigned to the case are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, they are inherently biased in favor of the LDS-owned university...

Suit Filed Over School's Treatment of Pro-Life Student Club

Posted on January 17, 2008
The Alliance Defense Fund announced Monday that it has filed suit on behalf of a California high school student against Campbell's Westmont High School challenging the school's refusal to give full recognition to a proposed student organization whose name would be "Live Action ? Pro-Life Club"...

Pope Cancels Speech To Italian University After Protests By Scientists

Posted on January 17, 2008
In Italy yesterday, protests by scientists and students at Rome's La Sapienza University led Pope Benedict XVI to cancel his planned speech there. It would have been his first speech at a university. Yesterday's Globe and Mail reports that the protesters believe that the Pope is hostile to scientific thought and secular issues...

DC High Schooler Disqualified From Track Meet Because of Muslim Dress

Posted on January 17, 2008
Yesterday's Washington Post reports that D.C. high school senior Juashaunna Kelly-- the fastest mile and two mile runner in DC this season-- was disqualified from the Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet because her attempt to comply with Muslim dress requirements was said to violate uniform rules for the national competition...

Jewish Groups Decry Anti-Obama E-Mails; Obama Criticizes Award To Farrakhan

Posted on January 16, 2008
Today's New York Times reports that leaders of nine national Jewish groups have released a letter decrying false and bigoted e-mails that are being distributed about Sen. Barack Obama's religious beliefs. The anonymous messages have been circulating for months, but apparently more recently have been particularly circulated to American Jews...

School's Showing of Religious-Themed Inspirational Film Draws Protest

Posted on January 16, 2008
Yesterday's Tuscaloosa, Alabama News reports that objections have been raised to the showing in high school classes in Tuscaloosa of the movie Facing the Giants. The film, made by the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, is about a losing football team that begins to win after its players dedicate themselves to God...

8th Circuit Upholds Compensatory, Rejects Punitive, Damages In Title VII Case

Posted on January 16, 2008
In Sturgill v. United Parcel Service, Inc., (8th Cir., Jan. 15, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an award of compensatory damages, but reversed an award of punitive damages, in a Title VII case in which a Seventh Day Adventist employee was fired by United Parcel Service for refusing to deliver the remaining packages in his truck after sundown on Friday...

Legacy of Established Church Comes To An End In New Hampshire Town

Posted on January 16, 2008
Today's New Hampshire Union Leader carries the interesting story of Greenfield (NH) Congregational Covenant Church. In 1795, the townspeople of Greenfield built a single building to serve as a meeting place both for government affairs and for the church...

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