Religion & Law

Street Preachers Challenge "Loud Noise" and Trespass Bans

Posted on February 06, 2010
Last week, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed in Richmond, Virginia by five Christian evangelists some of whom were charged with creating loud and disturbing noise for preaching at downtown First Friday events and at a Christmas parade. Others were charged with trespassing for preaching at the Watermelon Festival held in a shopping area...

Trial of Geert Wilders Proceeds With Pared Down Witness List

Posted on February 05, 2010
The trial of Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and and discrimination against Muslims and non-Western immigrants, and insulting Muslims will proceed in Amsterdam. (See prior related posting.) Al Jazerra reported Wednesday that a Dutch court rejected Wilders' claim of Parliamentary immunity, ruling that immunity does not extend to statements made outside of Parliamentary meetings...

North Korea Says It Will Release U.S. Christian Activist

Posted on February 05, 2010
According to Voice of America, North Korea today said it will release Robert Park, the U.S. Christian activist who crossed into North Korea from China on Christmas day carrying a Bible and a letter urging North Korean leader Kim Jong II to embrace God and close political prison camps...

Slovakian Court Upholds Religion Law's Registration Requirement

Posted on February 05, 2010
Radio Slovakia International today reports that the Plenary Session of Slovakia's Constitutional Court has rejected a constitutional attack on the provision in Slovakia's religion law that requires 20,000 signatures of members for a church to obtain registration...

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Indonesia's Constitutional Court Hearing Challenge To Blasphemy Law

Posted on February 05, 2010
Indonesia's Constitutional Court on Wednesday held its first hearings in a challenge to the constitutionality of Indonesia's Law on Prevention of Blasphemy and Abuse of Religion. Yesterday's Jakarta Post reports that the lawsuit was filed last year by the late President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and several human rights organizations...

Groups Urge President To Beef Up Church-State Safeguards In Faith-Based Funding

Posted on February 05, 2010
Yesterday, twenty-five national organizations wrote President Obama urging further church-state safeguards in faith-based social service programs receiving government aid. The letter (full text) said in part: On the one year anniversary of your Executive Order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the undersigned religious, education, civil rights, labor, and health organizations write to urge that you take additional actions to prevent government-funded religious discrimination and protect social service beneficiaries from unwelcome proselytizing...

Deference Given To Hierarchical Determination in Church Property Dispute

Posted on February 05, 2010
In Choi v. Sung, (WA Ct. App., Feb. 2, 2010), a Washington state court of appeals upheld a trial court's resolution of a dispute between two factions of the New Hope Christian Reformed Church of Tacoma regarding ownership of church property. The courts enforced the decision of the denomination's Classis regarding the dispute...

Secretary of State, President Speak At National Prayer Breakfast

Posted on February 04, 2010
This morning the 58th Annual National Prayer Breakfast was held in Washington, D.C. One of the keynote speakers was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Full text of speech.) Her remarks included some rather blunt criticism of the misuse of religion: All religions have their version of the Golden Rule and direct us to love our neighbor and welcome the stranger and visit the prisoner...

Court Refuses Interlocutory Appeal In Establishment Clause Challenge To AIG Bailout

Posted on February 04, 2010
In Murray v. Geithner, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8415 (ED MI, Feb. 2, 2010), a Michigan federal district court denied the government's motion to certify for interlocutory appeal the court's May 2009 holding that plaintiffs have standing to challenge on Establishment Clause grounds the federal bailout of the giant insurance company AIG...

Court Dismisses Challenge To Removal of Children From Tony Alamo Compound

Posted on February 04, 2010
In Tony Alamo Christian Ministries v. Selig, (WD AR, Feb. 2, 2010), an Arkansas federal district court dismissed a lawsuit charging that plaintiffs' constitutional rights of religious liberty were violated when certain children of members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries were removed from their parents by child welfare officials and adjudicated dependent-neglected under state law in state court...

Brizilian Court Overturns Ban on Religious Symbols In Rio's Carnival

Posted on February 04, 2010
In 2007, municipal officials in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil banned the display of religious symbols during the city's annual Carnival that marks the beginning of Lent. The Carnival's street parade, which draws thousands of tourists, has regularly featured near-naked women and fantasy images...

BBC Follows Indonesian Sharia Police On Patrol

Posted on February 04, 2010
BBC News on Tuesday posted an interesting 3 minute account by reporter Karishma Vaswani as she joined the Sharia police on patrol in Aceh, Indonesia one Saturday evening as they hunted out immoral activities.

France Denies Citizenship To Muslim Man Who Forces Wife To Wear Face Veil

Posted on February 04, 2010
France's minister for immigration Eric Besson has issued a decree denying an application for French citizenship from a Muslim man because he does not respect the values of the Republic. Yesterday's Irish Times reports that the man needed citizenship to settle in France with his French wife...

British Jews Unable To Develop Consensus For Legislative Change To School Admissions

Posted on February 04, 2010
JTA reported yesterday that Britain's Jewish community is divided on seeking a legislative change to reverse the UK Supreme Court's decision last December holding that Jewish schools could not use the traditional definition of who is Jewish for purposes of admissions...

Court Says Divorced Parents Must Share Religious Decisions For Children

Posted on February 04, 2010
In In re Marriage of Balashov, (WA Ct. App., Feb. 1, 2010), a Washington state appellate court reversed the portion of a trial court's parenting plan entered in a divorce action. The trial court ordered that the major decisions regarding each of the two children are to be made jointly by the parents, except that the mother alone was to make decisions regarding their religious upbringing...

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009

Posted on February 03, 2010
A federal lawsuit was filed yesterday challenging the constitutionality of the recently-enacted Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The complaint (full text) in Glenn v. Holder, (ED MI, filed 2/2/2010), claims that the provisions of the act which criminalizes bias crimes motivated by the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity "elevates those engaged in certain deviant sexual behaviors to a special, protected class of persons under federal law...

European Human Rights Court Says Religion on Identity Cards Violates ECHR

Posted on February 03, 2010
In Sinan Isik v. Turkey [in French], (Eur. Ct. Hum. Rts., Feb. 2, 2010), the European Court of Human Rights, by a vote of 6-1, upheld a complaint by petitioner that the government of Turkey refused to replace "Islam" on his identity card with "Alevi." Before 2006, Turkish identity cards were required to indicate religious identity...

Churches Have Some Greater Copyright Leeway This Year for Super Bowl Parties

Posted on February 03, 2010
Once again this year, churches are looking carefully at copyright rules as they plan their annual Super Bowl Parties for next Sunday. (See prior related posting.) Yesterday's Christian Post reports that the NFL adopted new Guidelines last year to ease limitations on churches showing the copyrighted Super Bowl Game...

Obama Urged To Use Prayer Breakfast To Denounce Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill

Posted on February 03, 2010
The National Prayer Breakfast, scheduled for Thursday in Washington, D.C., is drawing more controversy than usual this year. Every U.S. President since Dwight Eisenhower has spoken at the Breakfast. Beliefnet yesterday reported that this year, gay-rights leaders, including a member of the White House faith advisory council, are urging President Obama to use the Breakfast to speak out against repressive anti-gay legislation pending in the Parliament of Uganda...

Oregon Jury Convicts Parents In Faith Healing Death

Posted on February 03, 2010
According to KGW News8 Portland, yesterday in Oregon City, Oregon, a state court jury by a 10-2 vote convicted Jeff and Marci Beagley of criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16-year old son. The Beagleys are members of the Followers of Christ Church which avoids doctors...

IRS Church Inquiry Rules Do Not Apply In Personal Tax Investigation

Posted on February 02, 2010
In Pennington v. United States, (WD TX, Jan. 29, 2010), a Texas federal district court refused to quash an IRS summons for bank records of a religious organization, Anchor Group. The records are titled in the name of the group's treasurer, James Pennington...

Suits Charges FFRF Sign In Capitol Violated Establishment Clause

Posted on February 02, 2010
Last December as part of the holiday displays in the Illinois state capitol building, officials allowed the Freedom From Religion Foundation to put up a sign calling religion a "myth and superstition." It was placed next to a Christmas tree and near a nativity scene that were also on display...

Maryland Tells Condo To Stop Removal of Shabbat Elevator Pending Probe

Posted on February 02, 2010
Last year, after a finding of probable cause by the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the Strathmore Tower Condominiums in Baltimore (MD) modified one of its elevators to accommodate Orthodox Jewish residents. The owner of one of the condos covered the cost of retrofitting it for "Shabbat mode"-- each Saturday it stops automatically on each floor so Sabbath observant Jews do not need to press elevator buttons...

Hawaiian House Tables Civil Union Bill Under Pressure From Christian Conservatives

Posted on February 02, 2010
Baptist Press yesterday reported that opposition from Christian conservatives was largely responsible for Friday's vote in Hawaii's House of Representatives to postpone consideration indefinitely on HB 444, a bill that would have authorized same-sex civil unions in the state To the surprise of many, the decision was made by voice vote after a Democratic caucus on the issue...

Pope Criticizes Pending British Equality Bill

Posted on February 02, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday, while confirming he would be making an Apostolic visit to Great Britain in September, challenged the Equality Bill now working its way through Britain's Parliament. Yesterday's London Times reports on the Pope's remarks (full text) to the bishops of England and Wales who were completing their five-year "ad limina" visit to Rome...

Court Confirms Assets That Belong To Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh

Posted on February 02, 2010
In Calvary Episcopal Church v. Duncan, (PA Com. Pl., Jan. 29, 2010), a Pennsylvania trial court implemented its earlier decision on ownership of assets of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. (See prior posting.) The decision is summarized by Episcopal News Service: Common Pleas Judge Joseph M...

Parental Rights Terminated For 13 Children From Alamo Ministries Compound

Posted on January 31, 2010
On Thursday, a Miller County, Arkansas trial judge terminated the parental rights of six members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Thirteen children from four families are involved. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the children were taken into protective custody by the state in 2008 in an investigation of physical and sexual abuse at the Ministries' compound...

Tennessee Adopts Curriculum Guidelines For High School Bible Courses

Posted on January 31, 2010
According to AP, last week the Tennessee State Board of Education approved guidelines for elective high school social studies courses teaching about the Bible and its historical content. The guidelines implement legislation passed in 2008 authorizing creation of a course focusing on "nonsectarian nonreligious academic study of the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture and politics...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on January 31, 2010
In Allison v. Martin, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4928 (ED MI, Jan. 22, 2010), a Michigan federal district court adopted recommendations of a federal magistrate (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123727, Nov. 5, 2009), and rejected various free exercise and RFRA claims by an inmate who objected to the lack of Jewish religious services, wanted religious materials and claims he was denied participation in the prison's kosher meals program...

Muslim Organization Objects To Remarks In Speech By California Mayor

Posted on January 30, 2010
The Council on American-Islamic Relations plans to file a complaint with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division over the State of the City speech given this week by Lancaster, California's mayor, R. Rex Parris. Yesterday's Fresno Bee reports that in the speech, Parris said that he is "growing a Christian community," and urged voters to support a ballot measure in April that would endorse prayer at city meetings.

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