Religion & Law

Iranian Singer Sentenced In Abstentia To 5 Years For Recording of Quranic Verses

Posted on July 20, 2009
In Iran, popular singer-composer Mohsen Namjoo-- described as Iran's Bob Dylan-- has been sentenced in abstentia to five years in prison for dishonoring the Quran. Reports last week by Press TV, AFP and the blog Freemuse give details. An Iranian Quran scholar filed a complaint against Namjoo charging that he had presented "an insulting, sneering performance of Quranic verses with musical instruments...

Consent Order Entered In Challenge To City's Speech Ordinance

Posted on July 20, 2009
Earlier this month, a New Jersey federal district court entered a Consent Order (full text) reflecting a settlement in Wollod v. City of Wildwood, New Jersey, (D NJ, July 8, 2009). The lawsuit, brought by a Christian evangelist, challenged ordinances that restrict the distribution of literature in the beach town...

Israeli Court Awards Damages To Bedouin Family Excluded From Swimming Pool

Posted on July 20, 2009
In Israel, the Beersheba Magistrate's Court today awarded damages equivalent to $2560 (US) to a Bedouin family who were denied entry to a swimming pool in the town of Ofakim. According to YNet News, plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged discrimination on the basis of religion, race and nationality...

British Police Can Obtain Accommodation for Pagan Holidays

Posted on July 19, 2009
BBC News reported Thursday that discussions between the recently-formed Pagan Police Association and Britain's Home Office have resulted in arrangements for Pagan police in some areas to schedule their vacation times to coincide with Pagan holidays. They will be able to take off for up to eight days of pagan holidays each year-- such as the summer solstice and Halloween...

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Washington State Begins Rulemaking To Head Off Holiday Display Confusion At Capitol

Posted on July 19, 2009
In anticipation of this year's holiday season, the Washington state Department of General Administration last week issued a Pre-proposal Statement of Inquiry and a letter announcing the start of a rule-making process on use of public areas of the Capitol campus...

Priest's Conviction Upheld Over Challenge To Testimony Regarding Religion

Posted on July 19, 2009
State v. Bussmann, (MN Ct. App., July 14, 2009), was an appeal after a retrial of Catholic priest John Joseph Bussmann on a charge of criminal sexual conduct with a woman he employed as director of youth ministries. In 2007 the Minnesota Supreme Court, in a fragmented decision, concluded that Bussmann's earlier conviction under the clergy criminal sexual conduct statute, based on the admission of extensive evidence concerning religious doctrine and church policies and practices, violated the Establishment Clause...

Court Says FLDS Members Cannot Intervene In UEP Trust Litigation

Posted on July 19, 2009
KSL News reports that on Friday, a Utah judge rejected a motion by several leading members of the FLDS Church to intervene in a court case that is seeking to reform the terms of the United Effort Plan Trust-- the trust that holds title to FLDS Church property...

2nd Circuit: Muslim Scholar Gets Chance To Challenge Visa Denial

Posted on July 19, 2009
A Muslim scholar who was prevented from accepting a tenured position at Notre Dame University when his visa was revoked will have his day in court after all. Swiss-based Tariq Ramadan was barred from the U.S. after he disclosed in an interview that he had donated $1,336 to the Association de Secours Palestinien, a group which directed funds to Hamas...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on July 19, 2009
In Barnes v. Pierce, (5th Cir., July 10, 2009), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an inmate's claims under the 1st and 14th Amendments and RLUIPA that his rights were violated when he was precluded from participating in any religious services while on cell restriction, and otherwise was limited to one primary religious service per week...

Hawaiian Church Sued Over Constrution On Former Cemetery Site

Posted on July 18, 2009
AP reports on a lawsuit filed in Hawaii last Wednesday to require Honolulu's Kawaiahao Church and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to fully comply with state burial laws in a construction project on land that was once a cemetery. The church is building a $17...

3rd Circuit: Trial Court Properly Refused To Interfere In State Civil Rights Probe

Posted on July 18, 2009
In Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association v. Vespa-Papaleo, (3d Cir., July 15, 2009), the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said that the district court correctly applied the Younger abstention doctrine when it refused enjoin two related investigations by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights...

8th Circuit Upholds School's Literature Distribution Policy

Posted on July 17, 2009
In Roark v. South Iron R-1 School District, (8th Cir., July 16, 2009), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a school district's policy on distribution of "printed material" in schools by outside organizations. The policy requires the organization to obtain advance approval, but approval will be given unless the material is libelous, obscene, or unlawful; advertises products or services; endorses a candidate; promotes alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or other illegal activity; or is likely to cause substantial disruption at the school...

Obama Nominates Jacqueline Berrien To Head EEOC

Posted on July 17, 2009
The White House announced yesterday that President Barack Obama has sent to the Senate the nomination of Jacqueline A. Berrien to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Berrien currently serves as Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF)...

State Agency Removes Website Links To "Open and Affirming" Churches

Posted on July 17, 2009
Connecticut's Department of Children and Families has removed from its website links to "open and affirming" churches-- i.e. churches that welcome gays, lesbians and persons who are bisexual and transgender. Yesterday's Hartford Courant reports that the links were removed after the Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC), a group that opposes same-sex marriage, threatened to sue...

Washington Supreme Court Finds Permit Moratorium Violated Church's Rights

Posted on July 17, 2009
In City of Woodinville v. Northshore United Church of Christ, (WA Sup. Ct., July 16, 2009), the Washington state Supreme Court held that the city of Woodinville violated a church's free exercise rights protected By Art. I, Sec. 11 of the Washington Constitution when it refused to process the church's application for a temporary use permit so it could host a Tent City for the homeless for a period of 90 days...

South Africa's Constitutional Court Protects Widows In Polygamous Muslim Marriages

Posted on July 17, 2009
On Wednesday, South Africa's Constitutional Court held that all the wives in a polygamous Muslim marriage are entitled to claim a share of their husband's property when the husband dies without leaving a will. In Hassam v. Jacobs NO, (So. Afr. Const. Ct...

Senate Passes Hate Crimes Bill As Amendment To Defense Authorization Act

Posted on July 17, 2009
On Thursday night, the U.S. Senate agreed to add the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. First by a vote of 78-13, the Senate agreed to an amendment clarifying that the hate crime provisions should not be construed or applied to infringe on First Amendment rights...

US Military Trains Afghan Army To Show Its Muslim Face To Locals

Posted on July 17, 2009
The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported on efforts by the U.S. military in Afghanistan to train the Afghan National Army to use religion to counter propaganda of the Taliban. Taliban fighters ride motorcycles through small villages telling locals that the Afghan army is led by godless Communists who are trying to rid the country of Islam...

Minister's Editorial Is Not Basis For Revoking His Probation

Posted on July 16, 2009
A Michigan appellate court, while upholding the conviction of Rev. Edward Pinkney for paying voters $5 apiece to vote in an election for the recall of a city commissioner and for possessing absentee ballots, reversed the lower court's revocation of Pinkney's probation...

Sotomayor Questioned About Her Free Exercise Jurisprudence

Posted on July 16, 2009
Finally yesterday, in the third day of Judiciary Committee hearings on the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, one Senator asked her a question about her decisions on religious freedom. Here, from the full transcript, is the relevant exchange between her and Sen...

Ohio Church Groups Say They Will Try To Block Newly Authorized Slot Machines

Posted on July 16, 2009
After a long political battle, the Ohio legislature on Monday passed a balanced budget (H.B. 1) by authorizing the Governor to permit installation of slot machines (video lottery terminals "VLTs") at Ohio's seven race tracks. The slots are projected to bring in $933 million in revenue to the state...

Suit Charges Military Contractor With Refusing To Accommodate Wearing of Hijab

Posted on July 16, 2009
In Houston (TX), a federal lawsuit charging religious discrimination has been filed against K.B.R., Inc. (the former Kellogg Brown & Root). The company is particularly known for its extensive work in Iraq under contracts with the military. The complaint (full text) in Tounkara v...

Article Profiles Activities of Child Evangelism Fellowship

Posted on July 16, 2009
The August issue of Harper's magazine carries a long article by by Rachel Aviv titled Like I Was Jesus: How To Bring a Nine Year Old To Christ. It explores the work of Child Evangelism Fellowship, the group that won an important Supreme Court victory in 2001 in Good News Club v...

Court Upholds University's Facilities Use Policy

Posted on July 15, 2009
In Rock for Life- UMBC v. Hrabowski, (D MD, July 8, 2009), a Maryland federal district court rejected claims by a student anti-abortion group that its 1st and 14th Amendment rights were violated by university restrictions on the location of a display sponsored by the group...

Lawsuit Challenges Congress' Decision To Add Motto and Pledge To Capitol Visitor Center

Posted on July 15, 2009
The Freedom from Religion Foundation yesterday filed suit in federal district court in Wisconsin challenging Congress' directive to the Architect of the Capitol to engrave the motto "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance in the Capitol Visitor Center...

Court Enjoins Community College's Sexual Harassment Policy As Overbroad

Posted on July 15, 2009
In Lopez v. Candaele, (CD CA, July 10, 2009), a California federal district court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of Los Angeles Community College District?s Sexual Harassment Policy. The court found that the policy is overbroad, prohibiting a substantial amount of protected speech...

Senate Appropriations Bill Has Security Funds For Non-Profits; Extends Religious Worker Program

Posted on July 15, 2009
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed its version of H.R. 2892, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act. A conference committee was appointed to reconcile differences between the Senate version and the version the House has already passed. Two interesting provisions are included in the Senate bill:As reported by JTA, Title III's appropriations for the State Homeland Security Grant Program [pg...

Sikh Group Wants Governor To Veto Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Posted on July 15, 2009
Yesterday the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund wrote Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, asking him to veto the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act (SB 786) which was passed by the state legislature several weeks ago. (Full text of letter.) The bill generally requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees' religious practices and observances...

Texas Board of Education Panel Splits On Role of Religion In History Curriculum

Posted on July 15, 2009
The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported on the work of the Texas State Board of Education's panel of experts who are reviewing the state's social studies curriculum. The panel is evenly divided between social conservatives and more moderate or liberal in-state university faculty with expertise in education or social sciences...

Issues of Religion Largely Absent From Second Day of Sotomayor Hearings

Posted on July 15, 2009
Yesterday, at the second day of hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, religion, religious freedom and church-state issues received little attention either in questions posed to the nominee or in her answers...

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