Religion & Law

Regional NLRB Decision Holds Manhattan College Is Secular; Representation Election Ordered

Posted on January 12, 2011
In In re Manhattan College, (NLRB, Jan. 10, 2010), a National Labor Relations Board regional director held that the judicially and administratively developed exemption from NLRB coverage for colleges whose purpose is the propagation of a religious faith does not apply to New York's Manhattan College...

Pakistani Court Imposes Life In Prison For Blasphemy In Disagreement Between Sunni Sects

Posted on January 12, 2011
AFP reported yesterday on another controversial blasphemy conviction in Pakistan. An anti-terrorism court in the town of Muzaffargarah sentenced imam Mohammad Shafi and his son Mohammad Aslam to life imprisonment for tearing down and trampling a poster containing Quar'anic verses...

Some Claims By Muslim Student Over Classroom Content May Proceed

Posted on January 11, 2011
In Doe v. Cape Henlopen School District, (D DE, Jan. 7, 2011), the mother of a Muslim student sued claimed that a fourth-grade teacher traumatized her daughter by creating a classroom environment that promoted Christianity and excluded Muslim beliefs...

Cert. Denied In RLUIPA Zoning Decision

Posted on January 11, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied certiorari in Board of County Commissioners v. Rocky Mountain Christian Church,(Docket No. 10-521, cert. denied 1/10/2011) (Order List).  In the case, the 10th Circuit held that sufficient evidence was presented at trial to justify the jury's determination that the denial of a special use application to Rocky Mountain Christian Church violated the equal terms and unreasonable limitations provisions of RLUIPA...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Catholic Bishop At Odds With Rhode Island's New Governor

Posted on January 11, 2011
Tension seems to be developing already between Providence, Rhode Island Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin and Rhode Island's newly-inaugurated governor, Lincoln Chafee. According to the Providence Journal, last week, for the first time in at least 20 years, no Catholic bishop offered a prayer at the governor's inauguration ceremony...

Aga Khan Wins Canadian Copyright Case Against Followers Who Published His Pronouncements

Posted on January 11, 2011
The Aga Khan, currently a resident of France, is the spiritual leader of the Shia Imani Ismaili Muslims around the world.  He gives advice and guidance to his followers through issuing Farmans (recorded talks) an Talikas (written religious messages)...

Pope Addresses Diplomatic Corps Calling For Expanded Religious Liberty

Posted on January 11, 2011
Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI delivered his annual address (full text) to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See-- ambassadors from 178 countries. Zenit reports that Vatican officials characterized the Pope's remarks as opening a new chapter in the commitment to religious liberty...

Canadian Court Rejects Exemption for Marriage Commissioners from Performing Same-Sex Unions

Posted on January 11, 2011
The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan has held that it would be unconstitutional under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms for the provincial legislature to accommodate the religious beliefs of government marriage commissioners by exempting those who object from solemnizing same-sex marriages...

Arizona Moving To Pass Funeral Picketing Law In Face of Westboro Plans To Picket Massacre Victims' Funerals

Posted on January 11, 2011
The notorious Westboro Baptist Church has announced that it will picket the funerals of the six shooting victims in Tucson, Arizona. It claims God sent the shooter because of a veteran's plans last month to shoot at WBC members. The announcement also claimed that shooting a federal judge and a member of Congress occurred because WBC was placed on trial in Baltimore and because Congress' passed three laws against WBC...

New Hampshire High Court Hears Arguments In Home Schooling Case

Posted on January 10, 2011
The New Hampshire Supreme Court last week heard oral arguments (video of full arguments) in a divorce case that has gained national attention through the publicity given to it by groups that see it as an important religious freedom test.  As reported by AP, at issue is a disagreement between parents with joint custody of their 11-year old daughter over her schooling...

Referee Concludes That Ohio Science Teacher Repeatedly Violated Establishment Clause

Posted on January 10, 2011
In Mount Vernon, Ohio on Friday, a referee appointed pursuant to an Ohio Revised Code 3319.16 has recommended that middle school science teacher John Freshwater's contract be terminated because of Freshwater's repeated violations of the Establishment Clause...

Suit Challenges Zoning Restrictions On New Jersey Synagogue

Posted on January 10, 2011
A long-simmering zoning dispute between an Orthodox Jewish congregation and officials in Teaneck, New Jersey (see prior posting) last month matured into a lawsuit.  The complaint (full text) in 554 Queen Anne Road, Inc. v. Teaneck Board of Adjustment, (NJ Super...

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

Posted on January 10, 2011
From SSRN:      U.S. Law:Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle, The Forms and Limits of Religious Accommodation: The Case of RLUIPA, Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 32, 2011).Lloyd H. Mayer, Charities and Lobbying: Institutional Rights in the Wake of Citizens United, Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No...

Cert. Denied In RLUIPA Prisoner Free Exercise Case

Posted on January 10, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Thunderhorse v. Pierce, (Docket No. 09-1353, cert. denied 1/10/11) (Order List). In the case, the 5th Circuit rejected a RLUIPA claim by a Native American inmate, upholding prison restrictions denying him permission to grow his hair, prohibiting him from performing pipe ceremonies in his cell, and limiting vendors from whom he could buy a headband...

EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit Settled

Posted on January 09, 2011
The EEOC announced last week that an educational testing company, Measurement Inc., has settled a lawsuit filed against it by the EEOC charging it with religious discrimination.  The suit was brought on behalf of employee Jacqueline Dukes who was a member of the Christian denomination Children of Yisrael...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on January 09, 2011
In Daker v. Warren, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99 (ND GA, Jan. 3, 2011), a Georgia federal district court permitted plaintiff to proceed with his claim that his free exercise rights and his rights under RLUIPA were violated by Detention Center policies that deny Muslim inmates Friday Jum'ah sevices and that bar inmates from receiving hard cover books...

Lutheran University Entitled To Title VII Exemption For Religious Hiring; Exemption Cannot Be Waived

Posted on January 08, 2011
In Ginsburg v. Concordia University, (D NE, Jan. 5, 20110), a Nebraska federal district court held that that a Lutheran university sued under title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act is entitled to the exemptions provided by the statute for religious-based hiring by religious educational institutions (42 USC 2000e-1) and by religious colleges (42 USC 2000e-2)...

Class Action Charges Anti-Semitism in New York Town's Schools

Posted on January 08, 2011
Today's Lower Hudson Journal News reports on a class action lawsuit filed last month in a New York federal district court charging the Mahopac (NY) Central School District with anti-Semitism. The complaint alleges that Jewish students in Mahopc face a strong anti-Semitic environment...

Religious Makeup of 112th Congress Reported

Posted on January 07, 2011
Pew Forum this week published data on the religious composition of the 112th Congress which has just convened. The new Congress is 57% Protestant; 29% Catholic; 7% Jewish; 3% Mormon; 1% Orthodox; 0.6% Buddhist; and 0.4% Muslim. The Protestant denominations that claim the most Congressional members are the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans.

Israel's High Court Allows Voluntary Sex-Segregated Buses

Posted on January 07, 2011
Haaretz and YNet News both report on a decision handed down yesterday by Israel's High Court of Justice that allows sex-segregated public buses that serve strictly Orthodox communities to continue on a voluntary basis.  The so-called "Mehadrin" (extra-Kosher) bus routes-- about 50 in all-- were created to satisfy strictly Orthodox Jews whose religious traditions require separation of men and women...

Court Rejects Church's Objection To Historical Designation

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield v. City of Springfield, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 345 (D MA, Jan. 4, 2011), a Massachusetts federal district court rejected a number of constitutional challenges as well as a challenge under RLUIPA to action declaring a closed Springfield, Massachusetts Catholic church to be a local historic district...

Sen. Grassley Releases Staff Memo On Tax Issues Involving Tele-Evangelists

Posted on January 07, 2011
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Finance Committee, yesterday released a staff review of the activities of media-based ministries, focusing on the financial accountability of tax-exempt religious organizations. The 61-page Staff Memo sets out a number of recommendations and issues for further study...

New Trial Granted In Patent Case Because of Lawyer's Remarks Appealing To Religious Prejudice

Posted on January 07, 2011
In Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., (ED TX, Dec. 29, 2010), a Texas federal district court judge has granted plaintiff a new trial in a patent infringement case because of remarks made during trial by defendant's counsel appealing to possible anti-Jewish prejudices of jurors...

Conservatives Urge Republicans In New Congress To Remember Social Issues

Posted on January 07, 2011
Freedom Federation announced today that leaders of 30 conservative groups have sent a letter (full text) to Republican leaders of the House and Senate in the 112th Congress urging them not to forget social issues as they pursue economic and national defense issues as well...

Iran Arrests Christian Missionaries

Posted on January 06, 2011
According to AFP, Iran's state news agency announced on Tuesday that a number of Christian missionaries have been arrested in Tehran province. Provincial governor Morteza Tamaddon has promised to detain more, saying:Just like the Taliban... who have inserted themselves into Islam like a parasite, they have crafted a movement with Britain's backing in the name of Christianity...

New Mexico's Attorney General Says Out-of-State Gay Marriages Are Valid In State

Posted on January 06, 2011
New Mexico's Attorney General, in Opinion No. 11-01 (Jan. 4, 2011), has ruled that same-sex marriages which are valid under the law of the state or country where the marriage was consummated are likewise valid in New Mexico. Attorney General Gary King reasoned that while the federal Defense of Marriage Act permits states to prohibit recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, New Mexico has not enacted a prohibition on their recognition...

Suit Challenges Zoning Refusal For Christian School

Posted on January 06, 2011
On Tuesday, a Christian school in Upper Arlington, Ohio filed suit in federal court claiming violations of RLUIPA, of the 1st and 14th Amendments and of Ohio's constitution.  The case stems from the city's rejection of the school's attempt to apply for zoning approval of a new site on which the school planned to consolidate its four separate campuses...

Delaware Diocese To File Modified Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan

Posted on January 06, 2011
The Wilmington (DE) News Journal yesterday reported that next week the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, currently in bankruptcy court (see prior posting), will file a new reorganization plan that will offer higher settlements to some 150 clergy abuse victims who have sued...

Alleged Assassin of Pakistani Governor Has Supporters

Posted on January 06, 2011
As previously reported, in Pakistan on Tuesday Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, was assassinated by one of his own security guards who was angered by Taseer's support for a pardon for Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman recently sentenced to death for blasphemy...

Articles Suggest Religious Liberty Trends For Next Decade

Posted on January 06, 2011
Associated Baptist Press yesterday carried three interesting pieces projecting future trends in religious liberty and church-state matters.  In answers to questions about religious freedom trends for 2011 and for the next decade, George Washington University law professor Ira "Chip" Lupu focused on issues that included more-assertive atheism, gay rights and anti-Muslim cultural attitudes in Europe...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.