Religion & Law

Residents Protest Removal of Christian Flag From War Memorial

Posted on October 14, 2010
As previously reported, last month King City, North Carolina's city council voted to remove a Christian flag that had flown at the city's veteran's memorial along with U.S., state and other flags. Today's Daily Tar Heel reports that, in response, residents have been protesting...

Chaplain Says DADT Injunction Will Impact Ability To Counsel Soldiers

Posted on October 14, 2010
On Tuesday, a California federal district court in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, (CD CA, Oct. 12, 2010), held, in a lengthy opinion, that the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy violates due process and 1st Amendment speech and petition rights of gay and lesbian members of the armed forces...

Ontario High Court Says Allowing Witness To Wear Niqab Requires Contextual Analysis

Posted on October 14, 2010
In Canada yesterday, Ontario's highest appellate court held that a judge conducting a preliminary inquiry in a criminal case has discretion whether or not to permit Muslim women to testify with her face covered.  In The Queen v. N.S., (Ont. Ct...

Supreme Court Refuses Review In One Case; Permits SG To Argue In Another

Posted on October 13, 2010
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted two orders of interest in the church-state/ religious freedom area. (Order list).  It denied certiorari in Association of Christian Schools v. Stearns, (Docket No. 90-1461). In the case, the 9th Circuit rejected constitutional challenges to the University of California's admissions policy...

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School Principal Sues Claiming Religious Discrimination After He Promoted Prayer Breakfast

Posted on October 13, 2010
In Santa Barbara, California, an elementary school principal has filed a lawsuit against the Goleta Union School District charging that the district is attempting to fire him because of his evangelical Protestant religious beliefs.  Principal Craig Richter was disciplined and threatened with contract non-renewal after he appeared in a video promoting the 2010 Santa Barbara Community Prayer Breakfast which had a theme of honoring teachers...

Federal Government Appeals Cases That Invalidated DOMA

Posted on October 13, 2010
Reuters reports that the Justice Department yesterday filed notices of appeal in two companion rulings by a Massachusetts federal court that held the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. (See prior posting.) Even though President Obama opposes DOMA, the Justice Department says it "is defending the statute, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged...

European Commission To Investigate Italy's Tax Benefits To Church-Owned Commercial Property

Posted on October 13, 2010
Bloomberg News reported yesterday that the European Commission is opening an investigation into tax exemptions that Italy grants to the Catholic Church. In addition to a property tax exemption for non-commercial properties, Italy gives the Church a 50% reduction on the tax imposed on commercial property...

Suit In Belarus Seeks Religious Burial For Executed Murderer

Posted on October 13, 2010
According to a report published yesterday by Forum 18, in Belarus the mother of convicted murderer Andrei Zhuk who was executed in March has filed a civil suit in Lenin District Court in Minsk seeking to obtain her son's body for religious burial.  The suit against the Ministry of Interior's Department for the Execution of Punishments claims that the refusal to release Zhuk's body or tell his mother where he is buried violates the religious exercise rights of Zhuk's mother protected under Art...

Cert. Petition Filed In D.C.Refusal of Marriage Initiative

Posted on October 13, 2010
A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday seeking review of the D.C. Court of Appeals decision in Jackson v. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. In the case, D.C.'s highest appellate court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld election officials' refusal to accept a petition seeking an initiative vote to bar D...

Court Says State Agency Can Ban Employee From Giving Faith-Based Counseling

Posted on October 12, 2010
In Moore v. Metropolitan Human Service District, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107997 (ED LA, Oct. 8, 2010), a Louisiana federal district court dismissed a Title VII religious discrimination claim brought by a social worker employed by a state agency that provides counseling for patients suffering from addictive disorders...

New Study Examines Assignments of Accused Priests In Chicago

Posted on October 12, 2010
Voice of the Faithful yesterday released a new study titled Priest Work History of Credibly Accused Priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It concludes that 60% of Chicago's parishes and institutions had an accused priest working there or in residence at some point in time...

OSCE Review Conference Session Focuses On Religious Freedom

Posted on October 12, 2010
The Review Conference of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) began in Warsaw, Poland on Sept. 30 and ran until Oct. 8.  Other portions of the Review Conference will be held later this month and next month ahead of the OSCE Summit to be held in early December...

In Israel, Teenager Sues For Right To Become A Rabbi

Posted on October 12, 2010
In Israel, a 14-year old boy, hoping to become Israel's youngest rabbi, has filed suit in the Supreme Court to force the Chief Rabbinate to grade an ordination exam which he took. According to Arutz Sheva yesterday, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger gave Moshe Raziel Sharify permission to take the exam, despite his age and despite opposition from Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar...

First Responder Sues Ground Zero Mosque Developers For Emotional Distress; Counter Suit Filed

Posted on October 12, 2010
According to the Huffington Post yesterday, 9-11 first responder Vincent Forras has filed a state court class action against the developers of the proposed Ground Zero mosque seeking damages of $350 million for infliction of emotional distress and assault...

Court Says Undue Hardship In Accommodating Refusal To Handle Domestic Partnerships Must Go To Jury

Posted on October 11, 2010
In Slater v. Douglas County, (D OR, Sept. 24, 2010), an Oregon federal district court refused to grant either plaintiff's or defendant's motions for summary judgment in an employment discrimination case, sending to a jury trial the question of whether accommodating a county employee's religious beliefs would have posed an undue hardship under state or federal employment discrimination laws...

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

Posted on October 11, 2010
From SSRN:Patrick McKinley Brennan, Human Law and Natural Law in the Catholic Tradition: Authoritative Guides to the Good Life, (in Teaching the Tradition: A Disciplinary Approach to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, J. Piderit, M. Morey, eds., Oxford University Press, 2011)...

Suit Says County Sign Control Ordinance Is Unconstitutional

Posted on October 11, 2010
A federal court challenge to a Berkeley County, South Carolina sign control ordinance was filed last week.  The complaint (full text) in Moultrie v. Berkeley County, South Carolina, (D SC, filed 10/5/2010), argues that by providing exemptions for political signs (as well as for "for sale" and "for lease" signs) but not for signs expressing religious messages, the county has violate the free expression, free exercise and equal protection rights of plaintiff who was cited after he failed to obtain permits for seven signs containing Biblical references that he placed on his own property...

In Turkey, University Faculty Cannot Remove Students Who Wear Muslim Headscarves

Posted on October 11, 2010
Despite a 2008 ruling by Turkey's Constitutional Court that appears to hold that Turkey's constitution bars the wearing of Muslim head scarves at universities (see prior posting), Turkey's Higher Education Board (YOK) recently notified Istanbul University that instructors can no longer take disciplinary action against students who wear them...

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

Posted on October 10, 2010
In a long opinion in Smith v. Artus, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104660 (ND NY, Sept. 30, 2010), a New York court ultimately rejected challenges by a Muslim inmate to prison policies that prevented him from engaging in demonstrative prayer in the prison recreation yard when recreation times coincided with his obligation for Salaah prayer...

Topeka Has Strained Relationship With Westboro Baptist Church Leaders

Posted on October 10, 2010
Today's New York Times explores the relationship between the city of Topeka, Kansas and the Phelps family, leaders of the Westboro Baptist Church that was at the center of a Supreme Court argument last week over free speech rights. (See prior posting...

Gender Discrimination Claim By Former Pastor Dismissed Under Ministerial Exception Doctrine

Posted on October 10, 2010
In Barton v. Mikelhayes, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107233 (ND NY, Oct. 7, 2010), a New York federal district court applied the ministerial exception doctrine to dismiss a Title VII gender discrimination complaint brought by Todd David Barton, a former minister in the United Methodist Church, whose pastoral license was withdrawn by the bishop...

British Court Orders Muslim Woman To Remove Veil, But Allows Testimony From Behind Screen

Posted on October 09, 2010
In England, according to Sunday's London Express, the Leicester magistrate's court has rendered a controversial decision by requiring a Muslim woman to uncover her face to testify in court, but permitting her to testify from behind a screen where only the judges could see her...

2nd Circuit Voids Vermont's "Vanity" License Plate Law That Excludes Religious References

Posted on October 09, 2010
In Byrne v. Rutledge, (2d Cir., Oct. 8, 2010), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that Vermont's statute that allows for "vanity" license plates, but does not permit the issuance of plates that refer to a religion or deity, is unconstitutional...

Woman Arrested For Destroying Offensive Jesus Depiction In Museum Display

Posted on October 09, 2010
As reported by Fox News, since Sept. 11, the Loveland, Colorado Museum Gallery, a tax funded museum, has hosted a show titled "The Legend of Bud Shark & His Indelible Ink." It is a display of 82 prints by ten artists who have worked with Colorado printer Bud Shark...

FLDS Asks Federal Court To Enjoin State Court Trust Reformation

Posted on October 08, 2010
On Wednesday, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints renewed their federal court motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to stay all proceeding in the Utah state court case that is implementing reform of the United Effort Plan Trust that holds FLDS property...

9th Circuit: Immunity Protects Several Defendants In Lease and Sale of Homeless Shelter To Religious Group

Posted on October 08, 2010
In Community House, Inc. v. City of Boise, (9th Cir., Oct. 6, 2010), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the mayor and individual members of city council of Boise, Idaho enjoyed absolute legislative immunity in a suit charging that their approval of a lease and eventual sale of of a homeless shelter to the Boise Rescue Mission violated the Establishment Clause and the federal Fair Housing Act...

French Constitutional Council Upholds Ban on Burqa

Posted on October 08, 2010
CNN reported yesterday that in France, the Constitutional Council has upheld the Parliament's recently enacted ban on wearing the burqa or niqab-- garments including a full face veil-- anywhere in public. (See prior posting.) This was the last step necessary for approval of the new law that will take effect in the spring...

Suit Filed Over School's Refusal To Allow Nose Stud Worn for Religious Reasons

Posted on October 08, 2010
ACLU of North Carolina announced Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit in a North Carolina federal district court on behalf of 14-year old high school freshman Ariana Iacono and her mother challenging Clayton (NC) High School's refusal to grant Ariana an exemption from its dress code so she can wear a small nose stud for religious reasons...

Church Official In Malta Says Lawyers and Judges Should Not Take Part In Divorce Cases If Law Is Changed

Posted on October 08, 2010
Malta is the only European Union country where divorce is banned. In July, a member of Parliament in Malta introduced a bill to permit divorce in the country. Malta's prime minister says the issue should be the subject of a referendum or at least of an election debate...

Suit Challenges Kentucky's Rejection of In God We Trust License Plates

Posted on October 08, 2010
Fox News and Fox 41 this week reported on a lawsuit that has been filed in state court in Kentucky by an anti-pornography group known as ROCK ("Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana") challenging a 2008 denial by the state's Transportation Cabinet of ROCK's application for issuance of an "In God We Trust" specialty license plate...

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