A letter from Contemporary Family Services, Inc., one of the entities that has a contract with the state of Maryland to issue licenses to foster parents: Dear Mr. Moore and Ms. Crudup, Thank you for your interest in becoming licensed treatment foster parents with Contemporary Family Services, Inc. Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable […]
Archive | Religion and the Law
District Court Judge Strikes Down Statute Providing for National Day of Prayer
Here are today’s opinion and the earlier opinion holding that plaintiffs had standing to sue. I find this hard to reconcile with the logic of Marsh v. Chambers (1983), which upheld legislative prayers on the grounds that they go back to the founding of the nation; official proclamations of days of prayer, thanksgiving, and even […]
Judge Vacates TRO Barring Divorced Father From Exposing Child to Religion Other Than the Mother’s
By Eugene Volokh on April 13, 2010 7:01 pm in Child Custody and Constitutional Law, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: In a divorce case that’s drawn national attention, a Chicago man who claims he has returned to his Catholic roots will be allowed to take his 3-year-old daughter to church, despite the objections of the girl’s Jewish mother, a Cook County judge [Renee Goldfarb] ruled this afternoon…. The judge said she […]
The Democratic Strategist misdescribes some legal issues
By David Kopel on April 13, 2010 12:44 am in Constitutional History, Health Care, Politics, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom, Supreme Court
The Democratic Strategist (co-edited by William Galston, Stan Greenberg, and Ruy Teixeira) aims to provide “serious, data-based discussion of Democratic political strategy.” Today, a special “Urgent” issue was published, regarding the Supreme Court and warning about the “covert extremist agenda” of the Republican right. The report raises an alarm about the legal agenda currently promoted […]
“Year of Our Lord”
The San Antonio Express News reports that some Trinity University students are trying to get the university to drop “In the Year of Our Lord,” on the theory that “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,’ it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ.” They are apparently […]
EEOC Determination in the Debbie Almontaser / Khalil Gibran International Academy / Intifada NYC T-Shirt Case
The New York Times reports, linking to the full determination. Here’s the background: The controversy surrounding the dual-language [English-Arabic public] school [the Khalil Gibran International Academy] began in early 2007, shortly after the city announced that Ms. Almontaser, a longtime teacher, would lead it. A group of opponents, including conservative commentators and a City University […]
EEOC Concludes Company Should Have Reasonably Accommodated Employee’s Felt Religious Obligation to Wear a Headscarf
According to the Complaint in EEOC v. Pollard Agency, filed last week, the Pollard Agency fired an employee for “wearing a headscarf to cover her hair, which is a sincerely held religious belief as required by her faith.” The EEOC argues that this violates the duty of religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil […]
Insult-to-Religion Prosecution in Poland
By Eugene Volokh on March 10, 2010 4:27 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law
From Gazeta Prawna, with many thanks to my father Vladimir and brother Sasha for the translation from Polish: The Gdynia district prosecutor’s office has accused Adam Darski, the leader of the death metal band Behemoth, of defamation of religious sensibilities…. The decision to accuse the musician was announced … Monday by Gdynia District Prosecutor’s Office […]
Interesting Religious Accommodation Case
It’s Jama v. United States (W.D. Wash. Mar. 2, 2010): This controversy stems from a July 2006 raid of Plaintiff’s residence by federal and local law enforcement authorities. Officials were searching for evidence relating to the importation and distribution of khat, a leafy herb indigenous to the Horn of Africa and the lower Arabian Peninsula, […]
“Separation of Church and State”
The Des Moines Register reports: Dale Halferty, who has taught industrial arts at Guthrie Center High School for three years, was placed on paid leave Monday after he acknowledged to district officials that he told [a] student he could not build [a Wiccan] altar in class. “But this kid was practicing his religion during class […]
Islamic Agreements in Civil Courts
Obaidi v. Qayoum (Wash. Ct. App. Feb. 23, 2010) is a good example of what has long struck me as the right way of dealing with this problem: If possible, treat the agreements as normal agreements, without regard to their Islamic character, and then enforce them — or not — as normal agreements. Here’s an […]
Oregon Legislature About to Repeal Statute Barring Wearing of Religious Dress by Public School Teachers
[UPDATE: I originally erroneously reported that the Legislature had repealed the statute; it turns out that the repeal seems about to happen: Prof. Howard Friedman (Religion Clause) reports that, “According to the Oregonian, yesterday by a vote of 21-9 Oregon’s state Senate approved House Bill 3686 repealing an 87-year old ban on teachers wearing religious […]
Another Interesting Headscarf Case
Zargary v. New York (S.D.N.Y. 2009): The Court finds that it is policy at Singer Correctional to photograph inmates without hats or head coverings during the admissions process. The photograph or photographs are placed on identification cards used by both the inmates and corrections officers…. The requirement that the photograph be taken without any head […]
Egyptian Court Overturns No-Face-Veil Rule in Exams
I blogged about the litigation a few weeks ago, when a court ruled that the government could ban face veils in exams. (“The government said it brought in the ban in part because students, male and female, were sitting exams disguised as other candidates by wearing a face veil.”) But now that court decision has […]
Why is it More Wrong to Attack a Person’s Religion than their Secular Moral or Political Views?
By Ilya Somin on January 2, 2010 4:28 pm in Atheism, Freedom of Speech, Religion, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
Ireland has recently enacted a law banning “blasphemy,” which has in turn attracted plenty of justified criticism: Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came into force today by publishing a series of anti-religious quotations online and promising to fight the legislation in court. The new law, which was […]