This week and next, SCOTUSblog is hosting an online symposium on various aspects of the litigation challenging California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. The expected contributors are well-known combatants in the ongoing national debate over gay marriage: Carlos Ball, Bob Barr, Thomas Berg, Erwin Chemerinsky, David Cruz, William C. Duncan, John Eastman, William Eskridge, […]
Archive | Religious Freedom
R.I. Legislature Passes Civil Unions Bill
And manages to do what nobody else has done: unite supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage. Marriage Equality Rhode Island says it establishes “second-class citizenry.” The National Organization for Marriage says it is “disappointing and dangerous.” Caught in the middle were legislators, including the openly gay head of the state house, and Governor Lincoln Chafee […]
Interesting Story Related to Burqas and the Law
The Sydney Morning Herald reports on this. Apparently, Carnita Matthews filed a complaint with the police, alleging that a Sydney police officer who was trying to pull her over tried to rip off her burqa to check her identity. But an in-car camera seemed to show that she wasn’t telling the truth. She was then […]
Animal Cruelty Laws and Religious Objections
A commenter on the goth cat thread wrote: So there are laws against mutilating non-consenting cats but not against mutilating non-consenting infant humans [alluding to male circumcision]? I suppose you could mutilate cats if that were part of your religion and you had a book from god to prove it? Another commenter responded, “yes you […]
Fifth Circuit Invalidates City Zoning Ordinance that Treats Churches Less Favorably than Similar Secular Land Uses
In its recent decision in Elijah Group v. City of Leon Valley, the federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit invalidated a city zoning ordinance that forbade churches in an area where very similar secular land uses are permitted. The court ruled that the ordinance violates the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons […]
Court Upholds Baptists’ Right to Proselytize (and Criticize) on Sidewalks at a Religious Festival
So holds Teesdale v. City of Chicago (N.D. Ill. May 26, 2011) (earlier ruling here), in a decision that is much like the one in the Dearborn, Michigan incident, though of course with a different religious group as the target: Plaintiffs … alleged that defendants interfered with their distribution of religious literature and related proselytizing […]
Five-Year Sentence for Blasphemy (Contained in a Statement to a Neighbor)?
So reports International Christian Concern, with regard to a case in Algeria: Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that “insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate […]
Planned Anti-Circumcision-of-Boys Initiative in Santa Monica
The proposed anti-circumcision initiative follows the text of the San Francisco initiative. According to the Jewish Journal, “To qualify the initiative for inclusion on the ballot in Santa Monica’s next election in November 2012, its proponents will need to collect signatures from 10 percent of the city’s approximately 61,000 registered voters in the next six […]
Proposed San Francisco Circumcision Ban, and Religious Freedom
In the earlier post, I discussed whether the proposed San Francisco ban on circumcising boys would violate parental rights, even when the parents don’t raise a religious objection to the ban. (As I mentioned in the post, likely about 95% of male circumcisions in the U.S. are not done by Jews or Muslims, the two […]
Religious Accommodation Victory in a Surprising Place
Christian Today reports: [Eleven Iranian Christians who] had been charged with “action against the order of the country” and drinking alcohol, after joining a house church meeting and taking communion wine [have been freed by an Iranian court] … under Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, which allows Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians to “perform their […]
Court “Finds Through Its Own Research That There Is a Basis in the Quran” for Head Coverings
I blogged last week about a Georgia judge’s refusal to let a Muslim man wear a kufi (a sort of cap) in court. The man believes the headgear is religiously required, and the Georgia judicial system’s announced policy is to allow religious headgear — whether Muslim, Jewish, or related to any other religion — but […]
Georgia Judge Not Getting the Message on Religious Headgear in Court?
As I wrote in 2009, the Georgia courts have a headgear policy that expressly allows religious headgear: The Georgia courts have adopted a new policy on head coverings that will take effect in every court in Georgia. At a meeting Wednesday of the Judicial Council of Georgia — the policy-making body of Georgia’s courts — […]
Free Exercise Clause Absolutely Bars Slander Claims Based on Statements in Confidential Church Proceedings
So held a Kansas state trial judge in Purdum v. Purdum, 2011 WL 1430279 (Kan. Dist. Ct. Apr. 11, 2011), which dealt with a slander claim based on statements made in a church annulment proceeding. I doubt that this is right; the First Amendment ban on religious decisions by secular courts should preclude slander or […]
Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill That Provides Absolute Religious Exemption from Occupational Licensing and Disciplinary Regimes
This is the bill I blogged about last week; Monday, Gov. Brewer vetoed the bill. The Verde Independent reports that the governor warned of a risk that the protection might be “abuse[d],” and though she offered no specific details, [The Governor’s] office made public a letter she got from the head of the Peace Officers […]
Absolute Religious Exemption from Occupational Licensing and Disciplinary Regimes?
UPDATE: The Arizona governor has vetoed the bill. This bill was passed by the Arizona Legislature and, this Monday, sent to the Governor for signature: A. Government shall not deny, suspend or revoke a professional or occupational license, certificate or registration based on a person’s exercise of religion. B. Government shall not deny, suspend or […]