October 15 : June 15 : April 26 : April 1 : March 9 :
February 25 : February 23 : February 18 : January 19

October 15, 2004

• SUPREME COURT TO HEAR TWO CASES INVOLVING TEN COMMANDMENTS DISPLAYS AND AN RLUIPA CHALLENGE
  
  On Tuesday, the Court granted certiorari in Van Orden v. Perry, No. 03-1500, a case challenging a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas state capitol, and McCreary County v. ACLU, No. 03-1693, a case challenging a Ten Commandments display in a Kentucky courthouse. It also agreed to hear Cutter v. Wilkinson, No. 03-9877, a case involving challenges from Ohio prisoners under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act alleging that the state denied them the right to practice Wicca and Satanism in prison.
  

June 15, 2004

• NINTH CIRCUIT ORDERS REMOVAL OF CROSS FROM MOJAVE DESERT
  
  The Ninth Circuit ordered the removal of a five-to-eight-foot Latin cross that has stood on federal land in the Mojave National Preserve in various forms since 1934. The cross, officially designated as a war memorial, is bolted to a large rock outcropping visible to vehicles on a nearby road. The National Park Service declined a request to erect a Buddhist religious symbol next to the cross. Although Congress passed legislation authorizing the swap of five acres around the cross for five acres of private land elsewhere in the preserve, the transfer had not yet been completed. Because the court believed the transfer could take years to complete, and that the land could revert to the government, it rendered its opinion based on the cross standing on federal land. The court did not address the constitutionality of the transfer itself. The ACLU has challenged the transfer as unconstitutional in a separate case.
  
  Buono v. Norton, No. 03-55032 (9th Cir. June 7, 2004), can be accessed by clicking HERE.(PDF)

April 26, 2004

• APPEALS COURT RULES FLORIDA CITY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS
  
  In the first case in which a house of worship has won under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), the Eleventh Circuit found that a city discriminated against two Orthodox Jewish congregations by barring them from meeting in rented commercial space. The Eleventh Circuit held that RLUIPA was within Congress's legislative authority and mandates equal treatment between religious and nonreligious assemblies.
  
  Please click to read the decision in Midrash Sephardi, Inc. v. Town of Surfside, No. 03-13858 (11th Cir. Apr. 21, 2004). (PDF)

April 1, 2004

• MARCH ISSUE OF CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION'S RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN FOCUS ONLINE
  
  The United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division has released the March issue of Religious Freedom in Focus, a monthly email update about the Civil Rights Division's ongoing efforts to protect religious freedom.
  
  In this month's issue:
  
  
• Civil Rights Division Submits Brief Defending the Boy Scouts' Right to Use City Land in San Diego; Court Refuses to Accept it
• Civil Rights Division Brief Defends Constitutionality of Title VII
• Civil Rights Division Closes Pennsylvania Religious Zoning Discrimination Investigation
• Church Arson Act's Constitutionality Defended
• Supreme Court Reverses Ninth Circuit in Locke v. Davey
  
  To view the issue, click HERE.

March 8, 2004

• CATHOLIC CHARITIES CASE EDITORIAL
  
  Professor Richard W. Garnett at Notre Dame has published an op-ed on the Catholic Charities case on National Review Online. Lauding Justice Janice Brown's dissent, he argues that the California Supreme Court wrongly held that Catholic Charities must include contraceptives in their employees' health insurance plans. Click HERE to read his editorial.
  
  
• LOCKE v. DAVEY EDITORIAL
  
  Susanna Dokupil's recent op-ed on National Review Online argues that the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Washington State's ability to exclude ministerial students from college scholarships was wrongly decided. Click HERE to read her editorial.
  
  

February 25, 2004

• SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS WASHINGTON STATE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
  
  The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Locke v. Davey, which concerned the constitutionality of a Washington State college scholarship program. The Promise Scholarship program awarded grants based on a combination of need and merit, but it excluded otherwise-qualified students who planned to study theology from receiving scholarships. In a 7-2 opinion, with Chief Justice Rehnquist writing for the majority, the Court held that the exclusion of religious majors from the scholarship program did not violate the Free Exercise clause. Justice Scalia, in a dissent joined by Justice Thomas, argued that it was unconstitutional for the State to award benefits based on neutral criteria, then single out religion for disfavor.
  
  Click HERE to access the decision in Locke v. Davey, No. 02-1315 (Feb. 25, 2004)
  

February 23, 2004

• EIGHTH CIRCUIT DECLARES TEN COMMANDMENTS MONUMENT UNCONSTITUTIONAL
  
  The court found that a Ten Commandments monument in a local city park violated the Establishment Clause because the city did not have a secular purpose in erecting the monument, and the primary effect was to advance religion. The monument was donated by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles in 1965. Although other donated structures, such as benches, recreation equipment, and trees, were in the park, the Eighth Circuit found them insufficient to mitigate the perception that the city endorsed religion.
  
  Click HERE to access ACLU Nebraska Foundation v. City of Plattsmouth, No. 02-2444 (8th Cir. Feb. 18, 2004). (PDF)
  

February 18, 2004

• RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN FOCUS
  
  The inaugural issue of Religious Freedom in Focus is now online. This monthly e-mail update highlights cases involving religious liberty and religious discrimination issues that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice is handling. This issue discusses defending the constitutionality of the religious accommodation provisions in Title VII in the context of a Muslim woman's right to wear a headscarf to work, working to have a ban on prayer lifted at a Texas senior center, and protecting the right, under RLUIPA, of an Orthodox synagogue to meet in commercially rented space. It also summarizes the Civil Rights Division's work enforcing RLUIPA.
  
  Click HERE to access Religious Freedom in Focus.

January 19, 2004

• GEORGIA CONSIDERS STATE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERRIDE STATE'S BLAINE AMENDMENT
  
  Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue has proposed a Faith and Family Services Amendment to the State's constitution that would allow the State of Georgia to fund faith-based initiatives. It would change the provision reading: "No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, cult, or religious denomination or of any sectarian institution" to begin "except as permitted or required by the United State Constitution, as amended." If the resolution receives a 2/3 vote in the Georgia House and Senate, it will appear on the November 2004 ballot and will require a majority vote for passage.
  
  For more information, including the full text of the amendment click HERE. (PDF)