Hostility to Catholicism is one of the hearty perennials of the study of law and religion in America. I have recently argued i n this piece that there was an important shift in the political rhetoric of the late 19th and early 20th century from accentuating anti-Catholic to anti-Christian themes.…
Dismissal for opposition to same-sex adoption: Mr R Page
Is opposition on grounds of conscience to adoption by same-sex couples protected by equality legislation and the ECHR? That was the issue before the Tribunal in Mr R Page v NHS Trust Development Authority [2017] UKET 2302433/2016 . The background At the time of his appointment as a Non-Executive Director…
New paper: “The Two Separations”
From the Law and Religion Forum: Here’s a new paper of mine, The Two Separations . Here’s the abstract: There is nothing self-evidently attractive about separation — whether of church and state or anything else — as a model for individual or collective life. Pursuing separation is not like pursuing…
“The Conversation” misleads on impacts of same sex marriage
Two pieces in the Australian online forum “The Conversation” today make misleading statements about the possible impacts of the recognition of same-sex marriage in Australia, and warrant some response. One article suggests that there is no doubt that churches will still be able to decline to solemnise same-sex marriages. The…
Review of NT discrimination law- guest blog
The Northern Territory government has released a discussion paper called Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act (Sept 2017). It invites comments by 3 December 2017. You can almost get the tone of the paper from the title! After all, who in this fast-changing age could oppose anything called “modernisation”? But there…
Reluctant Judge Holds Cross On County Seal Is Unconstitutional
In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. County of Lehigh , (ED PA, Sept. 28, 2017), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that a large, central Latin cross in the seal and flag of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania violate the Establishment Clause under the Lemon test and the endorsement test. However…
South Carolina Supreme Court Resolves Property Dispute In Episcopal Church
In The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina v. The Episcopal Church, (SC Sup. Ct., Aug. 2, 2017), the 5-member South Carolina Supreme Court in 5 separate opinions spanning 77 pages resolved a property dispute that arose after a split in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.…
From Law and religion round-up for 29th October
An incredibly busy week, but at least everyone’s had an extra hour in bed… (Un)protected beliefs In a judgment of 13 October, Mr S T Uncles v NHS Commissioning Board and others [2017] UKET 1800958/2016 , an Employment Tribunal held that a “philosophical belief in English nationalism” was not a…
European Court Affirms Jurisdiction of Ecclesiastical Courts
In Nagy v. Hungary, (ECHR, Sept. 14, 2017), the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, by a vote of 10-7, upheld the exclusive jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts over contractual disputes that are matters of ecclesiastical law. In the case, a pastor in the Reformed Church of Hungary…
DOJ Supports Christian Baker In Amicus Brief Filed With Supreme Court
In an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 7 in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice sided with the Christian bakery owner who refused to design and create a cake for a same-sex wedding (full text). Some 15 other…
Louisiana AG Opinion Says ABA Model Rule Barring Discrimination Is Unconstitutional
The Louisiana State Bar Association is considering adopting an amendment to its Rules of Professional Conduct that would define professional misconduct as including: This is a narrower version of ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) which the ABA House of Delegates adopted in 2016. Last week, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office issued…
Copson, “Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom”
Until the modern period the integration of church (or other religion) and state (or political life) had been taken for granted. The political order was always tied to an official religion in Christian Europe, pre-Christian Europe, and in the Arabic world. But from the eighteenth century onwards, some European states…
Appeals Court Refuses To Order Recusal of Fundamentalist Christian Judge
In Ex parte Tiara Brooke Lycans, (AL App., July 28, 2017), an Alabama appellate court refused to issue a writ of mandamus ordering a trial judge who also serves as a preacher of a fundamentalist Christian church to recuse himself in a divorce action in which the wife, a lesbian,…
Religious Freedom protections in new same sex marriage proposals: too few, too narrow
The debate over same sex marriage in Australia has been re-ignited by news that some members of the federal governing Liberal/National Party (LNP) coalition are proposing, contrary to their party’s policy, to introduce legislation in Federal Parliament this coming week to redefine marriage to extend it to same sex couples.…
Law and religion round-up – 24th September
A fe excepts rom the Law and Religion Blog UK’s roundup: Doug Chaplin: Living comfortably: the fiction of a stipend? which Gary Alderson conveniently summarizes as “a blog post on the recent press reports that Church of England stipends are enough to live on basically pointing out they are, as…
Why the constitutional treatment of religion in Great Britain matters in religious disputes
Two high-profile cases concerning the approach of public authorities towards religion and identity, where the care and future of looked after children were concerned, have featured this summer. Firstly, a Sikh couple were denied the opportunity to adopt a white baby by Adopt Berkshire, the Windsor and Maidenhead council-run adoption…
Zelinsky, “Taxing the Church”
From Edward Zelinsky of Cardozo Law School comes this timely and important book about the relationship of religion and taxation in American law, Taxing the Church: Religion, Exemptions, Entanglement, and the Constitution . I was very pleased to read the entire manuscript in draft and to provide a blurb […]…
Ontario Passes Law Allowing Gov’t to Seize Children From Parents Who Oppose Gender Transition
Canada’s Ontario province has passed legislation that allows the government to seize children from families if they refuse to accept their child’s chosen "gender identity" or "gender expression." Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacts as he and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (L) walk in the Vancouver Pride Parade […]…
State Department Releases 2016 International Religious Freedom Report
Yesterday the State Department released its 2016 International Religious Freedom Annual Report ( full text ). In remarks on the Report , Secretary of Sate Tillerson highlighted concerns about religious liberty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bahrain, China, Pakistan and Sudan. Importantly, Tillerson also emphasized the State Department’s conclusion […]…
Law and religion round-up – 27th August
From Religion and Law Roundup (27 Aug 2017): cases and news related to: Brexit and the UK courts Data protection after Brexit Sparing the rod in Scotland? Triple talaq in India Charges for entry to C of E churches and cathedrals Click here to view full article at www.lawandreligionuk.com
Religion, real property, the EU and State aid: Congregación de Escuelas Pías Provincia Betania
Article IV of the Agreement of 3 January 1979 (“the Agreement”) between the Spanish State and the Holy See concerning financial matters provides that: “1. The Holy See, the Bishops’ Conference, dioceses, parishes and other territorial units, religious orders and congregations and ‘institutes of consecrated life’ and their provinces […]…
Vatican-Approved Article Criticizes Conservative Catholic Support of U.S. Evangelical Political Agenda
The Washington Post today reports that an article in the influential Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica– whose content is approved by the Vatican Secretariat of State– is critical of conservative Catholic support for the evangelical political agenda in the United States. The article is authored by the journal’s editor […]…
Suit Challenges Hawaii’s Notice Mandate For Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
A suit was filed last week in Hawaii federal district court challenging Hawaii’s SB 501 enacted earlier this year that requires “limited service pregnancy centers” to disseminate on-site to patients a notice that says: Hawaii has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning […]…
In Unusual Church Autonomy Dispute, Catholic School Can Require Immunization of All Students
In a case with an unusual twist, a Florida state appeals court yesterday upheld the policy of a Catholic school requiring immunization of all students, even when a parent has religious objections to immunization. In Flynn v. Estevez , (FL App., June 27, 2017), the appeals court held that […]…
Law and religion round-up – 16th July
A quiet week, apart from… … not the Great Repeal Bill On Thursday, the Government published the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill . We noted it here and the Parliament page on the Bill is here . In Public Law for Everyone , Professor Mark Elliott’s post looks in some […]…