Excerpt: “What the judge did was wrong in that he held the mosque to a much higher standard than any other institution applying for a land-use permit in Rutherford County,” said Eric Rassbach, a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm that helped file the lawsuit on behalf of the…
Category: Discrimination
Hawaii Judge Upholds Same-Sex Marriage Ban (Honolulu Civil Beat)
Excerpt: A U.S. District Court judge in Honolulu has rejected arguments from two lesbians who said that Hawaii’s 1998 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. According to court documents released Wednesday, Judge Alan Kay dismissed the lawsuit, Jackson v. Abercrombie, saying that a decision like this should be left to the Legislature – not the…
California Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012
On June 26, 2012 the California Senate Judiciary passed AB 1964, the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012.
UPDATE: California State Assembly Passes Workplace Religious Freedom Act
On May 29, the California State Assembly passed the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012 by a vote of 63-6. AB 1964 is now on its way to the Senate.
Sikh Group Develops App to Report Airport Profiling (CNN)
EXCERPT: Airline travelers who feel they’ve been harassed at airport check-ins by screeners now have a speedier outlet on which to complain right at their fingertips. The Sikh Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group, on Monday released a mobile application on iPhones and Android phones giving passengers who feel they’ve been racially or religiously profiled…
Key California Committee Passes Workplace Religious Freedom Act
Photo Credit www.istockphoto.com/ Amelia Johnson [dc]I[/dc]n August 2010, Noor Abdallah, a Muslim woman who worked as a hostess at Disneyland’s Grand Californian hotel complained that Disney had refused to allow her to wear her hijab, or headscarf, which she wore as a sign of modesty in front of her customers. Disney, which had been working…
Timeline: Obama Administration Actions Affecting U.S. Religious Freedom | Christianity Today
Excerpt: “The past year has marked a shift in religious liberty debates, one that previously centered on hiring rights but became focused on health care requirements. When President Obama first took office, faith-based groups were especially concerned that organizations that discriminate in hiring based on religious beliefs would become ineligible for federal funding. In 2011,…
The U.S. Supreme Court made the Right Decision When It Upheld the Ministerial Exception
In ruling the way it did, the Supreme Court protected the right of a religious organization to select its clergy without government interference and avoided placing church doctrine under government interpretation. Civil magistrates will not be in a position to where they are forced to determine which religious view, that of the clergy member or the church, is correct.
Ruling on Ministers: What the Supreme Court said & didn’t say | Oregon Faith Report
Excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, held that the “ministerial exception” bars a school teacher from bringing employment discrimination claims against her religious employer. The Court’s ruling clearly grants religious institutions the freedom to employ (and terminate) employees who act as ministers of their faith. Yet the…
10th Circuit Rules Oklahoma Amendment Barring Islamic Law was Unnecessary and Discriminatory
OKLAHOMA -The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s ruling that blocked the implementation of the “Save Our State” amendment. The amendment, approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters in 2010, barred “Islamic law” in the state, even though there was no movement to impose sharia law in Oklahoma. Judge Scott…