Religious Law

Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Gets Life in Child-Sex-Assault Case

A Texas jury today deliberated only half an hour today before sentencing the leader of a splinter religious group today to a life prison term for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old child bride. The life sentence for Warren Jeffs, 55, will be followed by a consecutive 20-year term for…

Aug 9, 2011 5:45 PM CDT

Warren Jeffs Channels Message to Trial Judge in Latest Recusal Motion: God Says Step Down

Unsuccessful in his earlier efforts to persuade the judge in his San Angelo, Texas, child sex-abuse trial to recuse herself, Warren Jeffs tried a new tack. In a new motion today, the 55-year-old leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints attached a transcript of what he…

Aug 1, 2011 10:04 PM CDT

Appeals Court Allows Hindus’ Suit Against Restaurant that Accidentally Served Them Meat

A New Jersey appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by 16 Hindus against a restaurant that admits it accidentally served them meat-filled pastries in a take-out order. The plaintiffs are seeking money for a trip to India, saying they must visit the Ganges River to purify their souls, the…

Jul 19, 2011 6:27 PM CDT

NJ Rabbi and Wife Charged with Kidnapping Man in Effort to Force Religious Divorce

A New Jersey rabbi and his wife are facing federal kidnapping charges after allegedly luring an Israeli man to their home in an effort to force him to grant his wife a religious divorce. The claimed victim, Yisrael Briskman, was the subject of a High Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem ruling…

Jul 19, 2011 5:59 PM CDT

11th Circuit Rescues Fla. Lawyer Caught in Conflicting Rulings, Says He Must Quit Scientology Case

A Florida plaintiffs lawyer allegedly agreed not to sue the Church of Scientology again as part of a settlement in a 2004 wrongful death suit. But Ken Dandar sued the church again in 2009, leading to an uncomfortable situation: A state court judge told Dandar he had to withdraw as…

Jul 11, 2011 7:13 PM CDT

Suit: Lord’s Prayer at Start of Council Meetings Treats Non-Christians Like ‘Second-Class Citizens’

Delaware residents looking to enforce the divide between church and state have sued their local county council, aiming to end its practice of beginning each public meeting with the Lord’s Prayer. The plaintiffs, who include a retired Lutheran pastor, maintain that by reciting an explicitly Christian and Protestant version of…

Jul 5, 2011 3:14 PM CDT

Bar Owner Admittedly Feeds Feral Cats, Says Higher Authority Trumps City Ordinance: Jesus

In an effort to deal with an estimated population of 80,000 feral cats, Houston has enacted an ordinance making it illegal to feed them. Although a “registered colony manager” program offers a safe harbor for doing so, some don’t see the need to comply with the city’s rules, reports the…

Jun 10, 2011 12:24 PM CDT

6th Circuit Reinstates Tennessee Inmate’s Religious Freedom Claim

A federal appeals court has resurrected a Tennessee inmate’s claim that he should be allowed to receive hate-filled white supremacist material in prison because it is part of his religion. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) Wednesday that the inmate’s claim had been improperly dismissed by…

Jun 3, 2011 9:46 PM CDT

NY May Bar Church Group from Using Schools for Worship, 2nd Circuit Says

A federal appeals court has ruled that New York City may ban religious services at schools outside of school hours. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the ban is a reasonable restriction, imposed in an effort to avoid a violation of the establishment clause. The schools…

Jun 3, 2011 2:21 PM CDT

9th Circuit Rejects Bid by Wiccan Chaplain to Force California Prisons to Hire Him

A federal appeals court has ruled against a volunteer Wiccan chaplain who alleged in a lawsuit that California prisons violated inmates’ rights when they failed to give him a paid position. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals never reached the merits of the free-exercise and equal-protection claims…

Jun 2, 2011 3:00 PM CDT

Newspaper Asserts a First Amendment Right to Erase Hillary Clinton from Situation Room Photo

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspaper is apologizing for deleting Hillary Clinton from a photo of President Obama’s national security team, even as it asserts a First Amendment right to do so. The Hasidic newspaper Di Tzeitung published a photo of Obama and his team watching the raid on Osama bin Laden’s…

May 10, 2011 12:03 PM CDT

Anti-Shariah Bills Under Review

In a trend that has received widespread attention on conservative talk radio and television news programs, legislators in 20 states are considering more than 40 bills that would ban or restrict the use of Shariah in their courts. Shariah law is derived from the Quran and the sayings, practices and…

May 1, 2011 8:20 AM CDT

Texas Immune from Prisoner Damages Suit Under Religious Rights Law, Supreme Court Rules

Sovereign immunity protects the state of Texas from a damages lawsuit by a prisoner who contends worship restrictions violated his rights under federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-2 decision. The state did not waive sovereign immunity to private suits for money damages by accepting federal…

Apr 20, 2011 2:50 PM CDT

Kagan Bested Sotomayor in First-Dissent Sweepstakes, Analyst Says; Does Scalia Have a Rival?

Justice Antonin Scalia, known for his pointed and quotable dissents, may have some competition. Justice Elena Kagan’s first dissent shows she may be able to rival Scalia, according to legal analyst Andrew Cohen, writing for the Atlantic. He cautions that it may be too early to make predictions, but he…

Apr 7, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Once High-Ranking Priest, Now Defrocked, Sues Accuser Who Testified in Church Trial for Defamation

Found guilty by a church tribunal in 2006 of sexually abusing a minor decades ago and subsequently defrocked, a high-ranking former New York priest has now turned the tables on his accuser. Onetime monsignor Charles Kavanagh, 73, has filed a defamation suit against the former seminary student in federal court…

Mar 30, 2011 6:25 PM CDT