Religious Law

Housing Law Doesn’t Protect Right to Mezuzah, Appeals Court Rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Fair Housing Act does not protect the right of condominium owners to display mezuzot on their doorframes. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal law requires accommodation for the handicapped but not for religion, the New York Sun…

Jul 11, 2008 11:05 AM CDT

Judge Upholds Order Banning Autistic Boy from Church

A Minnesota judge has upheld a restraining order banning a teenager with autism from his local Catholic church, which contends he is dangerous to other parishioners. “Todd County District Judge Sally Ireland Robertson, in upholding a restraining order, said in her ruling that the parents of 13-year-old Adam Race ‘have…

Jul 1, 2008 6:14 PM CDT

Attorney for Sect Teen Refuses to Testify in Texas Grand Jury Hearing

A Texas grand jury apparently investigating alleged sexual abuse of girls by a polygamous religious sect reportedly tried to call an attorney for one 16-year-old, Natalie Malonis, to testify yesterday. But Malonis refused, citing attorney-client privilege, which led to an interruption in the San Angelo grand jury hearing as Judge…

Jun 26, 2008 6:06 PM CDT

How Islamic Law Applies in the UK

Although many people don’t realize it, Islamic law is being applied on a daily basis in the United Kingdom. That’s because Muslims who wish to live their lives in compliance with the Shariah code voluntarily turn to local councils of scholars for rulings, usually on marriage and divorce issues, reports…

Jun 21, 2008 12:44 AM CDT

Polygamous Texas Sect Bans Underage Teen Marriages

Updated: As parents Monday began picking up more than 400 children found to have been taken improperly from a Texas ranch run by a polygamous sect of which they are members, the religious group pledged to comply with state law concerning the age at which teenagers may marry. Teens may…

Jun 3, 2008 10:22 PM CDT

Texas Judge Returns 400-Plus FLDS Kids to Their Parents

After a Texas Supreme Court ruling Thursday that officials overstepped its authority by removing some 468 children from their homes at a ranch run by a religious sect that advocates polygamy, a judge signed an order (PDF) today returning custody to their parents. Families from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus…

Jun 2, 2008 7:58 PM CDT

DNA Taken From FLDS Leader Jeffs re 4 Alleged ‘Marriages’ to Underage Girls

DNA samples reportedly have been taken from Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in a separate Texas criminal investigation related to the state’s removal of some 468 children from a ranch there last month. (A civil case concerning claimed abuse…

May 30, 2008 11:56 PM CDT

Man Faces Beheading in Saudi Arabia for Swearing

A man who reportedly took God’s name in vain during an argument with a neighbor in Saudi Arabia is in prison and sentenced to be beheaded. “This nation is ruled by a strict Wahhabi brand of Islamic justice that doles out lashings and public beheadings for crimes including murder, rape…

May 29, 2008 11:17 PM CDT

Texas to Appeal Decision Calling for Return of 468 FLDS Kids to Parents

Told by an appellate court yesterday that government officials illegally removed up to 468 children from the custody of parents living at a ranch run by a fundamentalist religious group, Texas will now appeal that ruling to the state’s highest court. The State Department of Family and Protective Services plans…

May 23, 2008 7:13 PM CDT

State Wrongly Removed 400 FLDS Kids, Texas Appeals Court Says

Updated: Texas officials exceeded their authority by taking some 400 children of a religious sect from their parents at the Yearning for Zion ranch last month and putting them in foster care, a state appeals court says. Responding to a mandamus filing by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the Third Court…

May 22, 2008 5:38 PM CDT

Texas Plans for FLDS Kids Unclear & Unfair, Lawyers Say

Plans discussed in court hearings today to reunite some 465 children removed from a communal ranch home in Texas last month with at least their mothers during the next year are so unclear that it’s impossible to comply with them, lawyers for some parents and children say. Some also are…

May 19, 2008 10:25 PM CDT

FLDS Children Interviewed By Police Without Legal Counsel, Attorney Says

A lawyer for several of the approximately 465 children removed from a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy says her clients and others throughout the state are being interviewed by authorities without their attorneys present. While that apparently may be legal, as far as child…

May 16, 2008 11:31 PM CDT

New Texas Rules for FLDS Moms May Distance Them from Their Faith

As new hearings are about to begin Monday in the case of some 464 children of a fundamentalist religious sect removed from their communal ranch homes over allegations of sexual abuse, Texas child welfare officials have reportedly drafted family reunion goals that may force mothers to choose between their children…

May 15, 2008 5:17 PM CDT

Special Prosecutor to Oversee FLDS Ranch Raid Criminal Cases

The state attorney general will serve as special prosecutor in all criminal cases arising from a raid early last month on a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly promotes polygamy and underage “spiritual” marriages of teenagers to much older men. It isn’t clear exactly what criminal cases…

May 6, 2008 5:44 PM CDT

Texas Ranch Raid Sparks Senate Leader’s Call for Federal Task Force

Sparks flew in Arizona, Nevada and Utah last week after the Senate majority leader criticized prosecutors in those states for not being as aggressive as Texas authorities in pursuing claimed child abuse among a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy and “spiritual” marriages of underage teenage girls to much older…

May 5, 2008 11:04 PM CDT