| June 19, 2000 |
|
Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v.
Doe [99-62]
Opinion |
The District's policy permitting
student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the
Establishment Clause. pp. 9-26. |
| (2000) |
|
Freiler v. Tangipahoa Parish Board of
Educ. |
The Supreme Court decided not to
review the lower court ruling which struck down a school district's
anti-evolution disclaimer. |
| (1999) |
|
DiLorento v. Downey USD |
The Supreme Court let stand,
without comment, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a school
district was within its rights to discontinue a program of paid
advertising signs on school grounds rather than accept a sign promoting
the Ten Commandments. |
| June 28, 2000 |
|
Mitchell et al. v. Helms et
al. [No. 98-1648.]
Opinion |
Chapter 2 of the Education
Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 channels federal funds via state
educational agencies (SEA's) to local educational agencies (LEA's), which
in turn lend educational materials and equipment, such as library and
media materials and computer software and hardware, to public and private
elementary and secondary schools to implement "secular, neutral, and
nonideological" programs is constitutional. |
| August 14, 2000 |
4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Birgit Ehlers-Renzi; Vincent Renzi, v.
Connelly School of the Holy Child, Incorporated [No. 99-2352]
Opinion |
A Roman Catholic school which is
constructing improvements and additions to the school without obtaining a
"special exception," challenge the constitutionality of a
Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance§ 59-G-2.19(c), which exempts such
schools from the special exception requirement. The contention is that the
ordinance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as
applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. The court reversed
a lower court ruling that agreed that such did violate the Establishment
Clause. |
| August 29, 2000 |
3rd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Hood V. Medford Board of Education |
A federal court was evenly
divided in the case of a New Jersey boy barred from reading his favorite
Bible story to his first-grade class, letting stand a lower court ruling
that said the school district did not violate the boy's free-speech
rights. |
| December 11, 2000 |
6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Simmons-Harris v. Zelman
(12/11/00 - No. 00-3055, 3060, 3063)
Opinion |
Ohio Pilot Scholarship Program
school voucher program violates the Establishment Clause because it does
not permit private citizens to direct government aid freely, but rather
restricts choice to religious institutions and spaces with only a few
alternative possibilities. |
| December 13, 2000 |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Books v. City of Elkhart, Indiana
(12/13/00 - No. 00-1114)
Opinion |
Monument inscribed with Ten
Commandments displayed on lawn of municipal building violates the
Establishment Clause because plaintiffs exercising right or duty to attend
government building must view religious object they wish to avoid. |
December 13, 2000
(February 8, 2001) |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Books v. City Elkhart, Indiana
(02/08/01 - No. 00-1114)
Opinion |
The Establishment Clause
acknowledges America's "spiritual partimony" and requires that
the government exercise restraint to prevent citizens from becoming
outsiders in the eyes of our governmental system. |
| January 30, 2001 |
5th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Doe v. Beaumont Indep. Sch.
(01/29/01 - No. 97-40429)
Opinion |
Where the ultimate question in
an Establishment Clause case is the equality of treatment, the district
court should examine the targeted program in its full context, viewing it
as it actually operates in its setting, including other programs similar
in purpose and function. |
| February 27, 2001 |
6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Johnson v. Econ. Dev. Corp. Of County
of Oakland (02/27/01 - No. 99-1884)
Opinion |
Issuance of tax-exempt revenue
bonds to finance construction of private religious school buildings does
not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause where the bonds had
a secular purpose and were awarded without regard to religion. |
| March 9, 2001 |
10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Kikumura v. Hurley (03/09/01 -
No. 99-1284)
Opinion |
While the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act, 42 USC 2000bb-1, is unconstitutional as applied to
states, it may still be validly applied against the federal government. |
| March 16, 2001 |
6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Am. Civil Liberties Union of Ohio v.
Capitol Square Review and Advisory Bd. (03/16/01 - No. 98-4106)
Opinion |
Ohio's statutory adoption of the
motto: "With God, All Things Are Possible" under Ohio Rev. Code
5.06 does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
because its sentiment is part of the country's long and deeply entrenched
tradition of civic piety, or "ceremonial deism." |
| March 29, 2001 |
9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Gentala v. the City of Tucson
(03/30/01 - No. 97-17062)
Opinion |
Establishment Clause allows a
city to withhold "civic event" subsidies for the public use of
its facilities from religious groups without violating the 1st Amendment
rights of the groups. |
| March 29, 2001 |
5th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Kee v. City of Rowlett Texas
(03/28/01 - No. 99-10555)
Opinion |
The secret electronic recording
of private prayers and conversations directed at deceased relatives does
not violate any reasonable expectation of privacy where the speakers
acknowledge the possibility of eavesdroppers who might have been in close
proximity to the grave site. |
| April 20, 2001 |
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Destefano v. Emergency Hous. Group, Inc.
(05/08/01 - No. 99-9146)
Opinion |
State's funding of alcoholic
treatment facility does not violate the Establishment Clause despite the
facility's inclusion in its program of religious Alcoholics Anonymous
sessions, if the facility's staff neither coerces clients to attend such
sessions nor itself indoctrinates them. |
| April 27, 2001 |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Freedom from Religion Found, Inc. v.
Bugher (04/27/01 - No. 99-2850)
Opinion |
A state program that subsidizes
telecommunications access for schools which fails to restrict the use of
cash grants to private, sectarian schools in order to reduce the cost of
their existing telecommunications access expenses violates the
Establishment Clause of the Constitution. |
| May 29, 2001 |
|
City of Elkhart v. William A. Books et
al (05/29/01 - 00-1407)
Opinion
Rehnquist,
dissenting |
High Court Refuses Ten
Commandments Case |
| June 11, 2001 |
|
Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch.,
No 99-2036 (U.S.S.C June 11, 2001)
Opinion |
Government actors may not
exclude speech from a limited public forum on the basis of the religious
nature of the speech, because the exclusion constitutes unconstitutional
viewpoint discrimination without justification by the Establishment
Clause. |
| June 18, 2001 |
United States Supreme Court |
Hood v. Meedford Board of Education |
The Supreme Court said it would
not get involved in a fight over whether a public school teacher should
have allowed a first-grader to read his classmates a story from The
Beginner's Bible. |
| June 26, 2001 |
Supreme Court of Texas |
Williams v. Lara (06/28/01 -
No. 99-0273)
Opinion |
County jail's operation of a
voluntary chaplain training unit for prisoners violates the establishment
clause of the Constitution. |
| District of Columbia Circuit Court of
Appeals |
Henderson v. Kennedy (06/26/01
- No. 00-5070)
Opinion |
A Park Service regulation
prohibiting the sale of goods in areas immediately surrounding the Lincoln
Memorial and Washington Monument does not violate the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act, Free Speech Clause, or Equal Protection component of the
Due Process Clause. |
| 4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Columbia Union Coll. v. Oliver
(06/26/01 - No. 00-2193)
Opinion |
For purposes of determining
whether financial assistance to an institute of higher learning would
violate the Establishment Clause, it no longer matters whether an
institution is "pervasively sectarian" as long as the aid
program has a secular purpose and uses neutral criteria. |
July 2, 2001
Opinion |
California Appellate Districts |
Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc.
v. Superior Court (Dep't of Managed Health Care)(07/02/01 - No.
C037025) |
Health & Saf. Code 1367.25
and Ins. Code 10123.196, which require employers to provide for
contraceptive coverage in employee health plans, does not violate the
constitutional rights of religious employers whose religious faith opposes
birth control. |
| 10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Wells v. City & County of Denver
(07/02/01 - No. 00-1040)
Opinion |
Non-sectarian holiday display
constituted government speech when city built, paid for, and erected the
display, and city may exclude private messages without violating 1st
Amendment. |
| July 24, 2001 |
4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Brown v. Gilmore (07/24/01 -
No. 00-2132; 00-2400)
Opinion |
A Virginia law mandating a
moment of silence in classrooms does not violate the Establishment Clause
of the Constitution because it accommodates religious exercise but does
not mandate it. |
| August 8, 2001 |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Linnemeir v. Bd. Of Trs. Of Purdue
Univ. (08/16/01 - No. 01-3002)
Opinion |
The First Amendment does not
forbid a state university from providing a venue for the expression of
views antagonistic to conventional Christian beliefs. |
| September 20, 2001 |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Deboer v. Village of Oak Park (09/20/01
- No. 99-4153, 99-4226)
Opinion |
City restriction on assemblies
on its properties for a "civic program or activity" that
categorically excludes any event involving religious prayer and worship
constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination in violation of the
First Amendment. |
| September 26, 2001 |
5th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Littlefield v. Forney Indep. Sch. Dist.
(09/26/01 - No. 00-10965)
Opinion |
While parents have a fundamental
right in the upbringing and education of their children, this right does
not mandate that a parental objection to a public school uniform policy
requires a strict scrutiny analysis. |
| October 1-2, 2001 |
11th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Warner v. City of Boca Raton (10/01/01
- No. 99-13730)
Opinion |
Florida Supreme Court certified
to determine whether Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects
more religiously motivated conduct than the US constitution. |
| 11th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. Of Am.
v. Gallagher (10/02/01 - No. 00-16542)
Opinion |
Florida's Holocaust Victims
Insurance Act, Fla. Stat. 626.9543, requiring that Florida insurers report
not only regarding their own Holocaust-era policies, but also the policies
of parent and subsidiary companies, violates the Due Process Clause. |
| District of Columbia Circuit Court of
Appeals |
Henderson v. Kennedy (10/02/01
- No. 00-5070)
Opinion |
Amendments to the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act, 42 USC 2000cc-5(7)(A), extending the protections
to "any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central
to, a system of religious belief," did not alter the propriety of
inquiring into the importance of a religious practice when assessing
whether a substantial burden exists. |
| November 9, 2001 |
9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Orin v. Barclay (11/09/01 -
No. 00-35177)
Opinion (PDF) |
Public official may not restrict
demonstration on public property from engaging in religious speech or
worship. |
| November 29, 2001 |
1st Circuit Court of Appeals |
Knights of Columbus v. Town of
Lexington (11/29/01 - No. 01-246)
Opinion |
Local ordinance that prohibited
all unattended structures from historic site, to preserve aesthetic value
of historic site, does not violate the Free Exercise clause of the 1st
Amendment. |
| December 11, 2001 |
5th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Doe v. Sch. Bd. Of Ouachita Parish (12/11/01
- No. 00-30874)
Opinion |
La. Rev. Stat. 17:2115(A), which
required local school boards and parishes to permit school authorities to
allow students and teachers to observe a "brief time in silent
meditation" at the beginning of each school day, violates the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it does not have a
secular legislative purpose. |
| December 12, 2001 |
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Knight v. State of Connecticut Dep't of
Pub. Health (12/12/01 - No. 00-7289, 00-9131)
Opinion |
Public employees do not have the
right to discuss and promote their religious beliefs while working with
clients receiving government services. |
| December 14, 2001 |
7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Gernetzke v. Kenosha Unified Sch.
Dist. No. 1 (12/14/01 - No. 01-2084)
Opinion |
20 USC 4071(f) of the Equal
Access Act allows a school principal to prohibit a student religious group
from painting a religious mural on school property where principal also
prohibited other murals for non-religious, school discipline grounds. |
| January 7, 2002 |
United States District Court for the
Western District of Wisconsin |
Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc.
v. Scott McCallum (1/7/01 - No. 00-C-617-C)
Opinion (HTML)
(PDF) |
First challenge of direct,
unrestricted taxpayer funding of a faith-based initiatives. |
| January 15, 2002 |
U.S. Supreme Court |
Thomas v. Chicago Park Dist.
(01/15/02 - No. 00-1249)
Opinion |
A content-neutral permit scheme
regulating uses of a public forum need not have procedural safeguards
required for subject matter speech regulations. |
| 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Am. Family Ass'n, Inc. v. City &
County of San Francisco (01/16/02 - No. 00-16415)
Opinion PDF |
City resolution expressing
disagreement with advertising campaign sponsored by religious groups that
condemned homosexuality did not violate the Establishment Clause or the
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. |
| January 24, 2002 |
The United States District Court For
The Western District of Virginia Lynchburg Division |
Mellen & Knick v. Bunting (01/24/02
- No. 6:01 CV 00026)
Opinion HTML
PDF |
A federal court judge in
Lynchburg ruled today that school-sponsored prayers at the Virginia
Military Institute are unconstitutional because they allow government to
"become impermissibly entangled with religion." |
| January 29, 2002 |
9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Sklar v. Commn'r Internal Revenue (01/29/02
- No. 00-70753)
Opinion PDF |
Because appellants did not show
that their "dual payment" tuition payments are deductible under
the Tax Code (section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code), or that the total
payments they made for both secular and religious school education their
children received exceeded the market value of other secular private
school education available, the IRS did not err in disallowing their
deductions. |
| February 12, 2002 |
District of Columbia Circuit Court of
Appeals |
Univ. Of Great Falls v. Nat'l Labor
Relations Bd. (02/12/02 - No. 00-1415)
Opinion |
Under the U.S. Supreme Court's
decision in Catholic Bishop, the NLRB lacks jurisdiction over petitioner,
whose organization is religiously operated, and the First Amendment
prevents the Board from applying its own "substantial religious
character" test that would enable it to probe petitioner's
"religious mission." |
| February 25, 2002 |
U. S. Supreme Court |
O'Bannon v. Indiana Civil Liberties
Union et al
|
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected
Indiana's appeal that it should be allowed to erect a limestone monument
with the Ten Commandments on the statehouse lawn in Indianapolis. |
March 7, 2002
|
Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Sally E. Flynn v. West Chester County |
Philadelphia -- a U.S. District
judge ruled that the Ten Commandments plaque posted outside the Chester
County Courthouse is unconstitutional and must be removed. [Note: As of
03/17/02, the opinion is not available on line.] |
| March 8, 2002 |
District of Columbia Circuit Court of
Appeals |
Levitan v. Ashcroft (03/08/02
- No. 00-5346)
Opinion |
To determine whether a prison
rule violates the First Amendment by preventing inmates from observing
religious practice, a trial court must make a four-part inquiry. |
| March 14, 2002 |
Supreme Court of Florida |
Malicki v. Doe (03/14/02 - No.
SC01-179)
Opinion PDF |
The First Amendment does not
provide a shield to third-party tort claims behind which a church may
avoid liability for harm caused to an adult and a child parishioner
arising from the alleged sexual assault or battery by one of its clergy. |
| Supreme Court of Florida |
Doe v. Evans (03/14/02 - No.
SC94450)
Opinion PDF |
The First Amendment does not
provide a shield behind which a church may avoid liability for harm caused
to a third party arising from the alleged sexual misconduct by one of its
clergy members during the course of an established marital counseling
relationship. |
| April 4, 2002 |
6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Virts v. Consol. Freightways Corp. Of
Delaware (04/04/02 - No. 00-5501)
Opinion |
Where plaintiff truck driver's
proposals to accommodate his religious belief against going on sleeper
runs with females had the potential of adversely impacting other drivers,
the evidence established that defendant would suffer an undue hardship in
attempting to accommodate his religious belief, and the district court did
not err in granting defendant summary judgment on plaintiff's claim of
religious discrimination. |
| April 11, 2002 |
10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Beerheide v. Suthers (
04/11/02 - No. 00-1086 )
Opinion |
In claim alleging that inmates'
First Amendment right to free exercise of religion was violated when they
were not provided kosher meals, Department of Corrections' proposed plan
of cost contribution by inmates was properly rejected as not rationally
related to legitimate penological concerns |
| April 30, 2002 |
10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Bryce v. Colorado District Church of
the Nazarene ( 04/30/02 - No. 00-1515 )
Opinion |
When a church makes a personnel
decision based on religious doctrine and holds meetings to discuss that
decision and the ecclesiastical doctrine underlying it, the courts will
not intervene. |
| May 07, 2002 |
U. S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Prater v. Burnside ( 05/07/02
- No. 00-6538 )
Opinion |
City's decision to develop, for
a public purpose, a previously dedicated roadway located between two lots
owned by appellant church was not a "taking" and did not violate
the Free Exercise Clause, due process, or the Establishment Clause. |
| May 15, 2002 |
Supreme Court of California |
Silo v. Chw Med. Found (
05/16/02 - No. S095918 )
Opinion |
There is no clear public policy
against religious organizations prohibiting what they consider to be
inappropriate religious speech in the workplace, and therefore no
liability in tort for such an organization's termination of an employee
who engages in such speech. |
| U. S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Campos v. City of Blue Springs,
Missouri ( 05/15/02 - No. 01-2814 )
Opinion PDF |
Where plaintiff demonstrated
that a city deliberately created intolerable working conditions with the
intention of forcing plaintiff to quit, evidence allowed jury to find that
plaintiff was forced to quit her position because she was not a Christian;
rejected jury instructions were either unnecessary or erroneously
statements of law. |
| May 20, 2002 |
U. S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Commack Self-serv. Kosher Meats, Inc.
v. Weiss ( 05/21/02 - No. 00-9116, 00-9118 )
Opinion |
New York Agriculture &
Markets Laws, aimed at preventing fraud in the kosher food industry, 1)
excessively entangle state and religion through enforcement requirements,
and 2) impermissibly advance Orthodox Judaism by causing consumers of
kosher products to purchase only those that are kosher under the Orthodox
definition. |
| U. S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Dixon v. Edwards ( 05/22/02 -
No. 01-2337 )
Opinion |
A decision by a bishop,
declining to license a priest in the Diocese of Washington, must be given
deference by a civil court, because church authorities shall determine
essential qualifications of clergy and whether the candidate possesses
them. |
| May 28, 2002 |
U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
People of Guam v. Guerrero (
05/28/02 - No. 00-71247 )
Opinion PDF |
The Supreme Court of Guam may
not interpret the Territory of Guam's "Bill of Rights", a
federal statute, to allow greater religious freedom than that provided by
the First Amendment; the Religious Freedom Restoration Act provides no
defense to a "rastafarian" prosecuted for importation of
marijuana, not simple possession. |
| June 12, 2002 |
U. S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Fifth Ave. Presbyterian Church v. the
City of New York ( 06/12/02 - No. 02-7073 )
Opinion |
A preliminary injunction,
preventing the City from dispersing homeless individuals sleeping by
invitation on a church's landings and steps, was properly issued where the
church demonstrated a likelihood of success on its claim under the Free
Exercise Clause. |
| June 13, 2002 |
Supreme Court of Washington |
Gallwey, v. Grimm ( 6/13/2002
No. 68565-7 )
Opinion PDF |
The Supreme Court of the State
of Washington overruled a trial court and held that the state's
Educational Opportunity Grant (EOG) Program does not violate the state
constitution when it allows college students to use their tuition grants
at religiously-affiliated schools of higher education. But the Court
sidestepped the question of whether Washington's "Blaine
Amendment" was itself a violation of the U.S. Constitution. |
| June 17, 2002 |
U.S. Supreme Court |
Watchtower Bible & Tract Soc'y of
New York, Inc. V. Village of Stratton ( No. 00-1737 (U.S.S.C.
June 17, 2002) )
Opinion |
Provisions of a village
ordinance, making it a misdemeanor to engage in door-to-door neighborhood
"canvassing" without first registering with the mayor's office
and receiving a permit, violate the First Amendment as it applies to
religious proselytizing, anonymous political speech, and the distribution
of hand bills. |
| June 26, 2002 |
U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Newdow v. U. S. Congress (06/26/02
- No. 00-16423)
Opinion PDF |
The addition of the words
"under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (via 1954
federal statute), and a school district policy of teacher-led daily
recitation of the Pledge, with the added words included, violate the First
Amendment's Establishment Clause. |
| June 27, 2002 |
U. S. Supreme Court |
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ( No.
00-1751 U.S.S.C. June 27, 2002)
Opinion |
A program giving educational
choices and aid to certain students attending both religious and
non-religious public and private schools, enacted for the valid secular
purpose of providing educational assistance to poor children, is one of
true "private choice" and does not offend the First Amendment's
Establishment Clause. |
| July 2, 2002 |
California Appellate Districts |
Church of Christ in Hollywood v.
Superior Court of Los Angeles County (CAGE-BARILE) (07/02/02 -
No. B158554)
Opinion HTML
PDF |
A church is entitled to a
restraining order to prevent an expelled member from engaging in
disruptive conduct on church property, because the right of free speech
does not trump the church's right to prohibit disruption and trespassing
on its property, and the issue is not one requiring resolution of an
ecclesiastical dispute. |
| July 18, 2002 |
U. S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals |
Logiodice v. Trustees of Maine Cent.
Inst. (07/18/02 - No. 01-2721)
Opinion |
A school district which
underwrites secondary education for students at a privately operated high
school, was not a "state actor" for due process purposes, where
it did not engage in a traditionally exclusive public function, and was
not "entwined" with the government. |
| U. S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Cox v. Miller (07/18/02 - No.
01-2515)
Opinion |
Assuming that Alcoholics
Anonymous is a religious organization for purposes of New York's
cleric-congregant privilege, appellant failed to establish that relevant
communications were made for the purpose of obtaining spiritual guidance,
thus evidence was properly admitted. |
| U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Davey v. Locke (07/18/02 - No.
00-35962)
Opinion PDF |
A state of Washington law,
denying otherwise-qualified students a state-funded scholarship solely
because the students decide to pursue a degree in theology, is
discriminatory on its face and is unconstitutional under strict scrutiny. |
| U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Summum v. City of Ogden (07/19/02
- No. 01-4022)
Opinion |
Under the free speech clause of
the First Amendment, a city cannot display a Ten Commandments monument on
its property, while declining to display a "Seven Principles"
monument proffered by the Summum religion. |
| July 25, 2002 |
U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Te-Ta-Ma Truth Found. v. World Church
of The Creator (07/25/02 - No. 02-1381)
Opinion PDF |
Use of the phrase "Church
of the Creator" as a trademark is descriptive, rather than generic,
and recognition of the mark does not violate the First Amendment. |
| August 8, 2002 |
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Gospel Missions of Am. v. City of Los
Angeles (08/08/02 - No. 00-55993)
Opinion PDF |
A religious corporation did not
have standing to challenge professional fundraiser provisions of a city's
charitable solicitations law that were not the subject of a prior
injunction; an endorsement requirements provision must be analyzed under
"exacting scrutiny." |
| August 14, 2002 |
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Steele v. Indus. Dev. Bd. Of Metro.
Gov't Nashville (08/14/02 - No. 00-6646/6647/6648/6649)
Opinion |
Issuance of tax exempt revenue
bonds to a sectarian university, as part of a neutral program to benefit
education, including that provided by sectarian institutions, confers at
best only an indirect benefit to the school, and does not violate the
Establishment Clause. |
| August 22, 2002 |
U.S. District Court, Eastern District
of Kentrucky |
ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County,
Kentucky (Case identification not located)
Opinion(Written opinion has not been posted on Internet) |
A US District Court in Lexington, Kentucky, ruled
against the American Civil Liberties Union in their suit to have the Ten
Commandments removed from their display in the Mercer County Courthouse.
The Commandments were displayed along with other historical and legal
texts.
US District Judge Karl Forrester denied the legal
group's motion for a preliminary injunction, noting that the historical
influence of the commandments was beyond "rational dispute,"
even though "plaintiffs might wish it were so." He concluded
that "plaintiffs' wishes cannot change history."
The facts recited in this case come from WorldNetDaily.com,
posted on the Internet on August 23, 2002.
|
| September 9, 2002 |
California Appellate Districts |
Rubin V. City of Burbank (09/09/02
- No. B148288)
Opinion HTML
PDF |
An invocation to "Jesus
Christ" at a city council meeting violated the Establishment Clause
of the First Amendment, and a court order related to prayer at meetings
did not constitute censorship or viewpoint discrimination under the Free
Speech and Exercise Clauses. |
| U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Prince V. Jacoby (09/09/02 -
No. 99-35490)
Opinion HTML
PDF |
A school district violated
either the Equal Access Act or a student's First Amendment rights, by
denying her Bible Club the same rights and benefits as other school
district student clubs, and in refusing to allow the club equal
religion-neutral access to school facilities. |
| September 19, 2002 |
U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Greenville Women's Clinic v.
Comm'r, S.
Carolina Dep't of Health & Envtl. Control (09/19/02 - No.
01-2090/2235)
Opinion |
A South Carolina regulation,
establishing standards for the licensing of abortion clinics, is not an
unconstitutional delegation of licensing authority, does not violate the
Establishment Clause, is not unconstitutionally vague, and does not
violate patient privacy rights. |
| October 3, 2002 |
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Winn v. Killian (10/03/02 -
No. 01-15901)
Opinion PDF |
Where residents and taxpayers,
who contend that an Arizona statute permitting tax credits for
contributions that support parochial schools violates the Establishment
Clause, do not challenge any procedure specified in the Tax Injunction
Act, and seek only to enjoin granting of a tax credit, the action is justifiable
in federal court. |
| October 11, 2002 |
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Adland V. Russ (10/09/02 - No.
00-6139)
Opinion |
A provision of a Kentucky Senate
Resolution, directing that a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments
be made part of a historical and cultural display on Capitol grounds,
under the facts is an impermissible endorsement of religion under the
Establishment Clause. |
| U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals |
First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake
City V. Salt Lake City Corp. (10/09/02 - No. 01-4111)
Opinion |
A city's prohibition of
expressive activity on a public pedestrian easement retained by the city
(a public forum), after the sale of a portion of a downtown public street
to a religious organization, violated the First Amendment. |
| October 16, 2002 |
U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Congregation Kol Ami V. Abington
Township (10/16/02 - No. 01-3077)
Opinion PDF |
District court failed to
determine whether a proposed land use was similarly situated to uses
currently permitted, in finding that certain provisions of a township's
zoning ordinance violated equal protection by not permitting churches in a
residential district. |
| October 25, 2002 |
U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Tenafly Eruv
Ass'n, Inc. V. the Borough
of Tenafly (10/24/02 - No. 01-3301)
Opinion PDF |
Though Jewish Orthodox
plaintiffs are not likely to prevail on their Fair Housing Act claim, and
do not present a viable free speech claim, they are reasonably likely to
show that the Borough violated the Free Exercise Clause by applying an
ordinance prohibiting the public posting of religious material
selectively, against conduct motivated by Orthodox Jewish beliefs.
Preliminary injunction barring the Borough from removing lechis, religious
markers, from telephone poles ordered. |
| November 18, 2002 |
In The District Court of The United
States For The Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division |
Glassroth V. Moore (11-18-02
-Civil Action No. 01-T-1268-N)
Opinion |
A Ten Commandments monument in
the rotunda of Alabama's judicial building violates the constitution's ban
on government promotion of religion, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson gave Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore,
who had had the 5,300-pound granite monument installed in the state
building, 30 days to remove it. |
| November 19, 2002 |
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Barry Baker v. Adams County/Ohio Valley
School Board (11-19-02 - No. 02-3777)
Opinion |
Granite monuments displaying the
Ten Commandments must be removed from the grounds of four public high
schools in southern Ohio, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to uphold a
federal court's June decision. |
| December 04, 2002 |
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals |
The Ninth Circuit panel that issued the original Pledge
of Allegiance decision back in June (Judges Alfred Goodwin, Stephen
Reinhardt and Ferdinand Fernandez) ruled today that Dr. Newdow has Article
III standing to contest government action affecting his daughter despite
California state court orders vesting sole custody in the child's mother
and enjoining him from prosecuting the Pledge case on his daughter's
behalf. Today's ruling comes in response to a motion to intervene filed by
the girl's mother and contains some interesting comments on not only
Newdow's standing but also the substantive Establishment Clause issue.
The panel also issued an order denying the U.S. Senate's
motion to intervene.
However, the panel noted that it would treat the
Senate's rehearing petition and supporting memorandum as an amicus brief
if the Senate so desires.
These rulings should clear the decks for action on
various motions for reconsideration pending before the panel as well as
petitions for rehearing en banc.
|
Newdow v. U. S. Congress (12/04/02
- 00-16423 O)
Opinion PDF |
Order Denying Sandra Banning's
Motion to Intervene |
Newdow v. U. S. Congress (12/04/02
- 00-16423 O)
Opinion PDF |
Order Denying Senate's Motion to
Intervene |
| December 6, 2002 |
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals |
U.S. v. Rayborn (12/06/02 -
No. 01-5632)
Opinion |
The government provided
sufficient evidence to permit a rational jury to find that a church was
actively employed in commercial activities with an effect on interstate
commerce, thus dismissal of an indictment for arson under 18 U.S.C.
section 844(i) is reversed. |
| December 10, 2002 |
U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Tarpley v. Allen County (12/10/02
- No. 01-2982)
Opinion PDF |
A jail's refusal to provide an
inmate with a version of the Bible which included interpretive commentary
did not violate the inmate's First Amendment right to free exercise of
religion.. |
| December 27, 2002 |
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Mayweathers v. Newland (12/27/02
- No. 01-16505/16607/17133)
Opinion PDF |
The Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, under which prisoners are allowed
to attend certain religious services, is a constitutional exercise of
Congress's Spending Clause authority, and does not violate the
Establishment Clause. |
| January 17, 2003 |
U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals |
Mandell v. the County of Suffolk (01/17/03
- No. 01-7729)
Opinion |
Dismissal of Title VII claims is
reversed where based on evidence submitted in support of plaintiff's prima
facie case and on evidence of pretext, a reasonable juror could find that
defendants' decisions not to promote plaintiff were motivated by religious
discrimination. A First Amendment retaliation claim was also improperly
dismissed. |
| January 27, 2003 |
U.S. 7th Circuit Court of
Appeals |
Bruggeman v. Ryan (01/27/03 -
No. 02-1730)
Opinion PDF |
The Justice Department's filing
of 1) an amicus brief in an appeal, and 2) a later brief as an intervenor,
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 2403(a), were proper filings. |
United States v. Jefferson (01/30/03
- No. 02-1864)
Opinion PDF |
Felon's frequent use of
marijuana will not be permitted based on his religious belief in
Rastafarianism; thus, revocation of supervised release is affirmed. |
| U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals |
Resnick v. Adams (01/27/03 -
No. 01-56710)
Opinion PDF |
Requiring a prisoner to fill out
a standard prison form in order to receive kosher food did not violate
prisoner's First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion |
