A prisoner's communication with a person reasonably believed by that prisoner to be clergy, who regularly engages in prison ministry, does not have to be ordained for those communications to be privileged.That is the conclusion of a federal judge in Kansas, overturning a magistrate judge's ruling that such communication could be used to prosecute the prison minister because she was not ordained.

From the opinion, which relied on proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 506:

[P]roposed Rule 506 does not require formal ordination, and applies to any “minister, priest, rabbi, or other similar functionary of a religious organization, or an individual reasonably believed so to be by the person consulting him.” The facts are uncontroverted that Dillard was acting as a functionary of CMO, which is an explicitly religious organization. Moreover, regardless of her actual status with CMO, it also is uncontroverted that Dillard visited Roeder as a part of the CMO program and while wearing a CMO identification badge. Accordingly, Roeder would have “reasonably believed” that Dillard had this status, and thus the privilege would apply.

To deny privileged status to communication with lay ministers may also have courts improperly inquiring into religious qualifications, an Establishment Clause concern the court also noted but did not need to address.

Texas' State Board of Education voted 10-5 Friday urging the Senate to oppose any variety of school voucher legislation. 

The board resolution states: “Resolved that the State Board of Education calls on the Texas Legislature to reject all vouchers, taxpayer savings grants, tax credits or any other mechanisms that have the effect of reducing funding to public schools or limiting accountability or transparency for public tax dollars.”

Senate Bill 23, which passed the Senate Education Committee, would provide tax credits to businesses that provide money to low-income students to attend private or religious schools.

Earlier this month, the State House voted to amend its budget to clarify that no education money may be used for scholarships or vouchers.

You may have heard, the yoga wars are heating up. A lawsuit filed in California is challenging a school district's use of yoga in the physical education curriculum, arguing that it improperly promotes a religious view. Meanwhile, the White House is taking criticism for its encouragement of yoga as a means of promoting health.

In the San Diego Union Tribune, Philosophy professor Bruce Thompson offers his perspective. While I disagree with his views on prayer (he doesn't like it), his formulation of the problem is helpful. Simply put, yoga is a religious exercise for some, but not for many others.

Some Hindus practice the physical exercises that in the West are called yoga, while other Hindus prefer instead to leave gifts of milk, fruit and flowers at their local temple. Meditation is a yoga. Walking is a yoga. Even breathing is essential to most yogas. If the First Amendment prohibits government sponsorship of any practice that someone in the world considers religious, it would be necessary to prohibit breathing in public schools. This would be absurd. Breathing might be a religious practice for some people, but it has other useful purposes, so people who do not think of it as a religious practice might still wish to engage in it.

So, may schools institute yoga programs? May the White House use the Office of the Presidency to encourage yoga? The best answer might be maybe. It depends.

When government officials violate the Establishment Clause and improperly promote religion in their official capacity, some courageous citizen willing to file a lawsuit is usually required to hold the officials accountable. The drama we usually care most about after that are the legal battles that play out in the courtroom or in settlement negotiations. But for the plaintiff, the drama they face is often personal, and may not stop when the lawsuit is resolved.

Such is the case, sadly, for 14-year-old Jordan Anderson, who faces regular persecution by his peers and sometimes his teachers for standing up against coercive school activities and other improper religious indoctrination. He won his lawsuit against South Carolina's Chesterfield County schools, leading to much-needed changes of policy there. But his own trial continues.

South Carolina's Florence Morning News has Jordan's story.

[O]ver the past two years he’s endured endless bullying, name-calling and threats — even death threats — in the halls of Chesterfield County’s New Heights Middle School.

“I had tons of bullying, just awful stuff I don’t even want to repeat,” Jordan said. “When some people make those death threats, they almost make you think they’ll really kill you.”

Luckily, he has a great attitude about his experience and predicament. His actions will benefit school children in that county for years to come. Read the whole thing.

In February, Rapid City, South Dakota sought the advice of its attorney regarding its invocation practice, following a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The attorney offered a set of options that included some sound advice: craft a non-sectarian, inclusive policy, and consider moving the prayer so that it occurs before the meeting, rather than as an official part of the meeting.  So how did the Council respond?

Via Religion Clause, the City Council instead took his last option, and voted unanimously to craft no policy. The Rapid City Journal has more:

“We’re not going to have a policy,” said Ward 3 Alderman Jerry Wright, who made the first motion to deny creating a policy. “We are simply going to follow tradition.”

While voting to accept the last of six options presented by City Attorney Joel Landeen, the council also decided to explore offers made by other groups to help with its legal defense if it is sued by Freedom from Religion. The council will revisit that issue in June.

According to Landeen, the city has received offers from several organizations, including the Liberty Council, which has offered pro bono legal representation. Alliance Defending Freedom, the Liberty Institute and the American Center for Law and Justice have also contacted the city, he said.

 A lawsuit seems inevitable at this point. Stay tuned.

Following continued violent attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the debate over religious freedom in the new constitution, many activist Egyptians have begun creative campaign of protest. In the space their national ID cards provide to indicate religion, they are inserting anything but.

The NYTimes' Lede blog has details, links and videos.

[T]he “None of Your Business” campaign, driven by a Facebook group and a YouTube video, urges Egyptian citizens to cover up the section of their national identity cards that states their religion. The group’s Facebook page describes the initiative as “a campaign against interference in citizens’ private lives by the state, and by other citizens. We are for the removal of religion from official documents — the most important of which is the personal ID card — as a small but important step towards ending discrimination on the basis of religion.”

Religious liberty is the freedom to profess one's faith without fear or coercion. That includes the right to remain private in one's faith, or to profess no religion at all. Hopefully one day in Egypt and all around the world, discussing faith will spark community and fellowship, not fear and violence. Protecting this freedom is a fundamental responsibility of any truly democratic government, essential for its rule of law.

I suppose it's too much to ask that we make it through 24 hours of national grieving over the Boston Marathon bombing before Pat Robertson couldn't resist suggesting religion was behind the attack.

"[T]o think that somebody would be so vicious, so evil as to want to kill little children, and maim families who were there rejoicing in a sporting contest on a beautiful day in Boston, it just makes you sick at your stomach. Don't talk to me about religion of peace, no way."

(Emphasis added). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know who he is targeting with that jab. Robertson has previously claimed that referring to Islam as a "religion of peace is nonsense."

Others including the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer have been eager to place the blame on Muslim jihadists. 

Can we just stop? And remember that we have no idea the motivation, nationality, or religion of the culprit or culprits. And even when we do, it will not be their religion that is responsible. Jumping to conclusions regarding a suspect is bad enough without impugning an entire faith in the process. Comments like Robertson's and Fischer's tell us more about their own intolerance than about that of any religion.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement of concern yesterday over growing religious violence in Nigeria. Especially troubling the statement notes, is the lack of response from the government.

"The Nigerian government’s failure to prosecute perpetrators of religiously-related violence only encourages reprisals and intensifies local tensions and mistrust.  Boko Haram uses this impunity as a recruitment tool and to justify its attacks on Christians,” said [USCIRF Chair Dr. Katrina] Lantos Swett.

 

The most recent round of fighting started on March 20-21 when armed men, alleged to be from the Fulani tribe, opened fire on the Christian village of Ratas while villagers slept, killing 19.  This violence since has led to Christian and Muslim reprisal attacks throughout Plateau State and even Kaduna State, including an Easter weekend assault that left an estimated 80 dead.

For years, Breathitt County Schools in Kentucky have displayed the Ten Commandments in classrooms, offices and conference rooms, according to a demand letter sent to the head of schools by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports on the decision to remove them, rather than face a costly legal battle.

[Larry] Hammond said he sent emails and letters directing principals in the Breathitt County district to remove any Commandments displays. He said he's familiar with similar cases in other school districts over the years.

The news apparently hasn't gone over well in the county. WYMT-TV ran interviews with a number of residents who contended that the Ten Commandments belong in schools.

Despite the preferences of some community members, this is the right decision. Too many counties, in Kentucky especially, have faced skyrocketing legal bills following an ill-fated decision to pursue a losing court battle for Ten Commandments. The walls of school classrooms are no place for teaching religious lessons.