Howard M. Friedman

U.S. Sanctions Top Burmese Military Leaders For Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

Yesterday U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that four top Burmese military leaders and their immediate families will be barred from entry into the United States “for gross human rights violations, including in extrajudicial killings in northern Rakhine State, Burma, during the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya.” This made the United States the first government to publicly take action against the most senior leadership of the Burmese (Myanmar) military. The announcement was followed by an…

Religion Clause

U.S. Sanctions Top Burmese Military Leaders For Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

Religion Clause

New Report Released On Religious Restrictions Around the World

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

On Monday, the Pew Research Center released its tenth annual report on governmental restrictions and social hostility to religion in 198 countries and territories around the world. The 126-page report titled A Closer Look At How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Around the World, concludes: Over the decade from 2007 to 2017, government restrictions on religion — laws, policies and actions by state officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices — increased markedly around the world.…

Religion Clause

New Report Released On Religious Restrictions Around the World

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

Religion Clause

EEOC Sues McDonald’s Franchisee For Failure To Compromise On Grooming Policy

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

The EEOC announced yesterday that it has filed a lawsuit in a Florida federal district court charging the owner of several McDonald’s restaurant franchises in central Florida with religious discrimination. McDonald’s grooming policy requires all employees to be clean shaven. The restaurant refused to grant an accommodation to a Hasidic Jew who was applying for a part-time maintenance position. The job applicant offered to wear a beard net, but said his religious beliefs preclude shaving.…

Religion Clause

9th Circuit Rejects Free Exercise Challenge To Tax Injunction Act

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

In Samaj v. County of Riverside, (9th Cir., July 15, 2019), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected petitioner’s free exercise challenge to the federal Tax Injunction Act (“TIA”). The court said in part: Samaj contends that by stripping the district court of its ability to entertain First Amendment challenges to state taxes, the TIA amounts to a law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. We disagree…. Although a more difficult question would be presented…

Religion Clause

Christian Group Settles Harassment Suit

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

Last week, a Minnesota state trial court entered a mediated settlement agreement in a case in which a lawyer had obtained a temporary restraining order against the Christian Action League of Minnesota. As related by a press release from the Thomas More Society: A local lawyer complained about postcards and emails the group sent to her because she advertises in City Pages. The correspondence informed advertisers that the metro Minneapolis-St. Paul alternative newspaper also promoted…

Religion Clause

Britain Announces Next Steps For Opposite-Sex Civil Partnerships

By Howard Friedman on July 17, 2019

In a press release last week, Britain’s Government Equalities Office announced the release of its report titled Implementing Opposite-Sex Civil Partnerships: Next Steps. It announces detailed plans for extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples, and to ask for views of the public on whether conversion of marriages to civil partnerships should be permitted. The report says in part: Broadly, we intend to provide protections to ensure that faith or religious organisations are not…

Religion Clause

Justice John Paul Stevens Dies At Age 99

By Howard Friedman on July 16, 2019

New York Times reports that Justice John Paul Stevens who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 35 years (1975- 2010) died on Tuesday at the age of 99. The First Amendment Encyclopedia summarizes Justice Stevens’ church-state jurisprudence: Stevens was a consistent defender of church-state separation in freedom of religion cases. He wrote the Court’s decision in Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), invalidating an Alabama moment of silence law. Stevens reasoned that the Alabama legislature had…

Religion Clause

Justice John Paul Stevens Dies At Age 99

By Howard Friedman on July 16, 2019

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U.S. Sanctions Top Burmese Military Leaders For Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

U.S. Sanctions Top Burmese Military Leaders For Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

New Report Released On Religious Restrictions Around the World

New Report Released On Religious Restrictions Around the World

EEOC Sues McDonald’s Franchisee For Failure To Compromise On Grooming Policy

9th Circuit Rejects Free Exercise Challenge To Tax Injunction Act

Christian Group Settles Harassment Suit

Britain Announces Next Steps For Opposite-Sex Civil Partnerships

Justice John Paul Stevens Dies At Age 99

Justice John Paul Stevens Dies At Age 99

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