Law and Religion Headlines
Friday, 10 March 2023
Abortion may be legal in Argentina but women still face major obstacles
(Agustina Latourrette, BBC News)
The Vatican is turning its back on Belarus’ Catholics
(Amanda Coakley, Coda Media)
U.S., global Muslim groups to unite and mark UN-recognized International Day to Combat Islamophobia on March 15
(Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Religious freedom meeting in Kuwait
(Twitter, U.S. Embassy Kuwait)
FoRB discussion in Brussels
(Twitter, Office of International Religious Freedom)
Freedom for a fool: An Egyptian anti-Christianity activist should not have been imprisoned
(The Critic)
AZ school district unlawfully drops student-teachers because they attend Christian university
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Championing faith-based education—forced closure of teachers college prompts the Bolivian Catholic Conference of Bishops to sue government
(ADF International)
Kenyan launches LGBTQ crackdown in schools
(BBC News)
National Archives apologizes for trying to restrict pro-life messages
(Dennis Hetzel, The Free Speech Center)
Recent cases of intolerance and discrimination
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)
West Virginia GOP governor signs ‘religious freedom’ bill
(Leah Willingham, Associated Press)
Saudi Arabia rebrands as Ramadan approaches
(Jennifer Holleis, Deutsche Welle)
The Biden Administration’s latest assault on religious freedom cannot stand
(Lathan Watts, National Review)
Congress must act now to protect the Jewish community
(Mark Goldfeder, Jewish Journal)
No one should be forced to choose between his faith and his paycheck
(Rachel N. Morrison, The Federalist)
Introduction to 200 years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Law, religion, and Native American lands
(Philip P. Arnold, Sandra Bigtree, and Adam DJ Brett, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
Hong Kong bishop to visit China in bid to build bridges
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Monks and militias in Myanmar
(Amara Thiha and Marte Nilsen, East Asia Forum)
New universal jurisdiction case filed in Germany for crimes committed in Myanmar before and after the coup: On complementarity, effectiveness, and new hopes for old crimes
(Andrea Maria Pelliconi, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Pope Francis: Jerusalem holds universal spiritual value
(Devin Watkins, Vatican News)
Report on sanctions impact launched at the UN Human Rights Council
(World Council of Churches)
Religious and ethnic leaders appeal to Iraq president for equal rights to all citizens
(World Council of Churches)
Cardinal Hollerich meets with Croatian Prime Minister Plenković
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
In the news: Breaking religious freedom stories across the country - 10 March 2023
(First Liberty)
Canada: The provinces could pass on expanding assisted death—regardless of the federal government’s wishes
(Brian Bird, The Hub)
Ukraine orders Russian-aligned Orthodox church to leave Kyiv monastery
(Reuters)
Federal judge pauses church’s fight over Santa Clara Covid rules
(Natalie Hanson, Courthouse News Service)
Paxton joins multistate amicus to protect the religious liberties of American workers
(Texas Attorney General)
Guatemala: Attorney General participated in the Latin American Symposium on Religious Freedom (Spanish)
(Ministerio Público)
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
WEBINAR, 8 March 2023 (10AM ET): USCIRF Conversation: Rising Authoritarianism in ASEAN Member States
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
VIRTUAL EVENT, 8 March 2023 (6PM in Montreal): Muriel V. Roscoe Lecture: Women, Religion and Peace-making - The Tipping Point
(McGill University)
WEBINAR, 8 March 2012 (12PM CT/6PM GMT): Dialogues on Journalism and Religion: Religious Extremism
(International Association of Religion Journalist)
VIRTUAL EVENT, 8 March 2023 (10AM ET): The Continued Fight for Religious Freedom in China
(Hudson Institute)
USCIRF observes International Women’s Day
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
USCIRF relieved by release of Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
In focus: International Women’s Day
(UN Women)
Women’s higher education in an ultra-conservative Islamic community
(Iman Dawood, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Reflection on International Women's Day
(Twitter, International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)
Global Council Chair reflection on Women's Day
(United Religions Initiative)
International Women’s Day: The exclusion of Afghanistan’s women
(Alia Chughtai and Marium Ali, Al Jazeera)
‘Woman, life, freedom’ – Iran faces a crisis with freedom of religion or belief and gender equality at its core
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Interview: taking walks without wearing a hijab in Iran
(Nahid Naghshbandi, Human Rights Watch)
International Women's Day: Inspiring female KAICIID fellows making a difference in interreligious dialogue
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Bangladesh criticized for failing to protect Ahmadiyya Muslims
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Jahid Hasan: An Ahmadi young man clobbered to death in Bangladesh: A three-night attack by Muslim fanatics happened in daylight and in front of the police.
(Marco Respinti, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Beyond Conservative and Reform: the rise of the unaffiliated synagogue
(Paula Jacobs, The Tablet)
Religious liberty behind bars
(Maggie Phillips, The Tablet)
Allied forces
(Maggie Phillips, The Tablet)
Israel: Christian-Jewish fellowship donated nine bomb shelters to Tiberias
(The Jerusalem Post)
South Africa: Parliament’s first House approves hate speech bill
(Daniela Ellerbeck, Freedom of Religion South Africa)
South Africa: Update on recent or current religious freedom issues and cases
(Freedom of Religion South Africa)
Minnesota appeals court decides when religious reasons for vaccine refusal were proven
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Replacing vengeance with mercy in our death penalty policy
(Karen Swallow Prior, Religion News Service)
Discrimination based on caste is pervasive in South Asian communities around the world – now Seattle has banned it
(Aseem Hasnain and Abhilasha Srivastava, The Conversation)
In North Idaho, religious and secular activists work to fight Christian nationalism
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Religion and the lawbreaking Supreme Court
(Andrew Koppelman, The Hill)
Russia: New law restricting missionary work breached the European Convention
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Russia: Tomsk musician's criminal trial to begin 15 March
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
'Court' in Russian-occupied Crimea passes long sentences against three Ukrainian Jehovah’s Witnesses
(Halya Coynash, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)
Belarus: Rent hikes, suspicious fire, enforced church closure, expulsion anniversary
(Olga Glace, Forum 18 News Service)
Illegal Migration Bill: The Government is expected to launch its most draconian anti-refugee legislation yet.
(Jesuit Refugee Service UK)
School chaplaincy, sermons on sexuality – and employment law: Randall
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples
(Peter d’Errico, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
Toleration in America
(Richard Samuelson, Law & Liberty)
The travails of the Nicaraguan church
(Edgar Beltrán, Law & Liberty)
Crime generators or social capital organizations? Examining the effects of places of worship on neighborhood crime
(James C. Wo, PLOS)
New York family agency to pay Christian adoption group $250K to settle lawsuit
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Vietnam police tell Church of God followers to renounce their faith
(Radio Free Asia)
Mainstream outlets ignore anti-Catholic angles in Merrick Garland's Senate testimony
(Clemente Lisi, GetReligion)
China: “Smart Religion” app: Christians must submit online form to attend church
(Gao Zhensai, ChinaAid)
Israel must recognize online marriages conducted via Utah, Supreme Court rules
(Jeremy Sharon, The Times of Israel)
COMECE offers recommendations on EU Human Rights Defenders Guidelines
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
French university cracks down on praying students
(Christian Network Europe)
India: Freedom of religion is alive
(Nepal News)
Indian Christian educators granted bail in conversion case
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Keeping faith in a plural and diverse India
(Urmi Chanda, South Asia Watch)
India’s ‘cow protectors’ are getting away with murder
(Alishan Jafri, Coda Media)
India's Supreme Court rejects bid to rename historical places
(Shaikh Azizur Rahman, Voice of America)
India's Supreme Court rejects petition on renaming of historical cultural religious places
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Christians slam ban on healing prayers in northeast India
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Canada: Fundy Albert backtracks on council meeting prayer
(Shane Magee, CBC News)
NLRB seeks to expand jurisdiction over educational institutions with religious affiliations
(Robert T. Dumbacher and Stephen P. Kopstein, The National Law Review)
U.S.-Nigeria policy must prioritize religious freedom
(Mohamed Magid and Frank Wolf, The Hill)
Hezbollah supports Christian ally to become Lebanon's president
(Daily Sabah)
Tuesday, 7 March 2023
Poll: Best and Worst ECtHR Judgment and Best Separate Opinion of 2022
(The Editors, Strasbourg Observers)
M.B. and Others v. Slovakia (No. 2): the need for an anti-racist approach in European Court of Human Rights’ decision
(Jonathan McCully, Strasbourg Observers)
Somalia: revamp intelligence agency bill
(Human Rights Watch)
S.F.K. v. Russia and G.M. and Others v. Moldova: the promise and pitfalls of ECtHR forced abortion jurisprudence
(Rebecca Smyth, Strasbourg Observers)
3 big numbers that tell the story of secularization in America
(Phil Zuckerman, The Conversation)
Peradze v Georgia: Vulgar Language, Public Morals and the Right to Peaceful Assembly
(Jacob van de Kerkhof, Strasbourg Observers)
More human rights at the cost of the state sovereignty? Clarifying the scope of applicability of Article 8 ECHR to social welfare benefits in Beeler v Switzerland
(Maija Dahlberg, Strasbourg Observers)
Why was Totopa v. Spain struck out from the list? A case of silenced vulnerability of a migrant mother under complex procedural constraints
(Mathilde Hardt and Germain Haumont, Strasbourg Observers)
M. v. France: Recognising the existence of intersex persons, but not (yet) their bodily integrity
(Charly Derave and Hania Ouhnaoui, Strasbourg Observers)
Beating Brown v. Board of Education? Overrepresentation and desegregation measures in Elmazova and Others v. North Macedonia
(Merel Vrancken, Strasbourg Observers)
A.L. v. France: Domestic Surrogacy, Genetic Fatherhood, and the Best Interests of the Child
(Marie-Hélène Peter-Spiess, Strasbourg Observers)
Freeing fatherhood from breadwinning – Are we ready for (formal) equality? Beeler v. Switzerland
(Alice Margaria, Strasbourg Observers)
Tanzania should halt plan to relocate Maasai pastoralists
(Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu and Oryem Nyeko, Inter Press Service)
HYBRID EVENT, 7 March 2023 (5PM in New York): The Supreme Court and New Frontiers in Religious Liberty
(Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, Cardozo Law School)
HYBRID EVENT, 7 March 2023 (11:15 CET): Africa-EU partnership of equals: how can we get there? Is the Global Gateway fit for purpose? (Brussels)
(COMECE, ACT Alliance EU, AEFJN, Baha’i Community International, Caritas Europa, CIDSE, Don Bosco International, EU-CORD and World Vision EUREP)
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