home > religious liberties ACLU Defense of Freedom of Religion and Religious Expression November 2006 PDF format >> The ACLU is well known for its defense of the Establishment Clause against attempts to use the government to promote particular religious beliefs. The ACLU’s efforts defending freedom of religious expression are generally less known, although such work has been an important part of ACLU’s activities for many years. It is sometimes wrongly imagined, for example, that the ACLU does not vigorously protect rights of religious expression, particularly of Christians. The following recent cases illustrate just how wrong such misconceptions are. *Cases added or updated since February 2006 * The ACLU of New Jersey (2006) filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking a federal court to uphold an elementary school student’s right to sing “Awesome God” in a voluntary, after-school talent show for which students selected their own material. http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/25799prs20060605.html * The ACLU of Louisiana (2006) filed a lawsuit defending the free speech rights of a Christian who was protesting based on his religious beliefs. The man was chased away from the front of a Wal-Mart store where he was carrying a sign that read: “Christians: Wal-Mart Supports Gay Marriage and Gay Lifestyles. Don’t Shop There.” www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/27266prs20061027.html The ACLU of Rhode Island (2006) filed an appeal in federal court on behalf of an inmate who was barred from preaching during Christian religious services, as he had done for the past seven years under the supervision and support of prison clergy. The prisoner, Wesley Spratt, believes his preaching is a calling from God. Prison officials cited vague and unsubstantiated security reasons for imposing the preaching ban on Mr. Spratt. The ACLU argued that the ban violates the religious freedom guaranteed to Mr. Spratt under federal law. www.riaclu.org/20060111.html * The ACLU of Georgia (2006) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church charging that the city of East Point, Georgia violated a federal religious discrimination law when it denied the church a zoning permit needed to establish its house of worship. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/25518prs20060419.html * The New York Civil Liberties Union (2006) challenged a New York State policy forbidding New York State prison guards to wear religious head coverings. The plaintiff, a devout Muslim, had worn a kufi while on duty for many years before he was told to remove it. Many other state agencies allow employees to wear religious head coverings while performing employment duties. www.nyclu.org/haqq_complaint_pr_100506.html * The ACLU (2006) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan who seeks to have a Wiccan symbol included on her husband’s headstone. The suit challenges the constitutionality of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs policy that allows inclusion of many religious symbols on headstones in military cemeteries but excludes Wiccan symbols. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/26970prs20060929.html www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/11/13/widows.suit.ap/index.html * The ACLU of Maryland (2006) wrote a letter urging Howard County school officials to allow Muslim students to leave school to pray each Friday. www.aclu-md.org/aPress/News%202006/060806_HCT.html * The ACLU of Southern California (2006) filed suit on behalf of a Vietnamese Buddhist Temple (Quan Am Temple) against the City of Garden Grove and its officials for violating the congregation’s First Amendment rights to free religious exercise and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The complaint challenges the constitutionality of the City’s zoning codes, as well as the City’s application of the zoning codes to Quan Am Temple. In October, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction allowing the congregation to assemble and practice their religion. www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/2006/102100/ * The ACLU and its affiliates (1999-2006) have been instrumental supporters of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which gives religious organizations added protections in erecting religious buildings and enhances the religious freedom rights of prisoners and other institutionalized persons. The ACLU worked with a broad coalition of organizations to secure the law’s passage in 2000. After the law passed, the ACLU (2005) defended its constitutionality in a friend-of-the-court brief before the United States Supreme Court in a prisoner’s religious freedom suit; and the ACLU of Virginia (2006) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals defending the law against a constitutional challenge. www.aclu.org/religion/frb/26018prs20060612.html www.acluohio.org/issues/religiousliberty/Cutter.htm * The New York Civil Liberties Union (2006), working with the New York University Law School Civil Rights Clinic, filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan challenging a Coast Guard regulation under which people who wore religious head coverings could not receive merchant marine licenses unless they removed the coverings for photographs. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/24780prs20060328.html * The ACLU of Eastern Missouri (2006) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, a member of a controversial conservative Christian church, over a Missouri law that infringes on her rights to religious liberty and free speech. The lawsuit challenges Missouri laws banning protest or picketing “in front of or about” any location in which a funeral is being held or any funeral procession. The law was enacted to prevent members of Phelps-Roper’s church from conducting their protests, which many find to be anti-gay and anti-American. www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/26265prs20060721.html The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2005) (in conjunction with Americans United) won a federal court case on behalf of parents of public school children who objected to a school district’s attempts to impose religious beliefs on their children. Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. The court decided on Establishment Clause grounds that members of the school board had used the public schools to promote their particular religious belief under the name of “intelligent design.” Although the case was decided on Establishment Clause grounds, several of the plaintiffs challenged the teaching of intelligent design in large part because it offended their deeply held Christian religious beliefs. www.aclu.org/religion/intelligentdesign/index.html * The New York Civil Liberties Union (2005) filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a policy of detaining, interrogating, fingerprinting and photographing American citizens at the border solely because they attended Islamic conferences. www.nyclu.org/tabbaa_v_chertoff_pr_121405.html The ACLU of Washington (2005) represented The Islamic Education Center of Seattle, which was denied a conditional land use permit by the city of Mountlake Terrace. The Center is a small nonprofit membership organization founded primarily by Farsi-speaking (Iranian & Afghani) Muslims living in the greater Seattle area. It holds prayer services on Friday and Saturday evenings, sponsors educational programs like poetry reading and language training, and holds various cultural and traditional observances. The City denied the Center’s land use permit even though the property next door to the Center was a Christian church that had received a similar permit. With the aid of the ACLU, the Center was eventually awarded the necessary permit to allow it to operate. www.aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=294 * The ACLU of Nebraska (2005) represented a Muslim woman after the City of Omaha prevented her from entering a public pool with her small children because of her religious clothing. The parties reached a settlement, under which the City of Omaha revised its dress policy to permit variances based on based on religious and/or medical needs. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/16248prs20050218.html The ACLU of New Jersey (2005) settled with the New Jersey Department of Corrections on behalf of Patrick Pantusco, an inmate who practices Wicca and was denied religious books and other items while in prison. Persons of other religions were permitted to obtain religious items specific to their religious practices. The prison’s denial of Mr. Pantusco’s requests was based on the fact that the prison refused to recognize Wicca as a legitimate religion. In the settlement, the state agreed to permit Mr. Pantusco access to all requested items and pay damages. www.aclu-nj.org/pressroom/aclunjprotectsinmatesright.htm The ACLU of Northern California (2005) filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging restrictions on an asylum seeker’s right to wear a religious head covering. The plaintiff, Harpal Singh Cheema, is a devout Sikh, imprisoned since 1997 while awaiting a decision on his asylum application. The Sikh faith requires men to cover their heads at all times, but Yuba County jail authorities will not permit Mr. Cheema to leave his bed with his head covered. 130.94.233.45/pressrel/050518-cheema.html The ACLU of Wisconsin (2005) filed suit on behalf of Cynthia Rhouni, a practicing Muslim woman, who was required to remove her headscarf in front of male prison guards in order to visit her husband at the Columbia Correctional Institution. Ms. Rhouni offered to remove her headscarf and be searched by a female guard, but the prison would not accommodate her request and respect her religious belief that her head should not be uncovered in the presence of unrelated males. www.aclu-wi.org/wisconsin/religious_liberty/ 20050525rhounipressrelease.shtml The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2005) sued on behalf of a devout Muslim firefighter, Curtis DeVeaux, who was suspended for refusing, for religious reasons, to shave his beard as required by city regulations. www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16268prs20050601.html In response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Colorado (2005), the Department of Corrections agreed to resume providing kosher meals to Timothy Sheline, a Jewish prisoner, whose kosher diet was revoked for one year as punishment for allegedly violating a dining hall rule by taking two packages of butter and two packages of salad dressing and placing them in his pocket to remove them from the dining hall. www.aclu.org/prison/restrict/21226prs20051013.html The ACLU of North Carolina (2005) filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s practice of refusing to allow non-Christians to an oath in court using a religious text other than the Bible. www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=18816&c=29 The ACLU of New Mexico (2005) represented Muammar Ali, a Muslim football player for New Mexico State University, in his religious discrimination suit. The suit alleged that the head football coach discriminated against Ali by repeatedly asking him questions about al-Qaida, removing him from the team, and requiring all of the players to recite the Lord’s Prayer at the end of each practice. Ali’s grievance seeks an apology from the coach as well as official discipline by the University and a diversity training course for all students and employees. www.aclu.org/religion/gen/19918prs20050804.html The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2005) won a religious liberty battle against Turtle Creek Borough. The Borough had repeatedly denied an occupancy permit to a predominantly African-American church, Ekklesia, that had purchased a church building from a predominantly white parish. The case was settled. www.aclupa.org/downloads/SpringDocket.PDF The ACLU of Louisiana (2005) filed suit against the Department of Corrections on behalf of a Mormon inmate, Norman Sanders, who was denied access to religious texts, including The Book of Mormon, and Mormon religious services. “Mormons should receive the same accommodation of their beliefs as do individuals of other faiths,” said Joe Cook, Executive Director, ACLU of Louisiana. “Fair and equal treatment means they deserve the right to a place to meet, have a minister and discuss their beliefs like other groups.” www.laaclu.org/News/2005/Aug26SandersvCain.htm The ACLU of Michigan (2005) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Joseph Hanas, a Catholic, who was criminally punished for not completing a drug rehabilitation program run by a Pentecostal group. Part of the program required reading the Bible for seven hours a day, proclaiming one’s salvation at the alter, and being tested on Pentecostal principles. Staff confiscated Mr. Hanas’s rosary and told him Catholicism was witchcraft. www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/22354prs20051206.html The ACLU of New Mexico (2005) joined forces with the American Family Association to succeed in freeing a preacher, Shawn Miller, from the Roosevelt County jail, where he was held for 109 days for street preaching. The ACLU became involved at the request of Miller’s wife, Theresa. www.aclu.org/religion/gen/19918prs20050804.html The ACLU of Nevada (2005) defended the free exercise rights and free speech rights of evangelical Christians to preach on the sidewalks of the Strip in Las Vegas. www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3379553&nav=15MVaB2T * The ACLU of Southern California (2005) represented a Native American prisoner who refused for religious reasons to obey prison orders to cut his hair short. Prison officials punished the prisoner for refusing to cut his hair by revoking his visitation rights and extending his time in prison. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the prison ban on long hair violated the prisoner’s religious freedom and ordered the prisoner released immediately. www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16223prs20040526.html www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16235prs20040331.html www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/2005/101267/ * When a defamation lawsuit was brought to silence an evangelical scholar who monitored the fundraising practices of several ministries and their leaders, the ACLU of Southern California (2005) filed a lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute to have the defamation suit thrown out. www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/2005/101364/ * When an Orange County special election was scheduled on the first day of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, the ACLU of Southern California (2005) called on the county to make accommodations for Jewish residents who wished to vote early in the election. www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/2005/101281/ The ACLU of Oregon (2005) filed suit on behalf of high school basketball players from an Adventist school against the Oregon School Activities Association, which administers competitive athletic and artistic competitions in Oregon high schools. The ACLU argued that the Adventist basketball players who had made it to the state tournament should not be required to play tournament games on Saturday, their Sabbath. The ACLU of Virginia (2005) filed suit on behalf of Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan woman whom county leaders refused to include in a list of religious leaders who could be invited to give invocations at meetings of the Chesterfield County board of Supervisors. The Board’s reason for refusing to add her to the list was that “Chesterfield’s non-sectarian invocations are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition.” www.acluva.org/docket/simpson.html *The ACLU of Louisiana (2005) successfully represented a Rastafarian mother and her fourth grade son before the Lafayette Parish School Board. The Board seized the child’s books and suspended him for having dreadlocks. The nine-year-old child was allowed to return to school. www.laaclu.org/News/2005/Dec0705DreadlocksRapides.htm * With the help of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (2004), the Church Army, an Episcopal social service group, was able to keep its program of feeding the homeless running. The ACLU convinced the County Health Department to reverse a decision that meals served to homeless people in a church must be cooked on the premises, as opposed to in individual homes. Had the decision not been reversed, the ministry would have been forced to cease the program. * The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2004) settled a lawsuit on behalf of Second Baptist Church of Homestead, a predominantly African-American church that had been denied a zoning permit to operate in a church building purchased by a white congregation. The occupancy permit was awarded in 2002, and in 2004, the Borough of West Mifflin agreed to pay damages and compensate the church for its loses. www.post-gazette.com/neigh_south/20021029churchsuitsouth2p2.asp www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021116aclureg6p6.asp www.post-gazette.com/pg/04111/303298.stm The ACLU of Nebraska (2004) filed a suit against the city of Omaha on behalf of Lubna Hussein, a practicing Muslim woman who wore a headscarf and long sleeves for religious reasons. Hussein was twice denied entry to Deer Ridge pool property to watch her children swim because she refused to wear a swimsuit. The city changed its policy to allow for medical and religious exceptions. www.wowt.com/news/headlines/822012.html The ACLU of New Jersey (2004) appeared as amicus curaie in opposition to a prosecutor’s act of striking potential jurors from a jury pool based on the fact that the prosecutor perceived those individuals to be “demonstrative about their religion.” One potential juror was a missionary; the other juror was wearing Muslim religious garb, including a skull cap. The ACLU-NJ argued that such an action violates the religion clauses of both the United States and New Jersey Constitutions. The ACLU-NJ also argued that permitting strikes based on jurors display of their religions would often amount to discrimination against identifiable religious minorities. www.aclu-nj.org/legal/closedcasearchive/statevlloydfuller.htm The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2004) prevailed in its arguments that the government had to accommodate Amish drivers who used highly reflective gray tape on their buggies instead of orange triangles, to which the Amish objected for religious reasons. www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021020amish1020p6.asp * The ACLU of Virginia (2004) threatened to file suit against the Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority after it enacted an unconstitutional policy prohibiting religious activities in the park. The Park Manager had prohibited a minister from the Cornerstone Baptist Church from conducting baptisms in the park, but under pressure from the ACLU the park revoked the prohibition and allowed the minister to conduct the baptisms. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/16230prs20040603.html * The ACLU of Nebraska (2004) defended a Presbyterian church from forced eviction under the city of Lincoln’s zoning laws. The ACLU of Nebraska also challenged Lincoln ordinances requiring religious organizations to meet safety standards not imposed on non-religious groups. www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16347prs20040811.html * The ACLU of Virginia (2004) told the city of Richmond that it would file suit unless Richmond officials reconsidered their decision to close a Sunday meal program for the homeless at a local church because of zoning violations. “[T]he right of a church to perform a core function of its religious mission,” the ACLU wrote, “is protected by the free exercise clause of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.” The ACLU of Nevada (2004) represented a Mormon high school student, Kim Jacobs, who school authorities suspended and then attempted to expel for not complying with the school dress code and wearing T-shirts with religious messages. Jacobs won a preliminary victory in court where the judge ruled the school could not expel her for not complying with the dress code. www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2004/sep/09/517482854.html www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2004/nov/19/517853141.html The ACLU of Washington (2004) reached a favorable settlement on behalf of Donald Ausderau, a Christian minister, who wanted to preach to the public and distribute leaflets on the sidewalks around a downtown bus station in Spokane, WA. www.aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=57 * The ACLU of Michigan (2004) represented Abby Moler, a student at Sterling Stevenson High School, whose yearbook entry, a Bible verse, was deleted because of its religious content. A settlement was reached under which the school placed a sticker with Moler’s original entry in the yearbooks and agreed not to censor students’ yearbook entries based on their religious or political viewpoints in the future. www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16093prs20031222.html The ACLU of Virginia (2004) interceded with local authorities on behalf of Baptist preachers who were refused permission to perform baptisms in the river in Falmouth Waterside Park in Stafford County. www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A16839-2004Jun4?language=printer www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=15897&c=141 The Indiana Civil Liberties Union (2004) filed suit against the city of Scottsburg for its repeated threats of arrest and/or citation against members of the Old Paths Baptist Church who held demonstrations regarding various subjects dealing with their religious beliefs. www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/11484prs20040716.html The ACLU of Massachusetts (2003) intervened on behalf of a group of students at Westfield High School who were suspended for distributing candy canes and a religious message in school. The ACLU succeeded in having the suspensions revoked and filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit brought on behalf of the students against the school district. Students who were suspended include Daniel S. Souza, Stephen J. Grabowski, Sharon L. Sitler and Paul Sitler. www.aclu.org/StudentRights/StudentRights.cfm?ID=11876&c=159 * The ACLU of Rhode Island (2003) interceded on behalf of an interdenominational group of carolers who were denied the opportunity to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve to inmates at the women’s prison in Cranston, Rhode Island. www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16093prs20031222.html * The ACLU of Utah (2003) filed suit to enforce a federal court’s ruling that Salt Lake City may not permit the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to restrict the free speech rights of individuals of other religious faiths or no religious faith on the city’s Main Street Plaza. The ACLU emphasized that city officials cannot favor one religion or religious message over others. www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=13287&c=42 * The ACLU of Florida (2003) represented a Muslim homemaker whose driver’s license was revoked after she declined on religious grounds to remove her veil for a driver’s license photo. Noting that the state allowed others to obtain driver’s permits without photographs, the ACLU argued that the photograph requirement imposed a needless burden on the woman’s exercise of her religion with no benefit to public safety. www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16220prs20030606.html www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16218prs20030527.html * The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2002) represented a predominantly African-American church in its lawsuit charging illegal religious and race discrimination against town officials that refused to issue it a zoning permit. www.aclu.org/RacialEquality/RacialEquality.cfm?ID=11083&c=28 * The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2002) supported the members of Congregation Kol Ami in their fight against the Abington Township Board of Commissioners brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act to use a former Catholic convent as a synagogue. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/16057prs20020107.html * The ACLU of Nebraska (2002) filed a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit challenging the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission’s definition of a church as excluding religious organizations that do not own property. ACLU lawyer Amy Miller said the “definition of a church established by the Liquor Control Commission violated the rights of members of the House of Faith to the free exercise of their religion.” www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16114 The Iowa Civil Liberties Union (2002) brought suit on behalf of two sophomore students and their parents against the Woodbine Community School District challenging the district’s decision to have the school choir sing the Lord’s Prayer at the graduation ceremony. The sophomores, Donovan and Ruby Skarin, are members of the choir and do not want to be forced to “sing praise to a God that we don’t even believe in.” www.aclu.org/religion/schools/16044prs20020401.html?ht= The Iowa Civil Liberties Union (2002) filed a friend-of-the court brief supporting a group of Christian students who filed a lawsuit against Davenport Schools asserting their right to distribute religious literature during non-instructional time. www.aclu.org/studentsrights/religion/12811prs20020711.html The ACLU of Massachusetts (2002) filed a brief supporting the right of the Church of the Good News to run ads criticizing the secularization of Christmas and promoting Christianity as the “one true religion.” The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had refused to allow the paid advertisements to be posted and refused to sell additional advertising space to the church. www.aclu.org/FreeSpeech/FreeSpeech.cfm?ID=10206&c=42 The ACLU of Virginia (2002) joined the Rev. Jerry Falwell in winning a lawsuit arguing that the Virginia Constitution’s provision banning religious organizations from incorporating is unconstitutional. www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16040prs20020417.html * The ACLU of Ohio (2002) filed a brief in support of preacher’s claim that an Akron suburb violated his First Amendment rights when it stopped him from protesting against abortion during a parade. www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16471 * The ACLU (2001) opposed President Bush’s faith-based provisions in the “Community Solutions Act of 2001,” which allowed groups that discriminate on the basis of religion to receive federal funds. www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/16132leg20010625.html www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/16131leg20010716.html www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/16125prs20010628.html * The ACLU of Texas (2000) won its case before the Supreme Court representing Catholic and Mormon Santa Fe High School students whose religious beliefs were offended by proselytizing prayers offered by the school’s student council chaplain over the public address system prior to home football game. www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/683 * The ACLU of Massachusetts (2000) represented a Massachusetts state prisoner whose right to religious liberty was violated when state prison guards seized and prevented him from using his rosary beads. http:/archive.aclu.org/news/2000/w020900a.html The ACLU of Oklahoma (2000) filed a federal lawsuit against Union Public School District No. 9 on behalf of 15-year-old Brandi Blackbear, an honor student and Wiccan who was accused by school officials of making a teacher sick by casting a hex. School authorities forbade the student to wear or draw any Wiccan symbols and suspended her for 15 days for allegedly casting spells and 19 days for the content of her personal writings. www.aclu.org/religion/schools/16295prs20001026.html?ht= The ACLU of Maryland (2000) called on the Baltimore Police Department to rescind grooming rules prohibiting dreadlocks and to reinstate Rastafarian police officer Antoine Chambers who was suspended for refusing to cut off his dreadlocks in violation of his religious beliefs. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/16289prs20000711.html The ACLU of Virginia (2000) represented Charles D. Johnson, a street preacher who was convicted under Richmond’s noise ordinance. The Virginia Court of Appeals reversed his conviction in 2000. The ACLU of Virginia (1999) represented Rita Warren and her mission to erect a crèche on Fairfax County government space that had been set aside as a public forum. The ACLU argued that restricting the use of the public forum to county residents only was an unreasonable restriction. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the ACLU. The ACLU of Virginia (1999) filed suit against the Department of Defense and the Office of Personnel Management on behalf of Michelle Hall, a Jehovah’s Witness who was fired from her job as a produce worker at Ft. Belvoir commissary because she refused to sign a loyalty oath. Ms. Hall objected to a phrase in the oath, that she would “bear true faith and allegiance to” the Constitution, because it contradicted her undivided allegiance and faithfulness to Jehovah. The ACLU argued the oath violated Ms. Hall’s freedom of religion and speech rights. In a settlement, Ms. Hall was reinstated and given back pay. www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=8521 The ACLU of Eastern Missouri (1999) secured a favorable settlement for a nurse, Miki M. Cain, who was fired for wearing a cross-shaped lapel pin on her uniform. * The ACLU of Arizona (1999) brought legal action challenging the constitutionality of a “Bible Week” sponsored by the Governor of Arizona and the Mayor of the town of Gilbert. The ACLU made clear, however, that the constitutional problems with “Bible Week” arose from the government’s participation and that it would not have any problem with a National Day of Prayer ceremony organized by a local resident on traditionally open public property. * The ACLU of Florida (1999) filed the first case under Florida’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The suit sought to prevent the removal and destruction of religious symbols placed on the gravesites of the plaintiffs’ family members. www.aclu.org/temp/pr1999/13603prs19990322.html * The ACLU of West Virginia (1999) represented a minister in the Church of the Firstborn at New Jerusalem in his suit seeking a religious exemption to the state’s requirement that he take a photograph on his driver’s license. The minister’s religious beliefs prohibit the use of “graven images,” including photographs. www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/16173prs19990720.html The ACLU of Michigan (1999) obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of Crystal Seifferly with Lincoln Park High School. As part of the settlement, the school changed its policy prohibiting the wearing of pentagrams, a symbol of the Wicca religion, of which Seifferly is an adherent. The school deleted the policy’s provision that stated that pagans and witches are inappropriate in a school setting. www.aclu.org/temp/pr1999/13596prs19990325.html?ht= The ACLU of New Jersey (1999), the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Anti-Defamation League won a lawsuit on behalf of Muslim police officers who were barred by department grooming standards from maintaining their beards, as required by their religious beliefs. The officers, Faruq Abdul-Aziz and Shakoor Mustafa, are devout Sunni Muslims. www.aclu-nj.org/pressroom/muslimofficerswinrighttowe.htm The ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1997) represented Carlyn Kline, a fundamentalist Christian woman who challenged the legality of a mandatory divorce-counseling program conducted by Catholic Charities. Her religious beliefs prohibited her from attending “non-Christian” counseling. The ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1997) intervened on behalf of a Mennonite nurse and prevented his firing for refusing to shave his beard for religious reasons. The employer demanded the nurse shave his beard so the state-issued mask to guard against tuberculosis would fit tightly despite the employee’s offer to purchase a more expensive mask approved for work with T.B. patients and that would fit properly with his beard intact. After receiving telephone calls and letters from the ACLU, the state employer agreed to accommodate the nurse’s religion. * The Arizona Civil Liberties Union (1997) brought suit jointly with Children of the Rosary, a pro-life religious organization, challenging a Phoenix policy banning all non-commercial advertising on city transit buses. The ACLU of Iowa (1997) represented Conservative Christians in Clarke County and won the right to force a county referendum on gambling. www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12852prs20050429.html The ACLU of Oregon (1996) filed suits on behalf of Portland student Remington Powell and his parents against the Portland School District for allowing The Boy Scouts, a religious organization, to recruit in public schools during school hours. The first case alleged constitutional and statutory violations of the separation of church and state. The second case alleged violation of state anti-discrimination laws based on public schools allowing the Boy Scouts to recruit in school despite the organization’s history of religious and sexual-orientation discrimination. www.aclu-or.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Lit_tp_powell &JServSessionIdr010=rfwpz58nj1.app1b * The ACLU (1995) defended the right of the KKK to display a cross in front of the Ohio State Capitol in an area that the government had opened as a traditional public forum and which was also used by many other groups. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the ACLU’s position. www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/631/ The ACLU of Vermont (1995) brought suit on behalf of a family that held sincere religious beliefs preventing them from obtaining social security numbers for their children. The Vermont Human Services Board agreed with the ACLU of Vermont and ordered the Social Welfare Department to make an exception to its general rule requiring children who receive government benefits to have social security numbers. The ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1995) represented a 17-year-old foster child who was being forced to attend her foster family’s church. The foster child was Methodist and the church she was being forced to attend was not of the Methodist faith. After the ACLU threatened to sue the county allowed the child to attend a Methodist church and placed her in a different foster home. The ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (1995) secured the right of a minister from the United Methodist Church to hold meetings in the Harmony Township Borough building that was open for use by community groups. The ACLU of Iowa (1995) represented and vindicated the free speech and religious expression of a conservative Christian activist, Elaine Jaquith of Waterloo, who had been denied access to broadcast her message on public television. www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12852prs20050429.html Amish farmers benefited from the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter’s letter (1995) threatening a lawsuit if the Elk Lick Township failed to rescind a municipal ordinance prohibiting farm tractors with steel wheels from traveling on or over the township’s roads. Amish religious beliefs dictate that they maintain steel wheels on their tractors and the ordinance prevented Amish farmers from moving their tractors from one farm to another, and in some cases from one part of their property to another. The township rescinded the ordinance in 1995 and dropped all charges against the various persons charged under the ordinance. For more information about the ACLU and freedom of religion and belief, see the national ACLU website >>

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