French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools

Here is a uniquely French twist on the establishment and free exercise of religion:

In France, which has only four Muslim schools, some of the country’s 8,847 Roman Catholic schools have become refuges for Muslims seeking what an overburdened, secularist public sector often lacks: spirituality, an environment in which good manners count alongside mathematics, and higher academic standards.

No national statistics are kept, but Muslim and Catholic educators estimate that Muslim students now make up more than 10 percent of the two million students in Catholic schools. In ethnically mixed neighborhoods in Marseille and the industrial north, the proportion can be more than half.

Read entire article here.

 

Head Scarves

Massage firm steps up faith-based defense

From the Arizona Daily Star:

A proposed final court order drafted by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for a judge’s signature would have LaVoie forfeit nearly $2 million worth of real estate and cash, and permanently bar him from engaging in any business involving massage “or other physical touching of male customers by female employees or contractors.”

To fight that, LaVoie is now citing constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion.
“This offer of comfort by this means is based on several Biblical passages,” wrote attorney Brad Roach, who is representing LaVoie while seeking election as Pima County attorney.

LaVoie, who testified he is the pastor of the Church of Liberty, “has every right under the First Amendment to freely exercise his religion, which religion includes offering comfort through the laying on of hands,” Roach wrote in an objection to the proposed order of forfeiture.

Alex Mahon, an Arizona assistant attorney general, responded that LaVoie never argued at trial that laying on of hands was part of church ceremonies. In fact, the evidence showed his “angels” were lay people committing acts of prostitution with the spa’s male customers, Mahon wrote.

***
While that case was pending, the Pima County Board of Supervisors met on Feb. 21, 2006. According to published minutes, “the invocation was delivered by Pastor John LaVoie of the Church of Liberty.”
County staff had selected him at random from the phone book and invited him to open the meeting.
“We had no idea at that time” that police had raided LaVoie’s spa and that the state had filed to confiscate the spa property, said Clerk of the Board Lori Godoshian.

Read Chapter Three of Sullivan

I will hand back your graded, first, short, written assignment in class tomorrow.

You should be thinking about your research paper topic. I expect to start receiving emails with your topics for my review.

Vera Institute of Justice Responds to Inquiry

To demonstrate that there are various ways to do research for your
papers, I contacted the Vera Institute of Justice about its unpublished study
mentioned in the news reports we read in class.

The Director was kind enough to forward a link (see below)
to their latest research, which shows that, at the 13 ICE facilities
in which they provided their LOP services, there were in the year
2007, some 322 claims of US citizenship.

The relevant information is on pages 38 and 73 (Appendix I-Figure 20)
of the report.

Here is the link to the report, which contains a great deal of up-to-
date information about ICE enforcement and due process of law:

From: “Oren Root”
Director
Center on Immigration and Justice
Vera Institute of Justice
233 Broadway 12th floor
New York, NY 10279
(212) 376-3106 (phone)
(212) 941-9407 (fax)

Here’s an excerpt from the article which prompted the discussion:

An unpublished study by the Vera Institute of Justice, a New
York nonprofit organization, in 2006 identified 125 people in
immigration detention centers across the nation who immigration
lawyers believed had valid U.S. citizenship claims.

Nina Siulc, the lead researcher, said she thinks that many more
American citizens probably are being erroneously detained or deported
every year because her assessment looked at only a small number of
those in custody. Each year, about 280,000 people are held on immigration
violations at 15 federal detention centers and more than 400 state and
local contract facilities nationwide.

First, Short, Written Assignment-Due September 22, 2008

The first of these exercises will be the student’s choice of an editorial or an autobiographical sketch. It should be one (1) page in length. It must be typed (archaic usage) or word processed. No hand-written papers will be accepted.

Please remember to put your name on the paper. It also helps to spell the instructor’s name and the class name correctly.

Backscatter Security Scanner Images

As promised in last week’s class discussion here are some images produced by the most intrusive of the new scanning technology.

 
Here is a news article on the images above.
 

Here is a briefing on the subject from the Electronic privacy Information Center (“EPIC”).

Here is the official Transportation Security Administration information.

Read Chapter 2 of Sullivan

Your first short, written assignment will be given at class on 9-15-08.

Baby Detained by Customs on Way to Hospital Dies

The Star Bulletin reports “A woman from American Samoa is suing
the U.S. government for the death of her 2-week-old son at
Honolulu Airport earlier this year.” For the full story, see here.
http://starbulletin.com/2008/09/09/news/story07.html

How Do You Prove You Are A Citizen?

Rejected Birth Certificates

The Washington Post reports “The State Department is denying
passports to people born in southern Texas near the border with
Mexico if they were delivered by midwives, citing a history of
birth certificate forgeries there for Mexican-born children
dating to the 1960s, according to U.S. officials.” For the full
story, see here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090802623.html

Read Chapter One of Sullivan

 

 This is the required text for Govt 150; i.e. Civil Rights and Liberties: Provocative Questions & Evolving Answers (2nd Edition) (Paperback) 

by Harold J. Sullivan (Author). It is available from various sources online as well as at the campus bookstore.