http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101214/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_muslim_teacher
According to the Associate Press: The federal government sued a suburban Chicago school district Monday for denying a Muslim middle school teacher unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca that is a central part of her religion. In a civil rights case, the department said the school district in Berkeley, Ill., denied the request of Safoorah Khan on grounds that her requested leave was unrelated to her professional duties and was not set forth in the contract between the school district and the teachers union. In doing so the school district violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to reasonably accommodate her religious practices, the government said. If I understand current precedent under Employment Division v. Smith, I'd think the District's defense should be fairly simple. The requirement that leave be related to professional duties and/or set forth in the contract with the union is a generally-applicable requirement that is neutral on its face. Am I missing something? As a point of disclosure, I'm not a fan of the Court's decision in Smith, and if this case were to ultimately force the court to re-think that precedent, I'd be happy to see it happen. Under the present rulings in place, though, I'm not sure if the teacher has a case, regardless of whether or not she should have one. Brad Pardee
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