Posted on Feb 21, 2007 | by Erin Roach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In a 43-page document released by the U.S. Department of Justice Feb. 20, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says the department takes seriously the protection of religious freedom and has worked vigorously during the Bush administration to protect them.

“Many came to America precisely because of the recognition of religious liberty and the protection of this most basic of human rights,” the report, released in conjunction with the attorney general’s visit to the Southern Baptist Convention Building in Nashville, Tenn., says. The document was labeled “Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom: Fiscal Years 2001-2006.”

The Civil Rights Division of the justice department was established in 1957 and is best known for its work toward ending racial discrimination. Early in the Bush administration, the department established a Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination to monitor the enforcement of religious freedom laws.

“Prior to 2001, except for prosecution of religious bias crimes and employment cases, the Civil Rights Division exercised its jurisdiction to enforce civil rights laws with respect to religion sparingly, and had never had an attorney charged with ensuring that these laws were comprehensively enforced,” the report says.

Religious discrimination is a growing problem in the United States as the country is now home to more than 2,000 different faiths and denominations, the report says. From 1992 to 2005, complaints of religious discrimination in employment filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased 69 percent, compared to single-digit increases in complaints about sex discrimination and racial discrimination during that period.

Education discrimination cases involving religion increased from one case reviewed and no investigations during the period of 1995-2000 to 82 cases reviewed and 40 investigations from 2001-2006, according to the report.

In March 2005, the Civil Rights Division reached a settlement with a Delaware school district after a fourth-grade Muslim student was harassed by her teacher about her faith in front of her class, the report says. The student was ridiculed because her mother wore a headscarf, and other students joined in the criticism, causing the Muslim girl to miss several weeks of school because of emotional distress, according to the report. The settlement required religious tolerance classes for students and teachers, and the girl’s teacher was monitored closely.

Regarding religious discrimination in the area of employment, the Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority after it refused to accept bus driver applications unless the applicant was available to work 24 hours per day, seven days a week. The suit alleged that the transit authority’s policy discriminated against Sabbath-observing Jews and Christians and others who must miss work for religious reasons. An agreement now allows drivers to swap assignments or take temporary leaves of absence for religious purposes, the report says.

Another case the justice department took up involved an investigation of the city of Balch Springs, Texas, after the city-run senior center told senior adults they could no longer pray before meals, sing gospel songs or hold Bible studies, according to the report. All of the activities were initiated by the seniors themselves, but the city mistakenly believed that the separation of church and state required a ban, the report says. The city settled with the seniors in January 2004, and they won the right to continue their religious activities.

Religious freedom regarding land use is a growing issue in the United States, and in 2000 Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), citing widespread discrimination against religious institutions by state and local officials in land-use decisions.

Since 2001, the Civil Rights Division has reviewed 118 RLUIPA matters, opening 26 investigations resulting in 16 favorable resolutions before a lawsuit was necessary, the report says. The division has also filed four lawsuits.

In United States v. Maui County, the division sued the city of Maui, Hawaii, after it denied a permit for a nondenominational Christian church that has held services on Maui since 1960 to build a church on 5.85 acres of land in an agricultural district. The county allowed secular assemblies such as rodeo facilities, petting zoos and sports fields, but the church was denied, the report says. After the justice department intervened, the church was allowed to build in the Maui agricultural district, and the county paid it damages and attorney’s fees.

A case brought by the Department of Justice in the area of crimes against persons and property based on religion was United States v. Bryant and Martin in 2004. Two men pleaded guilty to vandalizing a historic black church by breaking windows in the sanctuary and smashing items throughout the church, the report says, resulting in sentences of 27 and 21 months in prison.

“Experience in enforcing civil rights over the past 50 years has taught that a key to success is developing good working relationships with civil rights and community organizations,” the report says. “It is such groups on the ground that bring many cases to the Department of Justice’s attention, help identify trends and issues, and help spread the word about people’s rights.”

To facilitate that goal, the attorney general sought the help of the Southern Baptist Convention when he addressed its Executive Committee members Feb. 20 in Nashville. There he unveiled the “First Freedom Project,” which is aimed at educating Americans about their religious freedoms and encouraging them to help identify and report abuses of those freedoms.

“We have seen too many churches burned, too many rocks thrown through stained-glass windows, too many swastikas painted on sanctuary walls, too many lives taken,” Gonzales told Executive Committee members. “There are fewer of these attacks today, but still too many. And when faced with that kind of assault, the Department of Justice has responded, and will always respond, with force and conviction.”
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The report is available at firstfreedom.gov.