New decisions

[MSternAJC at AOL.COM]

    In a case captioned               the Second Circuit upheld the refusal
of a school board to rent space after hours to a religious club.ALthough the
facts are largely the same the Court distinguished the 8th Circuits decion in
Good News/ Good Sports v. Ladue.(For what it is worth New York by statute
allows after school rentals to all but religious groups.In earlier decisions
the Circuit seems to have upheld the statute)There was a dissent.The decision
is not yet available on the Circuit's website,nor is it yet on Westlaw but
is,I am told available on Lexis.
    Mark Chopko of the US Catholic Conference sent me the decision of the
District Court in Beerheide v. Suthers (D.Col.2000).The Court required the
provision of Kosher food under the Free Exercise Clause,an interesting enough
holding.More interesting are the Court's discussion of sincerity and its
rejection under the Turner v. Safley standard of a requirement that inmates
pay a portion of the extra cost of kosher food.The judge also in effect found
that prison officials lied about the exact costs of kosher food.
Marc Stern