Protecting Religious Liberty: Three Important Cases from the ACLU of Nevada

It is no mistake that the right to practice the religion of your choice appears in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of religion is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the Bill of Rights. The ACLU works to ensure that people remain free to choose which religion (if any) they wish to practice by keeping the government out of important, personal decisions about faith. Below are three important cases that the ACLU of Nevada has recently tackled to defend this fundamental – and fundamentally American – liberty.

Protecting an Individual’s Right to Free Exercise of Religion

Steve Riback is a Jewish Orthodox police officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). Steve asked LVMPD that he be allowed to wear a trim beard and yarmulke while at his non-uniform desk job. His request was denied. However, LVMPD had existing policies that permitted widespread religious expression by other employees and also allowed certain employees to wear a beard for medical reasons. The ACLU filed a complaint on Steve’s behalf with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before filing suit in federal court. On August 6, 2008, the district court determined that the First Amendment protected Steve’s right to wear a beard. The First Amendment prohibits a government employer from denying an accommodation to those who request it for religious reasons when the same accommodation is already afforded to other employees who request it for secular reasons (medical beards). A trial is slated for 2009 to determine whether Steve is permitted to wear a yarmulke or another head covering at his desk job. Riback v. Gillespie, et al., No. 2:07-cv-01152 (D. Nev. filed Aug. 28, 2007)

Protecting Students from Religious Discrimination in Public Schools

Jana Elhifney attended High School in the Washoe County School District. As a Muslim woman, she wore her traditional hijab to school. She was persistently harassed by peers at school and was routinely called a terrorist. Her pleas for help to school officials were met with similarly inappropriate comments and no action. The ACLU of Nevada, along with attorneys from the San Francisco office of O’Melveny Myers, brought a suit on Jana’s behalf against the Washoe County School District and various school employees who permitted this abusive treatment to continue. The case is currently in discovery. Barns v. Gifford, et al., No. 3:04-cv-00583, 2007 WL 2049868 (D.Nev. Filed Jul. 12, 2004)

When the ACLU of Nevada’s Plaintiff Jana Elhifny complained to school officials about her harassment, no one listened - except her friend, Stephanie Hart. When Stephanie approached officials on Jana’s behalf, she was told that her friendship with Jana was un-American and was discriminated against. The ACLU of Nevada, along with attorneys from the San Francisco office of O’Melveny Myers, brought a companion case on Stephanie’s behalf alleging derivative religious discrimination. Hart v. Gifford, et al., No. 3:07-cv-00402-LRH-PAL (D.Nev Filed September 7, 2007)

Protecting an Individual’s Right to Free Exercise of Religion in a Public Forum

Clark County had a code that prohibited an individual on the street from carrying a sign wider than his or her body. Jim Webber, a street preacher, was arrested under that code, even though he had carefully measured the sign he was carrying to fit his frame. The county’s obstruction law was vague and in violation of the First Amendment. The code speech code was also not content-neutral and included an exception for labor protests, meaning a specific kind of speech was allowed while Jim’s religious speech was not. The ACLU of Nevada challenged this law in federal district court under the First Amendment’s gurantees of the right to free speech and freedom of religion. On June 12, 2008, Jim successfully settled with the County and the County Commission passed a new obstruction ordinance only prohibits actual obstruction of the sidewalks. The new code is constitutional on its face, and so far Jim has reported that he has been able to preach unmolested by police. Jim Webber, et al., v. Clark County, et al., No. 2:06-cv-00181 (D.Nev. filed Feb. 14, 2006)