From LCorncalen@aol.com Sat Apr 6 13:15:24 1996 Date: Sat, 6 Apr 1996 00:24:30 -0500 From: LCorncalen@aol.com To: cyber-vision-l@caw.org Cc: GEMAGAZINE@aol.com Subject: FORMER LEGAL TEAM HELPED PAGANS All actions described in previous articles in Crowings-On by CoPRR to help Pagans with legal problems associated with their religion (other than Raising Money for Iron Oak) were performed by former members of a Legal Team. The Legal Team, which began forming before CoPRR was incorporated, thought that it was part of CoPRR, only to find out recently that its existence and activities have not been formally approved by the CoPRR Board. The Legal Team was a group of DC, VA and MD attorneys, paralegals, networkers and other volunteers who performed legal research and helped Earth Religionists facing legal problems associated with their religion. The team also provided training on legal research, identified resources, and, at last report, a member continues to maintain files containing the results of such research. Some of the cases of discrimination that members of the legal team helped with are summarized below. Distant Cases In most cases outside of the MD, VA, and DC area, networkers put Earth Religionists and/or their attorneys in contact with people and information that can help. The number of cases of this type of work are too numerous to account for here. Suffice it to say that members of the Legal Team provided such assistance in cases from as far away as California, Florida and New England. Usually, people with problems outside the DC, MD, VA region were put in contact with Earth Religion Rights Activists, Pagan Networking groups, and others who may be able to help who are local to them. Earth Religion Rights groups they have referred people to repeatedly include: * Witches Against Religious Discrimination (WARD, which has coordinators in 34 states) * The Witches Anti Discrimination Lobby (WADL, which has coordinators in 18 states), and * The Lady Liberty League (a network of hundreds of people that Circle Coordinates). Networking organizations include the Pagan Community Council of Ohio, the Covenant of the Goddess, the Fellowship of Isis, and The EarthSpirit Community. Legal organizations include the ACLU, State Human Rights Commissions, State Bar Associations and others. Individuals, include Lady Allyn, a Wiccan Paralegal in New York who has helped in dozens of custody cases against Pagans and several job discrimination cases. Team members also advised people requesting help to get an attorney (if they did not have one) and provided other information. Sometimes, team members also contacted people we knew in distant groups concerning such cases, to help assure adequate support and to get authorization for referral (when the person is not a public contact). Phone expenses were paid by the volunteers doing the networking and by private donations to individuals. An organization ready, willing and able to reimburse such expense is needed. Occasionally, legal team members sent legal briefs and caselaw summaries pertinent to their case and/or referred them to specific sources of such information. Examples of some of its more detailed referrals outside of the MD, VA and DC area are shown below: In the Summer of 1995, Pagans were arrested for possessing an Athame in Michigan and a ceremonial sword in New York. The Legal Team Coordinator (Larry) provided information on a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) precedent in California establishing the right of young Sikh Children to carry concealed ceremonial knives, along with other information. He contacted activists on a WARD BBS echo, who provided information on an attorney in Seattle, Washington with experience with such cases. He also provided referrals to nearby Pagan rights and networking organizations. In addition, the person arrested for the sword was referred to the Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca, and it was used during the proceedings. The Michigan Athame case was plea bargained, and the New York sword case was dropped. Legal action is being considered (under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, etc.) by those directly involved in the New York Sword case to help prevent such incidents from recurring. In June 1995, in Cleveland Heights Ohio, a single mother active in the CAW Internest was being investigated by the local Child Protective Services because of charges of Witchcraft, Paganism, Satanism and Ritual Abuse. Larry and an Attorney formerly on the Legal Team had excellent contacts in the Cleveland area. The attorney referred the mother to Pagan-Friendly Cleveland area attorneys, one of whom provided pro bono help. Larry contacted the Director of Children^Òs Services for Board of Mental Retardation in an adjacent county (his sister, who is both Pagan Friendly and knowledgeable). She spoke with the mother and then intervened on her behalf. The situation was resolved quickly and successfully. While Legal Team members heard or read about new cases, on the average, weekly -- they were specifically contacted by phone or by e-mail and asked to help in such cases on the average about once or twice per month. Most such requests usually get a simple referral response. There are many religious rights activists and organizations across the United States. The legal team that thought it was associated with CoPRR just happened to be one of the stronger regional organizations. Local Cases When a case comes up in Virginia, MD or DC, the buck stopped with the Former Legal Team. CoPRR already has activists WARD, WADL, the Lady Liberty League, etc., and legal team had a pretty good local network of attorneys and other helpful contacts (although it was always looking for more). In such cases, team members investigated the situation in detail, and did everything they could to help provide the client and their attorney with the information and contacts they need to deal with the religious discrimination aspects of their problem. Reston Custody Case: In a Virginia case in April 1995, the Larry got call from a mother in Reston, VA. Her custody of a son was being challenged because she sent him to an American Indian gathering at which he participated in a Lakota sweat lodge with naked men. He got a Virginia Attorney to arrange for another attorney to take the case at reduced rates, located expert witnesses on sweat lodges (Initiated Native American Water Pourers, etc.) and contacted a local Nudist Organization. When the case was heard in court, and the person who challenged the mother^Òs custody ended up with less visitation rights than she began with. Virginia Divorce Referrals: In an Alexandria VA divorce involving issues of the husband^Òs Paganism, a former Team member located a Pagan family law attorney who took his case. In September 1995 a Pagan Mother with children in Chantilly Virginia was considering a divorce. Her husband threatened to use her religion against her if she proceeded. She was referred to a Pagan Family law attorney; but, at last report, has not followed through. Blockbuster Pentagram Ban: A Maryland Blockbuster Manager was required to distribute and enforce Blockbuster rules against their employees wearing Pentagrams. Members of the legal team evaluated tactics, precedents and legal mechanisms to get the rule rescinded. In the end, they referred the person to the Maryland Human Rights Commission and provided details on how to file a formal complaint. Contact with officials in the Human Rights Commission suggests that this approach would be the most likely to succeed without expense beyond CoPRR^Òs current resources. The key person who did this continues to work with CoPRR and is a member of their Board. At last report, the Blockbuster ban on Pentagrams continues. Employees fighting the ban would probably loose their job due to allegation of other causes, and such cases can be very messy and expensive to fight. Concern about Blockbuster remains. Eastern Virginia CUUPS Custody Case: Last May, the current Witches' Anti-Discrimination Lobby (WADL) Director for Virginia and the Former Legal Team^Òs Legal Director got a phone call from a mother in Virginia who lost custody of a daughter last Spring in a custody trial which ultimately focused on her religion. She was accused of Witchcraft in her trial, and custody of a daughter was awarded to the ex-husband. The mother was a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS), and identified herself as Unitarian. The trial did involve other issues: her low family income, her intent to move out of state where her current husband had been offered a job, and the fact that she moved three times within the last five years (all within the same school district). He contacted a Northern Virginia Pagan Family Law attorney, who provided advice on how to appeal the case. An attorney who is on the Board of CoPRR also contacted the Mothers^Ò attorney to find out details on the case, and confirmed that religion was used inappropriately in the trial. WADL VA also contacted Pagan Networking organizations nearer to her than CoPRR who were to trying to help, along with the coordinator of the CUUPS group of which the mother was a member. A hearing on her attorney^Òs request for a re-trial of the case was scheduled at a higher court in January 1996. However, less than two weeks before the trial, her local support fell through. Pagan Unitarian witnesses who had agreed to testify for her had backed off from testifying because they feared recriminations by their employers if they found out about their testimony. At the same time, her attorney asked the mother to put together testimony and information on the relationships between Wicca, Unitarianism and her beliefs. All she had was a CUUPS and a Unitarian Pamphlet, some books on Wicca, Paganism and Earth Centered Spirituality, and her experience to refer to. She asked Larry for help. Larry got her permission to pass on personal details about her identity and her problem to Internet, Computer BBS echoes and any contacts that might be able to provide assistance. This permission was given after fully discussing the risks involved with both the mother and her husband. He also contacted her attorney, who confirmed the need for help and clarified the types of information and witnesses needed. After determining that his local Unitarian Contacts were unavailable and no one he called knew when they would return, he called people including national leaders of CUUPS, national officials in the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston, a Pagan Custody Law specialist (Lady Allyn), and others. He also sent out some e-mail to the CoPRR legal listserv and to others he thought might be able to help. The word was passed along both orally and electronically, and soon one of the most incredible mobilizations ever for Earth Religion Rights was in full swing. Dozens of people offered assistance and referred Larry to others who could help. A letter writing campaign on Wicca and Unitarianism was initiated, and letters, e-mail and FAXes poured in on the subject to both the Mother and her Attorney. Gordon Melton (the Joseph Campbell of contemporary American Religion) even sent a fax on the subject, and provided a referral to an expert in comparative religion in Richmond, VA to help. With help from those responding, WADL VA located, purchased, and sent the mother two books linking Unitarianism to Wicca and Paganism, along with the Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca and the Church of All Worlds (CAW) publication Witchcraft, Satanism & Occult Crime. Marija, a Constitutional and Human Rights attorney formerly on the CoPRR legal team, contacted the Mother^Òs attorney and sent him a summary of Constitutional and Statutory law on Freedom of Religion. Marija was also contacted by Unitarian Attorneys, and prepared case abstracts on Freedom of Religion in the Context of Custody Cases sufficient for the Mother^Òs attorney to file a motion to exclude religion, if is brought up again in court, and to limit its scope if the motion to exclude is unsuccessful. In addition, Marija put together case abstracts establishing Wicca as a legally recognized religion in Virginia and provided them to the attorney. Lady Allyn (a Wiccan paralegal who specializes in helping in such cases) provided all of the information necessary to establish Paganism and Wicca as positive spiritual paths good for families and society (including a supplement to the Armed Forces Chaplain^Òs Manual on Wicca, Official Police training pamphlets, etc.). She also offered to provide the Mother^Òs attorney with advice on how the documents have been used successfully in other Pagan Custody cases. Unitarians sent some of their training manuals, which include Wiccan Ritual, etc. When the Unitarians spread the word nationally about the problem obtaining witnesses, Pagan and Unitarian Clergy, attorneys and activists from California, Oregon, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, etc. offered to testify. Then, less than a week before the trial, Larry^Òs local Unitarian Church Lay Leader and CUUPS contact, Leslie Wallace, returned from work-related travel. Soon, more than enough Pagan Virginia Unitarian Clergy and Church Officials were lined up as witnesses to do the job. One of the two local Unitarian Witnesses who had backed off from testifying even offered to testify, despite the perceived threat to his job. The two who appeared to be the best and at the least personal risk from testifying were selected, Leslie Wallace and a Virginian UU Minister. When the hearing took place, her attorney tried to get the higher court to proceed with a retrial, then and there. However, the judge ordered a re-trail in the lower court from which the case originally came, based on changed circumstances. This Pagan mother^Òs legal situation is currently under control. Any further efforts to assist her is now being coordinated by Leslie Wallace. He recently passed on advice from Marija and Larry to the mother to review the literature she and her attorney were sent, identify which fits her beliefs, and work out contingency plans and testimony (in cooperation with her attorney), using appropriate documents as evidence. Continuing Action: The recent mobilization to help the East Virginia Mother was sufficient to deal with several similar cases simultaneously. Larry and other local CAW members have been heavily involved in continuing the momentum from the East Virginia Case, and other members of the legal team have joined in. Unitarian Pagans in Illinois and Ohio who offered to testify are now helping Pagans in their states, along with Kentucky. In addition, an initiative in Cyberspace to help Earth Religionists facing legal problems associated with their religion in real space has begun. It involves National Listservs, webpages, and FTP sites. See the article ^ÓMobilization in Cyberspace for Earth Religion Rights* for details. How to Help One way to get involved in such action is to come to the meeting at Larry Cornett^Òs on May 12, 1996 -- to explore the formation of a new organization to do this type of work, the Internet Initiative, Changing CoPRR through the election of new Board Members, etc. For driving directions, contact Larry Cornett at (703) 281-3335 or by e-mail at lcorncalen@aol.com. You can also volunteer to do legal research with CoPRR. You can begin by contacting Wil Pierson at (410) 285-5730 or by e-mail at pierson.w.d@smtpgty.bwi.wec.com. When the organization of such action is approved by the CoPRR Board and it gets enough active trained people to do the work, the resulting committee is likely to prepare general legal briefs and abstracts of cases that could be valuable to the attorneys of Earth Religionists with legal problems associated with their religion and to have the authority to distribute such documents after they have been approved by the CoPRR Board. A meeting for remaining CoPRR legal volunteers is being planned in early or mid-May to try to draft a memo in support of a motion in limine for custody cases. Once that is done, their next action might be an employment discrimination memo covering the issues raised by the Blockbuster incidents. In addition, you can join CoPRR, which besides planning to do legal research, does public education, provides media training, arranges TV coverage, and raises funds for worthy causes of national significance like the Iron Oak Case. In addition, it provides a legal listserv on the Internet to improve communications among local legal researchers and Pagan rights activists. To get a CoPRR membership form and brochure, write to Diotima at The Turning Wheel, 8039-A Ritchie Highway, Pasadena, MD 21122, Phone 410 761-3130. Diotima also is the CoPRR treasurer and gladly accepts donations to CoPRR. If you ask nicely, she and other CoPRR Board Members might also tell you what disruptive shit heads Larry and other former members of the legal team are. CoPRR is organizing a networking committee to take calls for help from Pagans. How CoPRR will respond to such calls and what assistance they will provide has still to be determined, especially considering the CoPRR Board^Òs new policy to concentrate on national precedent setting cases. CoPRR members get to vote in the July 21st Board Elections, and could run for Board positions. If you want to run for such a position, please let CoPRR know ASAP. With at least four openings on the Board coming up for election, CoPRR members have an opportunity to vote and make changes if they desire. Fundraisers are being organized for Earth Religion Rights. You can attend these fundraisers and give generously. CoPRR is planning a Summer Solstice Holistic Health Faire June 29th at the Silver Spring Armory. What the funds will be used for is not yet determined, but CoPRR is considering producing a Video for training Police on the real nature of Pagan ritual and spirituality, how to recognize a Wiccan Ritual, etc. Contact Diotima for details. The CAW Triskelion Nest is holding a Mad Scientist^Òs Party on July 19, 1996, starting at 8:00 PM at Larry^Òs place in Vienna, VA. Donations will be split to cover the cost of this newsletter and for the remaining cost of helping the East Virginia Case (and if anything is left over, for the Earth Religions Internet Initiative). Bring your inventions, your monsters, your mind machines, techno toys, food and drink to share, and your friends. Drumming and candle dancing will occur indoors (due to the neighbors), strange software will be up and running, strange Websites visited, and we hope to have surprises. For details, contact Larry at (703) 281-3335 or at lcorncalen@aol.com. If you have a legal problem associated with your religion, contact Larry Cornett with the details. You can also contact the Larry to get involved in new initiatives in Cyberspace. He is also accepting donations to cover the considerable telephone expense helping in the East Virginia case along with expenses associated with the Cyberspace Initiative. His address is 9355 Sibelius Drive, Vienna, VA 22182-1632. Currently, the Witches Against Religious Discrimination (WARD) is looking for a coordinator for their Maryland Chapter. If you are interested, contact Joyce Siegrest, P.O. Box 23149, Providence, Rhode Island. WARD state coordinators arrange for religious rights assistance to people in the states in which they are located (as do WADL state directors, like Larry Cornett). Another worthwhile organization occasionally helping Earth Religionists and others with legal problems associated with their religion is Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 1816 Jefferson Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. Phone (202)466-3234. Ask for a membership packet. The minimum contribution for membership is $25. Americans United, besides helping Earth Religionists like Iron Oak and being willing to help in cases like the previously described East Virginia Custody Case, does mostly important work on Separation of Church and State in general -- fighting school prayer, taxpayer provided vouchers for private religious schools, etc. Americans United has over 50,000 members. As a result of a query from Americans United on the Eastern Virginia case, some CoPRR team members have been in contact with Americans United. Working together, we could be a very formidable force for religious rights. If none of the above are your cup of tea, or you think you can do more independently, pick a worthy cause and host a fundraising party or Coffeehouse. The Lady Liberty League section of Circle Network News lists many causes needing various types of support. The Pagan Community needs more parties and fundraisers for worthy causes.