Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

A blog reader asked me about this, and I thought I’d pose the question to the list. Orlando Airport is apparently spending $250,000 to build a “reflection room” where Muslim travelers can more conveniently pray, especially given the expansion of the airline Emirates at the

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

The constitutionality of the funding would depend on the nature of the program, but I don't think that the 1970s cases would pose an obstacle. Since the 1970s cases, the Supreme Court has emphasized neutrality and has rejected its earlier separationist doctrines (see, e.g., in a slightly

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I agree that there's a possible accommodation approach that would allow the reflection room as well. Setting aside accommodation, the Sixth Circuit rests pretty strongly on neutrality as the guiding principle in holding that government funds may be used to refurbish churches, which seems more

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

What government funds are involved? Every commercial airport in the U.S. is funded by a long-term commitment by the airlines to pay landing fees (for the airport side) and terminal rents (for the terminal, or land side). These use agreements do not allow rents to be taken into any other

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Again I note, airport terminals are not buildings that state pays for nor pays to maintain (though title often falls to a governmental entity if the facility is abandoned).  I just don't think our usual "what can government do" analysis applies, any more than it would apply to the religious

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Is this any different than creating chapels or worship/reflection spaces on a state university campus, in a county hospital, or on a military base? What holds these examples (including the airport) together is the desire to accommodate the worship needs of patrons/participants who have no ready

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I agree with Chip that an accommodation analysis may permit the creation of these facilities, but the analysis changes if we are evaluating a general funding program where no substantial burden on religious liberty requires accommodation. One important difference is that the accommodation can

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Is it at all relevant that we're talking about $250,000 instead of, say, $25,000 for a more modest chapel. And it sounds as this is an attempt to curry favor not only with Moslem passengers (perfectly appropriate), but also specifically with the Emirate Airline, which one presumes is Islamic

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I much appreciate the background on how airports make their money, but I don’t think this matters for Establishment Clause purposes, so long as the decisions are made by a government entity, using money at the disposal of government entity (whether it comes from taxes or user

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I would hope that no court would hold that allocating access to public property or allocating public funds on the basis of majority approval or votes would constitute neutral criteria for constitutional purposes. A regulation allowing the community to vote on which speakers would be allowed to

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Alan is right as a matter of general principles, and as a matter of precedent, see Board of Regents v. Southworth (2000). From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Alan E Brownstein Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 4:51 PM

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I tend to agree with Chip and Alan about permissible accommodations generally but share Sandy's concern about the proliferation of sect-specific "chapels." (Clearly government funds are used via airport bonds and other taxes via the quasi-governmental port authorities). I am reminded about

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Ed knows much more about the ownership and management of airports than I do – although it’s not hard to satisfy that standard. But I recall several cases where airport governing authorities were sued for violating the free speech rights of people using the airport terminals for expressive

RE: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I'm not sure how all of these free speech cases the Sixth Circuit cites apply to the government funding of a chapel. Is the argument that the creation of rooms in an airport terminal for expressive purposes is determined under open-access neutral criteria and that like the public property at

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

Alan, there's a difference between public space and the space people pay rent on. Every chapel I know of falls into the private area (there may be others); the questions tend to revolve around whether the public spaces of terminals are truly public like a public street. At O'Hare we had secular

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

The former, but not that rooms are provided for a wide range of expressive groups so much as that the use of the funds is grounded in neutral criteria (the Sixth Circuit goes on to explain that they upheld Detroit's downtown refurbishment program, which provided funds to refurbish churches,

Re: Muslim-focused "reflection room" in airport

I should clarify, they are not saying that it's a free speech case itself—the free speech cases are by analogy. Justin --- Justin Butterfield Senior Counsel Liberty Institute Tel.: (972) 941-4451 Fax.: (972) 941-4457 jbutterfi...@libertyinstitute.org