MAY-18: USA: Resolution introduced in House to support religious tolerance: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has introduced a resolution that The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called for people of conscience to support a resolution that "....condemns bigotry and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors and citizens of the Islamic faith." It also "....recognizes that the Qur'an as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect." Corey Saylor, government affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)  said: "This resolution expresses America's respect for the holy texts of all faiths. If passed, it will also reiterate our nation's condemnation of bigoted behavior and religious intolerance. It's a winner on every front." The resolution was apparently triggered by a news item in Newsweek magazine which reported that U.S. interrogators threw a copy of the Qur'an into a toilet. The statement was later retracted. ₁₀

MAY-31: U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agrees on inmates' religious rights: The Supreme Court agreed that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) is constitutional. This guarantees to members of minority faiths in penitentiaries the same First Amendment rights which are enjoyed by followers of majority faiths. The State of Ohio had granted rights to followers of large religions, like Christianity, but had denied them to members of small, minority religions. Inmates who had launched the lawsuit were members of Asatru, Satanism, a white-separatist church, and Wicca. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted in the opinion, "Should inmate requests for religious accommodations become excessive, impose unjustified burdens on other institutionalized persons, or jeopardize the effective functioning of an institution, the facility would be free to resist the imposition." ₁₁

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