Legal Links for Pagans
This list was first compiled by Arwen Evenstar and Harper Meader of Immanent Grove in their successful quest to win a sales-use tax exemption for the Grove, which is incorporated as an independent local church in the state of Maine.
- Directory of Earth Religions Rights Organizations: http://members.aol.com/lcorncalen/erro.htm
- An excellent primer on Pagan legal rights issues, with contact information for leading national organizations, published by Larry Cornett of the Sacred Earth Alliance.
- Earth Religions Assistance List: http://www.conjure.com/ERAL/eral.html
- A network of volunteer activists, linked through cyberspace, who can often immediately connect an individual with resources to help fight cases of religious discrimination.
- The Witches' Voice: http://www.witchvox.com
- Good general pagan site, also covers religious freedom issues.
- Interfaith Working Group Online: http://www.iwgonline.org/
- Pagans aren't (yet) specifically mentioned on this activist site, but its issues – equal rights for sexual minorities, separation of church and state, and reproductive freedom – are important to many Pagans.
- Lady Liberty League Page: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/
- Scroll down for a useful list of links.
- Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library: http://www.state.me.us/legis/lawlib/homepage.htm
- Legal research links from the state's law librarians. Click on the Legislative Quick Start button or see http://www.state.me.us/legis/lawlib/melaw.htm for the text of Maine laws. (Trivia: If you delve into this site at all you'll notice that the one of the state's primary Web servers is named after Janus, the Roman god of doorways.)
- Maine Law Pathfinder: http://www.lawoffice.com/pathfind/maps/mapsME.htm
- A legal directory with overviews of common subject areas (including civil rights), and links to lawyers in Maine that specialize in those areas.
- Ontario Consultants on Religious Freedom: http://www.religioustolerance.org/
- Highly recommended site which aims to deliver unbiased information about various belief systems and important issues connected with religion.
- Demonized Women: http://www.stanford.edu/class/law495/drobac.htm
- A Stanford Law School paper on Wiccans in child-custody cases. Useful in itself and for its excellent list of legal citations.
- Subculture Alternatives Freedom Foundation:
http://www.hassop.demon.co.uk/saff/articles/uslaw.html
- Good summary of U.S. court cases involving witchcraft.
- U.S. Army Chaplain's Manual: http://members.aol.com/janus59/milwic.htm
- Excerpt concerning Wicca. This section is used by chaplains in dealing with Wiccan soldiers, and is useful as an indication that Wicca is a religion under U.S. law.
- US Code (Federal Law): http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
- Federal law. All of it. Searchable.
- US Commission on Civil Rights: http://www.usccr.gov/index.html
- Includes information on filing a federal complaint.
Back to the Maine Pagan Resource Page
Updated: 5/27/00