For Immediate Release
October 27, 2005

Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Contact: Joe Conn, Rob Boston or Jeremy Leaming
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=tOa7VPaJNDm9_3vjgB_Wvg..


MIERS WITHDRAWS AS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE UNDER PRESSURE FROM RELIGIOUS
RIGHT

President Bush Must Resist Right-Wing Demands To Pick Nominee Who Opposes
Individual Freedom, Says AU's Lynn


Americans United for Separation of Church and State today called on
President George W. Bush to select a Supreme Court nominee who is committed
to individual rights, despite Religious Right pressure to do otherwise.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, "Harriet
Miers' withdrawal shows the disproportionate power of the Religious Right
on the Bush administration. While there were certainly many reservations
across the political spectrum about Miers' qualifications for the high
court, she seems to have been forced out because she was insufficiently far
right on abortion, gay rights and church-state separation. This is
appalling.

"I hope President Bush now selects someone who is both abundantly qualified
and possesses a clear commitment to individual freedom," Lynn said.

Miers withdrew as high court nominee today after a withering campaign
against her by Religious Right leaders and other conservatives in Bush's
political base. The latest round of recriminations came after a news media
report that Miers, in a 1993 speech, endorsed "self-determination" on
issues such as abortion and school prayer.

She said, "The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once
again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee the freedom of
the individual women's [sic] right to decide for herself whether she will
have an abortion"

According to The Washington Post, she added that those seeking to resolve
such disputes would do well to remember that "we gave up" a long time ago
on "legislating religion or morality" and that "when science cannot
determine the facts and decisions vary based upon religious belief, then
government should not act."

Said Americans United's Lynn, "We know that Religious Right leaders are
bitterly opposed to ensuring Americans' right to self-determination on
questions of religion and lifestyle. They want to make all the important
decisions and impose those choices on the rest of us. It's no wonder they
reacted to Meirs' remarks with such hostility."

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the
importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.


*****************************************************************
Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education

You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]

***************************************************************
. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************