| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
16 Aug 2005 04:01:44 PM |
| Object: |
Paper trial on Roberts gets worse |
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Contact: Joe Conn, Rob Boston or Jeremy Leaming
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=1jTxmv-HkN8BQl4ttPtoKw..
PAPER TRAIL ON COURT NOMINEE ROBERTS GROWS MORE TROUBLING, SAYS AMERICANS
UNITED
AU's Lynn Says Roberts Would Reverse Long-Standing Church-State Precedent
More proof emerged today that Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts is no
friend to the ideal of keeping government and religion separate, says
Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
In a 1985 memo, Roberts railed against a U.S. Supreme Court decision that
year that invalidated an Alabama moment-of-silence law, saying it "seems
indefensible."
He said he would support the Reagan administration if it were to back
congressional legislation permitting "group silent prayer or reflection in
the public schools."
"This is just one more piece of evidence that Roberts has spent years
working to erode the First Amendment principle of church-state separation,"
said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "It's
no wonder Religious Right lobbyists are backing his nomination with such
enthusiasm.
"Public schools serve children of all faiths and none," Lynn continued. "It
is imperative that our schools leave decisions about worship to parents.
Religious minorities would face unrelenting majority pressures if Roberts'
views of the Constitution became the law of the land."
According to Roberts, the high court invalidated the Alabama law in its
Wallace v. Jaffree decision primarily on technical grounds and he argued
that a more carefully worded law would likely withstand judicial scrutiny.
Lynn noted that Roberts as a political appointee in the first Bush White
House co-authored a brief arguing that clergy-led prayers at public school
commencements were constitutionally sound. (The brief urged the Supreme
Court to overturn church-state safeguards dating back to 1971.)
Additionally, Roberts wrote in favor of legislation that would strip the
federal courts of the authority to hear many religious liberty
controversies, including public displays of religious symbols.
"On church-state matters, Roberts is no stealth candidate," Lynn said. "He
harbors open contempt for the separation of church and state and appears
ready to side with the Supreme Court's extreme right-wing to begin
radically re-writing that principle."
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.
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www.au.org
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