| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
26 Nov 2006 04:56:13 AM |
| Object: |
Protect Attorneys Fees in ALL Establishment Clause Cases |
http://capwiz.com/au/issues/alert/?alertid=9007716
Protect Attorneys Fees in ALL Establishment Clause Cases
Protect Religious Liberty and Oppose S. 3996
The Senate has the opportunity to debate legislation which, if
enacted, would undermine a critical enforcement mechanism that has
safeguarded rights and liberties of Americans for more than a century. The
Public Expression of Religion Act (S. 3696) would gut the longstanding
availability of plaintiffs in Establishment Clause cases – and only those
cases – to gain their attorneys fees and costs when they prevail in court.
The federal law making attorneys fees available to plaintiffs in
constitutional and civil rights cases has never been limited. Even worse,
Congress has never attempted to target specific constitutional rights for
attack by limiting attorneys fees in cases involving those rights. Our
opponents are going on the offensive with a legislative attack designed to
slam the courthouse door on all Establishment Clause plaintiffs, including
religious minorities. As a result, this is an extremely important,
precedent-setting vote on a bill that directly attacks the central work of
Americans United and the fundamental values and freedoms Americans United
works so hard to defend.
Enforcement of the Establishment Clause is essential for the defense
of religious freedom. The protections of the First Amendment, however, do
not enforce themselves. The elimination of the availability of attorneys
fees in Establishment Clause cases would deter attorneys from taking these
cases – even where the government has acted in direct violation of the
Constitution. Plaintiffs would be forced to pay their own legal fees and
costs in successful Establishment Clause cases, often totaling hundreds of
thousands of dollars. Few Americans, including religious minorities, can
afford these kinds of costs to protect their most basic rights.
***************************************************************
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 US 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)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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