May 12, 2005
ACTION ALERT ** ACTION ALERT ** ACTION ALERT
Reject the Radical Religious Right's Attempt to Eliminate the
Tradition of the Senate Filibuster!
'Nuclear Option' would eliminate senators' ability to filibuster
controversial judicial nominees, including President Bush's upcoming
Supreme Court picks.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=nFSout2ZIGLdVM0SF8w0fg..
With upcoming Supreme Court nominees in mind, Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist, pushed by the Radical Religious Right, is threatening to
have a Senate vote as early as NEXT WEEK on his "nuclear option."
This would eliminate the longstanding ability of senators to
filibuster the most controversial and dangerous of federal judicial
nominees. The filibuster has allowed 41 or more senators to prevent a
narrow Senate majority from rubber stamping controversial nominees who
would undermine key constitutional rights, including church-state
separation. If the right of the Senate filibuster is eliminated, the
Senate could simply steamroll Supreme Court and other federal judicial
nominees onto the bench. Protecting the minority right to filibuster
is essential to ensuring a future independent judiciary that will
protect and vindicate Americans' fundamental constitutional rights. To
invoke the nuclear option would be a grave abuse of power, a violation
of our system of checks and balances, and a threat to our cherished
constitutional rights.
Please EMAIL or WRITE your Senator and urge him/her to OPPOSE the
Nuclear Option.
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=C1hWsswa_IjdVM0SF8w0fg..
Given the Religious Right's attempts to portray filibuster supporters
as anti-religious, voices of faith are especially important in this
debate. If you are a religious leader, please identify yourself as
such when contacting your senators. And if you know religious leaders
who would be willing to call or write to senators on this issue,
please encourage them to do so.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
518 C Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
AUcorbin@aol.com
***********************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and the discussion group for the above site listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
**************************************************************
.. . . 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)
***********************************************************************
.
|
