October 02, 2006

Ahead of the Curve

Me, August 2, 2006.

Not surprisingly, the bill would only prevent attorney fees when a person sues over establishment of religion, not free exercise. So, groups like the ACLJ and other ‘religious backed’ legal organizations would be unaffected.

When congress introduced US 42:1988, they recognized that the costs of litigation, as well as the deep pockets of companies and municipalities, could prevent people from suing to protect their rights.


Law Guru Erwin Chemerinsky, Today.

With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.

Such a bill could have only one motive: to protect unconstitutional government actions advancing religion. The religious right, which has been trying for years to use government to advance their religious views, wants to reduce the likelihood that their efforts will be declared unconstitutional. Since they cannot change the law of the Establishment Clause by statute, they have turned their attention to trying to prevent its enforcement by eliminating the possibility for recovery of attorneys' fees.

I actually had a few great posts on this in the Comment Section of Gay Patriot, but most of them have seemed to gone missing. Funny, that.

Comments:

dolphin said (at October 3, 2006 06:22 AM):

Will never make it through the Senate (I hope).

Posted by Henry at 12:17 PM || Link to me || More Thoughts (1) || Track this post (0) || Category:: The Way Right, Just Left on