Category: Courts

August 11, 2013
photo of people praying before a meeting
Praying before a meeting

Town of Greece v. Galloway is a US Supreme Court case to heard in the fall that might set the boundaries for prayers before town council meetings so they aren’t a violation of the separation of church and state. One interesting thing to come out of the pre-hearing filings is that the Obama administration is supporting the prayers. I really never knew why it was so important for an elected body to pray before working since prayers don’t make elected officials do a better job nor do the prayers improve living in a certain town or county. As one church state group put it, a town council meeting ‘isn’t a church service and it shouldn’t seem like one.’

We found out this week that President Obama’s administration weighed in on the case in an amicus brief and took the side of the town council.

July 10, 2013
logo for Minutemen United

Minutemen United is a religious fundamentalist group whose previous claim to fame is supporting illegal religious activities in public schools. Now it seems the group is going after a church for not acting extreme enough toward same-sex marriage and abortion. The group has been protesting at Vineyard Columbus since October 2012. The church filed for a restraining order against the group claiming it was trespassing on church property. Minutemen United is trying to twist the complaint as an attempt to violate their 1st amendment rights while it as all the looks of a publicity stunt.

July 1, 2013
logo celebrating 50 years of American Atheists

On Saturday, American Atheists unveiled a monument to atheism on the lawn of the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida. The monument is a bench and marker inscribed with quotes, concerning the relationship between church and state, by the founders, a quote by American Atheist founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and some Bible quotes showing the punishment for breaking the Ten Commandments. Also at the event American Atheists President David Silverman announced that more monuments will be erected around the country. While the public square should be free from symbols from any particular belief, if such symbols are allowed then ALL such symbols should be allowed.

Here is a quick refresher: American Atheists filed a lawsuit against Bradford County in Florida to have a Ten Commandments monument removed from the court house grounds. The county asked the group, Community Men’s Fellowship, who donated the monument, to remove it but the group refused. The county, not wanting to lose the lawsuit and not wanting to spend its own money to remove it settled the lawsuit by making the grounds officially a public forum, allowing any group to install a display. American Atheists took them up on the offer.

June 17, 2013
photo of Ellery Schempp in 2012
Ellery Schempp – His protest of required Bible reading in his High School lead to the case Abington School District v. Schempp being decided in 1963

On June 17th 1963, the US Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision that supported the separation of church and state in public schools – Abington School District v. Schempp. Even 50 years after the decision, we seem to have to fight the same battle over and over again. That is what happens in the struggle for civil rights. You have to be vigilant or they can be taken away. We need to celebrate dissenters like Schempp and we all need to try and emulate his activism.

June 7, 2013
the logo for Camp Quest

The recent media dust up about the Internal Revenue Service doing their job when considering group tax exemptions under the 501(c)4 rules focused on conservative groups being ‘targeted’ for political reasons. What hasn’t been reported as much is that non-conservative groups, including Camp Quest, were also targeted for extra scrutiny. This just shows that the conservative group’s claim of victimhood is more hysterical than the facts support.

June 1, 2013
screencap of Bradford County, Florida Ten Commandments Monument
Bradford County, Florida Ten Commandments Monument

Usually American Atheists files a lawsuit to have a religious symbol removed from government property. But in a historical first, the resolution of a 1st Amendment lawsuit will include the erection of a monument celebrating atheism on the lawn of a court house in Florida. If a public space is really going to be open to all points of view then the atheist monument should appear along side other monuments and symbols for the religions.