Posted by deirdrehbrt on March 26, 2006, at 0:51:00
Here's an interesting little piece of legislation. One would think, from it's name that it is designed to allow everyone the ability to express their religion in public.
It's actual purpose is to prevent lawyers representing public citizens in religious disputes against the government from collecting fees from the government.
In suits against the government, it's obvious that private citizens are unable to rally the resources necessary to represent themselves. Our laws wisely permit lawyers to recoup their fees from the Government, ONLY IF THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL. This act would prevent such reimbursement in cases involving religion.
What they are trying to do is to stem the tide of successful assaults against the establishment of religion in schools and public places. The American Legion is championing this particular act. They are billing it as an assault against the ACLU, claiming that that organization is behind most of the "damage" being done to religious rights.
So how will this affect people? Suppose that your family is athiest in belief, but your child attends a school where the recitation of the Pledge of Aliegance, including the verse added in (I think) 1952, which says "Under God" is required. Without this law, you could find a lawyer to represent you, who may do so, believing he or she has a good case, and that they will recoup their costs when they are successful. If this act becomes law, you will have to pay the lawyer out of your own pocket, or hope to find one to represent you for free.
The ACLU, contrary to what the proponents of this bill would have you believe, do not recieve most of their funding from these fees. Many of the lawyers representing private citizens are not on the payroll of the ACLU. This act would SEVERELY hamper an individuals ability to challenge the government when their religious rights are violated. I really hope this dangerous piece of legislation fails.
poster:deirdrehbrt
thread:624709
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060322/msgs/624709.html