Petition: Get ACLU off taxpayer dole (Get rid of fees for prosecuting God and Boy Scouts)

WND ^ | November 25, 2004 1:00 a.m. | Ron Strom

[ETERNAL WARMING]

LAW OF THE LAND Petition: Get ACLU off taxpayer dole Legal group awarded 1/2 million tax dollars for ridding courthouse of 10 Commandments

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: November 25, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Ron Strom © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

A new online petition asks Congress to change a specific civil-rights statute in hopes of preventing the American Civil Liberties Union from collecting attorney fees from taxpayers of local governments the organization takes to court.

The effort – spearheaded by Craig McCarthy of CourtZero.org, a site dedicated to stemming judicial activism – seeks to change 42 U.S.C., Section 1988, of the United States Code. The statute now allows judges to award attorney fees to plaintiffs in civil-rights cases brought against local governments, thereby putting the taxpayers on the hook and oftentimes funneling public money to the ACLU. McCarthy wants the law changed so cases involving the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment would not apply.

[Ron H.]

In these cases, one would expect courts to withhold awarding fees. Since this is not happening, Congress must take immediate action to clarify 42 U.S.C. §1988 to explicitly exclude lawsuits related to the acknowledgement of God.

Not only does the ACLU need to be restrained as you mention but the Federal Courts including the SCOTUS must also be narrowly restrained from hearing these very same court challenges by those desiring to rid the nation of any mention of God and anything to do with Christianity.

[Recall]

My concern is what effect this would have on conservative
judicial groups fighting for us?

[ArrMatey]

That's a legitimate concern. If legislation to amend section 1988 is crafted properly, it will only remove Establishment Clause cases from public funding of attorney's fees. While this may remove a relatively small tool from some conservative public interest law firms, it will be removing a much larger weapon from the hands of the ACLU.

I am the fellow who wrote the petition, and I thank you all for discussing it and passing it around. There have been around 3,000 new signatures in the past two hours.

[Redbob]

One letter to your Congresscritter is worth a double handful of these "on-line petitions" that nobody reads.

[LPM1888]

I doubt your petition will have much effect on the ACLU even if the law is revised. The Judge always has the option of awarding attorneys fees to the plaintiff (or defendant) in most civil cases. I'm surprised that this provision was written into law since it is redundant.

[Recall]

I have emailed the Thomas More Law Center to find out if this will hurt conservative lawyers. When and if I hear back from them I will let Freepers know their response.

Believe me, nobody hates the ACLU worst thsn I do but I want to be sure these wonderful groups who are now taking on conservative cases will not be hurt. Sometimes these things backfire.

[Safrguns]

Is it true that Atheism has been proven in the courts to be a religion? I thought I heard somewhere that it has been. If there is judicial precedence for atheism being a religion, then I would submit that the ACLU has a proven track record of violating the very separation clauses they seek to enforce. Is not the removal of God from every aspect of government an establishment of the religion of atheism???

[ArrMatey]

I'm interested in what the More center will tell you, as I have a great deal of respect for them. As a conservative attorney, my take is that it is time to be bold about the fact that 30 years of Establishment Clause cases have not resolved anything, and show absolutely now sign of ceasing.

As for the notion that judges can award fees anyway, that is something I am not aware of. Outside of a specific statutory provision (like 42 USC 1988), judges do not normally award fees unless there is bad faith or frivolous proceedings. Otherwise, there would be an automatic penalty simply for stating a good-faith defense, and that is not how the system works.

[Donaeus]

bttt

[maica]

Is not the removal of God from every aspect of government an establishment of the religion of atheism???

^^^^^

I believe it is. "Free expression" does not mean
elimination of certain words. Our government schools are preaching Atheism, and this is an establishment of a certain religion.

[7.62 x 51mm]

I vote to send them to Hell, where they came from!

[gimme1ibertee]

It makes me sick to know those SOBs are feeding these lawyers right out of our pockets,all in the name of "civil rights". This tripe has nothing to do with civil anything,and these people need to have their butts handed to them-big time.

[maica]

We all need to spread this message - I know Freepers are among the best informed Americans, and yet I bet most think that the ACLUs legal battles are pro bono lawyerly deals or funded by liberal deep pockets.

I plan to call a few talk shows during the next few weeks with this information.

[ShowMeMom]

bttt

[Agitate]

Signed and bump.

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[yoe]

Sent to everyone on my list.

[yoe]

Sent to everyone on my list.

[janetgreen]

Signed! Thanks for the heads-up.