Judge bans moment of silence in suburban district

Chicago Tribune ^ | 11/14/07 | Jeff Coen

[Libloather]

Judge bans moment of silence in suburban district
By Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter
6:15 PM CST, November 14, 2007

A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction barring a suburban school district from implementing the state's new law mandating a moment of silence at the start of classes, calling the statute too vague and "likely unconstitutional."

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman made the decision at a hearing on a lawsuit brought by local atheist activist Rob Sherman over issues related to the separation of church and state. Sherman sued Township High School District 214, in which his daughter is a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School.

Gettleman asked the parties in the case to return to the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse Thursday when he could consider making the injunction statewide. The Illinois attorney general's office is considering stepping into the litigation.

Gettleman said the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act isn't specific enough about what is a "moment" and when it should take place. It also may cross the line into unconstitutionality by giving students a choice to pray, the judge said.

The statute states that students shall be given an opportunity for silent prayer or reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.

That would in essence tell a child "you've got to think about praying," the judge said.

**SNIP**

Gregory Kulis, Sherman's attorney, argued the statute is clearly an attempt to inject and endorse religion in public schools.

"Things are moving in a positive direction," Sherman said after the judge's ruling.

[Libloather]

Jeffrey A. Gettleman (born 1972) is an American journalist who has been the East Africa bureau chief of The New York Times, based in Nairobi, Kenya, since 2006.

Gettleman graduated from Cornell University in 1994 with a B.A. in Philosophy[1], after which he became a communications officer for Save the Children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University and received a. M. Phil. in June 1996. While at Oxford, Gettleman was the first American editor of Cherwell, the university's student newspaper. From 1997 to 1998 he was a city hall and cop reporter for the St. Petersburg Times.

In 1999, Gettleman joined the Los Angeles Times as a general assignment reporter. In 2000, he became bureau chief in Atlanta and was also a war corresopndent in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

In 2002, Gettleman joined The New York Times as a domestic correspondent and later bureau chief in Atlanta. He has also reported from Iraq since 2003 and has been a commentator on CNN and other television networks.

Gettleman is the son of Robert W. Gettleman (b. 1943)[2], a judge of the United State District Court for the Northern District of Illinois[3], and Joyce R. Gettleman, a psychotherapist with a private practice in Evanston, Illinois[4]. Gettleman's sister Lynn Gettleman Chehab is a physician.

[muawiyah]

I suppose that answers the question why this guy thinks advising children to be quiet makes them think about religion.

Now that belief may or may not have validity ~ but why should we allow a judge who believes in psychological homeopathy to continue to sit on the bench when he'd be so much better off locked in a rubber cell!

[SmithL]

Gettleman, Robert William

Born 1943 in Atlantic City, NJ

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Nominated by William J. Clinton on August 16, 1994, to a seat vacated by John F. Grady; Confirmed by the Senate on October 7, 1994, and received commission on October 11, 1994.

Education:
Boston University, B.S./B.A., 1965

Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 1968

Professional Career:
Staff law clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1968
Law clerk, Hon. Latham Castle, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1968-1969
Law clerk, Hon. Luther Swygert, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1970
Private practice, Chicago, Illinois, 1970-1994

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

[EagleUSA]

Gregory Kulis, Sherman’s attorney, argued the statute is clearly an attempt to inject and endorse religion in public schools.
::::::
I wonder if this activist attorney would be equally zealous and balanced when it comes to preventing the forced-feeding of homosexual tolerance and education to our grade school children without parental permission in our leftist government “schools”....

[Cicero]

HONORABLE ROBERT W. GETTLEMAN was appointed a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Illinois in 1994, by President Bill Clinton. Judge Gettleman is a 1968 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, and received his undergraduate degree from Boston University. He has authored several articles for law reviews as well as other legal publications. He is currently on the editorial board of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Magazine and is on the adjunct faculty of Northwestern University School of Law.

From 1968 to 1970, Judge Gettleman was law clerk to Chief Judge Latham Castle and Chief Judge Luther M. Swygert of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Gettleman was head of litigation at the Chicago law firm of D’Ancona & Pflaum, which he joined in 1970.

[dragnet2]

Judge bans moment of silence in suburban district

Anyone caught being silent will be severely beaten about the head.

[goodnesswins]

Uh....isn’t this kind of like banning your thoughts?????

[uptoolate]

It also may cross the line into unconstitutionality by giving students a choice to pray, the judge said.

Anyone have a home address for the judge?
I believe picket signs and a protest calling for the judge to step down is in order.

[Comparative Advantage]

This judge should be picketed and harrassed in every legal way possible.

[Joe Boucher]

Gee, a Clinton appointee, who’d have thunk it?

[Jacquerie]

We used to live in a representative republic. Now we allow unelected blackrobes to govern. At a minimum, the public should loudly protest at the home of this man.

[Smokin' Joe]

So ‘Make a Joyful Noise” (unto the Lord!)

[yoe]

"...but why should we allow a judge who believes in psychological homeopathy to continue to sit on the bench when he'd be so much better off locked in a rubber cell!"

This is a liberal judge who is making 'law' as he goes along....."I believe that most trial judges would agree that the freedom to decide cases on our own is more empowering than isolating. First, we are not really alone in making these decisions. We have the attorneys arguing their respective cases and our law clerks to help us. Of course, the final decision rests with the judge, and that is why we are here. Judges are in the decision business. Judges who have trouble making decisions should find some other line of work."....perhaps he should rephrase the last part from "Judges who have trouble making decisions....." to "Judges who have trouble with the United States Constitution should......"

Such arrogance and disregard for religion does not belong in US Courts.

[expatpat]

Ah, but the queer propaganda is built into the penumbra of our Constitution....Not like religion, where the Constitution only says the government may not limit the practice of one's religion.

You see the difference, of course.