Free Republic

No metaphor in American letters has had a more profound influence on law and policy than Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state.” Today, this figure of speech is accepted by many Americans as a pithy description of the constitutionally prescribed church–state arrangement, and it has become the sacred icon of a strict separationist dogma that champions a secular polity in which religious influences are systematically and coercively stripped from public life.In our own time, the judiciary has embraced this figurative phrase as a virtual rule of constitutional law and as the organizing theme of church–state jurisprudence, even...

DANBURY — In a decision Superior Court trial referee Robert Callahan "agonized long and hard over," he ruled in favor of two accused drug dealers who claimed they were stopped outside the Sheraton in Danbury in 2004 only because they were black. In a written decision dated May 17 and received Friday by defense lawyers, Callahan said he came to his decision, which essentially guts the state's case against the men, "reluctantly" and after "soul-searching." Lawyer James Diamond of Danbury said his client Demetere Taft, 30, of Beaver Street, is "obviously very pleased that the judge has agreed with the...

DANBURY — Western Connecticut State University graduate Krista M. Lindstedt wants an apology from commencement speaker Catherine Crier, who turned Sunday's graduation ceremony into "more of a political rally than a commencement speech that should be positive, motivational and happy." "Overall she offended a lot of people," said Lindstedt, 33, of Crier's speech, which lasted at least 20 minutes. "It was completely, completely inappropriate. It was a slap in the face to veterans" — and soldiers like herself. An Air Force staff sergeant, Lindstedt is a medical services "craftsman," doing everything a civilian nurse does, although she cannot give intravenous...

Anti-illegal immigrant group plans 'Stop the Invasion' protest in Danbury DANBURY — A controversial anti-illegal immigrant group is planning a "Stop the Invasion" demonstration Saturday at Kennedy Park. Latino day laborers gather each morning around Kennedy Park, between Kennedy Avenue and Elm Street, hoping to be hired by contractors. "Hiring illegals at Kennedy Park is a criminal activity. It is against the law," said Paul Streitz, a founding member of Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control. Streitz' group wants the United States to close its borders, enforce existing immigration laws — and to send undocumented immigrants back to their homelands. Streitz...

A few days ago, the majority of the Supreme Court ruled as if it were using the Constitution of France instead of the Constitution of the USA. The French Constitution states that its nation is a secular one, while our Constitution states that we are a nation under God. One would not know this if the majority of the Supreme Court today is to be believed Mark Levin states in his book, Men in Black, “Chief Justice William Rehnquist has written that the Court ‘bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life.’” Based on a misreading of Thomas...

(Harrison, N.Y.-AP, June 22, 2005 2:25 PM) _ An 20-year-old man, allegedly intoxicated, is under arrest after allegedly stealing a small plane in Connecticut. The man took two friends on a three-hour joyride early this morning that somehow ended with a safe landing at a darkened Westchester County Airport. County Executive Andrew Spano says that when an airport security car met the four-seat Cessna at 4:15 a.m. and the plane doors opened, a significant number of beer cans spilled to the ground. Police say the plane's 20-year-old "pilot," Philippe Patricio, of Bethel, Connecticut, was arrested with a blood alcohol level...

Two people were killed Monday morning when the small plane they were in crashed and burst into flames near Danbury Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The Cessna 182 went down at 11:30 a.m. in a wooded area about four miles north of the airport, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. The crash site is near both New Fairfield High School and a middle school. Both schools remained in session and no students were injured, school officials said. Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman, said the plane was heading to Long Island from Albany, N.Y. Federal and state authorities...

DANBURY — Mayor Mark Boughton has called for some state police officers to be deputized as immigration agents and crack down on illegal immigrants in Danbury and around the state. "The federal government has an inability to do its job as it relates to immigration," Boughton said. "The fact of the matter is that this is out of control. I recognize that we are a nation of immigrants. This is not about immigrants. This is about illegal immigration. There is a difference." Under a 1996 federal immigration law, any municipality or state can make the request for its officers...

DANBURY, Conn. - Mayor Mark Boughton blames the government for his town's inability to cope with 15,000 illegal immigrants, approximately 19 percent of the overall population. "This is one community that has been incredibly stressed by failed federal policy and we need help," said Boughton. Because the illegal residents aren't counted in the U.S. census, Danbury doesn't receive any federal aid for them. "In terms of our social services, this presents a tremendous strain, particularly on quality of life of our neighborhoods, our schools our health care system," Boughton said. Residents complain the influx is killing property values. Homeowner Peter...

Subject: I Blame The Editors For This One Mark Spencer wrote an article entitled "City Experiences Clash of Cultures" that is below the fold on today's front page. The article is actually quite good, particularly if you read the entire article. The problem is what is on the front page. The whole point of the article, the whole issue of the article, the whole reason for the article is because of: _Illegal_ immigration Not just any kind of immigration, _Illegal_ immigration A discerning reader can figure this out on page A4, where Mr. Spencer mentions it many times.   The...

Danbury latest front in illegal immigration debate By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press Writer April 24, 2005, 4:36 PM EDT DANBURY, Conn. -- Thousands of miles from where the so-called Minutemen volunteers patrol the Mexican border, this small city has erupted as a hotbed in a growing national debate over illegal immigration.

As part of a national program called Project HomeSafe, free gun locks were handed out Monday in Danbury. Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, spoke briefly to local gun owners. DANBURY — As New Milford resident John Busch’s 18-month-old daughter starts to "get out and about,” he is starting to worry that she might discover the guns he and his wife own. So when he heard gun locks would be handed out for free on Monday, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pick up several. The gun locks were given out as part of a national program called Project HomeSafe,...

Legislation allowing Connecticut police to more quickly investigate Internet sex crimes like the one that apparently led to the death of 13-year-old Christina Long failed this year because state lawmakers worried about violating civil liberties. So while officials praised the quickness of the FBI in tracking down Saul dos Reis, 25, of Greenwich, who investigators say confessed to the killing, state experts and local police say Connecticut’s reliance on federal agencies is unwise given the rapid spread of Internet sex crime. “Everybody has their own job to do,” said Danbury Detective Capt. Mitchell Weston, “and we were lucky in this...