Free Republic

INDIANAPOLIS - A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Indiana House from opening its sessions with specifically Christian prayers, ruling that such prayers amount to "an official endorsement of the Christian religion." Judge David Hamilton advised House Speaker Brian Bosma that invocations given in the Legislature should not use the name of Jesus Christ or Christian terms such as savior. Of 53 opening prayers given in the House during the 2005 session, 41 were given by clergy identified with Christian churches and at least 29 mentioned Jesus Christ, according to court documents. Hamilton said that practice "amounts in practical terms...

Following the ACLU's legal action against New York City for allegedly violating citizens' rights by random searches on subways, Congress is being asked to probe the group for "widespread use of frivolous lawsuits." "The ACLU's abuse of the legal system is criminal," said Don Swarthout, president of Christians Reviving America's Values, an advocacy group asking for the investigation. Calling it a "fund-raising stunt," Swarthout asserted the American Civil Liberties Union's action may also be dangerous to the citizens of New York City. "These searches are part of a well-thought-out security plan and may stop a terrorist from walking onto the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly and the city were sued on Thursday by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which claimed random searches of riders' bags at subway stations as an anti-terror measure violated U.S. constitutional rights of privacy. New York's random searches began on July 22 after a second set of bomb attacks on the London transit system. "The policy of searching thousands of subway riders daily without any suspicion that they have done anything wrong is unprecedented, unproductive and unconstitutional," said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman, whose organization filed the suit on behalf...

So the New York Civil Liberties Union has decided to sue the NYPD on the grounds that subway bag searches are unconstitutional. At first glance, there doesn't seem anything surprising or wrong about such a choice. After all, isn't that what civil-liberties unions are supposed to do? Well, yes, except nobody — even civil-liberties unions — is supposed to bring frivolous and harassing lawsuits that clog up the time and energy of those being sued. There is no way the NYCLU can win this suit, because the Supreme Court has already held, in pretty definitive terms, that these sorts of...

Devotions OK, but no favorites allowed, rules say. By MARTIN DeAGOSTINO Tribune Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Civil Liberties Union is suing state lawmakers to keep Jesus out of their proceedings. The lawsuit, filed here Tuesday in federal court, would bar sectarian and proselytizing prayers by lawmakers and guest clergy on the floor of the House of Representatives. It does not seek to ban all legislative prayers, which the U.S. Supreme Court has approved if they are nonsectarian. But the ICLU said the prayers must not promote or endorse a particular religion, as it claims the House prayers do....