Posted on 07/08/2005 6:13:02 PM PDT by lowbridge
Christmas in July: City wins again, ACLU loses again
Federal appeals court fully rejects ACLU lawsuit against holiday displays on Cranston, R.I., City Hall lawn
Thursday, July 07, 2005, 2:50 PM (MST) ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020
BOSTON-A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit ruled unanimously Wednesday that a woman represented by the ACLU who sued the City of Cranston, R.I., after being offended by Christmas displays at City Hall had no standing to bring her claim.
"This is the court's message: you can't sue just because you're an offended observer," said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull. "The appeals court today rejected what has been a longstanding ACLU tactic-filing lawsuits simply for the reason that somebody claims to be offended. The Christmas displays in Cranston were perfectly constitutional, just as the district court ruled."
On Nov. 15 of last year, a federal district court ruled that the City of Cranston's practice of allowing private holiday displays, including religious displays, on the front lawn of City Hall does not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
The district court did grant an injunction against the city on other grounds at that time, but the appeals court today threw out the injunction saying that the client represented by the ACLU had no standing to sue.
In Wednesday's opinion, the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals wrote, "The Constitution requires that litigants have a personal stake in a case before they may sue in a federal court., and this plaintiff has not provided facts sufficient to show that she possesses such a stake." The full text of the opinion can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/OsediaczOpinion.pdf.
ADF-allied attorney Tom Marcelle, based in Albany, N.Y., represented the city in the case, Osediacz v. City of Cranston, which the ACLU originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
U.S. District Court Judge William Smith wrote last year that nothing in the city's public statements or in its implementation of the policy for its Christmas displays "reveals or even remotely supports an inference that a religious purpose was behind the creation of the limited public forum," as the ACLU's lawsuit alleged.
ADF is America's largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org
About time a common sense ruling came out of an appeals court telling the lady she had no standing. Wish they would tell the ACLU they had no standing to sue period!
This could be a precedent that could be used to help defeat the ACLU in cases around the nation. Looks like it would even hold up with the current Supreme Court.
A few more wins like this and the ACLU will stop taking cases they can't win or that they will no longer get any taxpayer money for taking on.... Hooray!
I'm sittin' in hell drinking sweet iced tea!! :-)
RI Ping!
I can scarcely believe my eyes! Good news for common sense, bad news for the "everything offends me" crowd!
Let me know if you want on or off the infrequent RI ping list.
It's about time someone said this. There is no "right" to be "unoffended."
It's propaganda to get rid of descent against socialism.
Remember hate speech legislation? No one would be legally allowed to speak out against any liberal special interest group ( i.e., socialist agenda).
"A people without a heritage are easily persuaded (deceived)" - Karl Marx
Religion is the opium of the masses -- Karl Marx
Last year on Ash Wednesday my daughter's High School went as a group to see The Passion. To make the event more meaningful the 600 kids walkes the three miles from the school to the theater. Nassau County cops escorted them across some well traveled streets. Along the way they were accosted by a women who demanded that the police stop the procession because she was offended by where they were going and the fact that the group passed in front of her synagogue. The police politely told her no.She was quoted in the paper as being offended.
Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005
Information here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1413875/posts
There you will find information about the bill, links to contact your congressmen and state representatives, and links to Stop the ACLU, among others.
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