Posted on 08/20/2005 8:30:22 AM PDT by Constitution Restoration Act
U.S. Representative John Hostettler has introduced legislation which seeks to prevent the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from collecting millions of dollars in court awards when they seek to remove symbols of the Christian faith from society.
The Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005 (H.R. 2679) would prevent secular organizations from collecting attorney fees after suing communities to remove memorial crosses, Ten Commandments displays, or any other vestige of the Christian faith. The legislation reads, “The remedies with respect to a claim under this section where the deprivation consists of a violation of a prohibition in the Constitution against the establishment of religion shall be limited to injunctive relief.”
ACLU Generates Revenue in Courtroom Campaign
$156,960 = Nebraska
The ACLU was awarded $156,960 after a judge overturned an amendment to the Nebraska Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The amendment was approved by 70 percent of Nebraska voters.
$790,000 = San Diego
The ACLU was given $790,000 after suing to nullify a lease between the city of San Diego and the Boy Scouts of America. A federal judge sided with the ACLU, ruling that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization because they require kids to pledge an oath to God and promise to live a “morally straight”
$150,000 = Barrow County (Ga.)
The ACLU was awarded $150,000 after suing to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the Barrow County Courthouse.
$615,500 = Florida Supreme Court
The Florida Supreme Court established the Florida Bar Foundation and then commissioned the foundation to provide $615,500 to the ACLU of Florida between the years of 1990 and 1997.
$121,500 = Kentucky
The ACLU was awarded $121,500 after suing to remove a monument outside of the Kentucky Capitol building.
$277,000 = Kentucky
The ACLU was awarded a whopping $277,000 after suing to overturn a state law against abortion in 1994.
$299,500 = Kentucky
In 2001, the ACLU was awarded more than $299,500 after suing to overturn abortion regulations in Kentucky.
$50,000 = Tennessee
A Tennessee County was forced to pay the ACLU $50,000 after losing a legal battle to preserve a display of the Ten Commandments.
$37,037 = Loudoun County (Va.)
The ACLU was awarded $37,037 after winning a lawsuit to prevent a Loudoun County (Va.) from installing pornography filters on public library computers.
$175,000 = Alabama
Following the lawsuit, involving former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building, state taxpayers were forced to pay nearly $550,000 in attorney fees and court costs. Of that, $175,000 went to the ACLU.
63,000 = California
Taxpayers were forced to give the ACLU a whopping $63,000 after their lawsuit to remove a World War One Memorial Cross from the Mojave National Preserve.
$74,462 = Habersham County (Ga.)
The ACLU received $74,462 from Georgia taxpayers after suing to remove a Ten Commandments display from the Habersham County (Ga.) Courthouse.
$25,000 = Pulaski County (Ark.)
The ACLU was awarded $25,000 after suing an Arkansas county for telling the child’s parents that the 14-year-old boy was living an openly gay lifestyle in school.
$135,000 = Cobb County (Ga.)
The ACLU is scheduled to receive $135,000 from Cobb County taxpayers, after suing the county to remove warning stickers from the district biology books. The stickers simply read, “Evolution is a theory, not a fact.”
$75,000 = Pasco (Wash.)
The city of Pasco, Washington was forced to pay the ACLU $75,000 after they lost a lawsuit to remove the painting of a naked woman from the Pasco City Hall.
$52,000 = Seattle (Wash.)
Residents in Seattle, Washington, were ordered to pay $52,000 to the ACLU — for defending a student’s “right” to mock the assistant principal in a sexual online parodies … sodomizing Homer Simpson and appearing in Viagra commercials.
$6,000,000 = American taxpayers
The ACLU, along with other pro-abortion organizations, have shared in court awards estimated to be worth roughly six million dollars following the Supreme Court’s decision in which they declared the Nebraska partial birth abortion ban unconstitutional. Reportedly, these lawsuits affected thirty states.
$18,000 = London (Ohio)
After suing London, Ohio, for allowing their football coach to host a voluntary prayer for athletes, the ACLU was awarded $18,000 in attorney fees.
$110,000 = Multnomah County (Oregon)
Incredibly, Multnomah County taxpayers were asked to pay a whopping $110,000 after the ACLU sued them for allowing the Boy Scouts of America to recruit on public school campuses.
$111,000 = Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue was ordered to pay the ACLU $111,000 after losing a lawsuit in which the ACLU sought to prevent the organization from picketing near abortion clinics.
$230,000 = San Diego (California)
San Diego residents were forced to pay $230,000 in legal costs in an effort to defend the Mount Soledad Cross (a memorial to the Korean War) from an ACLU lawsuit. The Korean War Memorial had been established in 1952.
Take Action!
Help to de-fund the ACLU. Call your congressman and encourage him or her to co-sponsor the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005 (HR 2679), which seeks to eliminate the monetary motives behind the ACLU’s campaign to remove all mention of God from the public square.
U.S. Capitol Switchboard
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The problem is the constitution DOES NOT SAY THAT!!!! "Establishment" means a church, synagogue. The government shall make no law in respect to an establishment of religion. It simply means the government will not interfere with the church.
God Bless U.S. Representative John Hostettler and his truely ectlectic house.
John Hostettler Votes:
Voted YES on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)
Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)
Voted YES on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)
Voted YES on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)
Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
Voted NO on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. (Nov 2003)
Voted NO on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on small business associations for buying health insurance. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on capping damages and setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)
Voted YES on allowing suing HMOs, but under federal rules & limited award. (Aug 2001)
Voted NO on Prescription Drug Coverage under Medicare. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on banning physician-assisted suicide. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on establishing tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts. (Oct 1999)
Rated 22% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
Voted NO on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)
Rated A- by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted YES on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment. (May 2004)
Voted NO on more immigrant visas for skilled workers. (Sep 1998)
Rated 100% by FAIR, indicating a voting record restricting immigration. (Dec 2003)
Voted YES on end offshore tax havens and promote small business. (Oct 2004)
Voted YES on $167B over 10 years for farm price supports. (Oct 2001)
Voted YES on zero-funding OSHA's Ergonomics Rules instead of $4.5B. (Mar 2001)
Rated 40% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a mixed record on labor issues. (Dec 2003)
Incentives to businesses create jobs & raise wages. (Sep 1994)
Voted YES on banning human cloning, including medical research. (Jul 2001)
Voted YES on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)
Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortions. (Apr 2000)
Voted YES on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (Jun 1999)
Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
Religious affiliation: Baptist. (Nov 2000)
Contract with America: 10 bills in 1st 100 days of Congress. (Sep 1994)
Voted YES on raising 401(k) limits & making pension plans more portable. (May 2001)
Voted YES on reducing tax payments on Social Security benefits. (Jul 2000)
Voted NO on strengthening the Social Security Lockbox. (May 1999)
Rated 20% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)
Reduce taxes on Social Security earnings. (Sep 1994)
Voted YES on providing tax relief and simplification. (Sep 2004)
Voted YES on making permanent an increase in the child tax credit. (May 2004)
Voted YES on permanently eliminating the so-called marriage penalty. (Apr 2004)
Voted YES on making the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Apr 2002)
Voted YES on $99.5B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts. (Oct 2001)
Voted YES on Tax Cut Package of $958B over 10 years. (May 2001)
Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on eliminating the "marriage penalty". (Jul 2000)
Voted YES on repealing the estate tax ("death tax"). (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on $46 billion in tax cuts for small business. (Mar 2000)
Phaseout the death tax. (Mar 2001)
Rated 79% by NTU, indicating a "Taxpayer's Friend" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes. (Sep 1994)
Voted YES on increasing fines for indecent broadcasting. (Feb 2005)
Voted YES on promoting commercial human space flight industry. (Nov 2004)
Voted YES on banning Internet gambling by credit card. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on allowing telephone monopolies to offer Internet access. (Feb 2002)
Voted YES on approving removal of Saddam & valiant service of US troops. (Mar 2004)
Voted NO on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Voted YES on disallowing the invasion of Kosovo. (May 1999)
Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. (Nov 1995)
Voted NO on promoting work and marriage among TANF recipients. (Feb 2003)
Voted YES on treating religious organizations equally for tax breaks. (Jul 2001)
Voted NO on responsible fatherhood via faith-based organizations. (Nov 1999)
Limit welfare to 2 years & cut welfare spending. (Sep 1994)
Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)
Supports balanced budget amendment & line item veto. (Sep 1994)
Voted NO on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
Voted YES on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
Voted YES on Constitutional amendment prohibiting Flag Desecration. (Jul 2001)
Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit burning the US flag. (Jun 1999)
Voted YES on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. (May 1998)
Supports anti-flag desecration amendment. (Mar 2001)
Rated 36% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002
Voted YES on replacing illegal export tax breaks with $140B in new breaks. (Jun 2004)
Voted YES on Bankruptcy Overhaul requiring partial debt repayment. (Mar 2001)
Rated 87% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
I hear what you're saying and agree with it 100%. But, unfortunately, the word establishment also means "creation."In fact, "creation" is the first definition. Your interpretation of the word is listed second. Oh how I wish our dear Founding Fathers had been a bit more clear. But of course they had no way of knowing about the assholes and scumbags we must deal with today.
That said, God bless Rep. Hostettler. I sincerely hope his bill gets passed.
Article I of the Bill of Rights, as pertaining to religion, means first of all the at the Congress shall not establish an official state religion.
None of the publicly displayed or vocalized artifacts or expressions of religious sentiments, against which the ACLU so profitably inveighs, represent in any credible sense a congressional establishment or endorsement of an official state religion. Expunging from all public spaces or speech every vestige of religious impulses derived from Christianity (note that no other religion is being targetted, primarily because Christians are a major fount of opposition to unrestricted abortion)is neither required nor supported by the First Amendment, nor any article of the U. S. Constituition. But the Anti-Christian Litigants' Union has succeeded in finding compliant judges willing so to rule.
I have asked my own state's congressional delegation to introduce legislation such as that described above, to no effect; being told instead that the Congress lacks authority to regulate the ACLU, evading the fact that it is because of laws enacted by the Congress, laws that could and should be amended or rescinded, that the ACLU is reaping these obscene monetary rewards.
I am calling my rep Monday and telling them to support H.R. 2679. Are you?
I have already done so.
Good post.
I always wondered who was funding their payroll.
This bill stands the same chance of survival as a snow flake in a firestorm.
"Congress shall enact no law respecting the establishment of religion nor the free exercise thereof..."
Done and done. ANything I can do to bring down this anti-American tool for Communism, I'm ALL FOR!
We all need to call and/or write to our congressmen to support this bill. The ACLU is the same as terrorists, cut off their money supply, and they will forced to give up.
In case anyone needs it, here is a handy web page for contacting your Rep.
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