Posted on 11/21/2004 12:32:55 PM PST by tuesday afternoon
A group of Maryland lawmakers yesterday said they will file an appeal to oppose an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that aims to force Baltimore and four counties to accept same-sex "marriages."
"We have asked to be permitted to intervene so that we might be able to put out a serious and truthful defense of Maryland's marriage statute," said Delegate Donald H. Dwyer Jr., Anne Arundel County Republican.
The lawmakers — seven Republicans and one Democrat — were rebuffed last month by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdoch, who ruled that the lawmakers could not join the defendants in the ACLU lawsuit.
-snip-
In July, the ACLU filed the lawsuit against Baltimore and the four counties, saying the state law that denies same-sex couples the right to "marry" is a violation of constitutional guarantees of equality.
Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., a Democrat, has said he welcomes a court opinion, but Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has said he would sign a defense-of-marriage act.
"The ACLU simply lost their way," Mr. Ehrlich said. "It's simply the ACLU and their far-left agenda."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
everyone should unit to bring the ACLU down..... and out of business... this is the most dangerious organization in the US right now..
All throught the elections, we heard "Oh, we don't need a Constitutional amendment! The States can pass laws! It's up to the States!"
It CAN'T be left up to the States when unelected judges won't uphold the friggin' LAWS!!!
That's ridiculous. The ACLU has never lost it's way.
The ACLU has, and always will fight for the complete destruction of Western culture and civilization.
A Marxist superstate is the ACLU's ideal society. Better try to get a grasp of the enemy's philosophy, Mr. Erlich.
The ACLU has never lost it's way...The ACLU has, and always will fight for the complete destruction of Western culture and civilization.
=======
I am looking forward to the day when this communist, radical, anti-American group of maggots is put to rest.
Amen !!!!!!!
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
The ACLU has not lost its way. They are well on the path that they have laid out for themselves and their agenda is clear. I wouldn't call it 'far-left'. I would call it Communism.
Check out this website.
Then compare the stated goals of the ACLU with the goals of the Communist Party at this FR thread. Scary stuff. It should get you pissed off.
We need to crush the Democrat Party in this country and elect another President of GWBs caliber in 2008.
How does the ACLU pay for its activities?George Grant, author of "Trial and Error," puts the ACLU's annual budget (1993) at $14 MILLION (FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS) - much of which is "SUPPLIED BY THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER through the Federal program mandated by the Civil Rights Attorneys' Fee Awards Act of 1976. If the ACLU wins a case that involves a public institution, for instance, the organization collects the full legal fees of its attorneys even though those attorneys offered their services pro bono (without charge).
I've tried researching this a bit, but haven't found much. I did find an article where the ACLU said this:
Ann Beeson (ACLU lawyer) had this to say about the attorneys fees rules: "they exist partly as a deterrent." When asked if the ACLU is telling other libraries about attorneys fee awards, she said that "we have done that already." For example, before the ACLU filed suit against the Loudoun library, "we tried to use that to dissuade the Library." She added, "I am sure we will say the same thing to other library boards around the country."
I think the ACLU is awarded attorneys' fees even in the case of settlements.
As far as donors go, as a non-profit organization, the ACLU is not required to list them. Some people may advertise their donations, however.
For other ideas, try this link: Citizens mobilized to stop ACLU (seeks to consign group to 'ash heap of history')
Looks like we need Congress to revisit this stupid rule on attorney's fees. They might be open to revisit this considering the uproar over the Boy Scouts. Does the ACLU list their supporters or give them recognition?
I think their main cash cow and form of extortion is the attorneys' fee act. Maybe there is a way to get Congress to limit awards.
I found this article which explains a little more:
In fact, when Congress contemplated the fee-shifting bill three decades ago, it never conceived that 42 U.S.C. §1988 would be used to secure fees in esoteric battles over the meaning of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. The statute gives a court "discretion" to award attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in civil rights cases. Study of the legislative history of the statute reveals that Congress intended this statute to apply to civil rights abuses, including certain race and sex discrimination cases, but not to arguments about whether Judge Roy Moore is allowed to display the Ten Commandments in the Alabama courthouse. During the deliberations on the bill, the Senate penned that "in many cases arising under our civil rights laws, the citizen who must sue to enforce the law has little or no money with which to hire a lawyer."[6] In the recent First Amendment lawsuits filed by the ACLU, the tables are turned. Small school districts and municipalities can either defend lawsuits and risk paying the ACLU's attorneys' fees if they lose, or they can voluntarily submit to the ACLU's view of the Constitution.Even if lawsuits over the establishment clause somehow fall within 42 U.S.C. §1988, the statute empowers courts with nothing more than "discretion" to award fees. In these cases, one would expect courts to withhold awarding fees. Since this is not happening, Congress must take immediate action to clarify 42 U.S.C. §1988 to explicitly exclude lawsuits related to the acknowledgement of God.
From How your taxpayer dollars support the secularist agenda of the ACLU
BTTT!
that was supposed to be SCOTTSDALE ,ARIZONA,So sorry
Look they're fighting here's your opportunity to say something positive for a change. . .
Yes, that's what Cheney said.
That means "values voters" have been footing the bill for the ACLU's launching a juggernaut to remove Ten Commandments images, Christmas creches and Christmas carols, taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, and because they claim they have a civil right not to see the Ten Commandments, a civil right not to hear the word “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, not to see a creche of the Baby Jesus, not to hear Christmas carols. The ACLU has collected a huge amount of our tax dollars in this left-handed fundraiser for the ACLU.
FReepers can silence the ACLU with a bit of activism. We need to insist our Congressmen repeal this abusive law that allows the ACLU to get rich on harassing Christian America. Congress must repeal laws enabling the ACLU's Christian-hating activities. Cut off the ACLU's funds and watch them disappear. Here's what we can do.
STEP ONE: We should contact our legislators demanding repeal. A friendly lawmaker must fashion a bill to repeal that FR can push.
STEP TWO The ACLU should be designated a "hate group" and be subjected to existing hate laws.
STEP THREE Taxpayers must demand the ACLU open its books and let us see who is funding them (they have refused to do this).
STEP FOUR The IRS should determine whether the ACLU is properly accounting for all its tax-funded activities, whether it is inflating legal costs, and whether it is using tax dollars for the purposes stated. We need to know whether the ACLU is engaged in Enron-style accounting and spending practices.
ANOTHER ACLU OUTRAGE:
A 43-foot tall cross that was erected atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, California 50 years ago to honor our nation’s veterans faces imminent removal unless we act now.
An ACLU-backed atheist has waged a 15-year court battle to force removal of the famous cross, and a federal court has ordered the city of San Diego to remove it.
However, one option remains.
Federal law known as the Antiquities Act authorizes the President to designate landmarks and structures as national monuments and make the property on which the monument stands federal property. President Clinton used this law to establish numerous new national monuments during his term.
In addition, the Historic Sites Act allows the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain sites national historic landmarks and bring them under the care of the National Park Service.
Just this month, on Veterans' Day, a new plaque was added to the Mt. Soledad Memorial to honor President Reagan, further strengthening its status as a monument worthy of national protection.
Thus, it is fitting that the President formally designate Mt. Soledad as a national memorial park for veterans, and save it from destruction at the hands of the ACLU.
President Bush can save the historic cross from another ACLU-backed removal by designating Mt. Soledad a national monument.
The Antiquities Act authorizes the President to designate landmarks and structures as national monuments.
President Bush must make the Mount Soledad cross a
national monument.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.