Posted on 07/15/2002 7:42:58 AM PDT by aristeides
More chicanery in the courts: in a case currently under consideration in the Ninth Circuit, Judge Stephen Reinhardt has ordered liberal law professor Edwin Chemerinsky to write an amicus (friend of the court) brief addressing the constitutionality of the tax deductions given to church leaders who receive certain housing benefits. The case arose when a pastor in Orange County deducted the "reasonable value" of his housing costs instead of the "actual value." The IRS took him to court, and he won -- the only question in the case was whether the law permitted the deduction of actual or reasonable housing costs; neither party argued that the deduction was a violation of the separation of church and state. Nevertheless Judge Reinhardt has taken it upon himself to appoint Chemerinsky -- whose views on the subject are already well known in the legal community -- to address an issue which nobody in court is arguing to begin with.
Nobody can seriously doubt that Reinhardt already knows his answer, and intends to rule the deduction unconstitutional, despite the fact that nobody in the case has asked him to do so -- a clear violation of legal rules. What is particularly upsetting is that Reinhardt and his pet amicus are right -- the deduction is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. But using sneaky tactics like this is dangerous for two reasons: future courts can use the same tactic to create far-ranging decisions on their own accord, with little or no accountability; and secondly, using such tactics undermines the legitimacy of the argument itself, as future generations will associate the (correct) argument that such deductions are unconstitutional with the underhanded tactics used in this case. That lends a pretext to the martyr aspirations of the religious right, which wishes to portray itself as the oppressed victims of elite atheist conspiracies.
This article was apparently written before the Pledge decision in which Reinhardt was apparently the prime mover.
Talk about shaping the law the way you want it to be shaped--at least in that appeals court district. That's a court out of control.
.."No Under God" REINHARDT =
...Friend of HILLARY...!!!
NEVER FORGET
..-Friend of HILLARY- Judge STEPHAN REINHARDT's "No UNDER GOD" Ruling is discussed in depth during the 1st hour of today's BOB DORNAN National Talk Radio Show that airs Live on...
.. www.TalkRadioNetwork.com ..
...and Live/Tape-delayed in 43 different Radio Markets across the country.
...In So. California BOB DORNAN airs Tape-Delayed 7-9pm Pacific Time Mon-Fri on...
...KPLS 830 AM ..'Radio on the Right'..
NEVER FORGET
Can you clue me in to the links between Hillary and Reinhardt? I know his wife is the President of the ACLU, but not much about Hillary's Connection...
Many thanks!
...This didn't surprise us in the audience much has he had just spent a majority of his Commencement Speech praising the Presidency of BILL CLINTON to our growing BOO's. Judge REINHARDT finally got an ovation from us when he said that he was nearing the end of his Commencement Speech.
...Since I personally witnessed this...
...it was pretty easy to remember Judge STEPHAN REINHARDT as a -Friend of HILLARY-.
...Given what's going on now ...this 9th Circuit's UNDER GOD Ban Judge's timing could not have been any better...???
...REINHARDT = HILLARY...!!
Who's backing the Atheist?
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