Tag Archives: Group: Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Americans United for Sep. of Church and State: Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee was considering amendments to S. 1094, the “Strengthening America’s Schools Act,” which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C) introduced an amendment that would have allowed states to turn their Title I funds into giant voucher programs.

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: Last week,  as Breitbart notes, “… the Supreme Court granted review in what could be the biggest religious liberty victory for Americans of faith in decades,” when it agreed – at the request of Alliance Defending Freedom – to hear a case on public invocations in which the defendants are represented by our ministry’s attorneys.

Champion Newspapers: In Chino Valley, the fire and school boards and Chino city council have such invocations. Chino Hills dropped them on advice of its attorney and satisfied its faith by conducting meetings under the large motto above the council dais, “In God We Trust.”

Brett Harvey on Intersection of Faith and Reason with Frank Sontag | MP3 audio 16:34 mins | Brett Harvey, Joel Oster, Who Said That?: A Simple Question That May Change the Way Courts View Legislative Prayer, Federalist Society Engage Volume 14, Issue 1 February 2013 | Town of Greece v. Galloway information page

The Economist: As puffed up as the sense of outrage is from the separationists, the overbaked pieties of parties defending the town’s monthly religious exercises are even more exaggerated. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” says David Cortman of the Alliance Defending Freedom. Nothing, Mr Cortman contends, should interfere with “this sacred practice” of public prayer. However the six Catholics and three Jews on the Supreme Court handle this case, we can rest assured that more sanctimony and unprincipled grasping at straws is on its way. (links to ADF Media site)

Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review (May 21): “No one confuses sessions of Congress with a church service.” You can say that again. Brett Harvey, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom makes this point to me in an interview for National Review Online, about the case of an upstate New York town’s desire to pray before town-council meetings. Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed to hear the town of Greece’s case after a Second Circuit Appeals Court ruling found that because the town has predominantly Christian clergy, it needs to import non-Christians to lead the town council in prayer so non-Christians do not “feel like outsiders.”

Amy Kotlarz at Catholic Globe (CNS): Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization founded in 1994 that advocates for the religious liberty of Americans and people around the world, contends that the town did not regulate the content of the prayers, permitted citizens of any religious tradition — or no tradition — to volunteer to say prayers, and did not discriminate in who was selected as “prayer-givers.” Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Town of Greece on a pro bono basis . . . “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” said a statement from David Cortman, the alliance’s senior counsel. “The Founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has ruled that public prayer is part of the ‘history and tradition of this country.’ America continues this cherished practice.”

Marci Hamilton at Justia.com: They have the Alliance Defense Fund representing them, and an amicus brief has been filed on their behalf by the Foundation for Moral Law. (That foundation is led by Judge Roy Moore, who belligerently violated the Establishment Clause by bringing his own two-ton granite rendition of a version of the Ten Commandments into the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court). Other amici include the Liberty Institute and the National Legal Foundation, which advertises itself as a “Christian public interest law firm”.  It is no secret that these groups are aggressively seeking to re-introduce prayer in public schools, a movement that includes many who insist that this is a “Christian country.”

Joe Infranco at NY Daily News: “To pray or not to pray?” That is the question the Supreme Court will answer after agreeing to hear a case pitting the Town of Greece in western New York against two of its residents. Fortunately, America’s religious heritage has already answered this question affirmatively. On Sept. 7, 1774, in Philadelphia, the Rev. Jacob Duché delivered the first prayer of the Continental Congress, before representatives from 13 states. He concluded with a brief invocation to “the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.”

The New American: But Joel Oster of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the town of Greece in the case, said that the appeals court ruling forces the city to become a prayer monitor in its meetings, and turns the reverent tradition of prayer into a government-supervised affirmative action program. “Since this nation’s founding, public meetings have been opened with prayers offered according to the conscience of the speaker,” noted Oster. “There is no legal reason why a town cannot engage in this practice today with people from within its own community. The district court rightly affirmed the constitutionality of the town’s policy.” He added that secular groups with a grudge against Christianity “cannot be allowed to force local governments to engage in strange hoops and hurdles that effectively eliminate prayers by making them too difficult to take place.”
Oster pointed out that the U.S. Constitution “has never required any local government to engage in such gymnastics to have prayer, as is clearly seen by the prayers of America’s Founding Fathers. Prayer-givers have a right protected by the First Amendment to engage in speech that reflects their own conscience and religion during such prayers. That does not make the prayers an endorsement by the town itself of any particular religion.” ADF attorney Brett Harvey told National Review . . . In taking the case to the Supreme Court, the ADF has been joined by attorney Thomas Hungar, whom Ken Klukowski of the Family Research Council called “one of the most accomplished Supreme Court litigators in the nation. [more]

NJ.com: The case — Greece, NY v. Galloway, Susan — could have a lasting affect on local board meetings across the country, including municipalities in South Jersey like West Deptford and Elk, where township committee meetings are regularly opened with the mayor and board leading residents in reciting the Lord’s Prayer, a prayer central to Christianity.

Seattle Times: The town is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based group that presses faith-based cases in courts nationwide. ADF senior counsel David Cortman said the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” Cortman said.

God Discussion: Last year an appeals court in Greece, New York ruled that prayers given by a Christian minister at government functions is unconstitutional. The Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom appealed and the high-court ruling, expected by June 2014, will resolve conflicting appeals-court rulings about religious expression.

Brett Harvey at Alliance Defending Freedom: Is the government obligated to control the way people pray in public? The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide this very question. You see, the Town of Greece, NY has been sued because, when they open their town council meetings, they refused to censor the prayers of citizens who volunteered to deliver the opening invocation.

The Baptist Standard: David Cortman, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the town, told the Post the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” he said. The Supreme Court case, Town of Greece vs. Galloway, will be argued this fall.

CNS on CatholicPhilly.com: “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” said a statement from David Cortman, the alliance’s senior counsel. “The Founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has ruled that public prayer is part of the ‘history and tradition of this country.’ America continues this cherished practice.”

Rick Garnett at Mirror of Justice: First, I think it would be a good thing if the possibility Eugene raises – i.e., that the Court might re-examine the so-called “endorsement test” — came to pass. I think the criticisms directed at that test in Steven Smith’s 1987 article had and have force. Next, even if the justices leave the “endorsement test” in place, I hope they do not follow the Second Circuit in importing that test into the legislative-prayer context.

Brett Harvey appeared on the Don Kroah Show to discuss Galloway v. Town of Greece. | MP3 audio 7:31 mins

David Cortman appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss Galloway v. Town of Greece.| MP3 audio 7:31 mins

Barry Lynn at Washington Post: At the behest of the Catholic bishops and their fundamentalist Christian allies, far-right legal groups have filed a slew of cases insisting that secular corporations and other employers have a right according to the principle of religious freedom to deny contraceptive coverage to the men and women who work for them. Among those waging this crusade are the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, TV evangelist Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice and the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization founded by radio and TV preachers.

KRQE (AP): The town is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based group that presses faith-based cases in courts nationwide. ADF senior counsel David Cortman said the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” Cortman said.

NC Register: “It is perfectly constitutional to allow community members to ask for God’s blessing according to their conscience,” Brett Harvey, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, told Catholic News Agency on May 21. “A Supreme Court ruling reaffirming this historic tradition and making clear that prayer-givers are permitted to pray consistent with the dictates of their own conscience would both uphold the original understanding of the Constitution and provide needed clarity to put an end to these attacks on our American heritage.”

Patheos: Furthermore, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian non-profit organization based in Arizona where I live, appealed this case to the Supreme Court in briefs with support from 49 members of Congress and 18 state attorneys general.

Christian News Network: “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” stated ADF senior counsel David Cortman. “The Founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has ruled that public prayer is part of the ‘history and tradition of this country.’ America continues this cherished practice.”

Brett Harvey appeared on radio to discuss the case. | A Closer Look with Sheila Liaugminas at Relevant Radio – MP3 audio 13:48 mins | The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio — MP3 audio 12:05 mins

FRC Washington Update: Given the long tradition of legislative prayer in America, there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the case. If our friends at ADF prevail, there’s a strong possibility that the Court will not only affirm public prayer but significantly strengthen the religious freedom rights of all Americans. In the meantime, I encourage you to pray–publicly!–that the Supreme Court sides with America’s First Freedom!

CBN: “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” Harvey said. “Because the authors of the Constitution invoked God’s blessing on public proceedings, this tradition shouldn’t suddenly be deemed unconstitutional.”

USA Today: The Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom appealed and the high-court ruling, expected by June 2014, will resolve conflicting appeals-court rulings about religious expression. Tuesday’s invocation was to have been given by Serah Blain, executive director of the Secular Coalition of Arizona. But Mendez said House staff had no record of his request to allow Blain’s remarks, so he offered the remarks himself.

CNA/EWTN on DFW Catholic: “The founders prayed while drafting our constitution’s Bill of Rights,” he said. “America continues this cherished practice, and a few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like.” Harvey said there have been 20 different federal lawsuits filed against local governments asking that they abandon their traditions of prayer. “A ruling against the Town of Greece would multiply the attacks on the historic practice of seeking divine guidance at public meetings and would suggest that the authors of the Bill of Rights were violating the Constitution, even as they were writing it,” he said.

Christian Examiner: “Americans certainly should have the same freedom as the Founders did,” Cortman told Baptist Press. “[Praying before government meetings] was a practice that was established over 200 years ago and certainly should be just as constitutional today.” The fact that most of the prayers offered were by Christians only reflected the town’s makeup, Cortman said. “The policy is open and neutral to anyone in the community,” Cortman said. “It’s merely a matter of the demographics of the community that make up the balance of prayers. What is a town to do? Engage in a religious Gerrymander and begin busing in people from all over the state and ask them, ‘What do you believe? What is your religion? How will you pray?’ That is the exact opposite of what the city should be doing. They should just open the forum and let the people in the community pray according to the dictates of their conscience. That’s what this town was doing.”
If the town begins monitoring the prayers and not allowing certain words, you have the “the local government controlling” the prayers — which itself would be unconstitutional, Cortman said.

Lyle Denniston at Constitution Daily: When the court agreed to hear the new prayer case from the city of Greece, New York, a community of about 100,000 people near Rochester, it stepped into a case in which a prayer practice at the opening of the town board meeting was struck down by a lower court using the endorsement theory. And, by granting review of that specific decision, the justices may well have been telegraphing a desire to second-guess the endorsement theory when prayers are recited at the outset of a public meeting of a government agency, with adults making up most of the audience.

Christian Post: “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” Brett Harvey, a senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said, according to USA Today. “Because the authors of the Constitution invoked God’s blessing on public proceedings, this tradition shouldn’t suddenly be deemed unconstitutional.”

Florida Today: Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based Christian nonprofit group, appealed the case to the Supreme Court. It is supported in separate briefs by 49 mostly Republican members of Congress and 18 state attorneys general.

Robert Barnes at the Washington Post: The religious legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom represented the town of Greece — a community of about 100,000 residents near Rochester — in challenging the appeals court decision. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” senior counsel David Cortman said in a statement. “The Founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has ruled that public prayer is part of the ‘history and tradition of this country.’ ”

Business Insider: Thomas Hungar, representing Greece’s city hall with support from Alliance Defending Freedom, a social conservative group, said “legislative prayer” is deeply rooted in American history. “We hope the court will reaffirm the settled understanding that such prayers, offered without improper motive and in accordance with the conscience of the prayer-giver, are constitutional,” the lawyer said.

Stephen Prothero at CNN: That is unlikely to happen, since there is, as Alliance Defending Freedom has argued, an “unambiguous and unbroken history” of prayer in government bodies in the United States. But there is an equally long history of ensuring that these prayers are, as Americans United has observed, “inclusive and non-sectarian.” And those in Greece were neither.

Associated Baptist Press: David Cortman, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the town, told the Post the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” he said.

Salon: As reported by USA Today: . . . David Cortman, a lawyer for the town, said in a statement that prayer at council meetings is consistent with a longstanding tradition of prayer at government functions: “Americans today should be as free as the founders were to pray,” he said. “The founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights.”

JD Journal: The non-Christian town residents will be presented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, while the town will be represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, whose senior counsel, David Cortman, claims the framers of the Constitution prayed during the drafting of the Bill of Rights, and, as the Washington Post reports, “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray.”

Democrat and Chronicle: Alliance Defending Freedom, the national religious defense group representing Greece pro bono, said the court “affirmed America’s long-standing practice of opening public meetings with prayer in 1983 and now has the opportunity to do so again.” It is supported in separate briefs by 49 mostly Republican members of Congress and 18 state attorneys general . . . “The practice of legislative prayer is firmly embedded in the history and traditions of this nation,” said Thomas Hungar of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the attorney who filed the challenge. “We hope the court will reaffirm the settled understanding that such prayers, offered without improper motive and in accordance with the conscience of the prayer-giver, are constitutional.”

GOP USA: Recent legal attacks by people offended by such prayers have created significant confusion in the lower courts. “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” said Brett Harvey, a senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom.

Religion News Service at Washington Post: Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based Christian nonprofit group, appealed the case to the Supreme Court. It is supported in separate briefs by 49 mostly Republican members of Congress and 18 state attorneys general.“A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” said the ADF’s senior counsel, Brett Harvey.

Christianity Today: The Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the town in the case, says a previous, 30-year-old ruling still stands, settling the matter.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: ADF then asked Thomas Hungar of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, one of the most accomplished Supreme Court litigators in the nation—to become lead counsel on the case and join with ADF in asking the Supreme Court for review by filing a petition for certiorari. Today the Supreme Court granted that petition. ADF’s David Cortman says: Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray. The Founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and the Supreme Court has ruled that public prayer is part of the “history and tradition of this country.” American continues this cherished practice.

Adam Liptak at NY Times: In 1983, in Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court upheld the Nebraska Legislature’s practice of opening its legislative sessions with an invocation from a paid Presbyterian minister, saying that such ceremonies were “deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country.” David Cortman, a lawyer for the town, said its practices were consistent with that tradition. “Americans today should be as free as the founders were to pray,” he said in a statement. “The founders prayed while drafting our Constitution’s Bill of Rights.”

AP: Reacting to the court action Monday, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said, “A town council meeting isn’t a church service, and it shouldn’t seem like one.” The town is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based group that presses faith-based cases in courts nationwide. ADF senior counsel David Cortman said the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights. “Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” Cortman said.

AP: The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a new case on the intersection of religion and government in a dispute over prayers used to open public meetings.

Americans United for Sep. of Church and State: Supreme Court Should Rule Against Sectarian Prayers Before Town Board Meetings, Says Americans United

U Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan, who directed the litigation for Americans United and will argue the Town of Greece v. Galloway case before the Supreme Court, said the justices should uphold the lower court’s ruling. “Legislative bodies should focus on serving the community and stay out of the business of promoting religion,” Khan said.

Reuters: The Alliance for Defending Freedom, a group that describes itself as an advocate for the rights of people to express their faith, is spearheading the town’s legal fight. The group’s lawyers point out that the town has never regulated the content of prayers and did not discriminate in selecting prayer-givers. “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” Brett Harvey, one of the town’s lawyers, said in a statement. Galloway and Stephens have the support of another advocacy group, Americans United For Separation of Church and State.

Headline and Global News: Brett Harvey, senior consul for Alliance Defending Freedom, an advocacy group whose aim is “transforming the legal system and advocating for religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage and family,” according to their website, argues that a few offended people shouldn’t be able to bring down a longstanding tradition. “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because the heard something they didn’t like,” Harvey said. “Because the authors of the Constitution invoked God’s blessing on public proceedings, this tradition shouldn’t suddenly be deemed unconstitutional.”

USA Today: “A few people should not be able to extinguish the traditions of our nation merely because they heard something they didn’t like,” said Brett Harvey, a senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. “Because the authors of the Constitution invoked God’s blessing on public proceedings, this tradition shouldn’t suddenly be deemed unconstitutional.” Thomas Hungar of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the attorney who filed the challenge, said, “The practice of legislative prayer is firmly embedded in the history and traditions of this nation. We hope the court will reaffirm the settled understanding that such prayers, offered without improper motive and in accordance with the conscience of the prayer-giver, are constitutional.”

Barry Lynn of AU at Washington Post: Every year, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Religious Right legal group founded by radio and TV preachers, hosts “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” During this euphemistically named and highly choreographed event, a handful of misguided pastors openly break the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. Some send their sermons to the IRS and occasionally even send me a copy so I can forward them to the IRS. These churches didn’t just go up to the line, they leaped right over it.

Bangor Daily News: South Bristol Elementary School eighth-graders will launch their handmade skiffs next month without the traditional “blessing of the fleet” after a letter from Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State informed the school that student involvement with the historic maritime ceremony violated the First Amendment.

Barry Lynn at the Huffington Post: But some houses of worship do it anyway. They openly violate the law and even brag about it. One Religious Right outfit, the Alliance Defending Freedom, even sets aside a Sunday each year to encourage political chicanery. This is not a secret. Americans United has been pressing the IRS to put a stop to this for years. The agency continues to drag its feet.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has posted the letters here.

ActionNewsJax.com: A retired minister is outraged after a local county board added “In God We Trust” to its seal.

Christian Post: The state of Pennsylvania will be observing a “National Fast Day” in accordance with a resolution passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year.

Foley and Lardner at Mondaq: The case has generated a lot of interest from groups concerned with religious liberty issues; both parties are represented by lawyers from non-profit organizations committed to different views on religious freedom and expression: The District by the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the plaintiffs by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Several entities have also filed amicus curiae briefs in support of the District’s petition: Alliance Defending Freedom, the state of Texas, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a series of education associations, led by the Association of School Administrators.

Robert P. George at Washington Times: This Friday, the Supreme Court will consider whether to hear an important case on the constitutionality of holding a high school graduation in a church auditorium. The case is Elmbrook School District v. Doe, and the court has been considering it for almost five weeks an unusual length of time indicating that the case has caught the court’s attention. The court’s decision will have sweeping implications for school districts and local governments across the country.

Press Enterprise: Last summer, Americans United for Separation of Church and State wrote to the city asserting that the Mount Rubidoux cross violates the First Amendment. With much of the case law going against religious displays on public land, the City Council voted to auction the top of the mountain where the cross sits. The sale was last week.

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: This week’s deadline for filing your 2012 U.S. income taxes is a good reminder that many organizations you care about depend on Alliance Defending Freedom to defend their tax credits and tax-exempt status. Just this month, we’ve intervened in two cases to protect your religious freedom from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, who once again are proving that their idea of liberty does not include parents deciding where their children are educated.

Lexology: The case has generated a lot of interest from groups concerned with religious liberty issues; both parties are represented by lawyers from non-profit organizations committed to different views on religious freedom and expression: The District by the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the plaintiffs by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Several entities have also filed amicus curiae briefs in support of the District’s petition: Alliance Defending Freedom, the state of Texas, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a series of education associations, led by the Association of School Administrators.

lliance Defending Freedom, Cornerstone Policy Research, and Liberty Institute have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with a New Hampshire court in defense of the state’s tax credit program for businesses that wish to help students attending private schools.

CNN: Todd Stiefel is far from a household name, and the odds he gets recognized on a street corner, even in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, are small . . . “What I am trying to accomplish is multifold, he told CNN. “I consider myself working on the next civil equality movement, just like women’s rights, LGBT rights and African-American Civil Rights. We are still in the early stages of eliminating discrimination against atheists and humanists. That is something I really want to accomplish.”

The Stokes News: Americans United for Separation of Church and State has sent the Stokes County Board of Education attorney another letter regarding the school system’s inclusion of prayer at board meetings and graduations.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: Louisiana’s school voucher law should be struck down because it subsidizes religion with public funds and lacks accountability standards, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told the state supreme court. Americans United filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case Louisiana Federation of Teachers v. State of Louisiana.

The Stokes News: Legal counsel with Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to the Stokes County Board of Education, superintendent and West Stokes High School principal in mid-February, stating, “We have received complaints about three practices of Stokes County Schools that unlawfully promote religion and coerce religious exercise.”

Americans United for Separaiton of Church and State: By reciting a Christian prayer to open its meetings, the Brentwood, Md., Town Council has aligned itself with a single religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told a federal court. In a lawsuit filed today on behalf of two residents of the community, Americans United said the council’s practice of beginning its sessions with the Lord’s Prayer transgresses the First Amendment.

Baptist Joint Committee: I posted last month about the controversial FEMA rule denying aid to damaged churches and synagogues out of church-state separation concerns, despite other non-profit organizations receiving funds for storm damage following Hurricane Sandy.

Concord Monitor: Supporters of New Hampshire’s new education tax credit program got a big boost yesterday when a key senator came out against a repeal bill being considered by the Democratic-controlled House, signaling the legislation could face a deadlock in the Senate.

Kansas City Star: The Kansas House is considering a bill that would allow the display of religious symbols on public lands, if the symbols are considered part of a community’s history or heritage.

Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement: On January 8, 2013, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU,Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and theNew Hampshire Civil Liberties Union launched an assault on educational freedom in New Hampshire.

Doug Napier at Townhall: In 2010, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State pressured the Bulverde, Texas’ City Council to change their policies regarding prayers to open public meetings. Subsequently, the city council changed its policies to more clearly welcome invocations from all faiths.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: In a friend-of-the-court brief, Americans United urged the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate, which requires most businesses to provide workers with a health insurance that includes no-cost birth control.

Jordan Lorence at National Review: Call the ACLU and Barry Lynn right now! Some religious fanatic is urging Congress to enact laws imposing his narrow biblical morality on the rest of us. Doesn’t he know we have an Establishment Clause protecting us from such crassfundamentalism? This Taliban-like pastor, probably poised to use tactics vaguely reminiscent of the Inquisition, is the Reverend Gary Hall, the dean of the Washington National Cathedral, and a leader in the Episcopal Church.