Publius' Forum

-By Warner Todd Huston

Finally, someone trying to put a curb on the widespread abuses of the law the ACLU is responsible for...

Sen. Brownback: ACLU -- Not Taxpayers -- Should Foot the Bill for Church-State Lawsuits Proposed Legislation Would Halt Lucrative Legal Attacks on Religious Freedom

The Public Expressions of Religion Act (PERA) (S. 3696) was the topic of discussion at hearings on Wednesday (August 2) before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights. The U.S. House is considering similar legislation (H.R. 2679) that is sponsored by Indiana Congressman John Hostettler. Brownback has made it clear in recent weeks that if groups like the ACLU want to sue city after city for displays of religious images, it should be on their own dime -- not at taxpayers' expense.

Senator Sam Brownback is trying to get a bill passed that would help cut down on these expensive, nuisance lawsuits that the communist ACLU is always annoying Americans with day in and day out.

Some U.S. senators this week have heard testimony from both sides on a piece of legislation that would strip legal fees from church-state lawsuits. Such legal victories, often described as "Establishment Clause" cases, have provided the American Civil Liberties Union with millions of dollars in profits as it pursues numerous cases challenging public displays of religious belief in America.

Currently, it is a LAW that the ACLU can get the US government to pay for their lawyer's fees should they bring a court case that attempts to destroy religion in schools or government.

You heard that right, the US government -- that's you and ME, folks -- actually doles out money to the ACLU while they attempt to tear down our culture with their un-American, nuisance lawsuits!

Brownback points to the costs of such suits and says that the high price tag explains why so many cities and States just buckle to the ACLU's mere mention of bringing a lawsuit. It is proof of how out of control the ACLU's jihad against religion has gotten.

At yesterday's hearing, Brownback said attorneys fees should not be awarded to plaintiffs who file lawsuits alleging violation of separation of church and state. "Many jurisdictions simply acquiesce to the demands of the ACLU and prohibit all displays of religious faith in order to avoid the potential expense of litigation," the senator said. "Legal fees is the threat that the ACLU uses."

I hope maore and more people come to realize that the ACLU is NOT fighting for anyone's "rights" with their many and repeated attacks on religion in the USA. They couldn't care LESS about the Constitution and law. It's ALL about the money!

(Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council) calls the lucrative legal fees being won in lawsuits targeted expressions of religion a "perverse" incentive. PERA, he says, is needed to repeal a section of the Civil Rights Attorney Fees Act that gives groups like the ACLU "a financial incentive" to attack all public expressions of religion. "This perverse incentive also pressures embattled state and local authorities to capitulate rather than be forced into lengthy, costly litigation," says the FRC leader.

We'd soon see most of these anti-American lawsuits dropped if the ACLU had to pay their own lawyer's fees, I'll guarantee. Their free government cash would suddenly be cut off and all the efforts of tearing down our culture would suddenly seem far less interesting to them.

Call you representatives and urge them to support Brownback's efforts!