An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Federal Judge Violates 1st Amendment?
ACLU given ‘veto power’ over free-speech rights
Christian groups are appealing a federal judge’s ruling that bars the Gideons from distributing Bibles to students of the South Iron Missouri School District.
The South Iron School District allows off-campus organizations to distribute literature to students before and after school, and during other non-instructional times such as lunch breaks. But the American Civil Liberties Union sued, saying the Gideons should not be allowed to hand out Bibles because of their religious nature. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry agreed.
“In fact, the federal judge said…the ACLU must be able to have the say-so over whether religious literature can be distributed — and obviously, if the ACLU has that say-so, no religious literature will ever be distributed,” says Matt Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel.
Am I reading this right? A federal judge, who is suppose to uphold the Constitution of the United States is giving a communist organization the right to say who gets what, when?
But Staver points out that the First Amendment prohibits any “heckler” from having the right to prohibit free speech. “…The ACLU may not like the fact that equal access also means equal treatment for religious speech, but, frankly, the Constitution requires equal treatment,” states the attorney. “…Hecklers may heckle all they want to, but they may not veto private religious speech.”
Staver is asking the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Judge Perry. He says that, to his knowledge, no other U.S. court has ever ruled that a private, third party should be given veto power over private religious speech.
If this is allowed to stand, you can be damn sure it won’t be the last time you see YOUR freedom of speech squashed by the lunatics at the ACLU. I’m even having a hard time coming up with words strong enough to express my extreme disgust that a judge would even consider such a ruling.
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[...] tip to Kate who sums this up: If this is allowed to stand, you can be damn sure it won’t be the last time you see YOUR freedom [...]
Three words to describe my feelings on this and all the other situations like it…”Locked and Loaded!”
@Trail-Mix:
It looks like it’s coming to that, in the not very distant future. We already see people just standing there with their thumbs up their butts while courts make a mockery of our Constitution.
Stop the ACLU Blogburst - Court Gives “Say So” Over Literature to ACLU - July 8, 2008
“In fact, the federal judge said…the ACLU must be able to have the say-so over whether religious literature can be distributed
Kate, when the judge says the ACLU “must be” able, is she 1) pondering or is she saying, 2) they darn well do have the say-so? Hmmmmm, yep, it’s number 2, all right - in so many ways.
Maggie
Maggie’s Notebook
@Maggie Thornton:
Ya ever feel like spoon feeding the Constitution to some of these jackasses? With a pitchfork?