Our Broken Courts
My Sister sent along this ridiculous (but, alas, true) item from Indiana (yes, Indiana!):
In November, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton banned prayers during Indiana House proceedings from mentioning Jesus Christ or endorsing any particular religion.
Fortunately, Representative Mike Sodrel (R-Ind) comes out swinging:
U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., wants to take away federal judges’ power to rule on the content of prayer in state legislatures.
A bill introduced by Sodrel in the U.S. House would prevent what happened in Indiana last year from happening in other states. . . .
“This would restrict the court’s ability to review decisions like this with regard to free speech,” said Cam Savage, a spokesman for Sodrel, who could not be reached Monday.
“Basically we think you ought to be able to say whatever you want and state legislators and their guests should be entitled to the same free speech rights as everybody else.”
Makes perfect sense, right?
Here is the ACLU “argument”:
“Sometimes courts make decisions that politically we don’t like, but that’s part of the American system,” Falk said. “The response should not be to strip the courts of their responsibility of deciding what is constitutional.”
Read: Anyone who disagrees with the all-knowing and all-enlightened ACLU is just, well, stupid.
Well, no. This vacuous statement from the ACLU is simply stupid.
Sometimes courts make decisions that are Constitutionally illiterate, and this is certainly one of them.
Somehow this:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . .
has become “separation of church and state.”
If I’m a legislator and I pray to Jesus, I’m establishing a state religion?
Now we know why lawyer jokes are so easy.