First, my thanks to occasional UD commenter and blogger Larry Fafarman for bringing this to my attention.
This bill, introduced in the U.S. House with 50 cosponsers, seeks to bar awarding attorney’s fees in lawsuits involving the 1st amendment establishment clause and limit the awards to injunctive relief. The multi-million dollar attorney fees collected by the ACLU have had a chilling effect on the religious freedom clause of the 1st amendment. Because of this public officials no longer ask “is this the right thing to do?” but rather “can we afford to lose a legal battle with a vast hoard of ACLU attorneys?”. Financial intimidation like this is just plain un-American and wrong.
Contact your representatives in the U.S. House and Senate and tell them you support this bill. It’s easy to do. For the House go here and start by entering your zip code. You’ll eventually be led to a form you can fill out that’s delievered to your representative. For the Senate go here and do the same thing starting with the “find your senators” button in the upper right corner. It’s more important to contact your House Representative right now but it won’t hurt to let your Senator know ahead of time should the bill make it out of the House.
Be sure to mention the bill as Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005, H.R. 2679