Church & State articles from January 2003

Church & State archives from January 2003

Education law could lead to vouchers, critics say. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Bush administration's education package, "The No Child Left Behind Act," is designed to ensure that public schools fail and may become a vehicle for vouchers, critics have asserted. The U.S. Education Department issued final regulations...

Ohio town halts public school Bible distribution. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Education officials in Rushville, Ohio, have agreed to stop allowing the Gideons to distribute Bibles to fifth graders, after receiving a complaint from a parent. Rushville Middle School Principal Gene Scott said the practice had been...

Federally funded property must evict church, city says. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A St. Petersburg, Fla., landlord who used federal funds to renovate his property must evict a church from the facility, city officials have decided. The property's owner, Raleigh Yates, inherited the building from his brother, Joe. Joe...

Evolution foes removed from Nebraska education board. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Two members of the Nebraska State Board of Education who voted to water down the state's science standards and open the door to the teaching of creationism were voted off the board in November. Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City and Kathryn Piller...

Faith-based Fiat: unable to win approval in Congress, Bush forges ahead on controversial religion initiative through executive action.
January 1, 2003... The speaker on the podium delivered a passionate call to religious action, and the congregation responded with shouts of "amen," "oh, yes" and "preach on, brother!" "There are people who face the struggles of illness and old age with no...

Religious right, politics have undue influence at White House, ex-faith Czar DiIulio charges. (Reign Of The Mayberry Machiavellis).
January 1, 2003... John DiIulio has never been the shy and retiring type. In his seven-month tenure as head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the talkative University of Pennsylvania professor sometimes got into trouble for...

Legacy of freedom: Jefferson, Madison and the nation's founders left us church-state separation. Can we keep it? (Special Book Excerpt).
January 1, 2003... Thomas Jefferson excelled as a political leader and architect of religious liberty, but he was a lousy prophet. Jefferson once predicted that Unitarianism would become the dominant religion in the United States. He also believed the country...

The dream lives on: Americans United's first executive director Glenn Archer died in November, but the organization he built is still fighting for freedom.
January 1, 2003... As a young man growing up in rural western Kansas, Glenn L. Archer yearned to be a great orator. Archer lacked an audience but had an ample imagination. To hone his skills, he would stand on a stump on the banks of the Solomon River and declaim...

Faith-based Folly: Bush, bigotry and our tax dollars. (Editorial).
January 1, 2003... Late in 2001, a man named Alan Yorker applied for a job at the United Methodist Children's Home in Decatur, Ga., a facility that provides services for youngsters in foster care. The home receives 40 percent of its budget from Georgia taxpayers....

Ala. `Ten Commandments' Judge files notice of appeal in AU lawsuit. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has announced that he will appeal a federal court ruling ordering him to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the State Judicial Building in Montgomery. Moore's attorneys filed a formal...

Americans United attorneys have written to government officials. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Americans United attorneys have written to government officials in Crestview, Fla., warning them not to follow through with a plan to post the Ten Commandments on city property. City residents in November approved a non-binding referendum...

The National Park Service is resisting. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The National Park Service is resisting a federal court ruling ordering the removal of a five-foot cross in a remote area of the Mojave Desert in southern California. There has been a cross atop Sunrise Rock for about 70 years. Over the...

The New Hanover, N.C., Board of Education has voted down. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The New Hanover, N.C., Board of Education has voted down a proposal to post the Ten Commandments in schools, thanks in part to efforts from an AU activist in the area. Buddy Owens, who represents Americans United in eastern North Carolina,...

Battle over vouchers expected to come early in new Congress. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A fierce battle over voucher aid to religious schools is expected to erupt in Washington when Congress reconvenes this month. Republicans, who now hold a majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate, have already added...

Pro-voucher and Religious Right legal groups. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Pro-voucher and Religious Right legal groups are in the courts trying to force states to set up voucher plans. In Maine, attorneys with TV preacher Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice have filed a federal lawsuit, asserting...

A legislative battle over vouchers is expected this year in Louisiana. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A legislative battle over vouchers is expected this year in Louisiana. The state has a long tradition of diverting tax money to religious and other private schools. In addition, the Catholic Church is well organized politically and often...

Americans United, allies oppose `faith-based' funding in Wisconsin case. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Americans United and two national Jewish groups are asking a federal appeals court to strike down a Wisconsin program that funds a "faith-based" substance abuse and employment training program. The controversy centers on Faith Works...

Georgia Gov. seeks input from State Christian Coalition. (People & Events).
January 1, 2003... Georgia's new governor, Sonny Perdue, is eagerly soliciting input from the state branch of the Christian Coalition as Republicans prepare to take the reins of state government for the first time since Reconstruction. Perdue's win was...

Americans United, ACLU oppose council prayers in Virginia Country. (People & Events).(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
January 1, 2003... Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia filed a lawsuit in federal court Dec. 6 against the Chesterfield County, Va., Board of Supervisors for maintaning a discriminatory policy on...

A Utah atheist who wants to read an unconventional prayer. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A Utah atheist who wants to read an unconventional prayer before the Murray City Council is getting his day before the state supreme court. Tom Snyder filed legal action against Murray officials in 1994 after they refused to let him read a...

Members of the Elgin, Ill., City Council. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Members of the Elgin, Ill., City Council have resumed opening their meetings with prayers. Invocations had been discontinued not because of separation of church and state but because the council could not find enough volunteers to lead them....

Menorah can be displayed at government plaza in Cincinnati, High Court says. (People & Events).
January 1, 2003... A downtown plaza in Cincinnati is a public forum for free speech and government officials may not bar the display of religious symbols by private groups them, a Supreme Court justice ruled in December. Acting on a request for an emergency...

Ruling on `standing' means `under god' lawsuit will continue. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A California atheist whose lawsuit sparked a controversial appeals court ruling striking down the use of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance has won the right to continue the case. Michael Newdow challenged the use of the...

Hair-raising case: Judge approves long locks at Catholic school. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A Catholic school sophomore in Providence, R.I., has won a legal ruling giving him the fight to wear a foot-long ponytail despite a school policy banning long hair. Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Fortunato Jr. ruled that St....

Florida AU chapter fights eviction from public library. (People & Events).(Americans United )
January 1, 2003... Members of an Americans United chapter in Florida found themselves without a place to meet after city officials in Tarpon Springs evicted them from the public library, claiming that organizations that discuss political or religious topics may...

La. School board rejects anti-evolution textbook disclaimer. (People & Events).
January 1, 2003... Louisiana's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has voted 7-3 to reject a proposal to add anti-evolution disclaimers to biology textbooks used in public schools. A board committee had earlier approved use of the disclaimer, which...

Pennsylvania lawmakers pass religious freedom bill. (AU Bulletin).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Pennsylvania is on the verge of becoming the latest state to pass a "religious freedom" bill that supporters insist is necessary but critics call overly broad and dangerous. The Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives approved the...

Utah City votes to move Ten Commandments monument. (AU Bulletin).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Members of the Ogden, Utah, City Council have voted to move a Ten Commandments monument from the city hall lawn rather than continue a court battle. Last fall the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city must either remove...

ACLU plans appeal of Neb. graduation prayer case. (AU Bulletin).(American Civil Liberties Union )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska plans to appeal a federal court ruling dismissing a challenge to prayer during a public school graduation ceremony in Norfolk, Neb. Acting on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff, the ACLU sued the...

Russia plans to teach Orthodox `culture' in public schools. (Around the World).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A plan by Russian education officials to teach Orthodox "culture" in public schools has sparked controversy over fears that it will become a form of government-sponsored religious instruction. Russian Education Minister Vladimir Filippov...

When playing pool at the white house, hang on to your wallet. (Perspective).
January 1, 2003... Have you ever been "snookered"? I really don't know the derivation of this term--I think it may have something to do with billiards--but my mother, who didn't hang out in pool halls, used it to describe the condition of being misled by a...