ACLU sues city over Jesus painting

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070703/...Zj84P7KqdH2ocA

ACLU sues city over Jesus painting


By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 3, 7:38 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union sued the city of Slidell on Tuesday for displaying a painting of Jesus in a courthouse lobby, saying it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.




The ACLU sued after the Slidell City Court refused to voluntarily remove the picture and a message below it that reads: "To Know Peace, Obey These Laws." The ACLU says the portrait — an image of Jesus presenting the New Testament — is a religious icon of the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.


"We did not file this lawsuit because the ACLU is anti-religion ... We did file this lawsuit because we believe this display is clearly in violation of the law," said Vincent Booth, president and acting executive director of the Louisiana ACLU chapter.



The suit was filed on behalf of an unidentified person who complained to the ACLU about the picture. Named as defendants were the city of Slidell, St. Tammany Parish and City Judge James Lamz. St. Tammany Parish is being sued because it partially funds the court, the ACLU said.


On Saturday, Lamz said the picture would stay up unless a federal judge ordered it removed. He said he didn't believe the portrait violates the Constitution, but the issue should be decided in federal court.


Lamz could not comment Tuesday because of the pending litigation, his office said.


Before refusing to take the painting down, Lamz consulted Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School who has argued before the Supreme Court.


Laycock said he told Lamz that the legal issues in the case aren't clear-cut and could set legal precedent.


"I don't know how far the two sides will want to push things," Laycock added.


The painting has been on display at the courthouse for nearly a decade and hadn't provoked any complaints prior to the ACLU's recent objections, said Michael Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group representing the city and parish.


Johnson, whose group is often at odds with the ACLU, said the painting sends an inclusive message of equal justice under the law. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that similar displays in public forums are constitutional.

I say let's push it to the limit. And let's get the 10 commandments added right in the same area after the win.

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AP Photo: A painting of Jesus hanging in Slidell City Court house lobby violates a constitutionally mandated...

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http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/n....aspx?cid=4169

ADF attorneys will defend city of Slidell against ACLU attack on painting in rural La. courthouse

Tuesday, July 03, 2007, 11:16 AM (MST) |
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

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Comments

SLIDELL, La. — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have agreed to represent the city of Slidell and the parish of St. Tammany against the latest ACLU attack in Louisiana. In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the ACLU seeks the removal of a courthouse lobby painting containing messages regarding equality and justice under the law because the painting is believed to depict an image of Jesus Christ.

“The First Amendment allows public officials, and not the ACLU, to decide what is appropriate for acknowledging our nation’s religious history and heritage. The painting clearly delivers an inclusive message of equal justice under the law,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike Johnson. “It is mind-boggling that the ACLU would oppose such a widely cherished idea simply because it is offended by the image in the painting.”

“The ideas expressed in this painting aren’t specific to any one faith, and they certainly don’t establish a single state religion,” Johnson explained. “The reason Americans enjoy equal justice is because we are all ‘created equal, endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights.’ This painting is a clear reflection of the ideas in the Declaration of Independence.”

In a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist confirmed, “Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the Establishment Clause…. Examples of monuments and buildings reflecting the prominent role of religion abound. For example, the Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln memorials all contain explicit invocations of God’s importance. The apex of the Washington Monument is inscribed ‘Laus Deo,’ which is translated to mean ‘Praise be to God,’ and multiple memorial stones in the monument contain Biblical citations.”

“Using the same arguments it brings to Slidell, will the ACLU advocate sandblasting the walls and halls of our nation’s capitol, including the chambers of the Supreme Court?” Johnson asked.

Recently, in another ADF-defended case, the ACLU had called for school board members in Tangipahoa Parish to be jailed for failing to prevent a student from praying at a school event and soon after compared those school board members to the 9/11 hijackers. Following Hurricane Katrina, the ACLU threatened to file suit to block a privately funded memorial on private ground because it included a cross.

ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

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Hmmm...just as I suspected. Once there is definite confirmation, I'll be merging this thread with the dhimmi-busting thread...

http://www.thesttammanynews.com/articles/2007/06/22/news/news11.txt

ACLU tells Slidell Court to take down picture of Jesus

By Erik Sanzenbach

The ACLU is demanding that the Slidell City Court remove this picture of Jesus hanging in the court's lobby. The ACLU says it has received several complaints about the picture and that it violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

St. Tammany News

The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has told the Slidell City Court to remove a picture of Jesus Christ hanging in the court's lobby by June 27 or face legal action.

Slidell City Court Judge James Lamz received a letter Wednesday from the ACLU stating that the picture is a "clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."

The picture, which hangs on the wall over the Clerk of Court's desk, also has the words, "To Know Peace, Obey These Laws," written underneath it. That slogan, said the ACLU, "clearly conveys an instruction to obey the laws of Jesus Christ."

ACLU staff attorney Katie Schwartzmann, who wrote the letter, said her office has received "several" complaints about the picture from persons of different faiths.

"Some people feel that the display cheapens their own religion," Schwartzmann said. She added that the complaints are not from people who don't believe in religion. "Making a complaint doesn't mean the person is not religious; they just see it as offending their own religion."




Judge Lamz responded with a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

"I was shocked and disappointed to receive the letter. To my knowledge, no one has made a complaint. I'm disappointed the ACLU released their letter to the press either before or simultaneously to us - which indicates they are not interested so much in resolution, but in confrontation and publicity," Lamz said in the statement.

Slidell City Court spokesperson Ann Barks disputes the ACLU claim of complaints about the picture.

"I was shocked. The picture has been up there for seven years, and we have never gotten any complaints on it," Barks said.

Court Marshal Wyatt Williams was more blunt in his reaction.

"The ACLU is lying. No one has ever complained to me about it," Williams said. He does remember that an intern commented on the picture to him several years ago, but it was not in a negative light.
Schwartzmann said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that governments like the city of Slidell cannot put up displays that advance a certain religion. She said there are two parts to the First Amendment. First, a government cannot establish a religion, and, secondly, a government cannot promote a religion.

"The amendment mandates neutrality when it comes to government and religion," Schwartzmann said. "And this display promotes Christianity."

She said that putting up displays of other religions in the lobby would not resolve the legal issue. She said the Supreme Court has ruled that putting up other displays is not legal either.

"People would know why the other displays are there, and it would still look like a government is promoting religion," Schwartzmann said.

Barks said that the picture is small and does not dominate the lobby. She feels the ACLU is tilting at windmills.

"We are still rebuilding the court building after Katrina, and this is what the ACLU finds important?" Barks said.

Schwartzmann partially agreed with Barks.

"We don't want to take them to court," Schwartzmann said. "The ACLU has a full plate right now. We just want them to do the right thing."
As for Lamz' claim that the ACLU is seeking publicity and confrontation, Schwartzmann said she sent the letter to the press after she sent it to the Slidell City Court, Mayor Ben Morris and the Slidell City Council.

"If we were looking for confrontation, we would have just sued them," Schwartzmann said. "But we hope that public pressure will make the city do the right thing, If they don't, we will litigate the matter."

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http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisi...list=louisiana

exerpt:

Mayor Ben Morris said he was ready to fight. "I fight daily with FEMA for the recovery of our city, and now we must fight with these tyrants, this American Taliban who seek to destroy our culture and our heritage," he said.


Lamz has said that a Russian priest translated the quotations as John 7:24 — an injunction to judge rightly, and not by appearance — and Matthew 7:2, which cautions that people will be judged as they judge others.


There is no legal precedent for whether such a display is unconstitutional, so it stays, Lamz said.
He has said the ACLU blindsided the city and court, notifying reporters even before he got the ACLU's letter.