(Via Indiana Law Blog) The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case of Hinrichs v. Bosma (in his official capacity as Speaker of the House of Representatives) on Thursday, September 7 at 10:30 a.m. in Chicago. The appellate materials are available here, including briefs from the parties and amici briefs from the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, Advance America, the Indiana Family Institute, and the “Liberty” Counsel. The issue, as readers might recall, is whether the Speaker of the House of Representatives can exercise his authority over access to the Speaker’s podium during session to allow sectarian prayer, such as a revival-style singing and clapping rendition of “Just a little walk with Jesus” as official business of the Indiana House of Representatives. The District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled that the government’s ability to engage in such public speech was limited and that the Constitution’s limitation on the government prohibited this activity. Speaker Bosma has appealed the decision.
According to a story in the Indianapolis Star by Mary Beth Schneider, the appeal is currently being paid for by taxpayers, but Speaker Bosma is appealing to “the public” to defray expenses in excess of $67,000 paid to a Washington, D.C. law firm. Taking Down Words suggests that this issue will play into the GOP “WedgeWhack” strategy wherein Republican strategists seek to distract voters from bread-and-butter issues with emotionally charged wedge issues.
honestly, who doesn’t think it’s a big publicity stunt? it’s all about distracting the public from the fact that the BMV is even MORE broken than usual (if that was possible), the big influx of high-dollar jobs didn’t happen magically as a result of implementation of daylight savings time, and the nuts are running the asylum.
Too many people criticize religious issues from a non-religious perspective and theyre easily characterized by well-meaning people who believe the country is lacking values.Prayer is serious stuff and its a tool to control the culture.Whoever leads off the agenda with a prayer of his own choosing will be speaking ‘as an advocate of american values with God on his side’. Its not a stunt.This is serious and well-planned. Many many people buy into this.Americans are well-meaning and generally believe in God and belief is easily exploited.This is systematic bigtime thought control.We now teach religion better than we teach the Sciences and better than we explain Constitutional Law.
If you want an interesting take on all this, research the phrase ‘separation of church and state’. It has a long and colorful history, as a quick Google will show.
Interesting combination of thoughtful commentary on both sides, along with the whine of axes being ground.