Schools' legal fees top $450,000 in prayer suit pnj.com Pensacola News Journal
You would think the schools would figure it out after a while: neither schools nor their employees may advocate religion. It is a simple concept. It is part of our Constitution. Any history major knows this is not even a gray area. Schools may not give faith a Most Favored Status. Period.
Evidently some Godslingers in one Florida school system are having to pay a price to learn that lesson all over again.
The school system settled the case back in March 2009, agreeing that prayer & religious activities would no longer be promoted as an official act by a school or school employee. Then some employee got the bright idea that the law didn't apply & that one is back in court.
In the mean time, the ACLU has attorney fees of $250,000 the school will have to pay. Ouch.
The school's insurance policy will cover part of the cost but the system will have to fork over the rest --- not to mention the other legal fees still pending.
The reason this is done is simple: the gov't has unlimited resources. The typical tax payer doesn't. The gov't needs a financial incentive to make sure it doesn't violate civil liberties, lest the gov't just outspend the very people who bring the suit after having their rights violated. If a person can't afford the fight, the school/gov't has no reason not to violate liberties if it wants. But the system is set up so that if it is found the rights were violated, the school/gov't has to pay the legal bills. After all, one shouldn't have to pay the legal fees to get the liberties that the gov't should be protecting in the first place. Rights are free, not purchased.
Perhaps this would be a reminder to all schools/gov't bodies across the nation: rights cannot be trampled upon simply because the majority doesn't agree with the minority.
1 comment:
This is something I have never understood. They know what the outcome is going to be, but they waste the taxpayers' money to file a lawsuit. I guess that is easy to do, when you don't have to pay. I think local and state governments should make the responsible govt. employees liable for fees from frivolous lawsuits such as these.
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