Post by pavel on Feb 26, 2016 3:31:57 GMT -6
An organization has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott over the removal of a holiday display from the Texas State Capitol that the governor described as a “juvenile parody” of the Nativity scene.
The display, which presented Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and the Statue of Liberty standing around a manger with the Bill of Rights, was installed in the public areas of the Capitol on Dec. 18, the lawsuit says. It included a sign that read “At this season of the Winter Solstice, we honor reason and the Bill of Rights. (Adopted Dec. 15, 1791). Keep State and Church Separate.”
It was removed three days later after Abbott wrote a letter to the Texas State Preservation Board, which approves Capitol displays. Abbott complained that the “exhibit places the Bill of Rights in a manger and shows three founding fathers and the Statue of Liberty worshipping one of America’s founding documents as a replacement for Jesus Christ. This juvenile parody violates the Preservation Board’s regulations and should be removed immediately.”
The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the separation of church and state, also names John Sneed, the executive director of the preservation board, as a defendant in the lawsuit. The organization accuses Abbott and Sneed of violating its free speech, equal protection and due process rights by removing the display, which the organization argues counted as protected speech.
Read more: www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/group-sues-greg-abbott-over-removal-of-capitol-hol/nqYPP/
The display, which presented Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and the Statue of Liberty standing around a manger with the Bill of Rights, was installed in the public areas of the Capitol on Dec. 18, the lawsuit says. It included a sign that read “At this season of the Winter Solstice, we honor reason and the Bill of Rights. (Adopted Dec. 15, 1791). Keep State and Church Separate.”
It was removed three days later after Abbott wrote a letter to the Texas State Preservation Board, which approves Capitol displays. Abbott complained that the “exhibit places the Bill of Rights in a manger and shows three founding fathers and the Statue of Liberty worshipping one of America’s founding documents as a replacement for Jesus Christ. This juvenile parody violates the Preservation Board’s regulations and should be removed immediately.”
The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the separation of church and state, also names John Sneed, the executive director of the preservation board, as a defendant in the lawsuit. The organization accuses Abbott and Sneed of violating its free speech, equal protection and due process rights by removing the display, which the organization argues counted as protected speech.
Read more: www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/group-sues-greg-abbott-over-removal-of-capitol-hol/nqYPP/