"The Michigan Constitution precludes the type of 'partnership' being devised by a few Detroit clergypersons, when such 'partnership' in fact involves the siphoning of public monies to churches," wrote the Foundation.
"So often churches get the credit
"Churches receive automatic tax-exemption and many benefits from the state on the assumption that they will offer charity and other services to their congregations and communities," observed the Foundation. Engler's scheme would violate Art. I, Sect. 4 and Art VIII, Sect. 2, barring direct or indirect support of churches regardless of the claimed purpose of such support. In a news release which was reported by some Michigan newspapers, the Foundation said the proposal "savors strongly of religious pork-barreling and political pay-off."
The Foundation has criticized Engler for proclaiming a "Christian Heritage Week" last fall and voicing the opinion that nonbelievers could not be decent or charitable. An aide in his office then told a Detroit reporter that he did not respond to "idiotic atheists."
"Gov. Engler has a lot to learn about state/church separation!" says the Foundation.
Suhre, a 85-year-old atheist, will appeal the loss to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, with the help of the ACLU.
Chief Dist. Judge Lacy Thornburg declared that "county legislators have absolute immunity from suit for decisions made in their capacity as legislators." He ruled that county commissioners were further protected from testifying about their motives in refusing to remove the commandments. Taxpayers have subsidized $50,000 so far in legal expenses to defend the county's practice of proselytizing at the courthouse. The County is reserving $53,000 from a special contingency fund. Despite public outcry, only $3,000 has been raised through a "legal defense fund" for the Ten Commandments marker.
The Mountaineer reported the court action with a front page headline on June 30, 1995, reading: "God's law prevails
Among the interveners are the parents of the senior who grabbed the microphone and incited the audience to sing one of the Christian songs. Bauchman's lawsuit seeks an injunction restricting choirs from performing Christian devotional music as part of class requirements, and damages for repeated attempts to force her to perform devotional music, and to perform in Mormon chapels after school.
State lawyers representing the school district have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, saying her constitutional rights were not violated.
"On a nippy afternoon last month, Allen Strasburger joined a vigil led by the Monmouth County Pax Christi, a predominantly Catholic peace group, in front of Fort Monmouth in Eatontown. Mr. Strasburger, a 63-year-old Red Bank resident and an avowed atheist, skipped the prayer portion of the watch but strolled along Route 35 carrying a sign protesting the military budget."Don Worrell, an Alabama Board member, made the Huntsville News "State Briefs" (June 23, 1995) with reportage of a definitely secular "miracle":
"Don Worrell, 72, shot his third hole-in-one Tuesday, acing the 140-yard No. 13 at Silver Ridge with a 5-iron. His shot was witnessed by Mac McKenzie, Ron Weemer and Jack Freedman."
Lader is the author of the 1966 book Abortion which sparked the abortion rights movement in the United States. He was the first chair of NARAL (then the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws).
A Private Matter will be released in September. Lader also authored The Margaret Sanger Story and the Fight for Birth Control (Doubleday, 1955).